Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1918-08-02
President Appeals to the People
to Curb Spirit.
HONOR OF U. S. AT STAKE
Head of Nation Declares That Men
Who Countenance Mob Rule Are
EmuIating the Example
of Germany.

uiC anu pASd W du AHSilCduS "
make an end of this disgraceful evil,
he declared that any man who even SO
much as countenanced mob action is
/, betrayer Of American democracy and
adopts the Standards of the enemies
! of his country, whom he affects to de-
| spise."
The presidents statement, addressed
to My fellow countrymen," was in
spired by the numerous lynchings OF
which suspected pro-Germans were
the victims. 1t Is understood, however,
that the lynching Of Robert B. Praeger
at Collinsville ILL.,, last April, was re-
sponsible, more than any other for the
presidents appeal today.
Text of Presidents Appeal.
The text of the presidents state
ment follows:
my Fellow Countrymen: take the
liberty of addressing you upon SUBJ
ject which so vitality affects the honor
of the nation and the very character
and integrity Of our institutions that
/ trust you will think me justified in
speaking very plainly about it.
II allude to the mob spirit which has
recently here and there ;ery frequently
shown it's head amongst us, not in any
single region, but in many and widely
separated parts of the country. There
have been many lynchings, and every
Of hoo fIA
heart of ordered law and humane JUS
tice. No man who loves America, nc
man who really cares for her fame
and honor and character, or who is
truly loyal to her institutions, can JUS
tify mob action while the courts of
justice are open and the governments
of the states and the nation are ready
and able to do their duty. We are at
this very moment fighting lawless pas
sion. Germany has Outlawed herself
among the nations because she has dis
regarded the sacred obligations of law
and has made lynchers of her armies.
Lynchers emulate her. disgraceful ex-
ample. l, for my part, am anxious to
see every community in America rise
above that level, with pride and fixed
resolution which no man or set of men
can afford to despise.
Lynchers Traitors to Country.
eve proudly claim to be the cham
pions of democracy. If we really are,
indeed, and in truth, let us see to it
that we do not discredit our own. |
say plainly that every American who
takes part in the action of a mob or
gives 1t any sort of cOuntenance is
no true son of this great democracy,
but it's betrayer, and does more to dis
credit her by that single disloyalty to
her standards of law and Of right than
the words of her statesman or the sac
rifices Of her heroic boys in the
trenches can do to make suffering
peoples believe her to be their savior
How shall we commend democracy to
the acceptance Of other peoples, if we
disgrace our own by proving that it is,
after all, no protection to the weak?
Every mob contributes to German lies
about the United States what her most
gifted liars cannot improve upon by
the way Of calumny. They can at least
say that such things cannot happen in
Germany except in times of revolution,
when law is swept aside.
II therefore very earnestly and sol
emily beg that the governors of all
the states, the law officers of every
community, and above ALL the men
and women of every community in
the United States, all who revere
America and wish her name without
stain or reprOach, will cooperate
not passively, merely, but actively
and watchfully-tO make an end of
this disgraceful evil. 1t cannot live
tenance it.
81 have called upon the nation to
put it's great energy into this war
and it has sponded-responded with
a spirit and a genius for action that
has thrilled the world. / now call
upon it, upon it's men and women
everywhere, to see to it that it's laws
are kept inviolate, its fame unfair
nished. Let us show our utter con-
tempt for the things that have made
this war hideOus among the wars of
history by showing how thoseWho love
liberty and right and justice and are
willing to lay down their lives for them
upon foreign fields stand ready also
to illustrate to all mankind their 10y
atty to the things at home which they
wish to see established everywhere as
a blessing and protection to the peo-
piles who have never known the priv
ilege of liberty and self-government.
I can never accept any man as cham
MON of liberty either for ourselves
or for the world who does not rever-
ence and obey the laws OF our own be-
loved land, whose laws we ourselves
have made. He has adopted the stand
ards of the enemies Of his country,
whom he affects to despfse.
(Signed) WOODROW WILSON"