Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-03-05
u. S. BACK OF
SAYS
PRES.WILSON
No Party Dares to Oppose
Plan He Declares in
New York Speech.

New York. March 5.-President
Wilson, speaking last night at the
Metropolitan opera house, defend
ed the league of nations. Mr.. Will
son spoke after former President
Taft had outlined the plans of the
league.
The opera house was jammed
long before MIR. Taft was intro
duced. AS the president and ex-
president came on to the stage
arm in arm the audience rose and
cheered. When Mr.. Wilson rose TO
speak he was Cheered for three
minutes. while the band played II
Won't Come Back TIL It's Over
Over There"
President Wilson'S Speech.
MY fellow citizens" President
Wilson said, Il accept the intima-
ton of the air just played ! will
not come back till it's over over
there And yet I pray God, in the
interests of peace and of the world
that that may be soon.
ne III SI LnluS dAi 6OlbS ~
tell the people on the other side
of the water is that an overwhelm-
ing majority of the American peo-
pie is in favor Of the league OF ma
tions. | know that that is true;
l have had unmistakable intima-
tions of it from all parts of the
country and the voice rings true
in every case.
Il count myself fortunate to
speak here under the unusual cir
cumstances of this evening. ! am
happy to associate myself with Mr.
Taft in this great cause. He has
displayed an elevation OF view and
a devotion to public duty which is
beyond praise
No Party Dare Oppose
And | am the more happy be
cause this means that this is not
a party issue. No party has the
right to appropriate this issue and
no party will in the long run dare
oppose it.
I'VE have listened to so clear
and admirable an exposition Of
many of the main features of the
proposed covenant of the league
Of nations that it is perhaps not
necessary for me to discuss in any
particular way the contents of the
document. | will seek rather to
give you its setting.
Il do not know when | have
been more impressed than by .th.
conferences of the commission set
up by the conference of peace L.
draw up a covenant for the league
Of nations.
Fourteen Nations Agreed.
The Representatives of fourteen
nations sat around that board
not young men, not men inexper-
fenced in the affairs of their own
countries. not men inexperienced
in the politics of the world; and
the inspiring influence of every
meeting was the concurrence OF
purpose on the part of all those
men to come to an agreement and
an effective working agreement
with regard to this league OF the
civilized world.
There was a conviction in the
whole impulse; there was con-
viction of more than one sort;
there was the conviction that this
thing ought to be done, and there
was also the conviction that not a
man there would venture to go
home and say that he had not tried
to do il.
What Failure Means.
"Mr Taft has set the picture for
you of what failure of this great
purpose would mean. We have
been hearing for all these weary
months that this agony @: war has
lasted because of the sinister pur-
poses of the central empires and
we have made maps of the course
that they meant their conquests
to take.
Where did the lines OF that map
lie, of that central line that we
used to call from Bremen to Bag
dad?
They lay through these very
regions to which Mr.. Taft has call
ed your attention. but they lay
then through a united empire the
Germany was bound TO
respect as her ally. lay in the path
of that line of conquest; the Turk
ism empire. whose interests she
professed 20 make her own. lay in
the direct path that she intende
TO tread.
Big Nations Now Responsible.
And now what has happened?
The AustrO-Hungarian empire has
gone TO pieces and the Turkish
empire has disappeared and the
nations that effected that great re
sult-fOr it vas result Of liberia
tion-are now responsible as the
trustees of the assets of those
great nations.
You not only would have weak |
nations lying in this path, but you
would have nations in which that
Did poisonous seed of intrigue
could be planted with the certain
ry that the crop would be abund-
ant: and one Of the things that
ne lea que Of nations In iDtnndei