Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1919-05-16
AMERICANS NOT
DOLLAR CRASERS
President Tells French U. S. Has
High Sense of Humanity
and Justice.
GERMAN IBEa IS ELL E'a0EG
Wilson Says Freedom of Speech Is
Greatest ssfety Because When a
Man Is Fool Best Thing Is
TO Let Him Advertise Fact.

Paris. May l4.-President Wilson,
in his address 10 the French Academy
Of Moral and Political Sciences, Wig.
erously denied Tint the American
people were largely materlalists or
dollar worshipers.
Il have had in recent months one
very deep sense Of privilege" the
president said Il have been keenIy
aware TINT there nave hcen times when
the peoples of Europe have not under.
stood the people of the United States.
We have been too often supposed TO
have been devoted chiefly II not en-
tirely to material enterprises. We have
heen supposed. in the common phrase,
to worship the almighty dollar.
1--WE have accumulated wealth, we
have devoted ourselves TO material en-.
terprises with extraordinary success,
hut there has underlain all of that,
all the time, common sense of hui
manity and common sympathy with
the high principles of justice which
has never grown dim 10 the held even
Of enterprise, and II has been my
very great joy in these recent months
to interpret the people of the United
States 70 the people Of the world.
Il have not done more. have not
uttered in my public capacity my own
private thoughts. I have uttered what
| have known to be the thoughts of
tho ,vraat ,,au,f. ,,,ho,,, I .a,4r,pa,at
have uttered the things That have
been stored up in their hearts and
purpose from the time OF our birth
as nation"
President Wilson alluded to his
studies in the field of political scien &c
and the attempts he had made to
put into the words Of learning the
thought of a nation. the attitude Of n
people toward public affairs He
continued:
"A great many Of my colleagues in
American university life got their
training, even in political science, as
SO maay men in civil circles did. in
German universities | have been
obliged at various times to read
great deal Of bad German. difficult
German, awkward German, and
have been aware that the thought was
as awkward as the phrases that the
thought was rooted in a fundamental
misconception of the state and OF the
political life Of peoples. And II has
been n portion of my effort to dis
~. Al, s.f Il
versity teachers from the misguided
instruction which they had received
on this side of the sea. Their Ameri-
can spirit anticipated most of them.
as matter of course, but the form
of thought sometimes misled them.
They speak too often Of the state az
thing which would ignore the individ
uaI as a thing which was privileged
to dominate the fortune Of men by
sort of inherent and sacred author
i1y
"N0w, as an utter democrat. / have
never been able TO accept that view Of
the state. My view OF the state is
that It must stop and listen to what
/ have to say. no matter how humble
/ am. and that each man has the
right to Save his voice heard and his
counsel hecded in so far as 1t Is
worthy of mm.
ST have always been among those
who believe that the greatest freedom
Of speech is the greatest safety, be-
cause If a man Is a fool, the best
thing to do Is to encourage him to
advertise the fact by speaking. II
be so easily discovered II you
allow him to remain silent and look
wise, but If you let him speak the
secret IL out and the world knows
that he is : s1ol
$50 Is by exposure Of folly that
Il Is defeated, not by the secluslon
of folly, and in this free cir Of free
speech men get into that sort Of com
with one another, which
the basis Of all common
achievement. France, through many
and through many bitter
found the way TO this
SORT of freedom. and now she stands
1t the front Of the world as the rep
Of constitutional liberty"