Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1919-05-21
AMERICANS NOT
DOLLAR CHASERS
President Tells French U. S. Has
High Sense of Humanity
and Justice.
GERMAN IDEA IS ALL WRONG
Wilson Says Freedom Of Speech Is
Greatest Safety Because When a
Man Is a Fool Best Thing Is
to Let Him Advertise Fact.

Paris, May 14-President Wilson,
IN his address to the French Academy
of Moral and Political Sciences, Wig
orously denied that the American
people were largely materialists or
dollar worshipers.
Il have had in recent months one
very deep sense of privilege" the
president said. Il have been keenly
aware that there have been times when
the peoples of Europe have not under
stood the people of the United States.
We have been too often supposed 10
have been devoted chiefly II not en-
tirely to material enterprises. We have
been supposed, in the common phrase.
TO worship the almighty dollar.
I'VE have accumulated wealth. we
have devoted ourselves to material en-
terprises with extraordinary success,
but there has underlain all of that
all the time, a common sense Of hu-
mauity and a common sympathy with
the high principles of justice which
has never grown dim In the field even
of enterprise. and 1t has been my
very great joy in these recent months
to interpret the people Of the United
States to the people Of the world
II have not done more, | have not
uttered In my public capacity my own
private thoughts. l have uttered what
! have known TO be the thoughts Of
the great people whom | represent.
/ have uttered the things that have
been stored up In their hearts and
purpose from the time Of YOUR birth
as a nation"
President Wilson alluded 20 his
studies in the field Of political science
and the attempts he had made ito
put into the words of learning the
thought Of a nation, the attitude of Il
people toward public affairs" He
continued:
"A great many Of my colleagues In
American university life got their
training. even in political science, as
so many men In civil circles did. In
German universities. have been
obliged at various times to read a
great deal of bad German. difficult
German, awkward German. and |
have been aware that the thought was
as awkward as the phrases, that the
thought was rooted I'm a fundamental
misconception of the state and Of the
political life Of peoples And 1t has
been n portion Of my effort TO dis
engage the thought of American uni
yerslty teachers from the misguided
instruction which they had received
on this side Of the sea. Their Ameri-
can spirit anticipated most Of them.
as a matter of course, but the form
of thought sometimes misled them.
They speak too often of the state as a
thing which would ignore the indlvid-
ual, as thing which was privileged
to dominate the fortune of men lay a
sort of inherent and sacred author.
ity.
Now. as an utter democrat. ! have
never been able TO accept that view of
the erAte. MY view of the state Is
that it must stop and listen to what
| have to say. no matter how humble
am, and that each man has the
right to have his voice heard and his
counsel needed In SO far as II Is
worthy of him.
II have always been among those
who believe that the greatest freedom
Of speech is the greatest safety, be
cause II man is fool, the best
thing to do is to encourage him 10
advertise the fact by speaking. II
cannot be SO easily discovered IL you
allow him TO remain silent and look
wise. but II YOU let him speak the
secret is out and the world knows
that he is Il fool,
$50 1t is by exposure of folly that
ii is defeated. not- hy the sec)usiou
Of folly, and In this free air of free
speech men get into that sort of com
munication with one another, which
constitutes the basis of all common
achievements France. through many
vicissitudes. and through many bitter
experiences. found the way tn thi.
sort of freedom, and now She stands
al the front Of the world ms the rep
resentative of constitutional liberty"