Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-02-24
Wilson'S Address

Wilson'S Address
Continued from Page ~
most stuck-up nsen in. the world. And
1T has been an infinite pleasure to me
to see those gAllant soldiers of ours.
ed States made me the proud COM
mander. You may. be proud of the
26th division,s but I commanded the
18th division and see what they. did
under my direction. And everybody
praises the American soldier with the
subtracting from the credit Of no one
"I have been searching for the
fundamental fact that converted Eu-
rope to believe in us. Before this war
Europe did not believe in us as she
throughout the first three years OF
the war. She seems really to have be-
lieved hat we were holding off be-
cause we thought We could make
more by staying out than by going
in. And all Of a sudden. in a short 1S
months the whole verdict is reversed.
There q be but n explanation
without making a single claim we put
all our men and all our means at the
disposal Of those who were fighting
for their homes, in the first instance.
but for a cause the cause Of human
rights and justice, and that We went
claims, but. to support the great
cause which they held in common.
And when they saw that America
not only held ideals. but acted ideals.
they were converted to America and
became Arm partisans of those ideals.
HY nat a 0p4,pr tnf ooho1ovo uyhan r
was in Paris. some gentlemen from
one Of the Greek universities who
had come to see me and in whose
presence, OF rather in the presence
of those traditions of learning, I felt
very young indeed: I told them that
' nss tS an Sometimes sa eas dei eo n to 1e a
man. All MY life I had heard men
speak with asort Of condescension Of
ideals and of 'idealists and particular
ly those separated, encloistered per-
,, sons whom they choose to term
! academic, who were in the habit OF
uttering ideals in the free atmosphere
when they clash with nobody in par
And I said I have had this sweet
revenge.
, !, speaking with perfect franknes.
> in the name Of the people of the
United States I have uttered as the
i objects Of this great war ideals and
= nothing but ideals and the war has
0 been won by that inspiration. Men
were fighting with tense muscle and
lowered head until they came to real
five those things. feeling they were
fighting for their lives and their couns
= try, and when these accents Of what
it was all about reached them from
America, they lifted their Heads
raised their. eyes to Heaven, wher
they saw men, in khaki coming across
y the sea in the spirit Of crusaders. ant
they found that these were strangt
: men. reckless Of. danger not only. bu'
reckless because they seemed to SCI
o something that made that danger
y worth while. Men have testified t.
me in Europe that our me were pos
g sessed by something that they coult
1t were not like any of the other sol
diers. They had a vision. they had
81 dream and they were fighting in thu
dream, and fighting in they dream
n they turned the whole tide of battle
IS and it never came back"
g Zone Of our American humorist
d meeting the criticism that American
g enoush,zsaldES ~ ~ts1ees only half a
ot long TO f4rain#ankAnierican soldier a
any other because vol only have t
train him n way, and he did, onl.
lgo one way and ia enever came >bacl
funtil he could do it when he pleased
And now do you realize that thi
confidence we have established
throughout the world imposes
burden on us-if you choose to call
a burden. 1t is one of those burden
81 which any nation ought to be prou'
y. to carry. Any maj who resists tn
present tides that run in tn
ee world will find himself throw
upon a shore 10 high and barre
= that it will seem as If he had bee,
separated from his human kind for
ever.
. "The Europe that I left the othe
day full Of something that it ha
never felt fill its heart so full before
1t vas full Of hope. The Europe Q
the secon year. Of the war, the Flu
rope of the third year of the war wa
peratien. They did not see any gres
thing to be achieved even when tn
war should be won. They hoped Their
would be some salvage; they hope
that they could clear their <territorie
of invading armies; they hoped the
could set up their homes and sta,
!, thought it would simply be the re
sumption Of the old life that Europ
has led-led in fear, led in anxiet.
led in constant suspicious watchfu'
ness. They never dreamed that 4
would be a Europe Of settled peac
= and justified hope. 4
And now these ideals hav
!, wrought this new magic, that all. til
peoples OF Europe are bouyed up an
confident in the spirit Of hope becaus
they believe that we are at the ey
of a new g in the world when ns
tons will understand n another
when nations will support n anotl
er in every just cause. when natior
will unite every moral and ever
, physical strength. see that the rigi
shall prevail.
IF America were at this junctio
to fail the world what, would come
! It? do not mean any disrespect
!. any other great people when I SO
; that America is the hope of tt
world; and If she does not justify tn,
I fhope the results are unthinkabl
Men will be thrown back on the hi
~terness of disappointment not onl
but the bitterness Of despair. A
nations will be sent up as a hosti
camp again: the men at the peat
conference will 60 home with the
heads IN their breasts, knowing thu
they have failed-for they were hi,
den not to come home from there III