Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-25

1 wonder II you are half as glad
to see me az I am to see you. 1t
warns my heart to see a great body
Of my fellow citizens again. because
in some respects during the recent
months I have been very lonely in.
deed without your comradeship and
counsel. and I tried at every step
Of the work which fell to me to re.
call what I was sure would be your
counsel with regard to the great
matters which were under con-
s~ideration.
I do not want you to think that
/ have moi been appreciative Of h .
&. extraordinarily generous reception
which was given to me or the other
side, in saying that It. makes me
very happy to get home again. I
do not mean to say that I was not
very deeply touched by the cries
that came from the great crowds on
the other side. But I want to say to
you in all honesty that i felt them
to be 4 call Of greeting to you rather
than TO me.
Welcome Gail Of Comrade
did not feel that the greeting
was personal. ] had in my heart the
overcoming pride Of being your
representative and of receiving the
plaudits of men everywhere, who
felt that your hearts beat with theirs
in the cause Of liberty. There was
no m%istaking the tone in the voices
of those great crowds. 1t was not a
tone of mere generous welcome. 1t
was the calling Of comrade ia COM
rade, the cry that comes from men
who say I'VE have waited for this
day when the friends Of liberty
should come across the sea and
shake hands with us, to see that a
new world was constructed upon a
new basis and foundation Of justice
and right"
1 can't tell you the inspiration
that came from the sentiments that
came out of those simple voices Of
the crowd. And the proudest thing
Il have to report to you is that this
great country Of urs Is trusted
throughout the world.
Council Servant Of People
have not come to report the
proceedings or the results of the
proceedings Of the Peace Confer.
ence; that would be premature. I
can say that I have received very
happy impressions from this on
ference; the impression that while
there are many differences Of judg-
ment. while there are some diver
gencies, there Is nevertheless a COM
mon spirit and a common realixa-
ton of the necessity Of setting up
new standards Of right in the world.
Because the men who are in con-
ference in Paris realize as keenly
as any American can realize that
they are not the masters Of their
people; that they are the servants Of
their people, and that the spirit OF
their people has awakened TO a
new purpose and a new conception
OF their power TO realize that pur.
pose and that no man dare get home
from that conference and report
anything less noble than was OK
pected Of it.
Task q Complex One
The conference seems to you to 20
slowly; from day to day in Paris It
seems to 20 slowly; but I wonder IL
YOU realize the completely OF the
task which 1t has undertaken. IT
seems as IL the settlements Of this
war affect, and affect directly, every
rrAat, and I sometimes think. every
small netion in the world, and no
one decision can p%rudently be made
which Is not properly linked in with
the great series Of other decisions
, which must accompany it and It
must be reckonsd in with the final
result. IL the real quality and char
acter OF that result Is to be properly
judged.
What we are doing Is to hear
the whole case; hear 1t from the
mouths of the men most interested:
+. hear II from those who are officially
commissioned to state 1t; hear the
rival claims; hear the claims that
affect new nationalities, that af-
feet new areas of the world, that
affect new commercial and economic
y connections that have been estab-
Hshed by the great world war
through which we have gone.
No Clean Of Passion
And I have been struck by the
moderateness of those who have
represented national claims. I can
testify that I have nowhere seen
the CLEAN OF passion. I have seen
earnestness. I have seen tears come
I the eyes of men who plead for
downtrodden people whom they
were privileged to speak for; but
/, they were not the tears Of anger,
they were the tears Of ardent hope.
. don't see how ny man can fail
to have been subdued by these
pleas, subdued to this feeling that
he was not there to assert an indi'
viduai judgment Of his own, but to
try to assist the cause of humanity.
And In the midst Of II all every
interest seeks out, first Of all. when
IL reaches Paris, tho representatives
~ ths UIuitsd States. Why? he