Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-28
FIVE PEACE PRINCIPLES ARE GIVEN
BY PRESIDENT IN NEW YORK ADDRESS
TEXT OF PRESIDENT WILSON'S ADDRESS.

there will be parties to the peace
whose promises have proved untrust-
worthy, and means must be found In
connection with the peace settlement
itself to remove that source of inse-
curity. 1t would be folly to leave the
to the subsequent voluntary
action of the governments We n: We
seen destroy Russia and deceive Ru-
mania.
But these general terms do not dis
close the whole matter. Some details
are needed to make them sound less
like thesis anr more like practical
program. These, then. are some OF the
particulars, and l state them with
the greater confidence because 1 can
state them authoritatively as repre-
senting this governments interpreta-
ton of it's own duty with regard to
peace:
Five Principles of Peace.
First-The impartial justice
melted out must involve no dis
elimination between those to whom
we wish to be just and those to
whom we do not wish to be just.
1t must be a justice that plays NO
favOrites and knows no standard
but the equal rights Of the several
peoples concerned.
Sec0nd-NO special or seperate
interest of any single nation or
any group of nations can be made
the basis of any part Of the settle
ment which In not consistent with
the common interest Of MI.
Thfrd-There can be NO leagues
or alliances or special covenants
and understandings with the gen
ernl and common family of the
league Of nations.
FOurth-And more specifically,
there can be no special, selfish,
economic combinations within the
league and no employment of any
form of economic boycott or ex-
clusi0n except us the power of
economic penalty by exclusion
from the markets of the world
may be vested In the league of
nations itself rs a means of dis
ciplfne and control
Fi1th-An international agree
ments and treaties of every kind
must be made known in their en-
tfrety to the rest of the world.
Opposes Alliances and Rivalries.
Special alliances and economic riv-
alries and hostilities have been the
prolific source in the modern world
of the plans and passions that pro-
duce war. 1t would be an insincere
as well as insecure peace that did
not exclude them in definite and bind
ing terms.
The confidence with which I ven
ture to speak for our people in these
matters does not spring from our ira
ditions merely, and the we'll known
principles of international action
which We have always professed and
followed. In the same sentence in
which 1 say that the United States
will enter into no special arrange
ments or understandings with par
ticular nations let me say also that
the United States is prepared to as
sumo its full share of responsibility
for the maintenance of the common
which peace must henceforth rest.
We still read Washington's immortal
warning against "entangling alli-
ances" with full comprehension and
an answering purpose. But only spe-
cial and limited alliances entangle,
and we recognize and accept the duty
of new day in which we are per-
mitted to hope for general alliance
which will avoid entanglements and
clear the air of the world for COM
mon understandings and the mainte-
nance of common rights.
Must Clear the Air.
have made this analysis of the in
ternational 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 entertained a like purpose.
but because the air every now and
again gets darkened by mistS and
groundless doubtings and mischiev-
Gus perversions of counsel, and 1t is
necessary once and atgain to sweep
all the irresponsible talk about peace
inrrigues and weakening morale and
doubtful purpose on the part OF
those in authority utterly. and II
need be unceremoniously, aside and
say things in the plainest words that
can be found, even when 1t is only
to say over again what has been said
before quite as plainly II in less I'M
vanished terms.
AS I have said, neither l nor any
other man in governmental authority
created or gave form to the issues OF
this war. I have simply responded to
them with such vision as l could
command. But I have responded
gladly and with a resolution that has
grown warmer and more confident as
the issues have grown clearer and
clearer. 1t is now plain that they
are issues which no man can peryert
un,ess it be willfully. I am bound to
fight for them. and happy to light
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 as
thew stand out in more and more
vivid and unmistakable outline.
Masses of People Understand.
And the forces that fight for them
draw into closer and closer array.
organize their millions into more and
more uncomfortable might. as they
become more and more distinct to the
thought and purpose of the peoples
engaged. 1t is the peculiarly OF TINS
great war that while statesmen have
Seemed to cast about for definitions of
their purpose and have sometimes
seemed to shift their ground and their
point of view, the thought of the
mass of men. whom statesmen are
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 COM
mon purpose of enlightened mankind
has taken their place. The counse!s
of plain men have become on all
ward and more unified than the coun-
sells Of sophisticated men Of affairs.
who still retain the impression that
they are playing a game of power
and playing for high stakes. That is
why have said that this Is peoples
war, not a statesmen's. Statesmen
must follow the clarified common
thought or be broken.
take that to be the significance
Of the fact that assemblies and asso-
Citations of many kinds made up Of
plain workaday people have demand
ed. almost every time they came to-
gether, and are still demanding that
the leaders Of their governments de-
clare to them plainly what it is. ex-
actly what it is. that they were
seeking in this war. and what they
think the items of the final settle-
ment should be. They are not yet