Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1919-09-05

II mean partisan politics has no place
my fellow citizens, in the subjects tha
we are now obliged to discuss and t,
decide. Politics in the wider sense has
a great deal to do with 1.-THE politics o
the world, the policy OF mankind, tn,
concert of the methods by which tn,
world is to be bettered, that concort o.
will and of action which will make ev
| cry nation nobler instrument of dl
vine providence. That is world poll
ties
~ have sometimes heard gentlemen
discussing the questions that are nov
before US with dinstinction drawn be
tween nationalism and internatoinalisn
lin these matters. 1t is very difficul
for me to follow their distinction. TIL,
greatest nationalist is the man VIII,
wants his nation to be the greatest ma
ton, and the greatest nation is the ma
tion which penetrates to the heart of itl
beauty and admiration among the ma
tions of the world.
With every flash of insight into the
great politics of mankind the nation
that has that vision is lifted up to q
place Of influence and power which il
cannot get by armies, which it cannot
get by commercial rivalry, which it can
get by no other way than that spiritual
leadership which comes from a profound
understanding of the problems Of hui
manity.
cit is in the light of ideas of this sort
that conceive provilege to discuss
the matters that have come away from
Washington to discuss. / have come
away from Washington to discuss them
because, apparently, it is difficult to
discuss them in Washington.
"The whole subject is surrounded
with mists which it is difficult to pene-
trate. I brought home with me from the
other side Of the water great doeu-
ment, great human document, but aft
er you hear it talked about in Washing
ton for a while, you think that it has
just about three or four clauses in IL.
You fancy that it has 6 certain article
10 in it, that 1t has something about
Shantung in it, that has something
about the Monroe doctrine in it, that it
has something about quitting, withdraw
ing from the league, showing that you
do not want to play the game, and l do
not hear about anything else in it.
"Why, my fellow citizens, those are
mere details and incidents of great
humane enterprise and I have sought the
privilege Of telling you what conceive
that humane enterprise to be.
"The war that has just been finished
was no accident. Any man who has fol-
lowed the politics of the world up to the
critical break must have known that
that was the logical outcome Of the pro-
cesses that have preceded it, must have
known that the nations Of the world
were preparing for that very thing and
were expecting it,
that l realized after I go to the other
side of the water was that the mental,
attitude of the French people with re-
gard to the settlement of this war was
largely determined by the fact that for
nearly fifty years they had expected it,
that for, nearly. fifty years they had
dreaded by the exercise of German force
The very thing that had happened and
heir constant theme was: e'We must
lcvise means by which this undesirable
fear will be lifted from our hearts. We
cannot, we will not live another fifty
years under the cloud Of that terror.
"The terror had ben there all the
lime and the war was its consumma-
ion, and it had been expected because
he politics of Europe were based upon
definite conception; that conception
vas that the strong had all the rights
md that all that the weak could enjoy
vas what the strong would permit them
0 enjoy; that no nation had any right
hat could no be assured by the exer-
Use of force; how many of those ele-
nents should be under the influence and !
'ontrol of another set Of nations. One
# the centers of all the bad business
vas in that town of Constantinople. I |
lon't suppose that intrigue was ever
anywhere else reduced to such consum- |
nate art or practice, with such ardor
nd subtlety as in Constantinople, and |
hat was because Constantinople was |
he key to the weak part of Europe;
hat was where the pawns were; not the