The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-09-28

tfonal situation which the war has created not,
OF course, because l doubted whether the leaders
OF the great nations and peoples with whom we
are associated were OF the same mind and en-
tertained like purpose, but because the air
every now and again gets darkened by msts
and groundless doubtings and mischievous per-
versions Of counsel and 1t is necessary once and
again to sweep all the irresponsible talk about
peace intrigues and weakening morale and doubt
full purpose on the part of those in authority
utterly. and IL need be unceremoniously, aside
and say things in the plainest words that can
be found, even when it is only to say over
again what has been said before. quite as plainly
IL in less unvarnished terms.
AS have said. neither nor any other man
in governmental authority created or gave form
to the issues Of this war have simply re-
sponded to them with such vision as could
command. But I have responded gladly and
with a resolution that has grown warmer and
more confident the issues have grown clearer
and clearer. 1t is now plain that they are issues
which no man can pervert unless 1t be will
fully. I am bound to fight for them. and happy
to fight for them as time and circumstance have
revealed them to me as to all the world Our
enthusiasm for them grows more and more
irresistible they stand out in more and
more vivid and unmistakable outline.
Masses Know What They Are Fighting For.
And the forces that fight for them draw into
closer and closer array, organize their millions
into more and more unconquerable might. as
they become more and more distinct to the
thought and purpose Of the peoples engaged.
i
statesmen have seemed to cast about for deflni-
tons of their purpose and have sometimes
seemed to shift their ground and their point or
view. the thought OF the mass OF men. whom
statesmen supposed to instruct and lead has
grown more and more unclouded. more and more
certain of what it is that they are fighting for.
National purposes have fallen more and more
into the background and the common purpose
OF enlightened mankind has taken their place.
The counsels OF plain men have become on all
hands more simple and straightforward and
more unified than the counses OF sophisticated
men Of AFFAIRS who still retain the impression
that they playing game OF power and
playing for high stakes. That Is why have
said that this is peoples war; not states
mems. Statesmen must follow the clarified COM
mon thought or be broken.
take that to be the significance OF the fact
that assemblies and associations OF many kinds
made up Of plain workaday people have de-
manoed, almost every time they came together
and still demanding, that the leaders OF their
governments declare to them plainly what Il
is exactly what It is. that they were seeking
in this war, and what they think the items OF
the final settlement should be. They are not
yet satisfied with what they have been told
They still to fear that they are getting
what they ask for only in statesmen's terms
only in the terms OF territorial arrangements
and divisions OF power. and not in terms Of broad
vsioned justice and mercy and peace and the
satisfaction OF those deep seated lonGngs or
oppressed and distracted men and women and
ensaved peoples that seem to them the only
things worth fighting a war for that engulfs
the world Perhaps statesmen have not always
recognized this changed aspect Of the whole
world of policy and action. Perhaps they have
not always spoken in direct reply to the ques-
tions asked because they did not know how
searching those questions were and what sort
of answers they demanded.
World Wants Triumph of Justice.
But l. for one. am glad to attempt the
answer again and again. in the hope that |
may make 1t clearer and clearer that my one
thought is to satisfy those who struggle in the
ranks and are perhaps above all others. entitled
to a reply whose meaning no one can have any
excuse for misunderstanding, IL he understands
the language in which it is spoken get
some one to translate it correctly into his own.
And ! believe that the leaders Of the govern
ments with which We are associated will speak,
as they have occasion, plainly as 1 have
tried to speak. I hope that they will feel free
to say whether they think that I am in any
degree mistaken in my Interpretation Of the
issues involved in my purpose with regard
to the means by which a satisfactory settlement
of those issues may be obtained. Unity Of pur-
pose and OF counsel are as imperatively neces-
sary in this war unity Of command in
the battlefield; and with perfect unity Of pur-
pose and counsel will come assurance of COM
plete victory. 1t can be had in other way.
peace drives" be effectively neutralized
and slenced only by showing that every victory
Of the nations associated against Germany brings
the nations nearer the sort OF peace which will
bring security and reinsurance to all peoples
and make the recurrence of another such strug-
gle Of pitess force and bloodshed forever i'm
possible, and that nothing else Germany
is constantly intimating the terms she will
accept, and always finds that the world does
not want terms 1t wishes the final triumph of
Justice and fair dealing.