The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1918-11-13
DER TAG" AT THE
NATIONAL CAPITOL
A St. .Johnsbury Resident Writes of
One OF the Most Momentous
Occasions in Our History

<S(&SAOAAS
Editor of the Caledonian:
Proclamation by the President:
Ny Fellow Countrymen:
The armistice was signed this
morning Everything for which
America fought has been accom-
plished. It will now be our fortu-
nate duty to assist by example, by
sober friendly counsel and by ma
terial aid ir the establishment of just
democracy throughout the world.
Woodrow Wilson.
The White House, November II.
"Der Tag"
I am moved by the events of the
day to write you. l have just come
from the capitol, where I attended
one of the most mOmentous occasions
in the history Of the United States.
| have just heard the President of the
United States, in the chamber of the
Representatives, read to the members
of the supreme court of the United
States, the senators and members of
Congress of the United States and a
large number of prominent citizens,
the terms of the armistice which Ger
many has just signed.
Before this reaches you these terms
will have been read by your readers
in the daily papers. No one can criti-
CHE thier completeness. 1t is a con-
ditional surrender, but the conditions
must suit the most exacting. The
occasion Of the surrender is one of
the greatest events in the worlds his
tory.
The surrender at Yorktown guaran-
| teed our independence; the surrender
at Appomatox guaranteed our unity;
the surrender of the German nation
exceeds both of these for it guaran-
tees the unity of the world. 1t brings
hope to n multitude Of down trodden
peoples. While many of them are
not at thus time aware of it's import
ance to them, or able to grasp at its
far reaching meaning, yet neverthe-
less it is to them the dawning of a
new day.
The sclemnity of the occasion was
most marked. 1t is significant that
the points most applauded were those
which mentioned our pledge to help
bring order out of the chaos; to help
feedathe famished people and to care
fully lead them out of the thraldom
of autocracy into the freedom of
democracy. .-\
The few words with which the
President supplemented the terms
were in his best style. He has been
said to have been successful in best
voicing the American idea, and his
words on this occasion were on the
same high plane of patriotism that
has characterized his utterances here
tofore. Let me quote one paragraph
which to me is most eloquent:
ITO conquer with arms is to make
only a temporary conquest; to con-
quer the world by earning its esteem
is to make il permanent conquest.
am confident that the nations have
learned the discipline of freedom and
that have settled with self-possessior
to its ordered practice are now about
to make conquest of the world by the
sheer power Of example and Of
friendly helpfulness"
Yesterday afternoon I attended the
opening meeting of the United Wa
Work campaign which was held il
Liberty Hut, the Billy Sunday Tab
ernacle now used by the Y. M. C. A
. 1t was especially interesting to me
for it was presided over with dignit,
: : and grace by Judge Wendell P. Stat
! ford, and the Hon. w. Bourke Cockral
= was one IT the principal speakers
8 and gave most eloquent appeal TO
1 1 the cause Gen. Claudon of tn
' French army also spoke, and while
,, was difficult for him to express him
Il self very fiuently in the English Ian
! ! guage, he was listened to with marke
= attention and vigorously applaudec
E. A. S.
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