The Washington herald., 1919-03-05
Tragedy in Hopes European People
Have Placed in Covenant of League,
Wilson Says in New York Speech

they can live and not be in Contact
with the events OF their times, and
particularly cannot imagine how
they can be Americans (applause)
and set up doctrine of careful
selfishness. thought out to the last
detail i have heard no counsel of
| generosity in their criticism have
heard no constructive suggestion.
| 81 have heard nothing except Will
| 1t not be dangerous to us to help
the world?' II would be fatal to us
not to help it. AppIause.) From
| being what / will venture to call
| the most famous and the most pow
| erful nation in the world we would
| of a sudden have become the most
contemplate. (Applause.)
so. didn't 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 ap-
plause.) What a sweet revenge it
is upon the world. They laughed at
us once, they thought we did not
mean our professions of principle.
Now All Europe Believes.
They thought so until April of 1911
| II was hardly credible to them that
We would do more than send 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 mankind as II said II was ZAP
plausG) The enthusiasm. the hope,
the trust, the confidence in the future
bred by that change of view is inde-
! scribable.
Take an individual American and
you may often find him selfish. and
| confined to his special interests: but
! take the American in the mass and he
| Is willing to die for an idea. Gap
plsuseD The sweet revenge. there
fore, is this, that we Believed in right
! eousness, and now we are ready to
make the supreme sacrifice for 1t. the
supreme sacrifice of throwing in our
fortunes with the fortunes of men ev-
! erywhere.
Mr.. Taft was speaking of Wash
ingtOn's utterance about entangling
| alliances. and IL he will permit me
| to say so, he put the exactly right
| Interpretation upon what Washing
|
inevitable II you read what he said.
as most of these gentlemen do not.
DiisentangIe All Alliances.
And thASthing that he longed
for was just what we are about
to supply: An arrangement which
will disentangle all the alliances in
the world. (Applause.)
Nothing entangles. nothing en-
meshes a man, except selfish COM
bination with somebody else. Moth
ing entangles a nation. hampers II.
binds it. except to enter into a COM
bination with some other nation
aainst the other nations OF the
world. And this great disentanGle-
mcnt of all alliances is now to be
accomplished by this covenant. be-
cause one of the covenants is that
no nation shall enter into any re-
lationship with another nation in
consistent with the covenents of
the league of nations. (Applause.)
All Against wrong Docr.
Nations promise not to have alli-
ances. Nations promise not to make
combinations against each other Ma
tious agree that there shall be but one
combination, and that is the combina-
ton Of all against the wrong doer.
CApplause)
And so I am going back to my task
on the other side with renewed vigOr.
hadn't forgotten what the spirit of
the American people is, but ! have
been immensely refreshed by coming
in contact with it again. I did not
know how good home felt until l got
here. (Applause)
"The only place man can feel at
home is where nothing has to De ex-
plained TO him. daughter and ap-
plauseO Nothing has to be explained
to me in America, least of all the sen
timent of the American people CAD.
plause) mean about great funda =
mental things like this There are
many differences of Judgment as 10
policy-and perfectly legitimate. Some
times profound differences of judg-
ment. but those are not differences of
sentiment. those are not differences Of
purpose, those are not differences of
ideals. And the advantage of not hav-
ing to have anything explained to Won
Is that you recognize a wrong ex-
PLANTATION when you hear IT, Gaugh-
teri
I'm certain rather abandoned
part of the frontier at one time.
| II was SAID they found a man who
told the truth: he was not found
telling it, but he could tell it when
he heard it daughter and appIause>
and 1 think I am in that situation
with regard to some of the criti-
| cisms / have heard. They don't
make any impression on me, be-
cause l know there is no medium
that will transmit them. that the
sentiment of the country is proof
against such narrowness and such
selfishness as that. (Applause), 7
c3mmend these gentlemen to com
} munion with their fellow citizens
Confidence in Future.
What are we to say then. as
to the future? l think, my fellow
citizens, that we can look forward
to 1t with great confidence. I have
heard cheering news since I came
to this side of the water about
the progress that is being made in
I Paris towards discussion and clari-
hcation of a great many difficult
matters; and 1 believe that settle
| ments Will begin to be made rather
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