The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-05-13
SPEAKS
IN JUSTICE TO THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE
ASSOCIATED Press)

Paris, Saturday, May lO.-PreSl-
dent Wilson in his address today to
the French Academy of Moral and
Political Sciences, entered a strong
disclaimer of the idea that the Amer
lean people were largely materialists
of dollar worshippers.
"I have had in recent months one
very deep sense of privilege" the
president said. 81 have been keenly
aware that there have been times
when the people of Europe have noG
understood the people of the United
States. We have been too often sup
posed to have been devoted chiefly
if not entirely to material enterprises.
We have been supposed in the COM
mon phrase, to worship the almighty
dollar.
eve have accumulated wealth, we,
have devoted ourselves to material en-
terprises with extraordinary success,
but there has underlain all of that,
all the time, commonsense of hu-
manity and common sympathy with
the high principles of justice which
has never grown dim in the field even
of enterprise, and it has been my very
great joy in these recent months to
interpret the people of the United
States to the people of the world.
ST have not done more. | have not
uttered in my public capacity my own
private thoughts. have uttered what
have known to be the thoughts of
the great people whom represent. I
have uttered the things that have
been stored up in their hearts and
purpose from the time of our birth as
nation"
1t was at this point that the presi-
dent made his declaration that the
American people who came into the
world consecrated to liberty. were
ready to cast in their lot in common
with the lot of those whose liberty is
threatened whenever the cause of lib
erty was seen to be imperiled.
''This is the spirit of the people of
the United States," he continued,
"and they have been privileged to
send 100000 men over here to tell
you so. 1t has been the great priv
ilege not merely to tell you so in
words, but to tell you so in men and
Eaterial-the pouring out of their
wealth and the offering of their
blood"
President Wilson alluded to his
studies in. the field of political science
and of the attempts he had made 'to
put into the words of learning the
thought of nation, the attitude of
people toward public affairs" He
continued:
"a great many of my colleagues III
American university life got their
training, even in political science, as
so many men in civil circles did, in
German universities. / have been
obliged at various times to read a
great deal of bad German, difficult
German, awkward German, and /
have been aware that the thought was
as awkward as the phrase, that the
thought was rooted in a fundamental
misconception of the state and of the
political life of peoples. And it has
been portion of my effort to disen-
gage the thought of American uni
versity teachers from the misguided
instruction which they had received
on this side of the sea. Their Amer
lean spirit anticipated most of them,
as matter of course, but the form of
the thought sometimes misled them.
They speak too often of the state as
a thing which would ignore the indi-
vidual as thing which was privileged
ta dominate the fortune of men by a
sore of inherent and sacred authority.
"Now as an utter democrat, l have
never been able to accept that view
of the state. My view of the state is
that it must stop and listen to what !
have to say, no matter how humble l
am, and that each man has the right
to have his voice heard and his coun-
sci needed, insofar as it is worthy of
him.
ssI have always been among those
who believe that the greatest freedom
of speech was the greatest safety, be-
cause is a man is a fool the best
thing to do is to encourage him to