Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1918-11-15
Terms OF Armistice Set Forth In
Address By President Wilson
To Congress.

Congress on Monday last. He read it
slowly and in low tone, Chief Justice
White leaned forward with hand at his ear
lest he miss word
Between outbursts of applause, the biz
House chamber was without a sound ex-
cept the Presidents voice. slightly husky.
Auditors on the floor and in the gallery
were mute, hearing the surrender terms
imposed on vanquished Germany.
After reciting the terms Of the armistice,
the President said
THE war thus comes to an end, for,
having accepted these terms of armistice,
1t will be impossible for the German COM
mand to renew it,
ut is not now possible to assess the con-
sequences Of this great contamination.
We know only that this traeical war, whose
consuming flames swept from one nation
TO another until all the world was on fire,
is at an end and that II was the PRIVILEGE
OF our own people to enter it at its most
critical juncture in such fashion and in
such force as to contribute in a way, of
which we are all deeply proud, to the GREAT
result We know. too. that the object of
the war is attained; the object upon which
all freemen had set their hearts, and at
tanned with sweeping completeness which
even now we do not realize. Armed i'm
perialism such as the men conceived who
were but yesterday the masters of Germany
is at an end, its Illicit ambition engulfed
in black disaster. Who will now seek to
revive it : The arbitrary power of the mill
tary caste Of Germany which once could
secretly and Of its own single choice dis
turb the peace Of the world is discredited
and destroyed-and more than that-much
more than that-has been accomplished.
The great nations which associated them
selves to destroy it have now definitely
united in the common purpose to set up
such peace as will satisfy the longing Of
the whole world for disinterested Justice.
embodied in settlements which are based
upon something much better and much
more lasting than the selfish competitive
interests of powerful States. There is no
longer conjecture as to the objects the VIC
tors have in mind. They have a mind in
the matter not only, but heart also. Their
avowed and concerted purpose is to satisfy
and protect the weak as well as to accord
their just rights to the strong.
THE humane temper and intention of
the victorious Governments has already
been manifested in very practical way.
Their representatives in the Supreme War
Conncil at Versailles have by unanimous
resolution assured the people Of the Cen
trail Empires that everything that is DOS
sible in the circumstances will be done to
supply them with food and relieve the
distressing want that is in so many places
threatening their lives and steps are to
be taken Immediately to organize these
efforts at relief in the same systematic
manner that they were organized in the
case OF Belgium. By the use of the idle
tonnage of the Central Empires il ought
presently to be possible to lift the fear of
utter misery from their oppressed popula-
lions and set their minds and energies free
Tor the great and hazardous tasks of Do
iltlcal reconstruction which now face them
on every hand. Hunger does not breed
reform; it breeds madness and all the uelv
distempers that make an ordered life i'm
possible.
for with the fall Of the ancient Govern
ments which rested like an incubus upon
the peoples of the Central Empires has
come political change not merely, but reyo-
luton; and revolution which seems as vet
to assume no final and ordered form. but
to run from one fluid change to another.
until thoughtful men are forced to ask
themselves, with what Governments, and
OF what sort, are we about to deal in the
making Of the covenants of peacei With
what authority will they meet us. and
with what assurance that their authority
will abide and sustain securely the inter-
national arrangements into which we are
about to enterY There is here matter for
no small anxiety and miseivins. When
peace is made, upon whose promises and
engagements besides our own is it to rest ?
Let us be perfectly frank with our
selves and admit that these questions can
not be sufficiently answered now or at
once. But the moral is not that there is
little hope Of an early answer that will
suffice. 1t is only that we must be patient
and helpful and mindful above all of the
great hope and confidence that lie at the
heart OF what is taking place. Excuses
accomplish nothing. Unhappy Russia has
furnished abundant recent proof Of that.
Disorder Immediately defeats itself. If
excuses should occur, il disorder should
for a time raise its head. a sober second
thought will follow and a day of con.
structive action. If we help and do not
hinder.
THE present and all that it holds be-
longs to the nations and the peoples whu
preserve their self-control and the orderly
processes Of their Governments the future
to those who prove themselves the true
friends Of mankind. To conquer with arms
is to make only temporary conquest; to
conquer the world by earning its esteem
is TO make permanent conquest. | am
confident that the nations that have
learned the discipline Of freedom and that
have settled with self-possession to its
ordered practice are now able to make
conquest Of the world by the sheer power
OF example and Of friendly helpfulness.
The people have but just come out from
under the yoke Of arbitrary government
and who are now coming at last into their
freedom will never find the treasures of
liberty they are in search Of IL they look
for them by the light of the torch. They
will find thatevery pathway that is stained
with the blood Of their own brothers leads
TO the wilderness, not TO the seat of their