Evening journal., 1919-07-11

only OF the people OF France, but also
OF tens OF millions OF men and women
throughout all the toiling nations OF
world standing everywhere in peril or
its freedom and OF the loss OF everything
it held dear, In deadly fear that its
bonds were never TO be loosed, It's
hopes forever TO be Knocked and disap-
pointed.
Old Obstacles 10 Face.
and the compulsion OF what they
stood for was upon us who represented
America at the peace table. II was our
duty TO see to it that every decision we
took part in corrOboraied, SO far as we
were able to influence Il, TO quiet the
fears and realize the hopes Of the peo-
pies who had been living in that
shadow, the nations that had come by
our assistance. to their freedom. II was
our duty to do everything that 1t was
within our power TO do to make the
triumph in the assurance OF which men
might everywhere live without fear.
"Old entanglements OF every kind
stood in the way-prOmises which
Governments had made 10 one another
in the days when might and right
were confused and the power OF the
victor was without restraint Engage
ments which contemplated any dispo-
sltlons OF territory, any extensions Of
sovereignty that might seem TO be to
the interest OF those who had the
power 10 insist upon them. had been
entered into without thought OF what
the peoples concerned might wish or
profit by; and these could not always
he honorably brushed aside. II was
not easy 10 graft the new order OF
ideas on the old. and some OF the
fruits OF the grating may. fear, for
time be bitter. But, with very few
exceptions, the men who sat with us
the peace table desired as sincerely as
we did TO get away from the bad IN
fluences. The illegitimate purposes. the
demOralz ng ambitions. The interna-
tlonal councils and expedients out of
which the sinister designs OF Germany
had sprung as a natural growth.
Followed n Points.
1T had been our privilege TO form
ulate the principles which were ac-
copied as the bass OF the peace, but
they had been accepted not because
we had come in TO hasten and assure
the victory and insisted upon them.
but because they were readily acceded
10 as the principles TO which honor
able and enlightened minds every
where had been bred. They spoke the
conscience OF the world. as we'll as
the conscience Of America, and l am
happy 10 pay my tribute Of respect
and gratitude 10 the able forward
looking men with whom 10 was my
privilege 10 cooperate. for their un-
falling spirit OF cooperation, their
constant effort TO accommodate the in
terests they represented TO the prin-
c.ples we were all agreed upon. The
difficulties. which were many, lay IN
the circumstances. not often In the
men. Almost without exception the
men who led had caught the true and
fun vision Of the problem OF peace as
an indivisible whole. a problem. not OF
mere adjustments Of interests, Dut OF
Justice and right action.
"The atmosphere in which the con-
ference worked seemed created, not
bv the ambitions OF strong govern
ments. but by the hopes and aspira-
tions OF small nations and OF peoples
hitherto under bondags TO the power
that victory had shattered and DC
stroyed. Two great empires had been
forced into political bankruptcy and
we were the receivers. Our task was
not only TO make peace with the Cen
trail Empires and remedy the wrongs
their armies had done. The Central
Empires had lived in open violation OF
MANY OF the very rights for which the
war had been fought. dominating alien
peoples over whom they had no nat
ural right to rule, enforcing not obedi-
ence. but veritable bondage. exploiting
those who were weak for the benefit
OF those who were masters and over
lords only by force OF arms. There
could be no peace until the whole
order OF Central Europe was set right.
New Nations Established.
THAT meant that new nations were
10 be created-Poland\ Czecho-Slo-
vakia. Hungary itself. No part OF an
cient Poland had ever, in any true
sense. become a part OF Germany, or Of
Russia. Bohemia was alien in every
thought and hope to the monarchy OF
which she had so long been an arti-
fetal part. and the uneasy partnership
between Austria and Hungary had been
one rather OF interest than OF kinship
and sympathy. The Slavs whom Aus
tria had chosen 10 force into her EN-
pire on the south were wept to their
obedience by nothing but fear Their
hearts were with their kinsmen In the
Balkans. These were all arrangements
OF power, not arrangements OF natural
union or association. It was the i'm
no.. Tive FoeI- ,r fhae. r.-Ho xrrc,,TI L.,
peace and make il intelligently to es-
tablish a new order which would rest
upon the free choice Of peoples rather
than upon the arbitrary authority Of
Hapsburgs or Hohenzollerns.
More than that, great populations
bound by sympathy and actual kin to
Roumania were also linked against
their will TO the conglomerate AustrO-
Hungarian Monarchy or to other alien
sovereignties, and 10 was part of the
task OF peace TO make a new Rou-
mania as well as a new Slavic state
clustering about Serbia.
And no natural frontiers could be
found to these new fields OF adjust
ment and redemption. 10 was neces-
sary to look constantly forward TO
other related tasks. The German col
onies were TO be disposed or They
had not been governed: they had been
exploited merely, without thought Of
the interests or even the ordinary
human rights Of their inhabitants.
Peoples Cried for Release
"The Turkish Empire. moreover. had
fallen apart, as the Austro-Hungarian
had. II had never had any real unity.
10 had been held together only by pitt
less, inhuman force. Its peoples cried