The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-05-12
AMERICANS NOT
DOLLAR WORSHIPPERS
President Wilson Says We Have Com
mon Sense Of Humanity and Sym
pathy with Human
Justice.

Paris, Saturday, May TO-. President
Wilson, in his address to-day TO the
French Academy of Moral and Political
Sciences, strongly diselaimed the idea
that the American people were largely
materialists, or dollar wcrshippers.
81 have had in recent months one very
deep sense Of privilege" the president
said. u have been keenly aware that
there have been times when the people
of Europe haven't understood the people
of the United States. We have been too
conservative. We have been supposed in
the common phrase to worship the al
mighty dollar,
1--WE have accumulated wealth, sir; we
have devoted ourselves to material en-
terprises with extraordinary success, but
there has underlain all of that, all the
time, a common sense of humanity and
common sympathy with the high prin-
ciples 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 Eu-
rope.
Il have not done more sir, / have not
uttered in my public capacity my own
private thoughts. have reiterated what
| have known to be the heights of the
great people whom I represent. / 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 president
made his declaration that the American
people, who came into the world con-
secrated to liberty, were ready to cast
In their lot in common with the lot of
those whose liberty is threatened when
ever the cause OF liberty was seen to be
imperilled.
United States" he continued, "and they
have been privileged to send 100000
men over here to tell you so. II has been
their great privilege not merely to tell
you SO in words, but to tell you so in
men and material-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 the
attempts he had made "to put into the
words of learning the thought of ma
tion, the attitude of people towards
public affairs" He continued:
"A great many of my colleagues in
American university life got their train
ing, even in political science, as so many
men in civil circles did, in German uni
versities. have been obliged at various
times to read great deal of bad Ger
man, difficult German, awkward German,
and / have been aware that there was a
rr5a Nf xfhr thaf he fhastoht
was rooted in a fundamental conception
of peoples. And it has been portion Of
my effort to disengage the thought Of
American university teachers from these
misguided instructions which they had
received on this side OF the sea Their
American spirit anticipated most Of
them as q 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 individual,
as thing which was privileged to DOM
mate the fortune OF men by sort OF in
herent and sacred authority.
Now as an utter democrat, | 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 / am. and
that each man has the right to have his
voice heard and his counsel needed, in so
far as it is worthy of him.
Il have always been among those who
believe that the greatest freedom of
speech was the greatest safety, because
If man is fool the best thing to do is
TO encourage him to advertise the fact
by speaking. 1t cannot be so easily
discovered if You allow him TO remain
silent and look wise, but If you let him
speak the secret is out and the world
knows that he is fool
$50 it is by the exposure of folly that
il is defeated; not by the seclusion of
folly, and in this free air Of free speech
men get into that sort Of communication
with one another which constitutes the
basis OF all common achievement.
France. through many yicissitudes and
through many bitter experiences, found
the way to this sort Of freedom, and now
she stands at the front of the world as
the representative of constitutional lib
erty y