Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-12-25
SAYS j. s. FOUGHT
TO FREE WORLD
Hun Crimes Reused America, De-
CIareS President Wilson.
FOES SINS FULLY REALIZED
Yank Executive Tells France German
Brutality Forced Americans Into
Battle for Rieht-To ATTEND
Banquet Given by Presi-
dent Poincare.

Paris. Dec. 17.-In addressing Presl'
dent Wilson at the city hall cereiilo'
MES. the final formal reception 20 the
American executive, Adrien Mlthou-
ard. president of the municipal councli
of Paris. said:
81 have the honor, in the presence OF
the president of the republic, to pre-
sent to you the municipal councll OF
Paris, whose interpreter | am In WEI
coming the chief of the great nation
whose aid, arriving so opportuneiy'
brought us victory, and the upright
man whose conscience fashioned ms
policy and whose diplomacy was made
of loyalty"
HOMAGE TO Mrs. Wilson.
Turning to Mrs. Wilson, M. Mithou'
ard said:
Madame: Paris is infinitely happy
and is touched that you, who have ac-
companied the president, have been
good enough to add to this occasion
the charm and the grace OF your pres
ence. We have long been aware OF
your devotion and of the wise and be-
neficent activity you have shown by
the side of your illustrious husband.
Yet nothing touches SO much the heart
of the people of Paris as to be permit
ted to know those who already have
conquered by their goodness. Thus
Paris. by my voice, acclaims you and
lays at your feet, madame, the homage
of its gratitude and it's respect.
The Presidents Reply.
The president replied as follows:
"YOur greeting has raised many emo
tons within me. 1t is with no ordinary
sympathy that the people of the Uni
ted States, for whom l have the priv
ilege of speaking, have viewed the
sufferings of the people of France.
Many of our own people have been
themselves witnesses of those suffer
ings. We were the more deeply
moved by the wrongs of the war be-
cause we knew the manner in which
they were perpetrated.
81 beg that you will not suppose that
because a wide ocean separated us in
space WE were 1Ot III ClLC(l CyNNAb
nesses to the shameful ruin that was
wrought and the cruel and unnecessary
sufferingS that were brought upon you.
These sufferings have filed our hearts
with indignation. We know what they
signified, and our hearts were touched
to the quick by them, our imaginatiOns
filed with the whole picture of what
France and Belgium in particular had
experienced.
"Hearts Are Shocked"
"When the United States entered
the war, therefore, they entered it not
only because they were moved by a
conviction that the purposes of the
central empires was wrong and must
be resisted by men everywhere who
loved liberty and the right, but also
because the Illicit ambitions which
they were entertaining and attempt
ing to realize had led to the prac-
tees which shocked our hearts as
much as they offended our principles.
"Our resolution was formed because
we knew how profoundly great prin-
ciples of right were affected, but our
hearts moved also with our resolution.
you have been exceedingly gener-
Gus in what you have been gracious
enough to say about me, generous far
beyond my personal deserts, but you
have interpreted with real insight the
motives and resolutions of the people
of the United States. We have mere
ly established our right to the full fell
lowship of those peoples here and
throughout the world who reverence
the right of genuine liberty and justice.
Pleased by Welcome.
'You have made me feel very much
at home here, not merely by the de
lightful warmth of your welcome, but
also by the manner in which you have
made me realize TO the utmost the in
innate community of thought and ideal
which characterizes your people and
the great nation which have the hon
or for the time to represent. Your
welcome to Paris l shall always re-
member as one of the unique and in
spring experiences of my life, and
while l feel that you are honoring the
people of the United States in nv per
son, / shall nevertheless carry away
with me very personal qualification
In looking back upon these memorable
days.
Permit me to thank you from a full
heart