Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-02-25

anguish, they were the tears Of ar
dent hope.
"And / don't see how any man
can fail to have been subdued by
these pleas, subdued to this feeling,
that he was not there to assert an
individual judgment Of his own, but
to try to assist the cause OF hui
manity.
"And in the midst of it all every
interest seeks out, first OF all, when
it reaches Paris, the representatives
Of the United States. Whyt Be-
cause, and / think / am stating the
most wonderful fact in history
because there is no nation in Eu-
rope that suspects the motives OF
the United States.
"Was there ever so wonderful a
thing seen beforel Was there ever
SO moving a thing3 Was there
ever any fact that so bound the ma
ton that had won that esteem for
ever to deserve ita 4
Clashed Many Times.
"I would not have you understand
that the great men who represent
the other nations there in confer
ence are disesteemed by those who
know them. Quite the contrary.
But you understand that the ma
tons Of Europe have again and
again clashed with one another in
competitive interest. It is impossi-
HE for men to forget theses sharp
issues that were drawn between
them in times past. 1t is impossi-
Bile for men to believe that all am
billions have all of sudden been
foregone. They remember terri
tory that was coveted; they remem-
Der rights that it was attempted to
extort; they remember political am
billions which it was attempted to
reafize-and while they believe that
men have come into a different
temper, they cannot forget those
things, and so they do not resort
TO one another for a dispassionate
view of the matters in controversy
They resort to that nation which
has won the enivable distinction OF
being regarded as the friend Of
mankind. ..
"Whenever II is desired to send q
small force Of soldiers to occupy a
piece Of territory where it is thought
nobody else will be welcome, they
ask for American soldiers. And
where other soldiers would be look
ed upon with suspicion, and perhaps
met with resistance, the American
soldiers is welcomed with acclaim
| have had so many grounds Tor
pride on the other side of the water
| that / am very thankful that they are
not grounds for personal pride. I'D
be the most stuck up man in the
world. And it has been an infinite
pleasure to me to see these gallant
soldiers of ours, of whom the constr
tuition of the United States made me
the proud commander You may be
proud of the Twenty-sixth division
but / commanded the Twenty-sixth
division and see what they did under
my directionl And everybody prais'
es the American soldier with the
feeling that in praising him he is
subtracting from the credit of no one
else.
Searches for Fundamental.
I have been searching for the fun.
damental fact that converted Europe
to believed in US. Before this wal
Europe did not believe in us as il
does now. 1t did not believe in us
| throughout the first three wears oil
the war. 1t seems really to have
believed that 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 shor'
18 months. the whole verdict is re
versed. There can be but one ex
PLANTATION for it. They saw what we
did-that without making a single
claim we put all our men and all oui
means at the disposal of those who
were fighting for their homes, il
| the first instance, but for cause, tht
cause of human rights and justice
and that we went in not to supper
their national claims, but to supper
the great cause which they hold ii
common.
"And when they saw that Amer
lea not only held ideals, but acteC
ideals, they were converted to Amer
lea and became firm partisans O.
these ideals.
/ met a group of scholars wher
was in Paris-some gentlemen
from one of the Greek universities
who had come to see me, and il
whose presence, or rather in tht
| presence of those traditions of learn
ing, felt very young, indeed.
told them that / had one of the de
lightful revenges that sometimes
comes to a man. All my life
| had heard men speak with a sort o
condescension Of ideals and O
idealists, and particularly those sep
arated, encloistered persons whom
they choose to term academic, who
were in the habit of entertaining
ideals in the free atmosphere wher
they clash with nobody in particular
Won By Inspiration.
"And I said have had this swee
revenge. Speaking with perfec
frankness in the name of the peopi,
of the United States l have uttered
las the objects of this great wa