The Elbert County tribune., 1917-03-09

be drawn on. by circumstances. not ~
our own purpose or desire. to n more
see them and a more Immediate asso-
citation with the great struggle itself.
But nothing will alter our thought or
obscured. They are too deeply rooted
In the principles of our national life to
be altered. We desire neither conquest
nor advantage. We wish nothing that
can be had only at the cost of another
people.
Now Citizens of the world.
We have always professed unselfish
purpose and we covet the opportunity
10 prove that our professions are sim
cere. There are many things still to
do at home to clarity our own politics
and give new vitality to the Industrial
processes of our own life, and we shall
do them as time and opportunity serve;
that remain to be done must be done
with the whole world for stage and
In cooperation with the wide and uni
versal forces OF mankind and we are
making our spirits ready for those
things. They win follow I'm the imme-
date. wake of the war itself and Will
set civilization up again.
We are provincials no longer. The
tragic events of the thirty months of
Vital turmoil through which we have
Just passed have made citizens CT
the world. There can be no turning
back Our own fortunes as nation
are involved, whether we would have
1t so or not.
And yet we are not the less Ameri-
cans on that account We shall be the
more American IL we but remain true
to the principles In which we have
been bred. They are not the principles
OIL & province or OF a single continent.
We have known and boasted all along
that they were the principles of n lib
Grated mankind
America's National Creed.
These. therefore, are the things we
shall stand for, whether in war or in
That all nations are equally interest
ed in the peace of the world and In
and equally responsible for their main
tenance;
That the essential principle of peace
Is the mutual equality of nations In all
matters of right or privileges:
That peace cannot securely or justly
rest upon an armed balance of power:
Ihat governments derive all their
Just powers from the consent of the
governed and that no other powers
should be supported by the common
thought, purpose or power of the fam
lily of nations.
That the seas should be equally free
and sale for the use of oll peoples,
under rules set up by common agree
ment and consent and that, SO far as
practicable, they should be accessible
to all upon equal terms;
;, That national armaments should be
limited to the necessities of national
order and domestic safety;
That the community of interest and
Of power upon which peace must
henceforth depend imposes upon each
nation the duty of seeing to 1t that
all influences proceeding from its own
citizens meant TO encourage or assist
revolution in other states should be
sternly and effectually suppressed and
prevented.
need not argue these principles to
you. my fellow countrymen; they are
your own, part and parcel of your own
thinking and your own motive in af-
fairs; They spring up native amongst
g VN1u . a
of action we can stand together.
Nation Must Stand n Unit.
And II is Imperative that we should
stand together. We are being forged
into new unity amidst the fires now
ablaze through the world. In their ar
dent heat we shall. in Gods providence.
division, purified of the errant humors
of party and of private interest and
shall stand forth in the days to come
with new dignity of national pride
and spirit. Let each man see to 1t
that the dedication is in his own heart.
the high purpose of the nation In his
desire.
1 stand here and have taken the high
and solemn oath to which you have
been audience because the people of
the United States have chosen me for
this august delegation of power and
have by their. gracious judgment
named me their leader in affairs
/ know now what the task means.
realize to the full the responsibility
which 1t Involves. / pray God l may
be given the wisdom and the pru-
dence to do my duty in the true spirit
of this great people. 1 am their serv-
ant and can succeed only as they sus-
tain and guide me by their confidence
and their counsel.
The thing 1 shall count upon. the
thing without which neither counsel
nor action will avail. Is the unity of
America-an America united in feeling
In purpose and in vision of duty, of
opportunity and of service. We are to
beware of all men who would turn the
tasks and necessities of the nation to
their own private profit or use them
for the building up of private power:
beware that no faction or disloyal in
trigue break the harmony or en-
barrass the spirit of our people; be-
ware that our government be kept
pure and incorrupt in all its parts.
United alike in the conception of our
duty and in the high resolve to per-
form 1t in the face of all men, let us
dedicate ourselves to the great task to
which we must set our hand For my
self 1 beg your tolerance, your coun-
tenance and your united aid. The shad-
ows that now lie dark upon our path
win soon be dispelled and we shall
walk with the light all about us II we
are but true to ourselves-to ourselves
as we have wished to be known in the
counsels of the world and in the
thought of all those who love liberty
and justice and the right exalted