Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-19
POINCARE'S ADDRESS
TO PEACE CONGRESS
Frances President Adjures Delegates to
Seek Nothing But Justice, Justice With
out Favorites, In Their D Deliberations.

the enormous responsibilities incurred
In the frightful conflict which was
lacerating humanity.
1T was not only to protect itself
from the audaeious aims of German
megalomania that the United States
equipped fleets and created immense
armies. but also and above all, to de-
fend an ideal of liberty over which IT
saw the huge shadow of the imperial
eagle encroaching further every day.
America, the daughter of Europe.
crossed the ocean to rescue her mother
from the humiliation of thraldom and
to save civilization.
Wished to End Greatest Scandal.
'3The American people wished to put
an end to the greatest scandal that
has ever sullied the annals of man
ing prepared in the secrecy of the
chancelleries and the general stats
a mad program of universal dominion,
let loose their packs at the time
fixed by their genius for intrigue and
sounded the horns for the chase, or
dering science cat the very time 1T
was beginning to abolish distances,
to bring men closer together and
make life sweeter) to leave the
x
ing and to place itself submissively
at the service of violence: debasng
the religious idea to the extent of
making God the complaceEt auxiliary
of their passions and the accomplice
of their crimes-in short, counting as
nought the traditions and wills of
peoples, the lives of citizens, the
honor Of women and all those princi-
pies of public and private morality
which we for our part have endeav-
ored to keep una1tered throughout
the war and which neither nations
nor individuals can repudiate or dis
regard with impunity.
Chains Thrown Off.
while the conflict was gradually
extending over the entire surface of
the earth, the clanking of chains was
heard here and there and captive ma
tionalities from the depths of their
age-long jails cried out to us for
help. Yes, more, they escaped to
come to our aid.
Poland came to life again and sent
us troops. The Czeehoslovaks won
their right to independence in ST.
IBERIA. in France and in Italy. The
Jugaslavs, the Armenians. the Syrians
and Levantines, the Arabs. all the
victims, long helpless or resigned, of
the historic deeds of injustice; all
the martyrs of the past. all the out
ragged in conscience. all the strangled
in liberty. viewed the clash of arms
and turned to US as their natural de-
tenders.
Becomes Humanity's Crusade.
''The war gradually attained the full
ness of its first Significance and be-
came in the full sense of the term
crusade of humanity for right. and if
anything can console us, in part, at
least, for the losses we have suffered
it is assuredly the thought that our
victory also is the victory of right.
This victory is complete. fer the enc
my only asked for the armistice to
escape from an irretrievable military
disaster.
FIN the interest of justice and peace
it now rests with you to reap from
this victory its full fruits. In order
to carry out this immense task you
have decided to admit at first only the
allied or associated powers and in
so far as their interests are involved
in the debates. the nations which re-
manned neutral. You have thought
that the terms of peace ought to be
settled among ourselves before they
are communicated to those against
whom we have fought the good fight.
The solidarity which has united us
during the war and has enabled us
to win military success ought to re-
main unimpaired during the negotia-
tions for and after the signing of
the treaty.
Want to Be Assured Peace.
"It is not only the governments
but free peoples who are represented
here. To the test of danger they
have learned to know and help one
another. They want their intimacy
Of yesterday to assure the peace of
tomorrow. Vainly would our enemies
seek to divide US. II they have not
yet renowned their customary
maneuvers, they will soon find that
they are meeting today, as during
the hostilities. homogeneous block
which nothing win be able to disin-
tegrate.
Even before the armistice you
reached that necessary unity under
the aid of the lofty moral and
political truths of which President
Wilson has nobly made himself the
interpreter, and in the light of these
truths you intend to accomplish your
mission.
"Seek Nothing But Justice
"You will, therefore. seek nothing
but justice. justice that has no
favorites. justice IN territorial prob
lens, justice in financial problems,
justice in economic problems. But
Justice is not inert, it does not sub
NIT to injustice. What it demands
first when it has been violated, are
restitution and reparation for the
peoples and individuals who have
been despoiled or maltreated. In
formulating this lawful claim it
obeys neither hatred nor an instinc-
tive or thoughtless desire for re-
prisals. 1t pursues a tw'o-fo1d
object-to render to each his due and
not to encourage crime through leav-
ing it unpublished.
tsWhat justice also demands, in
spired by the same feeling, is the
punishment of the guilty and effective
guarantees against an active return
Of the spirit by which they are
prompted, and it is logical to demand
that these guarantees should be
given, above all, to the nations that
have been and might again be most
exposed to aggression or threat; to
those who have many times stood in
danger Of being submerged by the
periodic tide Of the same invasion.
What justice banishes is the dream
Of conquest and Imperialism, con-
tempt for national will. the arbitrary