The Washington times., 1919-07-09

NE" 1Ohh, July u ne lCAI I
President Wilson's speech at earn,
gle Hall yesterday follows:
Fellow countrymen:
II am not going to try this
afternoon to make you a real
speech. / am a bit alarmed to
find how many speeches 1 have
in my system undelivered, but they
are all speeches that come from
the mind, and 1 want to say to
you this afternoon only q few
words from the heart.
"You have made me deeply
happy by the generous welcome
you have extended to me, but I
do not believe that the welcome
you extend to me is half as great
as that which I extend to you.
Why, Jerseyman though 1 am.
this is the first time 1 ever
thought that Hoboken was beau
tiful.
Admits He Was HOmesiek.
81 have really. though 1 have
tried on the other side OF the
water to conceal IT. been the most
homesick man in the American
eXpeditionary force, and ii is with
feelings that IL would be vain
for me to try to express that
find myself in this beloved coun-
try again. do not say that be-
cause 1 lack in admiration OF
other countries.
There have been many things
that softened my homesicknesE.
One Of the chief things that soft
ened II was the very generous
welcome that they extended to
me as your representative on the
other side Of the water. And IL
was still more softened by the
pride that I had in discovering
that America had at last con-
WINGED the world of her true char
acter.
81 was welcome because they
had seen with their own eyes
what America had done for the
world. They had deemed her sell
fsh. They had deemed her de-
voted to material interests. And
they had seen her boys come
across the water with a vision
even more beautiful than that
which they conceived when they
had entertained dreams OF liberty
and peace.
Proud Of American Army.
And then 7 had the pride OF
hnding out by personal observa-
ton Of the kind OF men we had
sent over. had crossed the seas
with the kind OF men who hal
taken them over. without whom
they could not have got to Eu-
rope. 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 saw
These are my fellow country
men
1T softens the homesickness 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-assertively. They did not.
They walked the streets as IL they
knew that they belonged wher-
ever free men lived. that they were
welcome in the great republic Of
France and were comrades with
the other armies that had helped
TO win the great battle and to
show the great sacrifiCe Because
Il is a wonderful thing for this
nation. hitherto isolated from the
large affairs Of the world. 10 win
not only the universal confidence
Of the people OF the world. but
their universal affections
Asked For YankH.
And that. and nothing less than
that. is what has happened. Wher-
ever it was suggested that troops
should be sent and IT was desired
that troops of occupation should
excite no prejudice, no uneasiness
on the part of those TO whom they
were sent. the men who repre-
scented the other nations came to
me and asked me to send Ameri-
can soldiers. They not only i'm
piled, but they said, that the
presence OF American soldiers
would be known not to mean any
thing except friendly protection
and assistance. Do you wonder
that it made our hearts swell with
pride to realize these things?
But while these things in some
degree softened my hOmesickness.
they made me all the more eager
to get home, where the rest Of the
folks live: to get home. where the
great dynamo OF national energy
was situated: to get home, where
the great purposes OF national ac-
ton were formed and to he al
lowed to take part in the counsels
and in the actions which were
formed and to be taken by this