Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-09-08
POISON SPREADS
TO AMERICA, TOO,
SAYS PRESIDENT

SAYS PRESIDENT |
Des Notaes, Sept s.-.The world is
desperately Ia need Of the settled son
ditions OF peace" said the president,
.Ano Il cannot wait much longer. It
V waiting upon US That il the
thought upon my heart tonteht-that
q world 10 waiting for the verdict
OF the nation to which It looked for
leadership and which 1t thought
would be the last that would ask the
world to wait
The world is not 1t peace. I sup-
ipose that it IL difficult for some one
- a has nct-had some touch OF the
not passion OF the other aide Of tho
sea to realize how all the passions
that have been LAUNDERING for ares
have been uncovered and released by
the tragedy OF this war.
And now all this u realised and
uncovered. and men glare at one an
other and sly Now We are free, and
what shall we do with our freedom?'
What happened in Russia was not
. sudden and accidental thing. The
people OF Russia were mAddened with
tho suppression Of cxartsm- When at
last he chance came to throw off
those chains, they threw them off-at
first with hearts full Of confidence
q hope: and then they found out
that they had been again deceived.
There wa no assembly chosen to
frame q constitution for them; or,
IrathAr. there waa an assembly chosen
to hooee a constitution for them, and
1t wa suppressed and ~dispersed, Ind
= little group OF men Just ~ selfish,
gust a. ruthless, Just ~ pitiless as the
ages of the car himself assumed con-
lSrnI and AVA~A3~AA 49,.
terror and not by rfght
And In other parts Of Europe the
Hpotson spread-the poison Of disorder,
the poison Of revolt, the poison OF
tcnaos. And do you honestly think,
my fellow citixens, that none OF that
poison has got In the veins Of this
free people? Do you not know that
q world IL all low one single whk-
pertng gallery? Those antennae Of
the wireless telegraph are the syn-
bo1s Of our &
All the impulses Of mankind are
thrown out upon the air and reach to
the ends Of the earth: and quietly.
upon steamships, silently under the
cover OF the postal service, with the
tongue of the wireless and the tongue
Of the telegraph. all the suggestions Of
disorder are spread through the
world. And money. coming from no.
body knows where. is deposited by
the millions in capitals like Stockholm
to be used for the propaganda Of dis
order and discomfort and dissolution
throughout the world. and men look
you calmly in the face in America and
say they are for that sort Of revolu-
ito when that sort of revolution means
government by force, not government
By vote.
1T is the negation Of everything
that Is American, but it is spreading:
and 50 long as disorder continues, 90
long as the world is kept waiting for
thea answer to the question Of the kind
OF peace We are going to have and
what kind Of guarantees there are to
be behind that peace, that poison will
steadny spread, more and more rap
IDLY spread. until 1t may be that even
this beloved land Of ours will be dis
tracted and distorted by Il.
That is what IL concerning me, !
my fellow countrymen. I know the
steadtness of the American
people; but, my fellow citizens, the
whole world needs that steadiness,
ana b American people are the
makewelzht in the fortunes Of man.
kind. How long are we going to de-
bate into which scale we viii throw
that magnificent equipoise that be-
longs to US? How long shall we be
Kept waiting for the answer whether
me world may trust us or despise us?
they have looked to US for leadership
They have looked to US for an ex-
ample. They have built their peace
9pon the basis Of u suggestions
That great volume that contains the
Treaty Of peace is. drawn along the
specifications laid down by the Ameri-
can government; and now the world
stands at amaze because the authority
IN America hesitates whether it will
endorse an American document or not
You know what the necessity of
peace Is. Why. my fellow country-
When P there is p peses. e Social sI's ret Snla
can take place only when there Is
peace. The settlement of every
QUESTION that concerns our daily life
waits for peace. I have been receiv-
ing delegations in Washington of men
engaged In the service Of the govern
ment temporarily In the administra-
ton of the railroads, and I have had
to say to them: My friends cannot
tell what the railways can earn until
is restored to its normal
course. Until I can tell what the rail-
roads can earn I cannot tell what the
wages that the railroads can pay will
be. I cannot suggest what the In
crease Of freight aHd passenger rates
will be to meet these increases In
wages. II the rates must be increased.
I cannot tell yet whether 1t will be
necessary to increase the rates or not
and I must ask you to watt
But they r not the only people
that have come to see me. There are
al sorts of adjustments necessary in
this country. I have asked repre-
.sentatives Of capital and labor to
ome to Washington next month and
confer about the fundamental things
OF our life at present. That Is to-
the conditions Of labor.
DO you realize, my fellow citizeuA
that all through the world the one
central question Of civilization Is what
shall be the conditions Of labor? Thel
unrest In Europe is due
to the doubt what shall be the non-
ditions Of labor. and l need not tell
you that that unrest is spreading to
America The treaty Of peace is al
magnificent chart. a great guarantee
that labor shall have the counsels Of
The world devoted to the discussion
OF its conditions and of its better
and labor all over the world is
waiting to know whether America Is
going to take part in those confer
ences or not.
The confidence Of the men who
sat at Paris was such that they put
It in the document that the first meet
ing Of the labor conference under that
part Of the treaty should take placA
In Washington upon the invitation Of
am & ding TO issue that invitation.
whether We eau attend tho conferences
or not.
But think Of tho modification!
Think Of standing by In Warrington
and sec the world take counnelI