Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-28

My Fellow Citizens: 1 am not here
to promote the loan. That will be
done-ably and enthusiastically done
by the hundreds of thousands OF
en- who have undertaken to pre-
sent 1t to you and to our Fellow
citizens throughout the country; and
I have not the least doubt of their
complete success: for l know their
spirit and the spirit of the country.
My confidence is confirmed. too, by
the thoughtful and experienced CO.
operation Of the bankers here and
everywhere, who are lending tnelr
invaluable aid and guidance / nave
come, rather, to seek an opportunity
to present to you some thoughts
which 1 trust will serve to give you.
in perhaps fuller measure than pc
fore. vivid sense of the great IS
sues involved. in order that you may
appreciate and accept with adoeo en-
thusiasm the grave S1gnlncance Oh tiie
duty of supporting the government
by your men and your means to the
utmost point of sacrifice and self
denial. No man or woman VINO mas
really taken in what this war means
can hesitate to give to the very limit
sion here tonight to try to make II
clear once more what the war reaiiy
means You will need no other stlm-
ulation or reminder of your duty.
War Issues Clearer Now.
At every turn of the war we gain
fresh consciousness of what we mean
to accomplish by it. When our hope
and expectation are most excited
we think more definitely than before
of the issues that hang upon it ana
of the purposes which must be real
|. lied by means of it. For 1t has posi-
tive and well-defiped purposes when
we did not determine and which we
cannot alter. No statesman or as
sembly created them; no statesman
or assembly can alter them. Ihey
have arisen out of the very nature
and circumstances of the war. Inc
most that statesmen or assemblies
can do is to carry them out or De
not clear at the outset: but they are
clear now. The war has lasted more
than four years and the whole world
has been drawn into it. The COM
mon will of mankind has been sub
stituted for the particular purposes
statesmen may have started the con-
1ict, but neither they nor their OPP
ponents can stop it as they please:
1t has become a peoples war, ana
peoples of all sorts and races, OF
every degree of power and variety
of fortune, are involved in its sweep
ing processes of change and settle
ment. We came into it when its
character had become fully defined
and it was plain that no nation could
stand apart or be Indifferent to it's
outcome. Its challenge drove to the
heart Of everything we cared for and
lived for. The voice of the war had
become clear and gripped our hearts.
Our brothers from many lands. as
we'll as our own murdered dead I'M
we responded, fiercely and of course.
The air was clear about us. We saw
things In their full, convincing pro-
portions as they were; and we have
seen them with steady eyes and I'M
changing comprehension ever since.
We accepted the issues of the war as
facts, not as any group of men either
here or elsewhere had defined them,
and we can accept no outcome which
does not squarely meet and settle
them. Those issues are these:
What the Issues Are.
Shall the military power Of any
nation OF group of nations be suf-
fered to determine the fortunes Of
peoples over whom they have no
right to rule except the right of
forcef
Shall strong nations be free to
wrong weak nations and make
them subject to their purpose md
intercsts
Shall peoples be ruled and domi-
mated, even in their own internal
affairs, by arbitrary and irrespon-
sible force or by their own will
and rhOice9
Shall there be a common standard -
of right and privilege for NIL peo-
pies and nations or shall the strong
do as they will and the weak suffer
without redresss
Shall the assertion of right be
haphazarded and by casual alliance
or shall there be n common con-
cert to obIfSe the observance Of
common rights?
No man. no group of men, chose
these to be the issues of the struggle
They are the issues of it: and they
must be Settled-by no arrangement
or compromise or adjustment of in
terests, but definitely and once for all
and with a full and unequivocal &C
ceptance of the principle that the
interest Of the weakest is as sacred
as the interest Of the strongest.
This is what we mean when we
speak of a permanent peace, if we
speak sincerely. intelligently and
with a real knowledge and compre-
hension of, the matter we deal with.
Central Powers Without Honor.
We are all agreed that there can
be no peace obtained by any kind of
bargain or compromise with the gov
ernments of the central empires, be-
cause we have dealt with them al
ready and have seen them deal
" it'll other governments that were
parties to this struggle, at Brest-
Litovsk and Bucharest. They have
convinced US that they are without
honor. and do not intend Justice.
They observe no covenants, accept
No nrin cinla hut forna and 4I..;. -