The sun., 1919-09-07
Problem Of Russia.

Problem of Russia.
My fellow citizens, II does not
make any difference what kind OF n
minority governs you. IL It Is a
minority. And the thing we must
see to is that no minority anywhere
masters the majority. That Is at
the heart. my fellow citizens. Of the
tragical things that are happening
in that great country which we long
to help and can find no way that is
effective to help--I mean the great
realm OF Russia. The men who now
are measurably In control of the
AFFAIRS Of Russia represent nobody
but themselves They have again
and again been callenged to call a
constitutional convention. They have
again and again been CHALLENGED to
prove that they had some kind of q
mandate even from a single class of
their fellow citizens. And they dared
not attempt II they have no mandate
from anybody.
There are only thirty-four of them,
i am told, and there were more than
thirty-four men who used 10 control
the destinies of Europe from
Wilhelmstrasse There is a closer
monopoly Of power in Petrograd and
Moscow than there ever was In
Berlin. and the thing that Is intoler-
able is not that the Russian Leople
are having their way but that
another group of men more cruel
than the Gar himself Is controlling
the destinies OF that great people.
And want to say here and now that
l am against the control of any
minority anywhere. Search your own
economic history, and what have you
been uneasy about?
Now and again you have said there
were small groups OF capitalists who
were controlling the industry and
therefore the development of the
United States. Seriously. my fellow
citizens. II that is SO (and I some
times have feared that II was). we
must break up that monopoly. am
not now saying that there Is any
group of our fellow citizens who
are consciously doing anything OF
the kind and I am saying that these
allegations must be proved. But II
II Is proved that any class. any
group anywhere is without the suf-
frage OF their fellow citizens In con-
troll OF our affairs. then am with
you to destroy the power of that
group. We have got to be frank with
ourselves, however.
II we do not want minority gov
eminent in Germany we must see TO
1t that we do not have 1t in the
United States II you do not want
little groups OF selfish men to plot
the future of Europe we must not
allow little 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.
Peril of Armenians.
Then there was another thing we
wanted to do. my fellow 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 INSCRIPTIONS enemies and mas
ters There Is one pitiful example
which is in the hearts of all us. I
mean the example of Armenia. There
was a Christian people. helpless. at
the mercy of a Turkish Government
which thought 1t the service of God
to destroy them. And at this mo-
ment, my fellow citizens. IL Is an
open question whether the Armenian
people will not while we sit here and
debate be absolutely destroyed.
When l think of words piled on
words, of debate following debate.
when these unspeakable things that
cannot be handled until the debate is
over. are happening in these pitiful
parts of the world, wonder that
men do not wake UP to the moral
responsibility of what they are doing.
Great peoples are driven out upon a
desert where there is no food and
can be none, and they are compelled
to die and then men. women and chill
dren thrown into a common grave,
SO imperfectly covered up that here
and there Is a pitiful arm stretched
out to heaven. and there is no pity
in the world. When shall we wake
to the moral responsibility OF this
great occasion?
And so. my fellow citizens, there
are other aspects to that matter.
Not all the populations that are hav-
ing something that Is not a square
deal live In Armenia. There are
others. And one of the glories OF the
great document which brought
back with me is this, that every
where in the area of settlement coy
cred by the political questions in
volved in that treaty, people of that
sort have been given their freedom
and guaranteed their freedom. But
the thing does not end there because
the treaty includes the covenant of
the League OF Nations And what
does that say? That says that It is
the privilege of any member state
to call attention to anything any
where that is likely to disturb the
peace of the world, or the good I'M
Outstanding between nations upon
which the peace of the world de-
Ponds, and every people In the world
that have not got what they think
they ought to have is thereby given
q world forum in which to bring the
thing TO the bar OF mankind.
There never before has been pro-
vided world forum in which the
legitimate grievances of peoples en-
titled TO consideration can be brought
to the common Judgment of man
KIND. And IL were the advocate of
any suppressed or oppressed people
l surely could not ask any better
forum than to stand up before the
world and challenge the other party
70 make good Its excuses for not act
ing in that case.
To Alter Is to Impair.
To reject that treaty, to alter that
treaty, Is to impair one of the first