The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-09-06
President Wilson s Speech
Arkansas City Today

ing. but il is the spirit OF it, and Amer
lea has never had, aRd I hope. in the
providence Of God. never will have
that spirit fgreat APPLAUSE
To Destroy Autocracy.
And there is no other way to dis
pense with great ornaments except by
the common agreement of the fight
ing nations Of the world And here
is the agreement
They promise disarmament, and
promise to agree upon a plan But
there was something else we wanted
that is accomplished by this treaty
We wanted to destroy autocratic au-
thority everywhere in the world We
wanted to see to it that there was no
place in the world where a small group
Of men could use their fellow citizens
as paWns in a game that there was no
place in the world where a small
group Of men. without consulting their
fellow citizens. could send their fellow
citizens to the battlefield and to death
in accomplishing something dyuastic.
some political plan that had been con-
ceived in private, some object that
had been prepared for by universal
worldwide intrigue That is what we
wanted to accomplish The most
startling thing that developed itself
at the opening of our participation in
this war was not the military prepara-
ton OF Germa ny-ve were familiar
with that. tho we had been dreaming
that she would not use it-but her po-
Htical preparation to find that every
community in the civilized world was
penetrated by her intrigue The Ger
man people did not know that, but it
was known in WiIheImstrasse, where
the central offices of the German gov
eminent were and Wlhelmstrasse was
the master OF the German people; and
this war. my fellow citizens. has
emancipated the German people as
well as the rest OF the world
Minority Must Not Master.
I'VE don't want to see anything ike
that done again. because We know that
democracy will only have TO destroy
that form of government, and If we
don't destroy it now. the job Is still
the great fighting peoples of the
world To see to it that the agrees
sive purposes Of such government can
not be realized, you make it no longer
worth while for little groups Of men
to contrive the downfall of civiliza-
ton in private conference
My fellow citizens, it does not
make any difference what kind of
ma iority govern you, II it is a ma
1ority. And the thing we must see
to is that no minority anywhere mas
tiers the ma jority. That is at the
heart. my fellow citizens. Of the trag-
icaI things that are happening in that
=
and can find no way that is effective
to help mean the great realm Of
Russia
Worse Than the Wflhelmstrasse.
THE men who are now measurably
in control OF the affairs OF Russia
represent nobody but themselves They
have again and again been challenged
to call a constitutional convention
They have again and again been chal-
lenged to prove that they had some
kind OF a mandate even from a single
class Of their fellow citizens And
they dared not attempt it; they have
no mandate from anybody. There are
and there were more than thirty-fogr
men who used 70 control the destinies
Of Europe from Wilhelmstrasse- There
Is closer monopoly OF power in Pc
trCgrad and Moscow than there ever
was in Berlin. and the thing that is
intoierabIe is not that the Russian
people are having their way but that
another group of men more cruel than
the car himself is controlling the
destiuies of that great people And 1
want to say here and now that I am
against the control Of any minority
anywhere
Fears Capitalistfc Monopoly.
search your own economic history
and what have you been uneasy about
were small groups OF capitalists who
were controlling the industry and
therefore the Development Of the
United States Seriously. my fellow citi-
zcns. II that Is 50 land sometimes 1
have feared that it was) We must
break MP that monopoly.
Il am not now saying that there Is
any group of our fellow citizens who
are conscientiously doing anything OF
the kind and I am saying that these
allegations must be proved But IL it
is proved that any class. any group.
anywhere IS without the suffrage of
their fellow citizens in control OF our
affairs then I am with you to destroy
the power of that group We have
got to be frank with ourselves. how
ever If we do not want minority gov
eminent in Germany we must see to
it that we do not have it in the United
States. II you do not want little
groups Of selfish men 10 plot the fu-
ture Of Europe we must not allow lit
tie groups of selfish men to plot the
future Of America ANY man that
speaks for a class must prove that he
also speaks for all his fellow citizens
and for mankind; and then we will
listen to him.
Must Protect the Helpless
Then there was another thing we
wanted TO do. my feIIo1v citizens. that
is done in this document We wanted
to see that helpless people were no
where in the world put at the mercy
OF interruptions enemies and masters
There is one example which is IN the
hearts Of all Of US 1 mean the ez-
ample Of Armenia There was a
Christian people. helpless. at the
mercy Of a Turkish government
which thought it the service of God
to destroy them And at this moment,
my fellow citizens, II Is an open Ques-
ton whether the Armenian people will
not. while we sit here and debate, be
absolutely destroyed When I think
Of words piled on words. OF debate
following debate. when these unspeak-
able things that cannot be handled IN
til the debate Is over. are happening
in these pitiful parts Of the world I