The sun., 1919-09-12


tried to divide this Union and pre-
vent II from being a single nation.
united In a single form of liberty.
For the completion of the work of
those men Is this: That the thing
that they fought to stop shall never
be attempted again.
I call to your minds that we did
not go into this war willingly. / was
In position to know. In the provi-
dence of God the leadership OF this
nation was entrusted to me during
those early years of the war when
we were not In It. / was aware
through many subtle channels Of the
movement of opinion In this country,
and ! know that the thing that this
country chiefly desired, that you here
In the West chiefly desired. the thing
that, OF course, every living woman
had at her heart, was that we should
keep out of the war.
America Forced Into War.
We tried to persuade ourselves that
European business was not our bust
ness We tried to convince ourselves
that no matter what happened on
the other side of the sea no obliga.
ton OF duty rested upon us, and
finally We found the currents OF hui
mainly too strong for us, we found
that a great consciousness was we'll
ing UP In us, because this was not a
local cause. that this was not a strug-
gle which was to be confined to Eu-
rope or confined to Asia, to which 1t
had already spread, but II was some
thing that involved the very fate of
civilization and there was one great
nation In the world that couldn't af-
ford to stay out [Applausel. And
now there are gentlemen opposing
the ratification of this treaty who at
that time tainted the Administration
of the United States that 1t had lost
touch with its International con-
seriousness. The German nation had
no choice whatever as to whether IL
was to go into that war or not-did
not know that It was going into 1t
until Its men were summoned to the
colors,
i remember not once but often
sitting at the Cabinet table in Wash
ington, and 1 asked my colleagues
what their impression Of the opinion
of the country was before we went
into the war, and l remember one
day one OF my colleagues said to me:
Mr.. President, 1 think the people
Of the country would take our advice
and do what you suggested" But 1
said: That Is not what 1 am wait
ing for. II they cannot go in with a
whoop there is no use going in.
don't want them to wait on me.
am waiting on them. ] want to know
what the conscience of this country Is
saying. I want to know what ideas
are arising in the minds of the peo-
pie OF this country with regard to
this war situation"
When thought / heard this voice
1t was then I proposed to the Con-
gress of the United States that we
should include ourselves In the chal-
lenge that Germany was giving to
mankind. And We felt that Germany
knew that there should be a world
mt to live in, but the world is not fit
to live In, my fellow citizens, IL one
great Government Is in a position to
do what the German Government did,
secretly plot war and be in II with
the whole strength of its people, with
out SO much as consulting its own
people. A great war can begin only
by private plotting, because the peo-
pies OF this world are not asleep. as
they used to be. The German ,eople
Is a great educated people. So far
as l have been able TO iear-i they are
Following peaceful pursuits; the bank
ers ana the merchants and the manu-
LECTURERS did not want to 20 into that
war
they have said that they were not
consulted, but the masters of Ger
many were the General Military Stan.
NOT even the members of the Reichs-
Tag were consulted by the General
Military Stan. and it was these men
VINO nearly. brought a complete
cataclysm upon civilization itself
America I'm the Next War.
America has. II may take the
liberty of saying so, a greater in
terest In the prevention of war than
any other nation. America is less
exhausted by war-she is not ex-
hausted at all America has paid for
the war that had gone by less heavily
In proportion to her wealth than other
nations. America still has capital
capital enough for its own Industries
and for the industries of the other
countries that have to build their
industries anew; and the next war
would have ito be paid for in Ameri
can blood and American money.
: The nation of all nations that is
most Interested TO prevent the recur-
renee Of what has already happened
Is the nation which would assuredIv
have to bear the brunt of that great
catastrophe. (Applause.)
Who Is going TO take care OF the
growth OF this nation? Who is going
to shape the accumulation of physi-
cal power of this nation II you choose
to put 1t in that form? Who Is go
ing to change the circumstances that
we largely feed the rest of the world?
VINO Is going to change the circum-
stances that many of our resources
are unique and indispensable? Amer
lea Is going to grow more and more
powerful and the more powerful she
Is the more Inevitable II is that she
should De entrusted with the peace OF
the world. (Applause)
Boston Police Strike a Crime.
1 want to say this. that a strike
OF the policemen of a great city, leav-
ing the city at the mercy of an army
OF mugs. Is a crime against civiliza-
tion. In my judgment the obligation
or policeman ist as sacred and d.
rect as the obligation of a soldier.
He Is public servant, not a private
employee and the whole honor of the
community is In his hands. He has
no right to prefer any private ad-
vantage to the public safety. 1 hone
that lesson will be burned in so that
1t will never again be forgotten, be-
cause the pride OF America is that II
can exercise self-control.