New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-29


The text of President Wilson's speech
AT the Guildhall this afternoon fol
lows:
"Mr. Lord Mayor: We have come
upon times when ceremonies like
this have new significance, which
most impresses me as | stand here.
The address which | have just heard
is most generously and graciousy
conceived, and the delightful accent
OF sincerity in it seems like part
OF that voice of counsel which is
now everywhere to be heard | feel
that distinguished honor has been
conferred upon me by this reception,
and beg to assure you, sir. and your
associates of my very profound APP
probation; but know that | am only
part of what I may call great body
OF circumstances.
81 do not believe that it was fancy
ON my part that | heard in the voice
Of welcome uttered in the streets of
this great city and in the streets of
Paris something more than a per-
sonal welcome.
Heard Voices of People
ut seemed to me that heard the
voice of one people speaking to an
other people, and it was a voice in
which one could distinguish a singu-
lar combination Of emotions. There
was surely there the deep grateful
ness that the fighting was over.
There was the pride that the fighting
had had such a elimination. There
was that sort of gratitude that the
nations engaged had produced such
men as the soldiers Of Great Brit
ain and of the United States and of
France and of Italy-men whose
plowess and achievements they had
witnessed with rising admiration as
they moved from elimination to cul-
mination.
But there was something more
in it the consciousness that the
business is not yet done, the CON
sciousness that it now rests upon
others to see THAT those lives were
not lost in vain.
Il have not yet been to the actual
battlefield, but have been with
many of the men who have fought
the battles, and the other day I had
the pleasure of being present at a
session of the French Academy when
they admitted Marshal Joffre to their
membership
Must Protect Weak
That sturdy, serene soldier stood
and uttered not the words Of tri-
umph, but the simple words of affec-
tion for his soldiers and the convic-
tion which he summed up in a SEN
tence which | will not try accurately
to quote, but reproduce in its spirit
1t was that France must always re-
member that the small and the weak
could never live free in the world
unless the strong and the great al
ways put their power and their
strength in the service of right
THAT is the afterthought-th
thought that something must be done
now; not only to make the just set
tlcments-that, of course-but to
see that the settlements remained
and we're observed and that honor and
justice prevail in the world And as
| have conversed with the soldiers |
have been more and more aware that
they fought for something that not
all of them had defined, but which
all of them recognized the moment
YOU stated it to them. They fought
to do away with an old order and to
establish a new one, and the centre
and characteristic of the old order
was that unstable thing which we
used to call the balance of power
a thing in which the balance was
determined by the sword which
was thrown in on the one side
or the other, balance which was
determined by the unstable equi-
llbrium of competitive interests, a
balance which was maintained by
jealous watchfulness and an antago-
nsm of interests which, though it
was generally latent. was always
deep-seated.
Trust of Worlds Peace
The men who have fought in this
war have been the men from the free
nations who are determined that
that sort of thing should end now
ard forever 1t is very interesting
to me to observe how from every
quarter, from every sort of mind,
from every concert of counsel, there
comes the suggestion that there
must now be not balance of power,
not one powerful group of nations
set up against another, but single
overwhelming powerful group of