The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-03-10

iiiS StCOHu HihuSuidi duoicisS "hiio'1
entirely to questions Of foreign af-
fairs, President Wilson in it sounded
anew the call to Americans 20 stand
firm for world conditions which would
make for enduring peace. This, he
said, could be founded only on equal
ity and justice.
President Wilson's inaugural ad
dress was as follows:
MY Fellow Citizens: The four
years which have elapsed sine. last
/ stood in this place have been crowd
ed with counsel and action of the
most vital interest and consequence
Perhaps no equal period in our his
tory has been so fruitful of Important
reforms in our economic AMI indus
trial life or so full of significant
| changes in the spirit and purpose o.
political action. We have sought very
thoughtfully to set our house in order,
correct, the grosser errors and abuses
of our industrial life, liberate and
quicken the processes Of our nationa,
genius and energy. and lift our pol
itics to broader view Of the peoples
| essential interests. 1t is Il record Of
singular variety and singular distinc
ton. But ! shall not attempt to re-
view it. 1t speaks for itself and WI!
be of increasing influence as the years
go by. This is not the time for retro
spect. 1t is time rather to speak Our
thoughts and purposes nccrnirg the
present and the immediate future
Although we have centred coun
sci and action with such unusual cor
centration and success upon the grest
problems of domestic legislation /"
which We addressed ourselves fouy
years ago, other matters have more
and more forced themselves upon our
attention, matters lying outside our
own life as nation and over which
we had no control, but which, despit,
our wish to keep free of them, have
drawn us more and more irresistihlY =
into their own current and influence.
1T has been impossible to avoid
them. They have affected tho life OF
the world. They have shaken mon
everywhere with passion and an
apprehension they never knew before
1t has been hard to preserve calm
counsel while the thought of our owE
people swayed this way and that un
der their influence. We are a COM
posite and cosmopolitan people ",
are Of the blood Of all the nation
that are at war. The current of on,
thoughts as well as the currents o
our trade run quick at all season
back and forth between us and them
The war inevitably set it's mark fror
the first alike upon our minds on
industries, our commerce. our poll
tics and our social action. To be in
different to it or independent of +
was out of the question.
And yet all the while VIC havt
been conscious that we were not par
Of it. In that consciousness, despi;
many divisions, we have drawn close,
together. We have been deerl,
wronged upon the seas, but we har.
not wished to wrong or injure in ro.
turn; have retained throughout ti.
consciousness Of standing in SOM
sort apart, intent upon an intercs
that transcribed the immediate i.
sues Of the war itself. AS some O.
The injuries done US have become :.
tolerable we have still been clear ttu
we wished nothing for ourselves ;lla
We were not ready to demand for -
mankind-fa,r dealing, justice, T..
freedom to live and be at ease again
organized wrong.
1T is in this spirit and with tn,
thought that We have grown MOI
and more aware. more and moro &C,
tain, that the part we wished to pla'
was the part of those who mean t.
vindicate and fortify peace. We hat,
been obliged to arm ourselves Il
make good our claim to a certai'
minimum Of right and Of freedor
of action. We stand firm in armao
neutrality since it seems that in y"
other way we can demonstrate whit
1t is we insist upon and can not for
go. We may even be drawn on, ~
circumstances, not by our own pr
pose or desire. to a more active 8.
0ertiOn of our rights as we see the
and a more immediate associate
with the great struggle itself b.
nothing will alter our thought or OF
purpose. They are too clear to
OhSCured They arc too dcCplV roo