The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1919-01-01

itice was signed the postmaster ger :
j al came very near breaking ia. L
with congress- Senator Hitchcock,
chairman of the foreign relations
committee declared in the senate to-
I day, commenting on a letter from
Postmaster General Burleson explain
ing has action.
prowess and achievements they ha d
witnessed with rising admiration as
! they moved from cuIminauon 10 cul-
mination.
/ But there was something more in
F! it, the consciousness that the business
: is not yet done; the consciousness that
! it now rests upon others to see that
those lives were not lost N vain.
"I have not yet been 20 the actual
battlefelds, but I have been with
many Of the men who have fought
/ the battles, and the other day I had
the pleasure Of being present at a
session Of the French Academy when
they admitted Marshal Joffre to their
! membership. That sturdy, serene SOL
der stood and understood the words
Of triumph, but. the simple words Of
Affection for his soldiers and the
conviction which he summed up in a
sentence which I will not try accur-
lately to quote, but reproduce in its
spirit It was that France must al
ways remember that the small and
! the weak could never live free in the
world unless the strong and great al
ways put their power and their
strength in the service Of right.
! That is the after thought-the
thought that something must be done
now; not only to make the just seItic-
ments-that. of course-but to see
that the settlements remained and
were observed and that honor and
justice prevails in the world. And as
I have been more and more aware
that they fought for something that
not all Of them had defined, but which
all OF them recognized the moment
you stated it to them. They fought
! to do away with an old order and to
establish new one and the center
and characteristic Of the old order
was that unstable thing which We
used TO call the balance Of power,
thing in which the balance was
determined. By the sword which was
thrown in on the one side or the
other-a balance which was deter
mined by the unstable jealous watch
fuInesS and an antagonism Of in
terests, which, though it was gen
orally latent, was always deep seated.
The men who have fought in this
war have been the men from the na-
hot
sort Of thing should end now and for
ever. It is very interesting to me to
observe how from every quarter, from
every sort Of mind, from every con-
| cert Of counsel there comes the sug-
gest;on that there must now be not a
balance Of power, not one powerful
group Of nations set up against an
other, but a single overwhelming.
powerful group of natio..s who shall
! be the trustees Of the peace Of tie
world.
'It has been delightful in my con-
ferences with the leaders Of your
government to find how our ,ninGs
moved along exactly the same line
and how our thought was always that
the key to peace was the guarantee
Of the peace, not the items Of it; that
the items would be worthless unless
there stood back Of them determin-
ed concert of power FOR the mainten-
ance. That is the most reassuring
thing that has ever happened in the
world.
When this war began the thought
Of league of nations was indulgent-
/ ly considered as the interesting
thought of closeted students. It was
thought of as one of those things
that it was right to c. aracterize by a..
name which, as a university mai, /
have always resented. 1t was said tc
be academic, as if that in itself were
Notwithstanding that men
could think about, but never get
Now We find the practical leading
minds of the world determined to get
K.
NO such sudden and potent union
of purpose has ever beer witnessed in
the world before. Do you wonder.
therefore, gentlemen, that in COM
mon with those who represent you I
am eager to get at the business aid
write the sentences down?
And that I am particulars. HAPPY.
that the ground is clear and the foun-
dation lald-for we have already ac-
cepted the same body Of principles
Those principles are clearly and def
nitely enough stated to make their an
plication matter which should afford
no fundamental difficulty.
and back Of us is that imperative
yearning Of the world to have all dis
turbing questions quieted. to have all
threats against peace s:lcnccd to hay
just men everywhere come toset.l..'
fer common object The peoples Of
The world want peace. and they wan.
it now, not merely by conquest of
arms. but by agreement of mind.
1T was this incompatible great
object that brought me overseas. 1t
has never before been deemed excus-