Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1917-06-22

Washington. June 14,-Presiden
Wilson delivered notable speech
here in commemoration Of Flag Day
in which he again outlined the posi-
ton of the United States in regard tt
the world war. The address is in iul
as follows;
My Fellow Citizens: We meet to
celebrate Flag Day because this NAG
which we honor and under when
we serve is the emblem OF our unity
our bower, our thought and purpose
as a nation. 1t has no other char
acter than that which we give 1t from
generation to generation. The choices
are ours. 1t floats in majestic silence
above the hosts that execute those
choices, whether in peace or in war
And yet, though silent, it speaks to
us,-speaks to us Of the past, of the
men and women who went before US
and of the records they wrote upon
it. We celebrate the day OF its birth,
and from its birth until now 1t has
witnessed a great history, has floated
on high the symbol OF great events
OF a great plan Of life worked out
by a great people. We are about
to carry it into battle to lift it where
it will draw the fire of our enemies
We are about to bid thousands, hun
dreds of thousands. 1t may be mill
ions, of our men, the young, the
strong, the capable men Of the ma.
ton, to go forth and die beneath 1t
on fields OF blood far away,-for
what? For some unaccustomed
thing? For something for which il
has never sought the fire before?
American armies were never before
sent across the seas. Why are they
sent now? For some new purpose
for which this great flag has never
been carried before, or for some old
familiar, heroic purpose for which 1t
has seen men, its own men, die on
every battlefield upon which Ameri-
cans have borne arms since the
Revolution?
These 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 it, We are accountable
at the bar Of history and must plead
in utter frankness what purpose it
is we seek to serve.
It is plain enough how We were
forced into the war. The eXtraordi-
nary insults and aggressions OF the
Imperial German Government left us
no self-respecting choice but 10 take
up arms in defense OF our rights as
g free people and of our honor as
sovereign government. The military
masters of 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 behalf. When they found
that they could not do that, their
agents diligently spread sedition
amongst US and sought to draw our
own citizens from their allegiance
and some of those agents were men
connected with the official Embassy
of the German Government Itself here
In our own capital. They sought by
violence to destroy our industries and
arrest our commerce They tried to
incite Mexico to take up arms against
as and to draw Japan into hostile
alliance with her,-and that, not by
indirectlon but by direct suggestion
from the Foreign Office in Berlin,
They impudently denied us the use
of the high seas and repeatedly exc
euted their threat that they would |
SEMI to their death any Of our people |
WHO Eentured to approach the coasts
OF Europe. And many of our own
people were corrupted. Men began
to loak upon their own neighbors with |
suspicion and to wonder in their hot |
resentment and surprise whether |
there Has any community in which |
hostile Intrigue did not Turk. What |
great nation in such circumstances
would not nave taken up arms? Much
as we had desired peace, 1t was de-
MED us, ami not of our own choice.
This flag under which we serve would
have been dishonored had we with
held our hand.
But that is only part Of the story.
We know now as clearly as we knew