The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-07-03
WHAT'S WORTH GIVING
A LIFE FOR?
BY William Howard Taft,
President Of League to
Enforce Peace.

the world more than the youth OF any
other nation. Now their chance Is
come to give In return. The Oppor-
tunity is here for sacrifice and serv-
ice. and all history furnishes no more
glorious cause.
We have just celebrated the first
Memorial day since the United States
entered the war. In former years we
watched the Grand Army veterans
march by with affectionate envy. Never
again, we told ourselves. would come
a chance like theirs. But our chance
now is even greater. No nation ever
enlisted for war with 4 purpose as
high as ours.
America Is the youngest recruit, but
in one respect she is already Il leader.
No other people understand as def-
nitely as we do why they are in the
| fight Nearly three years that have
passed since the war began have given
us time to weigh the reasons. We
know why we are fighting and why
we are satisfied that our cause is Just.
This explains why we are going about
the business of preparation calmly
and without panic. but with an energy
and effectiveness based on intense
moral conviction. We know we are
| right.
We are in the war first of all to
make the world /; safer and "A better
! place to live in. We are fighting to
| bring about lasting peace. There
! was a time when many cherished the
| hope that such peace could he cs-
/ tablishcd by the moral force of public
opinion. Now we know that peace has
Il more terrible price, and we are
| ready to pay the price.
We have had nothing to do with
the politics of Europe; but this war is
not matter of European politics. 1t
| is world politics; and we announced
ourselves as citizens of the world when
we declared war against Germany.
World politics. after all. are only fun
damental questions of right and wrong.
We are for the right against the
wrong.
We are fighting to make it impos-
sible for military autocracy ever again
to endangcr the peace of the world.
Republics make mistakes, but this war
has proved that they are slow to fight.
''nc tnlnS inns war VIII acCOmpllSh:
When it Is over we shall hear no more
talk about the advantages of national
isolation. In taking our place among
the nations we have come with an in
ternational policy already prepared and
we have made it clear to the world
| that the success of this policy is our
main purpose. We are fighting. as our
| president has put it, Ito make the
world safe for democracy
We have not tried to set price
| upon our participation in the war. We
| have made no bargain. Europe knows
our purpose. When the war Is over
we expect to cast our vote at the
peace council for what the president
called 'such cooperation of force
| among the great nations as may be
! necessary to maintain peace and free
dom throughout the world"
The war has demonstrated the
weakness of international law unsup-
| ported by force. Such support can be
| furnished By system of International
| police. The analogy between the do
nestle community and the community
of nations Is sufficiently close to JUS
tify the assumption that such a sys-
tenn properly organized and admins
tered would successfully solve the
| problem. The end of this war should
! find us with an army and navy more
| than enough to furnish our quota for
such international police work.
do not pretend to know just what
our views will be when the war is
| over Nobody realized where the
Spanish war would carry us. We went
| into it in Cuba and came out in the
Philippines. But this is how the thing
| looks now The policy and tho pur-
pose have explained are so broad
and their application so universal that
it is difficult to see how any event
can change them.
In principle this policy and purpose
have been endorsed by many of the
leading European statesmen; men who
may sit ut the peace COUNCIL table be-
side the delegates from this side of
the Atlantic In his speech before the
United States senate, NJ. Niviani, the
former premier of France and head OF
the French mission, said:
"Togcthcr we will carry on that
struggle: and when by force we have
at last imposed military victory our
labnrs will not be concluded. our task
will bel quote the noble words OF
President Wilson--to organize the so
ciety of nations. We will shat
ter the pondcrous sword of miltarism:
We will establish guarantees of peace:
and then we can disappear from the
worlds stage, since we shall leave at
the cost of our common immolation the
nohlcst heritage future generations
can poSSCSS'
And Russia has joined the consen-
Sus of the enlightened nations with
this declaration by Prof Milynkoff.
first foreign minister of the young re-
public.
THE definition by President Will
son OF the purposes of the war cor
responds entirely with the declarations
of the statesmen of the allied powers,
NJ. BRAND. Mr.. Asquith and Niscount
Grey all expressed themselves contin-
uaaiN on the necessity of seeking to
prevent conflicts of armed forces by
providing peaceful methods of solu-
ton for international disputes and
creating Il new organization of ma
tons based upon order and justice in |
intcrnat ional life. The democracy of