The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-03-05


self for one moment to slacken In my
effort TO he worthy Of them and of
their cause? (Applause) What I
said at the opening said with a deep
er meaning than perhaps you have
caught; ! do not mean to come back
until it's over over there tapplausel.
and Ii must not be over until the ma
tions of the world are assured of the
permanency of peace. tApplause.)
| Get In Communication.
Gentlemen on this side of the
, port and energy of great organiza-
! tton such as is supplied by the league
water would be very much profted
! by getting into communication with
some gentlemen on the other side ct
! The water tApplause). We some-
times think. my fellow citizens, thar
I the experienced statesmen of the Eu-
| ropcan nations are an unusually hard
! headed set of men by which we gem
orally mean, although We do not ad-
/ tied upon an ideal basis. Well, |
/ NIT It. that they are a bit cynical:
{ do not believe that things can be set
/ that they say this is ii very peculiar
/ wohld by which you mean always
/ that 1t is not an ideal world; that they
never came into intimate contact with
/ them before but IL they used to be
that way, they are not that way now
! (applause) They have been sub
/ dued If that was once their temper,
| by the awful significance of recent
events and the awful Importance of
! what is to ensue; and there is rot
one of them with whom I have come
| in contact. who does not feel that he
| cannot in conscience return to his
people from Paris unless he has done
his utmost to do something more
than attach his name to a. treaty OF
peace.
Every man in that conference
knows that the treaty Of peace in 1t
self will be imperative, as Mr.. Taft
has said. without this constant sup
of nations. (Applause).
| And men who when ! first went
over were skeptical of the possibilits
of forming a league of nations had
admitted that II we could but form
it. it would be an invaluable instru-
mentality through which to secure the
operation OF the various parts OF the
| treaty. and when that treaty comes
! back gentlemen on this side TX viii
And the covenant not only in it, but
SO many threads OF the treaty tied
| TO the covenant that you cannot dis
sect the covenant from the treaty
without destroying the whole vital
structure fappiause). The structure
league of nations and no man is 60
ing to bring back a cadaver with him
| tapplausel.
Wrong Atmosphere.
Il must say that / have been puz-
Zled ty some or the CRITICISMS met "sgs
the criticisms themselves. i can un-
derstand them perfectly, even when
there was no foundation for them
but by the fact of the criticism,
cannot imagine how these gentlemen
can live and not live in the atmos-
phore OF the world GAughter).
cannot imagine how they can live
and not be in contact with the events
Of their times, and ! particularly can
not imagine how they can he Amer!-
cans tapplause) and set up doctrine
Of careful selhshness, thought out, to
the last detail. / have heard no
counsel OF generosity in their criti-
cism. have heard no constructive
| suggestion. | have heard nothing ex-
! cept will it not be dangerous to us
TO help the world ?"
| 1T would be fatal to US not to
! help 1t. From being what l will ven-
! ture to call the most famous and the
most powerful nation in the world wo
would of n sudden have become tn ,
most contemplate tapplause). So.
! did not need to be told. as have
| been told, that the people Of the
| United States would support this
covenant. / am an American and
knew they would (great applause>.
What a sweet revenge 1t is upon the
world. They laughed at us once. they
/ thought we did not mean our profess
sions Of principle.
| They thought 30 until April OF
1917 1t was hardly credible to them
that we would do more than send a
/ few men over and go through the forms
| of helping and when they saw multi
tudes Fastening across the sea, and saw
what those multitudes were eager to
| do when they got to the other side.
they stood at amaze and said, the
thing is real. this nation Is the friend
/ of amankind as 1t said IL was. lAp-
nlause) The 'enthusiasm, the hope, the
trust. the confidence In the future bred
NV that change of view Is indescrib-
able
take an Individual American and
YOU MAY often fnd him selfish, and con-
fined to his special interests: hut take
the American In the mass and he is
willing to die for an idea. (Applause)
The sweet revenge therefore Is this.
that we believed in righteousness and
now We are ready to make the supreme
sacrifice for 1t. the supreme sacri-
flee of throwing in our fortunes with
the fortunes of men everywhere.
washington's Utteranee.
s'Mr. Taft was speaking of Washing
toms utterance about entanglMg al
llances, and II he win permit me to
say SO. he put exactly the right in
depreciation upon what Washington
said, the Interpretation that Is inevita-
bic If you read what he said. as most
of these gentlemen do not.
And the thing that he lonRed for
was just what we are now about to
supply: An arrangement which will
disentangle all the alliances in the
world. (Applause.)
Nothing eDtangies, nothing en-
fneshes man except selfish com
binatlon with somebody else. Nothing
eutangles a nation. hapers II, binds IT.
except to enter into a combination
with some other nation against the