The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-06-20

E-l6LEs lLSfJ1Cl S-a@-S VI eGG DN-o4I
the america First association Al the
Auditorium IN ST Paul. Mtnn-.
Ny friends. where are your hearts
tonigh17 Con you keep your hearts
and thoughts from turning. IN sad coz
temptation. 20 tie awful trsgedsy
across the scar Can you picture in
your mind something Of the scenes
there enacted yesterday And the day
Defore2 And the day before2 Yes.
and tonight For al this very moment.
while we ara assembled here in this
hail over there, cut on the front our
men are falling and dying-out there
under the stars Can yen imagine.
even ~ slight degree, those awful
scenes. with hundreds of thousands
of men-hUndTeds % thousands OF hu-
man beiugs-dyfng and mangied2 Can
you see the heaps Of dead and orok-
CT ue1e Can you imagine the rivers
OF blood foEing7 Can you conceive
THE awful roar Of battle as those great
guns carry thtsir deadly missiles miles
and miles into the solid walls of hui
manly. Can you picture these con-
citious7 Can you feel something OF
the terror that came 70 those poor
people over there during this last ter
rsble driFez
Let's get this in our minds def
niteiy: Let Us fully understand that
The dead streEn today on the battle
fields Of France is Ge-nany's answer
10 the proposal Of the American peo-
pie that the hutchery should stop. ard
that the blessings Of peace should be
brought 10 q suffering world
There has been confusion in many
minds; there have been doubts; there
have beer those who prayed for peace;
but are those men and women praying
for peace now. tonight, as they see
this mad king. drunk with blood. in
sane in his lust for power, with his
guns turned upon civilization. Is
there anybody now that doesn't know
what this war is about? Anybody
now that has any doubt about the jus
tice of this WARP Anybody low that
doesn't know why America IS in the
WARP / am going TO spend tine in
the discussion Of the war or the
causes that led rs into this var.
viii tell you, this war must be won,
Qntense appIaUse) II we were
wrong. il would have 10 be won, Cap
plause increasingly But, we are right.
(Greater paplause.1 ! would have you
remember that voice coming down
from that patriotic soul who cried out,
My country, May she always De
right But, right or wrong my coun-
try," fApplaUse-J
viii tell you what the war is about
I win tell you in words. that come
from the silence OF the tomb; in the
words OF a sage. IN the words Of the
martyred Lincoln, who. though he be
dead. he still lives on. These words
were uttered by him back in 1853 in
q debate with Douglas involving the
question OF human slavery and of hui
man liberty. He said:
THAT is the real issue. That is the
issue that viii continue in this coun-
try when these poor tongues of Judge
Douglas and myself shall be silent; 1t
fs the eternal struggle between these
two great principles-right and wrong
the world. They are the
two principles that have stood face to
face from the beginning of time and
will ever continue to struggle. The
one is the common right of humanity.
and the other is the divine right of
kings. 1t is the same principle in
whatever shape it develops itself. 1t
IS the same spirit that says. you toll
and work and earn bread and I'll eat
it, No matter in what shape 1t comes,
whether from the mouth of king
who seeks to bestride the people OF
his own nation and live by the fruit
OF their labor, or from one race of men
as an apology for enslaying another
race. it is the same tyrannical prin-
ciple."
That is what this war is about. The
eternal struggle between right and
wrong, between the rights of common
men and the divine right Of kings.
That is the fundamental cause of this
war. and upon such issues the war
must be won, or civilization must be
pushed back a thousand years. Now
what is the direct purpose of this aw-
full assault? And I want to impress
this upon your minds. because the
American people are going to meet
serious problems within the next few
weeks, in my judgment. 1t is my
Judgment that this whole drive is an
attempt to bring terror to the heart
of the entire civilized world and that
1t was deliberately planned and exc
cuted as a forerunner to a proposal for
peace, and expect that to follow in
side OF few weeks. But it will be
a German peace; and in that hour,
with all our sorrow. with all our bur-
dens. we must resist to the end. CAP
plause) Say-well, what do you think
about it? DO you think we ought to
quit? No. the American people are
not quittersi
! will tell you. the kaiser doesn't
understand the American people. All
his diabolical brutality only stirs our
fighting blood. l know the effect iris
awful drive had upon one man who
spoke in Dies Moines about a week
ago. He was a farmer from the south
eastern part of the state He was
making a, speech about the war. He
condemned those who are eternaIly
criticising every thing He recited the
fact that there are some people in
this country who are very much wor-
ried because the American boys can
not be buried on American soil and in
language more forcible than elegant.
he said, II have two boys in France.
and I have two boys at home that are
going next week But said he as the