Republican farmer., 1919-07-18

opportunity 70 lLJ e1c treaty beIOIo you for your ratification and 10 in- form you with rossrd to thc work of the conference by which tha: treaty was formulated.
 The treaty constitutes nothing less than q world settlement. l. would not bo possible for me either 10 sum marize or 10 construe It's manifold provisions iu an address which must of necessity be something less than 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 ir 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 q general characterization of It's scope and purpose.
 In one sense, no doubt, there is no | need thaf should report to you what was attempted and done as Paris. You have been daily cognlzant of whrt was going on thereof the problems with which the peace con- feYence had to deal and of the difi- culNies of laying down straight lines of settlement anywhere on h field on which the old lines of international relationship, and the new alike, fol- lowed so intricate pattern and were for the most part cut so deeply historical circumstances. which dom mated action where fl would have been best to ignore or reverse them. The cross currents of politics and of interest must have been evident to you, It would be presuming in me to attempt to explain the questions which arose or the many diverse ele- ments that entered into them. [ shall lattemptsomething less ambitious than that and more clearly suggest ed by my duty to report to the con- gross the part 1t seemed necessary for my colleagues and me to play as the representative of the govern ment of the United States.
 That part was dictated by the role America had played in the 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 q different footing from every other nation except our associates on this side of the sea. We entered it. not becouse 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 wlere imperilled by the intolerable NEgression of power which respect Cd neither right nor obligation and whose very system of government 6outed the rights of the citizen as against the autocratic authority of his governors And in the settlements of the peace we have sought no special reparatfon 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 tnterceded ourselves in the terms of the pea>oe in no other capacity.
 The hopes of the nations allied against the Central Powers were at a 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 forebodtns of d1saster. 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 ou= timely aid accomplished alike for their morale and their physical safety. That first. never-to-be-forsotten action at Cha tean Thierry had already taken place. Our redouotable soldiers and ma rines had already closed the gap the enemy had succeeded in opening for their advance upon Paris had alreadz turned the tide of battle back towards the frontiers of Franco. and begun tf1s rout that was to savs Europe and the world Thereafter the Germans werS to sbeyafways forced back. back, were never to thrust successfully for ward again. And yet there was nc confident hope
 Anxious men and women. leading spir+Ss of France. attended the cele bra snn of thu Fourth of July las year in Paris out of generous courtesy with no heart for festivity. little ses foc hope. But they came away witt eossethinS now at their hearts. The, haSo themselves told us so. The mer, sight Gx oux men-of their vigor. o the ssnfidenA, that showed itself il every movement of their stalwart fig ures and every turn of their swingin. march. in their steady comprehendint eyes and easy discipline, in the in dou1ftabie air that added spirit |, everything they did-made everyon, who saw them that memorable da! realize that something had happened thax was much moro than a mere fin Ctd mt Tn tho uHnung, SOmeth1nS yer. different from the mere arrival O fresh troops A great moral force ha, flung itself into the struggle. Tn fine physical force of those spir1te, men spoke of something more thai bodily vigor. They carried the grea fdenAs of a free people at their hearts and with that vision were unconquer able. Their very presence brought re assurance. their fighting made victor. certain
 But speak now of what the
 meant to tho men by whose side they fought and to the people witt whom they mingled in such utte simplicity and friends who asked onl to be of ssrvice. They were for al the visible embodiment of America What they did made America and al that she stood for a living reality fl
 the thoughts not only of the peopl
 of France but also Of tens of million
 of men and women throughout al the toi1fng nations of world stand