Gunnison news-champion., 1919-01-31
PRESIDENT WILSON
AT THE GUILDHALL
The Public:

AT THE GUILDHALL
The Public:
Il IS daily becoming more obvious
that Ar. Wilson's visit to Europe had
dual purpose. Il was not merely
10 ascertain through conferences the
opinion and outlook Of Allied states
men IN the cndcayOT 10 arrive at con
ccrted Judgment; il 'Eas also TO COM
mt these statesmen before their own
people by a s"rics Of significant pub
lie uttsEanccs. From the historic
Gulldha.l authoritative opinion ira
dItIonally flows 70 the British public
All the leadership Of England Is as
-ambI"d on these occasions. Il Is
therefore impossible to oycr-cstimats
III. importance of Mr.. Wilson's speech
% the 2Sth. There is reported dec
!aratIon OF intention on the part Of the
British Government in conformity
with the main lines which Mr. Wilson
Is attempting TO establish for the
Peace Conference. % the s.-mInPly
harmless word: 1T has been delight
ful IN my conferences with the lnad-
crs Of your government TO find how
our minds move along exactly the
same lines. and how our thought was
always tha, the key 70 the psar" was
the guaraRy Of the p-ac" not the
items OF u; that the items would be
worthless unless thcr" stood back Of
them n permanent concert Of power
for their maintenance That is the
most rvassurnE thing that has ever
happened IN the world.
But the speech had another aspect.
Il dared 10 interpret to III" assembled
leaders Of Great Britain the meaning
OF the welcome which the common
people had accorded to Mr. Wilson
What might have been accepted as
mere expression OF the desire, now
puiEing through The people Of every
democratic country, 20 arrive not only
at just, but at permanent peace.
1t begins TO be- understood why Mr.
Wilson went TO Europe. There is more
to be done than 10 settle questions Of
and national rights. There
is more to be done than TO patch up
Il mutIlated Europe. A new construc-
tive piece Of work must cut through
the whole complex of fears and inter
nsts and establish the relations Of men
on a new basis of understanding.
Mr.. Wilson must have gone TO Eu-
rope with the Congress Of Vienna
lcutciy present to his consciousness. .
There all the reactionarles of the Eu-
ropcan states assembled to close the /.
grave Of the French Revolution. A
concert of nations was the result of
hat Conference, too, but il was a con- |
ference animated by the intention to .
icstroy the new conception that had .
seized the world, the rights of men
| he vital human movements are at
irst formleSs and intangible. They
'eat like the sea against the rocks
md walls of institutions and estab-
ished interests. For a governmental
ystem 10 be sufficiently flexible to
'ermit the flow and ebb of any such
movement is all but unthinkable. 1t
5 apprehended merely as a danger to
'e contained and combatcd by a unity
4 all the forces that come out of the
ast.
Here is the real issue of the Peace
Conference. It is significant but not
nexpected that the Allied statesmen
an find no policy in dealing with Rus
ia. They see the revolutionary move
lent flowing in the same general
erms to the submergence of Central
mt even hideous aspect. The horror
f mankind is aroused by the proletar-
IN destruction of what differentiates
Ivilized man from the savages. What
, to be done with it? 1t may be
ought as was the French Revolution,
lso characterized by hideous excess
$. On the other hand it can be robbed
T all its strength by frank recogni-
s.f -l,.t a I
,eaning is simply that henceforth
he working men of the world are not
to be bought and sold
y the people who own things. The
ey to the future, to all peaceful and
arrangement, is not a
reaty signed by statesmen to estab-
sh n concert of power. 1t is the ac-
aptance of industry as subordinate
nd subservient to the needs of men.
he present factory system is form
social organization hardly removed
rom savagery. II working men rise
I'd destroy like savages it is in large
lcasure the result of the system. II
ir. Wilson interprets the real desire
( common people thruout the world,
nd embodies that desire in a new
ystem, the result will be simple but
far-reaching. The real task
$ to humanize industry.
Out of a population of 5000, 900, it
Z alleged that 81 100000 women and
100000 men voted in the recent
ierTnan elections. You can't make us
,clieve any story of that kind. If
here were $4,000, 900 voters there are
close to 100 000. 900 people.
Which again gives color to the asser-
ION made by the French that Ger
many for years had deliberately falsi-
fed her census returns and that there |
were in reality 81 million citizens in
Germany when the war began in
stead Of 6S million, as she claimed. |
This would account for three or four