The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-05-06
BRITAIN JOINS
FRANCES PLEA
CONTINUED FROM Page One)


The beginnings of the British house
of commons 90 back to a c'm historic
past, and its full rights and status
have only been conquered and perma-
nentIy secured after centuries Of po-
ljtical struggle.
"Your fate has been a happier one.
You were called into existence at a
much later stage of social develop
ment. You came into being complete
and perfected nd all your powers de
termined and your place in the con-
situation slured beyond chance of
revolution, but though the history of
these two great assemblies is differ
cnt. each of them represents the
great democratic principle 10 which
we look forward as the security for
the future peace of the world. All
of the free assemblies now to be
found to be governing the great ma
tions of the earth have been nodded
either upon your practice or upon
ours, or upon both combined.
"Mr. Speaker, the compliment paid
to the mission from Great Britain by
such an assembly and upon such an
occasion is one not one of us is ever
likely to forget; ;but there is some
thing, after all, even deeper and more
significant in the circumstances un-
der which I now have the honor to
address you, than any which arise
out of the interchange Of courtesies,
however sincere between two great
and friendly nations.
eve all, I think, feel instinctively
Z l.
ments in the history of the world and
that what is now happening on both
sides of the Atlantic represents the
drawing together Of great and free
| peoples for mutual protection against
the aggression of military despOtism.
ut is quite true that the people and
| the representatives of the people may
be betrayed by some mOmcnyary gust
of passion into a policy which they
! ultimately deplore, but it is only a
military despotism of the German
type that can through generations,
| if need be, pursue steadily. remorsely,
| unscrupulously and appallingly the
| object of dominating the civilization
| of mankind. And mark you, this
! evil, this menace, under which we are
| now suffering is not one which dl-
minishes with the growth of knOwl-
edge and progress of modern civiliza-
ton, but on the contrary it increases
with them.
"When I was young we used to
fatter ourselves that progress in
cvitably meant peace and that growth
! # knowledge was always aCCompa-
MED as it's natural fruit by the
| growth of good will among the ma
tions of the earth. Unhappily we
know better now and we know there
| is such a thing in the world as a
! power which can with unvarying per
! sistency focus all the resources of
/ knowledge and of civilization into the
! one great task of making itself the
moral and material master of the
world. 1t is against that danger that
we, the free peoples Of western civil
cation, have banded ourselves to-
! Fether.
at is in that great cause that we
! are going to fight and are fighting
at this very moment side by side. In
! that cause we shall surely conquer
/ and our children will look back to
! this fateful date as the one from
/ which demOcracies can feel secure
that their progress, their civiIiza-
ton, their rivalry if need be. will be
conducted, not on German lines, but
in the friendly and Christian spirit
which really BELTS the age in which
we live.
Mr. Speaker. Ladies and Gentle
men, beg most sincerely to repeat
again how heartily I thank you for
the cordial welcome which you nave
given US today and to repeat my pro-
found sense of the significance Of this
unique meeting"