Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-09-28

unless it be wilfulIy. I am
bound to fight for them, and
happy to fight for them as time
and circumstances have revealed
them to me as to all the world.
Dur enthusiasm for them grows
more and more irresistible US
they stand u and more i
vivid and unmistalxablc.
And all the forces that fight for
them draw into closer and closer ar
ray. organize their millions. into
might, as they become more and
more distinct to the thought and
purpose Of the peoples engaged. 1t
lis the popularity Of this 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
and more ~unclouded, more and more
certain Of what it is hat they are
fighting for National purposes have
fallen more and more into the
background and the common pur-
pose of enlightened mankind has
taken their place. The eounseis of
plain men have become on all hands
more simple and straightforward and
more unified from the counsels OF
sophisticated men of affairs who still
retain the impression that they are
playing a game of power and play
ing for high stakes. That is why /
have said that this is the peoples
war, not a statesmens'. Statesmen
must follow the clarified common
thought or be broken.
l take that to be the significance
| nf tho fort that cso~,LJ;~- --a -
sociations of many kinds made IN
OF plain workday people have de-
manded, almost every time they
came together, and are still de.
handing. that the leaders Of their
governments declare to them plainly
what it 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 seem to fear
that they are getting what they ask
for in statesmens' terms-only in the
terms of territorial arrangements and
divisions Of power and not in terms
OF broad visioned justice and mercy
and peace and the satisfaction OF
those deep seated longings of op-
pressed and distracted men and wo-
men and enslaved peoples that seem
to them the only things worth fight
ing 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 questions asked
because they did not know how
searching hose questions were and
what sort of answers they demanded
But, I, for one, am glad to attemp,
Ifho 0Uy q 0reSr --@ f---I- -
hope that l may MAKE it clearer and
clearer that my one thought is t.
satisfy those who struggle in tne
ranks and are, perhaps, above al
others. entitled to a reply who's.
meaning no one can have anv excuss
for misunderstanding, il he under.
stands the language in which 1t /,
spoken or can get some one to trans
late 1t correctly into his own.
And 1 believe that the. leaders o.
the governments with which we ar,
associated will speak as they occas
ion, as plainly as I have tried t,
speak. I hope that they will fee
free to say whether they think tina
am in any degree mistaken in m,
Interpretation of the issues involved
or in my purpose with regard to tn,
means by which a satisfactory settle
ment Of those issues may be opIafned
Unity ofSpurpose and Of counsel ar,
as i~mperatively necessary In this wa,
battlefield. and with perfect unity 8
purpose and counsel will come assur
ance Of complete victoryl It can o.
lhad in nj other way. Peace drives
can be effectively neutraIixed an,
Isilenced only by showing that ever,
victory of the nations associate,
against Germany brings the nation