Potosi journal., 1917-06-20
FORCED INTO WARP
' PRESIDENT WILSON
Chief Executive Lays Blame for
Conflict Upon Germany.
Declares American People Had No
Choice But to Take w Arms-0u.
plleity and intrIeues Of the kaissr's
Government Forced the Conflict In
Which the Nation 10 Engaged.

0OVOVVsV0Vk VVV~SV wv S~'"''Ss wv
Which the Nation 10 Engaged.
Washington, June IL. -- President
Wilson, In his Flag day speech. set
forth the aims Of the United States In
the present war. practically as fol
lows:
My Fellow Citizens: We meet to
celebrate Flag bay because this nag
which We honor and under which We
serve Is the emblem Of our unity. our
power. our thought and purpose MS u
nation. 1t has no other character 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 wom-
en- who went before US and of the rec.
orls they wrote upon II. We celebrate
the day Of It's birth and from its birth
until now 1t has witnessed great his
tory. has fioated on high the symbol of
great events, OF u great plan OF life
worked out by great people. We are
about to carry It into battle. to lift II
where II will draw the fire OF our en-
emies. We are about to bid thousands,
hundreds Of thousands, 1t may be- mil
lions Of our men. the young. the strong,
the capable men of the nation. to go
forth and die beneath it on fields OF
bloo<i far nway--for what? For some
naccustomed thing? For something
for which II has never sought the fire
before? American armies wer" never
before sent across the seas, Why ARE
they sent nov? For some new pur'
pose. for which this great Nag has new
er been carried before. or for some Old,
familiar, heroic purpose FOR which II
has seen men, its own men, die on ef'
ery battlefield upon which Americans
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 H..
W.. are accountable at the bar OF his
tor, and must plead In utter frankne>S
what purpose il is We seek tn serve.
No Choice But Wars Arbitrar,ent
Ii is plain enough how We wer.
forced into the war. TIL" cAtraordi'
nary insults and aIgres>i"ns of III" I'M
periul German government lett us ~
self.rcspectins choice but Io take W
arms in defense uf our rights hs !r'e
people aud uf our honor rs Il sovereign
guy.rum,ti,. The military masters of
Germany denied Us the right 10 hn ncu
trnl. They t!iled our unsusp"t'inS com
munities with vicious spies ha" can
sptratur~ and sought II corrupt tn
opinion %. our ,"'upic In their own he
half. When the, found ,ha, they could
net du that. their agents diligently
spread s,Iiiiun amongst Us ana sohsh'
to lrnw our onu citizens from 'hc't
allegiance. and some Of those agents
were ulen connected with the u!hrlAl
embassy of tn. German government u
SELF here In our own capital They
sought by Violence Ia t!">tru! nur Ia
tlu~irirs and arrest our t"iIilnerC',
They tried Ia ,iIcitr Mexico 20 take uIl
urms against us and ,u drnW japan III
to a hostile alliance with her ana
that. not ty iu,ilrt,tiuu. hut by direct
suggestion from the foreign "i'lr" In
Berlin, They iupud' ATTY denied "
the use OF the high svus aud r'l"a'cd
ly ,y"cut-l their threat that they