The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-11-12
PRESIDENT ADDRESSES
LABOR GATHERING
CONTINUED from page ID

u atmosphere and get down to business
when both parties are willing.
eve must insist that all factions
come into each others presence and
discuss the situation together, not
separately.
"We are of the same clay and spirit
We can get together If we want 10 In
the common enterprise which is to re-
lease the spirit of the world In bond
age"
Declaring that the mob spirit is dis
playing itself in this country, he
branded those who take justice into
their own hands," az unworthy repre-
sentatives of our democracy.
II despise and hate the processes OF
the group of men the mob spirit is d.
rected against, but much as I hate
them, l want to see justice done them,
through the proper channels
This reference to the l. w. w. and
IL. w. w. mobs provoked applause
from the federation delegates.
The president said he was glad to
get away from Washington for
while.
Because" he said, there are so
many pepole in Washington who know
what isn't So"
In conclusion the president said:
I'm with you if you're with me"
Text of presidents speech:
"Mr president, delegates of the
American Federation of Labor, ladies
and gentlemen:
81 esteem it a great privilege and
real honor to be thus admitted to
your public councils. When your
executive committee paid me the
complim ent of inviting me here,
gladly accepted the invitation be-
cause it seems to me that this, above
all other times in your history, is
the time for common counsel for the
drawing not only of the energies,
| but of the minds of the nation to-
gether l thought that it was a vel
come opportunity for disclosing to
you some of the thoughts that have
been gathering in my mind during
| the last MON entous months.
81 am introduced to you as the
president of the United States and
yet l would be pleased if you would
put the thought of the Office into the
background and regard me as one of
your fellow citizens who has come
here to speak, not the words Of
authority, but the words of counsel,
the words which men should speak to
one another, to wish to be frank in
moment more critical, perhaps
than the history Of the world has
ever yet known, moment when it
is every mans duty to forget him
, self, to forget his own interests, to
fill himself with the nobility of a
great national and world conception
|. and act upon a new platform ele-
waited above the ordinary affairs of
life, elevated to where men have
views of the long destiny of mankind.
II think that in order to realize
> just what this moment of counsel is,
. it is very desirable that we should
!, remind ourselves just how this war
came about and just what 1t is for.
You can explain most wars very
simply, but the explanation of this
is not so simple. It's roots run deep
into all the obscure soils Of history
, and in my view this is the last de-
cisive issue between the old prin-
, ciples of power and the new prin-
ctples Of freedom.
"The war was started by Germany.
Her authorities deny that they start
ed it But l am willing to let the
| statement l have just made await
the verdict of history. And the
thing that needs to be explaiend is
why Germany started the war. Re-
member what the position Of Ger
many in the world was-as enviable
position as any nation has ever
occupied. The whole world stood at
admiration Of her wonderful intellec-
tual and material achievements and
; all the intellectual men of the world
went to school to her. AS a univer-
, sity man. have been surrounded by
| I'D In rrh
had resorted to Germany because no.
where else could they get such thor
ough and searching training, particu-
larly in the principles of science and
the principles that underlie modern
material achievements.
: Her men Of science had made her
Industries and perhaps the most COM
petent industries in the world, and
the labels made in Germany was a
guarantee of good workmanship and
Of sound material. She had access
to all the markets of the world and
every other man who traded in those
markets feared German because Of
her effective and almost irresistible
competition. She had place in the
|, sun Why was she not satisfied?
What more did she want? There
was nothing in the world of peace
that she did not already have and
, have in abundance. We boast of
the extraordinary pace Of American
advancement We show with pride
, the statistics Of the increase of our
industries and of the population Of
our cities. Well, those statistics did
not match the recent statistics Of
, Germany Her old cities took on
youth, grew faster than any Ameri-
can cities ever grew; her old indus
tries opened their eyes and saw a
new world and went out for its con-
. quest and yet the authorities of Ger
many were not satisfied You have
one part of the answer to the ques-
ton why she was not satisfied in her
methods of competition. There is no
ipporfant industry in Germ any uDon