The Washington herald., 1917-06-15
TEXT OF PRESIDENTS SPEECH

uNes put upon the lnitiatlVe OF Ine
nations over which she now deems
hersEf TO hold the Advantage. A,little
Of the talk has been public, but most
OF It has been private. Through all
sorts of channels IL has come 10 me,
and In all sorts OF guises, but never
with the terms disclosed which the
German government would be willing
to accept. That government has other
valuable pawns In its hands besides
those have mentioned. 1t still holds
q valuable part of France. though
with slowly relaxing grasp, and prae-
armies press close upon Russia and
overrun Poland at their will. II can
not GO further: II dare not 60 back.
II wishes to close its bargain before
II is too late and 1t has little left to
offer for the pound Of flesh II WIN de-
mand.
The military masters under whom
Germany Is bleeding see very clearly
to what point Fate has brought them.
II they fall back or are forced back
an inch, their power both abroad and
and at nome will TALL to pieces like
house of cards. Il is their power at
home they are thinking about now
that power which is trembling under
their very feet; and deep fear has en-
tered their hearts. They have but
one chance to perpetuate their mill
tary power or even their controlling
political influence. II they can secure
tases still in their hands which they
have UP to this point apparently gain
ed, they will have justified themselves
before the German people; they VIII
have gained by force what they prom
ised to gain by It.: an irpmense ex-
Pansion of German power, an i'm
mense enlargement Of German indus
trial and commercial opportunities.
Their prestige will be secure and with
their prestige their political power.
II they fail, their people will thrust
them aside; a government accountable
to the people themselves will be set
up in Germany as 1t has been in Eng
land in the United States, in France
and In all the great Countries Of the
modern time except Germany. II
they succeed they are safe and Ger
many and the world are undone; II
they fail Germany is saved AID the
world will be at peace. II thsy sue
menace. We and all the rest OF the
world must remain armed, as they
will remain, and must make ready for
the next step in their aggression; If
they fail, the world may unite for
peace and Germany may be OF the
union.
Do you not now understand the new
why the masters Of Germany do not
hesitate to use any agency that prom
ises to effect their purpose, the deceit
Of the nations? Their present particu-
lar aim is to deceive all those who
throughout the world stand for the
rights OF peoples and the self-govern-
ment OF nations; for they see what
immense strength the forces Of JUS
tice and of liberalism are gathering
out Of this war. They are employing
liberals in their enterprise. They are
using men, in Germany and without.
as their spokesmen whom they have
hitherto despised and oppressed, using
them for their own destruction
socialists, the leaders OF labour. the
thinkers they have hitherto sought to
silence. Let them once succeed and
these men, now their tools. will be
ground to powder beneath the weight
OF the great military empire they will
nave set up; the revolUtionists in Rus
sia will be cut of from all succour or
cooperation in western Europe and a
counter revolution fostered and sup
ported; Germany herself will lose her
chance of freedom; and all Europe
will arm for the next. the final
struggle.
The sinister intrigue is being no less
actively conducted in this country than
| in Russia and in every country in
Europe to which the agents and dupes
! VI AliC 4AlpClldl IGTIIldll
can get access. That government has
| many spokesmen here, in places high
and low. They have learned discre-
| ton They keep within the law. 1t is
| opinion they utter now, not sedition.
They proclaim the liberal purposes or
their masters; declare this a foreign
war which can touch America with no
! danger to either her lands or her in
stitutions; set England at the center
Of the stage and talk Of her ambi-
ton to assert economic dominion
throughout the world; appeal to our
ancient tradition OF isolation in the
politics Of the nations; and seek to
undermine the government with false
professions of loyalty to its principles.
: But they will make no headway
The false betray themselves always
in every accent. 1t is only friends
and partisans of the German gov
ernment whom we have already
disguised loyalties. The facts are
patent to all the world, and no.
where are they more plainly seen
than in the United States, where
We are accustomed to deal with
facts and not with sophistries: and
the great fact that stands out above
all the rest is that this is a peo-
pies war, a war for freedom and
justice and self-government among
all the nations Of the world, a war
TO make the world safe for the
peoples who live upon it and have
made it their own, the German peo-
pie themselves included; and that
with US rests the choice to break
through all these hypocrisies and
patent cheats and masks of brute
force and help set the world free
or else stand aside and let it be
dominated a long age through
by sheer weight OF arms and the
arbitrary choices of self-constituted
masters, by the nation which car
maintain the biggest armies and
the most irresistible aTmaments-a
power to which the world has af-
forded no parallel and in the face
of which political freedom must
wither and perish.
For US there is but one choice
We have made it. Woe be to the
man or group of men that seeks tC
stand in our way in this day oi
high resolution when every princi-
pie we hold dearest is to be vindi-
Gated and made secure for the SAL
walton of the nations. We are ready
to plead at the bar Of history, and
our flag shall wear a new luster
Once more we shall make good
with our lives and fortunes the
great faith to which we were born,
and new glory shall shine in the
face of our people.