The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1919-07-15
The President Gives Account Stewardship Before
Crowded Senate Received With Tumutuous Applause,
And Heard With Rapt Attention
GREATER PART OF ADDRESS DEVOTED TO LEAGUE OF NATIONS
Rather Than Verbosy Marked the Composition
of the Address Which Will Go Down History IS One
of the Most Remarkable Documents of Any Ape

the peacetreaty with Germany before
the senate without attempt to explain
dts specific terms. His address, which
required 40 minutes for delivery. was
devoted almost wholly to the league
OF nations
American isolation, the president
said. ended 20 years ago at the close
of the war with Spain. Fear OF Amer
can motives now also had ended he
declared
"There can be no question Of our
oeasing to be a world power said
Mr.. Wilson. The only question is
whether we can refuse the moral lead
ership that is offered US, whether we
shall accept or reject the confidence
o fthe world"
The war and the peace conference
in his opinion, the president said, had
already answered that question, land
nothing but our mistaken action can
alter it."
After the end of the great war.
the president said, every enlightened
judgment demanded that, at whatever
cost OF independent action, every gov
eminent that took thought for its
freedom, should lend itself to a new
purpose and utterly destroy the old
order OF international politics"
Text Of Address.
President Wilson. in presenting the
peace treaty and the league OF ma
tons to the senate, spoke as follows:
Gentlemen OF the Senate:
The treaty OF peace with Germany
was signed at Versailles on the 2Sth
OF June. | avail myself OF the earliest
opportunity to lay the treaty before
you for ratification and to inform you
with regard to the work of the confer
ence by which that treaty was formu-
lated.
The treaty constitutes nothing less
not be possible for me either to sum-
marize or to construe its manifold
provisions in an address which must
OF necessity be something less than
treatise. My services and all the
Information I possess will be at your
disposal and at the disposal OF your
committee on foreign relations at any
time. either informally or in session,
as you may prefer; AMI I hope that
you will not hesitate to make use OF
them. shall at this time, prior to
your own study OF the document at
tempt only a general Characterization
OF IT'S scope and purpose
IN one sense. no doubt, there is no
need that I should report to you what
was attempted and done at Paris
You have been daily cognizant OF
what was going on thereof the prob
lens with which the peace conference
had to deal and OF the difficulty OF
laying down straight lines OF settle
ment anywhere on field on which
the old lines OF international relation
ship. and the new alike followed so
intricate a pattern and were, for the
most part, cut so deep by historical
circumstances which dominated ac-
tion where il would have been best
20 ignore or reverse them. The cross
currents OF politics and OF interest
must have been evident to you. II
would be presuming in me to. attempt
TO explain the questions which arose
or the many diverse elements that en-.
tered into them. shall attempt
something less ambitious than that
and more clearly suggested by my
duty to report to the Congress the
part II seemed necessary for my col
leagues and me to play as the repre-
sentatives OF the government Of tho
United States.
That part was dictated by the role
America had played in the war and
By the expectations that has been
created in the minds OF the peoples
with whom we had associated eur.
selves In that great struggle.
\ The United States entered the war
upon a different footing from every
other nation except our associates on
this side OF the sea. We entered Il.
not because our material interests
were directly threatened or because
fany special treaty obligations TO which
we were parties had been violated.
but only because we saw the suprem-
acy, and even the validity OF right
everywhere put in. jeopardy and free
government likely to be everywhere