Norwich bulletin., 1918-11-13
PRESIDENTS COMMENT TO
 CONGRESS ON ARNisTICE

Washington, D. C., November12.-
 At the conclusion Of the reading ol the armistice terms to COT greSs Cn Monday, President Wilson said:
 The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted these terms of armistice, it will be impossible Tor the German command to renew it.
 Tt is Lot now possible to assess the couSeCaG7caS e this great consuni- matlnr. We know only thd; this 1ra2- ical war. whose consuming flames swept from one nation to another un- iii all the worId vas on fire, is Tt an end and that t was the privilege Of our own people 10 enter it at it's most critical junctura ir such fashion and in such force as to contribute in il way Of which we are all deeply proud to the great result. We know. too, that the object of the war is attained: the object upon which all free men had set their hearts: and attained N|,h Il sweeping completeness which even now we do not realize. Armed imper- ia!ism, such as the men conceived who were but yesterday the masters O; Germany, is at an end. it's illicit am bitions engulfed in black disaster Who will now seek to revive it? The arbitrary power of the military caste
  iy and of it's own single choice, dis
 rb the peace of the world, is dis credited and deStroyed Ana mcr tan that-much more than that-hls been accomplished. The great nations which associated themselves to de stroy it have now definitely united in tie common purpose to set up such 9 peace as will satisfv the longing of the whole world for disinterested jus tiCe, embodied in settlements which are based upon something much pet ter and much more lasting than the selfish competitive interests of power ful states. ThN"7 e 7o I,ro~~ar t.On1ec- ture as to the objects the victors have m mlnd. 1ne, u nd in the matter. not only. but g hr0rt also Their avowed and ccncertt<1 purpose is to satisfy and protect the weak as well as to accord their just rights to the strong.
 "The humane temper and intention Of the victorious governments has all ready been manifested in a very praC- teal way. Their epreSentativeS in the supreme war council at Versailles nave by unanimous resolution assured the peoples of the central empires | that everything that is poss.D,e in tho circumstances will be done to supply | them with food and relieve the dis 1 dressing want that is in so many places threatening their very lives; and steps are to be taken immediately to organize these efforts at relief in the same systematic manner that they we're organized in the case of Belgium. l By the use of the idle tonnage of the central empires it ought presently to | be possible to lift the fear of utter misery from their oppressed pupula- tions and set their minds and energies free for the great and hazardous tasks Of political reconstruction which now face them on every hand Hunger does not breed reform. it breeds mad : ness, and al the ugly distempers that make an ordered life impossible.
 "F'or with the fall of the ancient 1 governments which rested like an in cIbus upon the peoples Of the central empires, has come nOlitice. changes not merely. but revolution; and revo- lution, which seems as yet to assume no final and ordered form but to run from one fluid change to another unti thoughtful men are forced to ask themselves, With what 9overnme nts and of what sort are we about to dea' in the making of the covenants oi peace? With what authority will theE meet us and with what assurance that their authority will abide and sustain securely the international arrange ments into which we are about to en- ter. There-is here matter for no smal anxiety and misgiving. When peace is made. upon whose promises and en- agreements besides our own IS it tt rest?
 Let us be perfectly frank with our. selves and admit that these question, cannot be satisfa ctorily answered nov
 or at once. But the moral is not tha
 there is little hope of an early answe
 that will suffice. It is only that W
 must be patient and helpful an,
 mindful above all of the great hop and confidence that lie at the heart 0
 what is taking place Excesses ac complish nothing. Unhappy Russi } has furnished abundant recent proc Of that. Disorder immediately defeat : itself. If excess should occur if dis
 order should for a time raise it's heat a sober second thought will follwo an et day of constructive action, if W { help and do not hinder
 , '"The present and ali that 1t hold { belongs to the nations and the people k who preserve their self control an $ the orderly processes of their govern : ments; the future to those who prov ? themselves the true friends of man s kind. To conquer with arms is i z make only a temporary conquest; {
 conquer the world by earning Its as
 teem is to make permanent conques
 l am confident that the nations the
 have learned the discipline of freedol S and that have settled with self posses ), sion to it's ordered practice are no ), bout to make conquest of the worI = by the sheer power of example ar friendly helpfulneSS
 The peoples who have just con
 out from under the yoke of arbitrar " government and who are now comir :, d last into their freedom, will new # frd the treasures of liberty they al IF ir search of if they look for them I z the light of the torch They will fir
 that every pathway that Is staine
 with the blood of their own brothe
 leads to the wilderness, not TO tl
 seat of their hope.
 They are now face to face vii
 their initial test. We mr~4 hold Il
 light steady until they find then
 selves. And, in the meantime, if
 Oe possible we must establish 2 peat