River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1918-05-23
COUNTRY HAS TWO
DUTIES BEFORE IT
PRESIDENT WILSON EXPLAINS
WAR AIMS IN NOTABLE AD-
DRESS AT NEW YORK.
OPPOSES INSINCERE PEACE
More Than Five Million Men, If Nec-
essary, Will Be Sent to France for
the Purpose of Defeating the
Central Powers.

New York, May 21.-President VIII
Bon called upon America in speech
at a great Red Cross rally in the Met
ropolitan opera house here, to make
war to the limit of its resources and
manpoWer
Germany's peace moves he declared
insincere and designed to give her a
free hand for conquest and exploita-
ton in the east.
'If any man in Germany thinks we
are going to sacrifice anybody for our
own sake" he said, II tell them now
they are mistaken.
"Our first duty is to win the wal"
the president asserted at the outset
of his speech 'and the second duty
is to win it greatly and worthily."
Why Limit to 100000?
II have heard gentlemen recently
say that we must get 100000 men
ready. Why limit it, to 100000.
81 have asked congress to name no
limit, because congress intends, am
sure, as we all intend, that every ship
that can carry men or supplies shall
20 laden upon every voyage with
every man and every supply she can
carry And we are not to be divert
ed from the grim purpose of winning
the war by any insincere approaches
upon the subject Of peace.
II can say with a clear conscience
that I have tested those intimations
and have found them insincere. now
recognize them for what they are, an
opportunity to have free hand, par
ticularly in the east, to carry the pur-
poses of conquest and exploitation.
Every proposal with regard to &C
Commodation in the west involves a
reservation with regard to the east.
Will Sacrifice None.
"Now, so far as I am concerned, I
intend to stand by Russia as we'll as
France
"The helpless and friendless are the
very ones that need succor, and if any
man in Germany thinks we are going
to sacrifice anybody for our own
sake, | tell them now they are mis-
taken. For the glory of this war, so
far as we are concerned, is that it is,
perhaps, for the first time in history,
in an unselfish war. I could not be
proud to fight for selfish purpose,
but / can be proud to fight for man.
kind. If they wish peace, let them
come forward through accredited rep
resentatives and lay their terms on
the table. We have laid ours and
they know what they are
May Show Character.
"But behind all this grim purpose
lies the opportunity to demonstrate
not only force, which will be demon
strated to the utmost, but the oppor-
tunity to demonstrate character and
it is that opportunity that we have
most conspicuously in the work of the
Red Cross; not that our men in arms
do not represent our character, for
they do. and it is character which
those who see and realize, appreciate
and admire; but their duty is the
duty of force. The duty Of the Red
Cross is the duty of mercy and succor
and friendship
Have you formed picture in your
imagination of what this war is doing
for us and for the world? In my
own mind I am convinced that not 100
years of peace could have knitted
this nation together as this single
year Of war has; and better even than
that, if possible, it is knitting the
world together.
Day of Duty Comes.
"My friends, a great day of duty
has come, and duty finds mans soul
as no kind of work can ever find it.
May | say this? The duty that
faces us all now is to serve one an
other, and no man can afford to
make fortune out of this war There
are men amongst us who have for
gotten that, if they ever saw it. Some
of you are old enough am old
enough-to remember men who made
fortunes out of the Civil war, and you
know how they were regarded by their
fellow citizens. That was a war to
save one country-this is a war to
save the world
Relief From Stigma.
"And your relation to the Red Cross
is one of the relations which will re-
lieve you of the stigma You can't
give anything to the government of
the United States; it won't accept it.
There is law of Congress against
accepting even services without pay.
The only thing that the government
will accept is loan, and duties per-