The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-07-11

June. I avail myself of the earliest opportunity to lay the treaty before you for your ratification and to in- form you with regard to the work of the conference by which that treaty was formulated.
 The treaty constitutes nothing less than a world settlement. It would not be possible for me either to sum marize or to construe its manifold provisions in an address which must of necessity be something less than a treatise. My services and all the in formation I possess will be at your disposal and at the disposal of your committee on foreign relations at any time, either informally or in session as you may prefer; and I hope that you will not hesitate to make use of them. I shall at this time, prior to your own study of the document, at tempt only a general characterize ton of its scope and purpose.
 In one sense, no doubt, there is no need that I should report to you what was attempted and done at Paris You have been daily cognizant of what was going on thereof the problems with which the peace con- ference had to deal and of the diff culties of laying down straight lines OL StllItIHeHI any W ISI ( OI d llGlu Oli which the old lines of international relationship, and the new alike, fol- lowed so intricate a pattern and were for the most part cut so deeply historical circumstances, which dom- mated action where it would have been best to ignore or reverse them. The cross currents of politics and ot interest must have been evident to you. It would be presuming in ms to attempt to explain the questions which arose or the many diverse ele- ments that entered into them. I shall attempt something less ambitious than that and more clearly suggest ed by my duty to report to the con- gress the part it seemed necessary for my colleagues and me to play as the representatives of the govern ment of the United States.
 That part was dictated by the role America had played in tho war and by the expectations that had been created in the minds of the peoples with whom we had associated our selves in that great struggle.
 The United States entered the war upon a different footing from every other nation except our associates on this side of the sea. We entered it, not because our material interests were directly threatened or because any special treaty obligations to which we were parties had been vio- lated, but only because we saw the supremacy and even the validity of right everywhere put in jeopardy ard free government likely to be every where imperilled by the intolerable aggression of a power which respect ed neither right nor obligation and whose very system of government houted the rights of the citizen as against the autCcratic authority of his governors. And in the settlements of the peace we have sought no special reparation for ourselves, but only the restoration of right and the assurance of liberty everywhere, that the eff fects of the settlement were to be felt. We entered the war as the disin- terested champions of right and we interceded ourselves in the terms of the peace in no other capacity.
 The hopes of the nations allied against the Central Powers were at very low ebb when our soldiers be- gan to pour across the sea. There was everywhere amongst them, ex- cept in their stoutest spirits a somber foreboding of disaster. The war end ed in November eight months ago,
 but you have only to recall what was feared in midsummer last, four short months before the armistice to real ize what it was that our timely aid accomplished alike for their morale
 and their physical safety That first, never-to-be-forgot action at Cha teau Thierry had already taken place l Our redoubtable soldiers and ma | rines had already closed the gap the | enemy had succeeded in opening for 4their advance upon Paris had already | turned the tide of battle back towards | the frontiers of France, and begun | the rout that was to save Europe and | the world. Thereafter the Germans | were to be always forced back, back. were never to thrust successfully for ward again. And yet there was no 1 confident hope.
 Anxious men and women, leading l spirits of France, attended the ceIe- | bration of the Fourth of July last year in Paris out of generous courtesy with no heart for festivity, little zest 1 for hope. But they came away with | something new at their hearts. They
 have themselves told us so. The mere I sight of our men-of their vigor of 1 the confidence that showed itself in
 every movement of their stalwart fig
 ures and every turn of their swinging
 march, in their steady comprehendine
 eyes and easy discipline. in the in- | domitab ble air that added spirit tc l everything they did-made everyone
 who saw them that memorable day | realize that something had happened i that was much more than a mere in cident in the fighting, something very l different from the mere arrival oi fresh troops. A great moral force had | fuog itself into the struggle. Tine
 fine physical force of those spirited
 men spoke of something more than | bodily vigor. They carried the great ideals of a free people at their hearts and with that vision were unconquer-
 able. Their very presence brought re-
 assurance, their fighting made victory certain
 But speak now of what they
 meant to the men by whose side. | they fought and to the people witt
 whom they mingled in such utter
 simplicity and friends who asked only
 to be of service. They were for al
 the visible embodiment of America
 What they did made America and al
 that she stood for a living reality ir
 the thoughts not only of the people
 of France but also of tens of millions
 of men and women throughout al
 the toiling nations of a world stand