Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1919-07-11
PRESIDENTS SPEECH IN NEW YORK,

nave in my system undelivercd,
but they are all speeches that come
from the mind, and want to saw to
You this afternoon only a few
words from the heart.
You have made me deeply happy
ny the generous welcome you have
extended TO me, but do not believe
That the welcome you extend to nc
IS half as great as that which l eX-
tend to you. Why, Jerseymen
though I am, this is the first time |
ever thought that Hobokcn was
beautiful.
Il have really, though have tried
On the other side of the water to
conceal it, been the most homesick
man in the American Expeditionary
Force, and it is with feelings that
1T would be vain for me to try to cx-
press that find myself in this be-
loved country again. | do not say
that because | lack in admiration
Of other countries.
There have been many things
that softened my inconsistencies. One
of the chief things that softcned it
Was the generous welcome that they
extended to me as your representa-
tive on the other side of the water.
And it was still more softencd by
the pride that l had in discovering
that America had at last convinced
che world of her true character.
Il was welcome because they had
seen with their own eyes what AM
erica had done for the world. They
bad deemed her selfish. They had
deemed her devoted 10 material in
terests. And they had seen her boys
come across the water with a Wis
Ion even more beautiful than That
which they conceived when they
had entertained dreams of liberty
and peace.
"And then had the added pride
OF finding out by personal observa-
lion the kind of men we had sent
over. | had crossed the seas with
the kind Of men who had taken them
over, without whom they could
not have got to Europe, and then
when got there | saw that army Of
men, that army of clean men, that
army of men devoted to the high
InterestS Of humanity, that army
that one was glad to point out and
say: These are my fellow country
men,
at softcns The inconsistencies a
good deal to have so much Of home
along with you, and these boys were
constantly reminding me Of home
They did not walk the streets like
anybody else. | do not mean that
they walked the streets self-asser.
lively. They did not. They walked
hes irects as if they knew that they
belonged wherever free men lived,
That they were welcome in the great
republic of France and were COM
rades with the other armies that had
helped to win the great battle and TO
show the great sacrifice. Because
1t is q wonderful thing for this ma
ton, hitherto isolated from the
large affairs of the world to win not
only the universal confidence of the
people of the world, but their uni
vcrsal affections.
And that, and nothing less than
that, is what has happened. Wher-
ever it was suggested that troops
should be sent and if desired that
troops Of occupation should excite
TO prejudice, no uneasineSs on The
sent, the men who represented the
Cih"r nations came to me and ask
ed me to send American soldiers.
They not only implied, but they
said, that the presence of American
soldiers would be known not to
mean anything except friendly pro-
lection. Do you wonder that it
made our hearts swell with pride
10 realize these things?
"But while these things i'm some
degree softened my inconsistencies,
they made me all the more eager to
get home, where the rest of the folks
live; 10 get home where the great
dynamo or national energy was sit
nated; to get home where the great
purposes Of national action were
formed, and 10 be allowed TO take
part in the counselS and i'm the ac-
lions which were formed, and to be
taken by this great nation which
from the first TO last has followed
The vision of the men who set it I'D
and created it. We have had our
eyes very close upon our tasks at
times. but whenever we lifted them,
as VIZ were accustomed 10 lift them
"tant horizon, we were aware
that all the peoples of the earth had
turned their faces toward us as
those who were the friends of free
dom and Of right, and whenever we
thought Of national policy and of
its relation upon the affairs of the
world, we knew we were under
bonds to do the large thing ard the
right thing.
II is privilege, therefore, beyond
all computation, for a man, whether