Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-06-15
For Old Purpose

The Stars and Stripes are going to
strange land. the President said, for
tions.
For us there is but one choice"
said the President. 1--WE have made
it. Woe be to the man or group of
men that seeks to stand in our way
in this day of high resolution when
every principle we hold dearest is to be
INDICATED and made secure for the
salvation OF nations. We are ready to
plead at the bar of history and our
flag shall wear a new lustre. Once
more we shall make good with our
lives and fortunes the great faith to
which we were born and a new glory
shall shine in the face of our people,"
Warns Against Intrigue
President Wilson warned against
permitting Germany to end the war
now by an intrigue of peace" while
her aggressions were secure.
All the Central Empires. the Presi-
dent declared, have been cemented into
riIdar pAnnirp
throwing a broad belt OF German mil
tary power and political control across
the very center of Europe and beyono
the Mediterranean into the neart VI
Asia" This accomplished, he said. it is
very easy to understand why Garf1lahS
is fostering a propaganda for an carry
peace.
Peace peace, peace, mas beeh the
talk Of her foreign office for now year
and more, said the President. A niue
Of the talk has been public, but most VI
il has been private. Through all SOL. -
of channels it has come TO me anu III
All sorts of guises. The military mas
,ers under whom Germany is pleeolhs
see very clearly 10 what point Fate mas
brought them If they can secure peace
now with the immense advantages SUN
in thei. hands which they have up 10
this point apparently gained. they Will
have justified themselves before the
German people: they will have gained
bv force what they promised to gain
by It."
The president recited again the Ger
man a.gressions which drove the
United States 10 war. He declared the
purpses for which American soldiers
now carry the Stars and Stripes to Eu-
rope for the first time in history are
not new to American traditions because
realization Of Germany's war aims
must eventually mean the undoing OF
she whole world. He spoke in full as
follows:
NV Fellow Citizens: We meet to
celebrate Flag Day because this lag
which we honor and under which we
serve is the emblem OF our unity. our
power, our thought and purpose as o
nation. II has no other character than
that which we give - from generation
10 generation. The choices are ours. IL
Cnnte in majestic silence above the
hosts that execute these choices
whether in peace or in war. And yet,
though silent. II speaks to us.--speaks
"a us Of the past. of the mon ana
women who went before us and Of the
~ccords they wrote upon II. We cele-
'.ratc the day Of it's birth: and from its
birth until now II has witnessed a great
history. has foated on high the symbol
Of crcat events, Of great plan OF HE
worked out by great people. We are
about to carry It into battle. to HIT II
where II will draw the fire Of our en-
cnies. We are about to bid thousands
hundreds OF thousands. ii may be mil
lions. Of our men, the young. the
strong. the capable men Of our nation.
to go forth and die beneath it on fields
~ blood far away.--for what. For
some unaccustomed thing? For some
thing for which It has never sought the
fire before? American armies were
never before sent across the seas. why
are thcv cent now For some new pur-
pose. for which this great flag has
never been carried before. or for some
old. familiar. heroic purpose for which
& has seen men. It's own men, die on
every battlefield upon which Americans
have borne arms since the Revolution:
''Thesc 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 as she has always used II.
We are accountable Mt the bar OF his
tory and must plead in utter frankness
what purpose It Is we seek to serve.
ut is plain enough how we were
forced into the war. The extraordinary
insults and asgressions OF the Imperial
German government left us no self-re-
specting choice but to take UP arms In
defense Of our rights as free people
and OF our honour az sovereign gov
eminent. The military masters or
Germany denied us the right to be
neutral. They filed our unsuspecting
communities with vicious spies and
conspirators and sought to corrupt the
opinion OF our people in their own be-