The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-09-28

OOHt-dDlg anu uOhC
by the hundreds of thousands of
loyal and tireless men and women
who have undertaken to present it to
you and to our fellow citizens
throughout the country, and I have
not the least doubt of their complete
success, for 1 know their spirit and
the spirit OF the country. Ny con-
hdence is confirmed, too, by the
thoughtful and experienced co-opera-
tion of the bankers here and every
where. who are lending their invalu-
able aid and guidance. 1 have come,
father. to seek an opportunity to pre-
sent to you some thoughts, which
/ trust will serve to give you, in per-
haps fuller measure than before, q
vivid sense of the great issues in
volved, in order that you may appre-
ciate and accept with added enthu-
siasm the grave Significance OF the
duty of supporting the Government
by your men and your means to the
utmost point OF sacrifice and SELF
denial. No man or woman who has
really taken in what this war means
can hesitate to give to the very limit
of what they have, and 1t is my mis-
sion here tonight to try to make 1t
clear once more what the war really
means. You will need no other
stimulation or reminder of your duty.
War Of Peoples.
At every turn Of the war we gain
to accomplish by it. When our hope
and expectation are most excited we
think more definitely than before of
the issues that hang uopn it and OF
the purposes which must be realized
by means of 1t. For IT has positive
and well-defned purposes which we
did not determine and which we can
not alter. No statesman or assembly
created them; no statesman or assem-
bly, can alter them. They have arisen
out of the very nature and circum-
stances of the war. The most that
statesmen or assemblies can do is to
carry them out or be false to them
They were perhaps not clear at the
outset. but they are clear now. The
war has lasted more than four years
and the whole world has been drawn
into it. The common will Of man
kind has been substituted for the par
ticular purposes of individual states.
individual statesmen may have start
ed the conflict, but neither they nor
their opponents can stop 1t as they
please. 1t has become a peoples war.
and peoples of all sorts and races, of
every degree of power and variety of
fortune, are involved in its sweeping
processes of change and settlement
We came into it when its character
had become fully defined and 1t was
plain that no nation could stand
apart or be Indifferent to its out
come. Its challenge drove to the
heart of everything we cared for and
lived for. The voice OF the war had
become clear and gripped our hearts
Our brothers from many lands, as
well as our own murdered dead un-
der the sea, were calling to us, and |
We responded, fiercely and of course.
Issues of the War.
The air was clear about US. Wei
saw things IN their full, convincing |
proportions as they were; and we
have seen them with steady eyes and
unchanging comprehension ever since. '
We accepted the issues OF the war as I
facts, not as any group OF men either
here or elsewhere had defined them, |
and we can accept no outcome which 1
does not squarely meet and settle I
them. Those issues are these:
Shall the military power Of any
nation or group of nations be suffered 1
to determine the fortune of peoples
over whom they have no right to rule
except the right of force?
Shall strong nations be free to
wrong weak nations and make them
subject to their purpose and interest?
Shall peoples be ruled and domi-
mated, even in their own internal
affairs, by arbitrary and irresponsible
force or by their own will and
choice?
Shall there be a common standard
of right and privilege for all peoples
and nations or shall the strong do as
they will and the weak suffer with
out redress?
Shall the assertion of right be hap
hazarded and by casual alliance or
oblige the observance Of common
rights?
Weak Must Be Protected.
No man, no group Of men. chose
these to be the issues OF the strug-
gle. They are the issues of II: and
they must be settled-by no arrange
ment or compromise or adjustment u
interests, but definitely and once for
all and with a full and unequivocal
acceptance of the principle that the
interest of the weakest is as sacred
as the interest OF the strongest.
This is what we mean when we
speak of a permanent peace, IL we
speak sincerely. intelligently, and /
with a real knowledge and compre-
hension Of the matter we deal with.
We are all agreed that there can
be no peace obtained by any kind OF
bargain or compromise with the gov
ernrnents of the central empires, be-
cause we have dealt with them al
ready and have seen them deal with
other governments that they were |
parties to this struggle. at Brest
I,itoysk and bucharest. They have
convinced us that they are without
honor and do not intend justice. They
observe no covenants. accept no prin-
chile but force and their own inter-
est. We cannot "come to terms" with |
them. They have made ii impossible.
The German people must by this time |
be fully aware that we cannot accept |
the word of those who forced this
war upon us. We do not think the |
same thoughts or speak the same
language of agreement
1t is OF capital Importance that
we should also be explicitly agreed
lpoNr FOR -