The Ordway new era., 1917-06-22
WAR FOR FREEDOM
President Wilson Tells Of Aims OF
United States.
FORCED TO TAKE UP ARMS
Nation Acting in Defense OF our
Rlahts as a Free People and o'
Our Honor as Sovereign
Government, Is Statement.

Washington. June 10. - President
Wilson's Flag duy address, delSereu i"
this city, was substantially as foll""S'
NV Fellow Citizens: We meet 10
| celebrate Flag Day because TINS nag
which We honor mud under when we
| serve is the emblem of our unity our
power, our thought and purpose rs
! nation Il has no other character 'hhh
that which Ne give II from generation
r0 generation Tn" choices are ours
II floats In majestic slienc" above the
hosts that execute those choices
whether in pence or In war And yet
though silent. 1t speaks to uS--Sp"nks
10 Us OF the past, Of the men and WON
en- who went before Us and OF the rec
Ords they wrote upon 1t. W" celebrate
the day Of It's birth; and from It's hirth
until now It has Witnessed great his
tory. has nuutrd Oh high III" symbol OF
great events. ~ great plan Of ne
worked out 10y a great people. W" nr"
about to carry 1t into battle, to MT II
where 1t Will draw the fre NJ our en-.
emlpS. We are about to bid thousands.
hundreds Of thousands. 1t may be mil
lions uf our men fhc Young, tn" strong.
the capable men ot the nation, to 20
forth and die beneath 1t on fields NJ
blood far awuy--fur what? For some
unncCuslum"d thing? For something
for which II has never sought the fire
before American armies wcr" never
before sent across the seas Why are
mn
pose. for which this great flag has nev-
or been carried before" or for some old.
familiar. heroic purpose for which II
has seen men. Its own men. die on cv.
cry battlefield upon which Americans
have borne arms since the RcyulutiOnt
These are questions which must be
answered We are Americans. We In
our turn serve America. and can serve
her with no private purpose. We must
use her flag Us she has always used 1t.
We are accountable at the bar OF his.
tory and must plead in utter frankncss
what purpose it is we seek to serve.
Forced to Take Up Arms.
It is plain enough how We were
forced into the war. The extraordi-
nary insults and aggressions of the i'm
perial German government left US no
Self-respeCting choice but to take up
arms in defense Of our rights as Il free
people and Of our honor as IA sovereign
government. The military masters of
Germany denied Us the right to be neu-
tral. They filled our unsuspecting com
munitIeS with vicious spies and con.
FL n rri oh l..
opinion Of our people in their own be
half. When they found that they could
not do that, their agents diligently
spread sedllOn amongst us and sought
To draw our own citizens from their
allegiance, and some Of those agents
We're men connected with the official
embassy Of the German government 1t.
self here in our own capital. They
sought by violence to destroy our in.
dustries and arrest our commerce.
Thy tried to inCite Mexico to take up
arms against US and to draw Japan in.
to a hostile alliance with her-and
that, not by IndirectIon. but by direct
suggestion from the foreign Office in
Berlin. They lmpudently denied US
the use Of the high seas and rrpeated.
ly executed their threat that they
you'd send TO their death any Of our
people who ventured to approach the
coasts Of Europe. And many of our
own people were corrupted Men be-
gan 10 look upon their own neighbors
with suspicion and to wonder in their
hot resentment and surprise whether
there was any community in which
hostile intrigue did not lurk. What
great nation in such circumstances
would not have taken up arms? Much
| as we had desired peace. IT was daniad
Us ana not Of our own choice. This
flag under which We serve would have
been dishOnored had we withheld on,
hand.
German People Not Enemies.
But that Is only part OF the story
we know now as clearly as we knew
/ before We we're ourselves engaged thot
we are not enemies Of the German neo-
pie and that they are not our enenIss
lhey did not originate or desire this
hideous war or wish that we shouId no
drawn into 1t: and we are vaguely con.
scious that We are fighting their carso
as they will some day see IT, AS ,reII os
our own. They are themselves In the
grip Of the same sinister power tbo,
mas now at last stretched its uyIv tat
ohs out and drawn blood from us Tho
whole world is in the grip of that DOW.
er and is trying out the great bat,Ie
which shall determine whether I, is n
De brought under its mastery or fling
Itself free
Ihe war was begun by the military
masters Of Germany, who proved TO be
also the masters Of Austria.Hungarv