The Benson signal., 1919-01-04
W|LSON'SADDRESS
DELIVERED IN HISTORIC GUILD
HALL IN LONDON.
resident Declares, Amidst Applause,
That Allies Are United to Stop
Wars and Maintain Peace.

London.-The text of President Will
sons speech at the Guild hall Satur-
day afternoon, Dec. 28, is as follows:
"Mr. Lord Mayor: We have come
upon times when ceremonies like this
have a new significance which most
impresses me as l stand here. feel
that distinguished honor has been
conferred upon me by this reception,
and l beg to assure you, sir, and your
associates of my very profound appre-
citation, but / know that l am only
part of what I may call great body
of circumstances.
II do not believe that it was fancy
of welcome uttered in the streets of
this great city and in the streets of
Paris, something more than personal
welcome. 1t seemed to me that /
heard the voice of one people speak
ing to another people and it was a
voice in which one could distinguish
singular combination of emotions.
There was surely there the deep
gratefulness that the fighting was
over. There was the pride that the
fighting had had such a elimination.
There was that sort of gratitude that
the nations engaged had produced
such men as the soldiers of Great
Britain and of the United States and
of France and of Italy-men whose
prowess and achievements they had
witnessed with rising admiration as
they moved from elimination to cul-
mination.
Matters Vet Unfinished.
"But there was something more in
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 in vain.
81 have not yet been to the actual
battlefield, but have been with many
of the men who have fought the bat
ties, and the other day I had the
pleasure of being present at session
of the French Academy when they ad-
mitted Marshal Joffre to their mem
bership That sturdy, serene soldier
stood and uttered, not the words of
triumph, but the simple words Of af-
lection for his soldiers and of convic-
tion with which he summoned up in a
sentence, which | will not try to
accurately quote, but reproduce in its
spirit. 1t was that France must al
he, hot 1,o y, 20
weak could never live free in the
world unless the strong and the great
always put their power and their
strength in the service of right.
Must See That Right Endures.
"That is the afterthought-the
thought that something must be done
now, not only to make the just settle
ments-that of course-but to see that
the settlements remained and were
observed and that honor and justice
prevail in the world And as I have
conversed with the soldiers l 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, balance which was determined
by the unstable equilibrium of COM
petitive interests, balance which was
maintained by jealous watchfulness
and an antagonism of interests which,
though 1t was generally latent, was
| always deep seated.
League to Preserve Peace.
"The men who have fought in this
war have been the men from the free
nations who are determined that that
sort of thing should end now and for
ever. 1t 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-
gestion 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, pow
erful group of nations who shall be
the trustees of the peace of the world.
"It has been delightful in my con-
ferences with the leaders of your gov
ernment to find how our minds moved
along exactly the same line and how
our thought was always that the key
to the peace was the guarantee Of
peace, not the items of it; that the
items would be worthless unless there
stood back of them permanent con-
cert of power for their maintenance
That is the most reassuring thing
that has ever happened in the world.
League Only Theory at First.
"When this war began the thought
of league of nations was indulgently
considered as the thought of closeted
students 1t was thought of as one
Of those things that it was right to