Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-03-05

| cause II men cannot now, after this
agony of bloody sweat, come to their
self possession and see how to regu-
late the affairs of the world we will
sink back into a period of struggle
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 IT,
upon every hand, you are put upon?
/ Praises American Soldiers
| There rs another thing which /
! think the critics of TINS covenant
have not observed. They not only
nave not observed the temper of the
world, but they have not even op-
served the temper of those splendid
boys IN khakl that they sent across
the seas. 1 have had the proud con-
seriousness OF the reflected glory OF
those boys, because the constitution
MADE ME their commanders In-cnief
and they have taught me some les
| sons. when We went into the war,
! we went into 1T on the basis OF
| declarations which 1t was my priv
iIege to utter, because l believed
them to be an Interpretation of the
purpose and thought OF the people
OF the United States.
! And these boys went over there
with the feeling that they were sa-
credly bound to the realization OF
| those ideals; that they were not
only going over there to beat Ger
many; they were not gong over
there merely with resentment in
their hearts against a particular
outlaw nation; but that they were
crossing those three thousand miles
of sea in order to show to Europe
that the United States, when 1t be-
came necessary, would go anywhere
| where the rights. of mankind were
| threatened.
Why Enemy Line Broke
"They would not sit still in the
trenches. They would not be re-
strained by the prudence of expert
enced continental commanders. They
thought they had come over there
to do particular thing, and they
were going to do it and do it at
| once. And just as soon as that
rush of spirit as well as rush of
body came in contact with the lines
of the enemy, they began to break,
| and they continued to break until
the end. They continued to break,
my fellow citizens, not merely be-
cause of the physical force of those
lusty youngsters. but because of the
irresistible spiritual force of the
armies of the United States. 1t was
that they felt. 1t was that that
awed them. 1t was that that made
them feel, If these youngsters ever
got a foothold, they could never be
dislodged and therefore every foot
of ground that they won was per-
manently won for the liberty of
mankind.
And do you suppose that having
felt that crusading spirit of these
youngsters, who went over there not
to glorify America but to serve
their fellow men, 1 am going to per-
nit myself for one moment to
slacken in my effort to be worthy
of them and their cause? What
!, ! said at the opening 1 said with a
deeper meaning than perhaps you
have caught: l do mean not to come
back until its over over there and
it must not be over until the ma
tions of the world are assured of the
permanency of peace.
Not Hard Headed
Gentlemen on this side of the
water would be very much profited
by getting into communication with
some gentlemen on the other side
of the water. We sometimes think.
my fellow citizens. that the expert
enced statesmen of the European
nations are an unusually hard head
| ed set of men, by which we gener-
| ally mean, although we do not ad-
NIT it, that they are bit cynical;
that they say. This is a very prae-
tical world by which you always
mean that it is not an ideal world;
that they do not believe that things
can be settled upon an ideal basis.
Well, l never came into intimate
contact with them before, but if
they used to be that way, they are
not. that way now. They have been
| subdued, If that was once their tenn
per, by the awful significance of re-
cent events and the awful impor-
tance of what is to ensue; and
there is not one of them with whom
have come in contact, who does
not feel that he cannot in conscience
return to his people from Paris un-
less he has done his utmost to do
| something more than attach his
name to treaty of peace. Every
man in that conference knows that
the treaty of peace in itself will be
imperative, as Mr.. Taft has said,
without this constant support and
energy of a great organization such
as is supplied by the League of Ma
tions.
And men who. when 1 first went
over there were skeptical of the pos
sibility of forming a League of Ma
tions admitted that if we could but
| form it, it would be an invaluable
instrumentality through which to
secure the operation, of the various
parts of the treaty; and when that
treaty comes back gentlemen on this
side will find the covenant not only
in it, but so many threads of the
treaty tied to the covenant that you
cannot dissect the covenant from
the treaty without destroying the
whole vital structure. The structure
| OF peace will not be vital without
the League of Nations, and no man
Is going to bring back cadaver
with him.
Puzzled by Criticisms
| must say that. l have been
puzzled by some of the criticisms
not by the criticisms themselves; I
can understand them perfectly.
ever when there was no foundation
for them; but by the fact of the
criticism. 1 cannot imagine how
these gentlemen can live and not
live in the atmosphere of the world.
Il cannot imagine how they can
| live and not be in contact with the
events or times. and l particularly
cannot imagine how they can be
Americans and set up a doctrine of
careful selfishness. thought out to
the last detail. I have heard no
| counsel of generosity in their criti-
cism. ! have heard no constructive
1 IrsNar al