The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1919-07-19

accomplished alike for their morale
and their physical safety.
The first. ver-to-be-forgotten ac-
ton at Chateau Thierry had already
taken place Our redoubtable soldiers
and marines had already closed the
gap the enemy had succeeded in open
Ing for their advance upon Paris-had
already turned the tide of battle back
toward the frontiers of France and
begun the rout that was to save Eu-
rope and the world. Thereafter the
Germans were to be always forced
back, back, were never to thrust sue
cessfully forward again. And yet
there was no confident hope.
Put New Heart Into Allies.
The mere sight of our men-of their
vigor, of the confidence that showed
itself in every movement of their stall
wart figures and every turn Of their
swinging march, in their steady COM
pretending eyes and easy discipline,
in the indomitable air that added
spirit to everything they did-made
everyone who saw them that memo
rable day realize that something had
happened that was much more than
mere incident in the fighting, some
thing very different from the mere ar
rival of fresh troops
They were recognized as crusaders,
and as their thousands swelled to mil
lions their strength was seen to mean
salvation. And they were tit men to
carry such a hope and make good the
assurance it forecast. Finer men never
went into battle; and their officers
were worthy of them.
Comrades in Great Cause.
This is not the occasion upon which
to utter a eulogy of the armies Amer
lea sent to France, but perhaps since |
am speaking of their mission, l may
speak also of the pride l shared with
every American who saw Or dealt with
them there. They We're the sort Of
mer merica would wish to be repre-
ser t by, the sort of men every Amer
lean would wish to claim as fellow
countrymen and comrades in a great
cause.
They were terrible in battle, and
gentle and helpful out of it, remember
ing the mothers and the sisters, the
wives and the little children at home.
They were free men under arms, not
forgetting their ideals of duty in the
midst of tasks Of violence. l am proud
TO have had the privilege of being as
ISOLATED with them and of calling my
self their leader.
Hard Task at Peace Table.
And the compulsion of what they
stood for was upon us who represent
ed America at the peace table. 1t was
our duty to see to it that every de-
cision we took part in contributed, so
far as we were able to influence it, to
quiet the fears and realize the hopes
Of the peoples who had been living in
that shadow, the nations that had
come by our assistance to their free
dom. 1t was our duty to do every
thing that 1t was within our power to
do to make the triumph of freedom
assurance of which men might every
where live without fear.
Difficulties Hard to Adjust.
These were not tasks which the
conference looked about to find and
went out Of its way to perform. They
were inseparable from the settlements
of peace. They were thrust upon 1t
by circumstances which could not be
them. In all quarters of the world
old established relationships had been
disturbed or broken and affairs were
at loose ends, needing to be mended
or united again, but could not be made
what they were before. They had to
be set right by applying some uniform
principle Of justice or enlightened ex-
pediency. And they could not be ad-
justed by merely prescribing in q
treaty what should be done.
New states were to be set up which
could not hope to live through their
first period Of weakness without as
sured support by the great nations
that had consented to their creation
and won for them their independence.
Future international conventions
with regard to the control of water
ways, with regard to illicit traffic Of
many kinds, in arms or in deadly
drugs, or with regard to the adjust
ment of many varying international
administrative arrangements could
not be assured IL the treaty were to
provide no permanent common inter-
national agency, IL its execution in
such matters was to be left to the
slow and uncertain processes Of CO.