Omaha daily bee., 1919-03-05

in the populations Of Europe is due
entirely to economic causes OF
economic motives; something very
much deeper underlies it all than
that.
Cause of War.
They see that their governments
have never been able to defend
them against intrigue or aggression,
and that there is no force of fore
sight or of prudence in any modem
cabinet to stop war. And, there
fore. they say, there must be some
fundamental cause for this. and the
fundamental cause they are begin
ming to perceive to be that nations
have stood singly or in little jealous
groups against each other, foster
ing prejudice, increasing the dan
ger of war, rather than concerning
measures to prevent it; and that if
there is right in the world, if there
is justice in the world, there is no
reason why nations should be d.
vided in the support of justice.
"They are therefore saying if you
really believe that there is a right,
if you really believe that wars ought
to be stopped, stop thinking about
the rival interests of nations and
think about men and women and
children throughout the world.
Nations are not made to afford
distinction to their rulers by way of
success in the maneuvers of politics;
nations are meant if they are meant
for anything, to make the men and
women and children in them secure
and happy and prosperous and no
nation has the right to set up spe-
cial interests against the interests of
mankind, least of all this great ma
ton which we love.
World Counts on U. S.
ut was set up for the benefit of
mankind; it was set up to illustrate
the highest ideals and to achieve
the highest aspirations of men who
wanted to be free; and the world
the world of today-believes that
and counts on us, and would be
thrown back into the blackness of
despair if we deserted it.
Il have tried once and again, my
fellow citizens, to say to little cir
cles of friends or to larger bodies,
what seems to be the real hope of
the peoples of Europe and tell you
frankly | have not been able to do
so, because when the thought tries
to crowd itself into speech, the pro-
found emotion of the thing is too
much; speech will not carry. l have
felt the tragedy of the hope of those
suffering peoples.
1T is tragedy because it is a hope
which cannot be realized in its per-
lection, and yet / have felt besides
its tragedy. its compulsion, its COM
puision upon every living man to
air every influence that he has to
the utmost to see that as little as
possible of that hope is disappointed.
because if men cannot now, after
this agony of bloody sweat, come to
their self-possession and see how to
regulate the affairs of the world, we
will sink back into a period of strug-
gle in which there will be no hope,
and therefore no mercy. There can
be no mercy where there is no hope,
for why should you spare another
if you yourself expect to perish.
Why should you be pitiful if you
can get no pity? Why should you
be just if upon every hand, you are
put upon?
Learned Lessons From Soldiers.
There is another thing which l
think the critics of this covenant
have not observed. They evidently
have not observed the temper Of
those splendid boys in khaki that
they sent across the seas. ! have
had the proud consciousness of re-
fected glory of those boys because
the constitution made me their COM
mander- in-chief and they have
taught me some lessons. When we
went into the war we went into
it on the basis of declarations,
which it was my privilege to utter,
because / believed them to be an
Interpretation of the purpose and
thought of the people of the United
States.
"And those boys that went over
there with the feeling that they
were secretly bound to the realiza-
ton of those ideals; that they were
not only going over there to beat
Germany; they were not going over
there merely with resentment in
hearts against a particular outlaw
nation; but that they were crossing
those 5000 miles of sea in order. to
show to Europe that the United
States, when it became necessary