The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-11-12

Throughout the most mem
 orable day in all the ages. Bir-
 mingham's dazed citizenry,
 choking with emotion, terrified
 at the significance of the period
 through which they were pass
 ing, groping blind1y for means
 to, express their feelings, exult-
 ed in wild confusion and of
 fered themselves to what will | probably be the last great war cause.
 This morning thousands of people of all ages, ranks and religious will gratefully begin pouring into the laps
 of the boys substantial evidence of their appreciation for the great serv- lice they have rendered democracy and mankind, for the united war work campaign begins today and now more than ever will everybody want to give more than their bit.
 Last night at the First Methodist church one of Americas foremost statesmen, former Ambassador Henry It,, speech of the campaign. A man of masterly intellect and unusual oppor- ltunities for observation, his words will Hong remain in the minds of those who hear him.
 RECEIVED OVATION He was introduced by Oscar Wells and received a great ovation, after
 which he went immediately into his story.
 Al. ,,4 ,,l,e ,Aa,s i,,t A great world drama, therefore we~should indulge in retrospect" ne said. Amer ica's unpreraredness at the outbreak of war is not surprising, for even Eng land was ignorant of the great plot that
 was being matched in Germany" The ambassador then went into de- tails regarding the activity of the Ger |man diplomatic service in all countries of the world, particularly in Turkey,
 where he represented the United States
 from 1913 to 1916. "Constantinople has been the hotbed Of international in-
 trigue during the past century because
 the Dardanelles are the great water
 highway to Russia" he declared. Ger
 man representatives in Turkey have for years been gathering information
 for much of which they paid out large
 sums in bribes and the German ann
 bassador told me several times that
 W hile only one bit of information out of
 10 paid for was worth anything, still
 that one would justify the buying of the 10."
 CONQUER THE WORLD
 The speaker then relate the history of Germany's plot to conquer the world, starting 50 years ago. He told of the
 building of the Kiel canal and of the
 annexation of Alsace and Lorraine,
 which supplied her with three -fourths of her iron and coal He touched on
 the physiological changes that had
 been gradually wrought in the charac
 ter of the German people, how they had
 been taught to respect the Emperor,
 the army and discipline and 10 become
 docile to militarism.
 Ut was just German propaganda that
 kept Japan and America apart. 1t was German propaganda that tried to stir up Mexico But now we realize that our country is so much greater than Japan or Mexico that we cont bother with them at all,'' said MT. Morgenthau He described the commercial strides that Germany had made and the development of their powerful military machine, which possessed next to the most mag nifcent general statr that the world has ever known"
 He told of how Germany had taken advantage of Turkeys bankrupt state to send money and military commits sions over and of how she had bought the Trkish newspapers and other agencies for molding public opinion. CHASERS OF DOLLAR Germany picked propitious time to start the war;" he said. Russia was full of strikes and rebellions; England had her Ulster uprisings, and Turkey could be easily gotten, thus closing up the Dardanelles. They thought that we in America were chas- CTS of the almighty dollar, but the big gest mistake they made was when they didn't ascertain the spirit of the Amer ican people. My friends, it's the spirit of this country that has won the war" The speaker paid a tribute to Bel gium for holding the monster at bay and to brave King Albert, who had tempered his detestation of Kings "If we put Albert aside as King we'll have to give him long term as President" said the ambassador amid applause He spokeNin glowing terms of Presi- dent Wilson's action>in waiting until the country was absolutely unanNnous- ly for war before entering the struggle. T doubt if we would have won this war if America had entered it any sooner We would have been a divided people But by waiting until everybody was against Prussianism. Wilson so ce- mented this nation that 1t was the most united in the worlds history when we declared war"
 ENTRY INTO WAR He spoke of how Americas entry into the war had changed entirely the morale of the French, who. facing mil lions of well trained men. were almost ready to give up the struggle when our boys arrived.
 .The American race is going to be put on trial now he said. "A nation to be really great must practice hu- maffitaria nism and the brotherhood of
 man in the hour of victory. Woodrow Wilson, assisted by Clemenceau and
 Lloyd George will see to the democrati- nation of Germany and of the world. The destinies of the next 30 or 40 gen. erations will be decided at the peace ! ta ble."
 He concluded with an eloquent appeal