The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-09-07
OBJECTS THAT
FRANCE. SEEKS
IN THIS WAR
To Prevent Future Wars and
Secure Permanent
Peace.

New York. Sept. France and
the nations which are her Allies have.
only one object in the war-to pre-
cent a repetition OF Germany's crime
of forcing war and thus to secure
permanent peace-Andre Tard1eu,
High Commissioner of the French
Republic in this country, said in
speech at Lafayette Day exercises at
City Hall here today.
ITO our soldiers who have been
fighting through three whole years
to your soldiers who are soon to fight
side by side with ours, let us go on
telling steadily again and again why
they are fighting" Mr.. Tardieu said
LET US, in this way, keep up their
moral strength. Let us remind them
that there has been in Europe a ma
ton who, though enjoying an overful-
ness of all the riches of peace, with
unceasing guile, planned, willed war
and let 1t loose. Increasingly let us
bring back to memory the years in
which Germany forced war upon a
Feace-willing world and deliberately
doomed millions of young lives to
death.
DAY after day, hour after hour,
she prepared, while, through their in
sufficient preparations shown at the
beginning of the war, her present adj
versaries have evidenced how deep,
how generous, had been their faith in
peace.
And whenever the Germans would
be bold enough to contradict this and
to state that we have willed war. let
us answer simply by quoting facts,
and let US point out, in August 1914,
Russia without rifles, France without
heavy artillery and Great Britain's
army of six divisions.
'Those have willed war who had
not neglected anything which would
enable them to make war. Those
have not willed war who, not believ-
ing war possible, did neglect to pre-
pare. al
This ought to be restated again
and again If we are expecting the
soldiers on the battlefield to be clear
" conscious of fulfilling the most sac
red duty.
I'VE have assembled today to cele-
brate the memory Of the great man
who volunteered to come over here
and to fight in your ranks because
he was under orders from his own
Conscience. Faithful TO the example
which he set for us. let us now de-
clare and proclaim to the world the
a
Let us fasten the. culprit to his
own crime, and, as he does still dare
to ask what are our war aims let us
answer as did Lafayette, as the Presi-
dent has just been ssoing again, that
we have one aim only; to prevent any
p0ssible reiteration of the crime, and,
in this way. to lay the foundation of
the worlds peace"
Abiding to the dual significance
OF the day-the anniversary of the
birthday of Lafayette and of the be-
ginning sof-the Marine offensiveHwh HIGH
checked the German advance upon
Paris three years ago-Mr. Tardieu
said:
tory of the world again begins anew
Thus Is moral conscience meeting the
great eternal issue of duty and OF
responsibility.
when Lafayette came over to put
his sword at the service of your new
born liberties; when invaded France
gathered her energies to stop the foe;
when the United States after thirty
two months of scrupulous neutrality
declared war upon German Imperial
ism-the same question was answered
by each of them, question of con-
science. question of duty, ques-
ton of responsibility.
The same question we shall have
to answerAwhen, in q near future, at
ter the victory of our arms, we viii
be called upon to- work towards the
organization of the worlds peace.
Then, in the same way as we are
doing now we shall renember-or
which side stood the crime, on which
the right, and as, through the cleal
conscience of the one and of the 9th,
or. our arms have been given strength
so shall our peace-aiming decisions
be given value"