Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-28

mass Of men, whom statesmen are sup
posed To instruct and lead, has grown
more and more unclouded, more and
| more certain Of what il is that they are
! fighting Tor.
National purposes have fallen more and
more into the background and the common
purpose Of enlightened mankind has
taken their place The oounscls of plain
men have become on all hands more
simple and straightforward and more
unified than the oounscls of sophisticated
men of affairs who will retain the impress
ion that they are playing n game of
power and playing for high stakes. That
Is why have said that this IL n people 3
/ war, not statesman s. Statesmen must
| follow the clarified common thought
or bc broken.
II take tha, To bc the significance of
| the fact that assemblies and associations
of many kinds made up OF plain workaday
people have demanded, almost every
time they came together, and are still
| demanding. that the leaders of their
governments declare to them plainly
| what il is. exactly what il is thnt they
were seeking in this war, and what they
| think the items of the final settlement
should he They are not yet satisfied with
| what they have been told. They still
seem to lear that they are getting what
thcy ask for only in statesmen 3 terms
only IN the terms of territorial arrange
mcnts and divisions of power, and not
IN terms nf broad visioncd Justice and
mercy and peace and the satisfaction of
those dccp-acated longings of oppressed
and distracted men and women and
cnslavcd peoples that seem to them the
only things worth fighting war for that
engulfs the world Perhaps statesmen
have not always rec gnlrcd this changed
aspect of the whole world of policy and
action Perhaps they have not always
spoken IN direct reply io the questlons
asked because they did not know how
searching those questions were and what
sort of answers they demanded
CLEARER AND CLEARER
''put | for one. am glad tn attempt
the answer again and again. III the hon"
that I nnv make IL clearer and clearrr
that my one thought Is 90 satisfy those
who struggle IN the ranks and are, per
hans above MI others. entitled to reply
whose, meaning no ono can have ANY cN
,,iq,, fnr Notwithstanding II he under
stands the Language ~ which = If spoken
OF can get some one 60 translate u cor
rcctlN into his own And ! believe that
tho leaders nt tho Eovrrnulpnts Win Nthch
vo are assoclatcd will speak, as they have
occa s,ou. - PLAINLY "a J havc tired "a
.peal hope that thcy VIII feel free to say
whether theA think that ! AMIN anv dc
gree mistaken IN my Interpretation oi thr
ISSUES involved or ~ any purpose with
rrgard to the mcars hv which satlF-
factory settlement oi those iss,ies may he
obtained Unity oi purpose and oi counsel
arc ~ lmIVratIvcly necessary ~ fhla war
a. Mas unity of command IN the battle
field. and with perfect unity ot plrpose
ami counsel vii come assurance ~ conn
plctc victory II can lc had N no othcr
way
Peace drives can hc clfcctlvc y nou-
trahzcd and sil,nccd only ~ showing
that rvcr1 victory of thc nations aa
sociatod against Germany bnngs the
nations nearer the sort oi rcace whirh
viii hrlng eccurjtv md reinsurance to all
pcorIes and make tho recurrence OF
another such struggle ~ pitllcsR force and
llnodShed forever impossible. and that
nnrmpe cIgo can
German, Is constantly ntimating he
terms he will accept and Away tnda
that the world doca not want terms. II
wishes 'hc final triumph OF Iust'c" and
fair dealing