The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1919-03-05
PURPOSE OF
PACT GIVEN
BY WILSON
Receives Ovation in New York as
He Talks on Peace
Conference
PUZZLED BY CRITICISMS
Issue Such That No Party Can
Dare to Oppose, He
Says

Says
New York. Mar. 5.-Expressing con-
fidence that the great majority Of the
American people are heartily in accord
with the plan for a league Of free ma
tions Of the world, President Wilson.
at the Metropolitan opera house last
night made the following address:
my fellow citizens, accept the in
timation of the air just played. ] will
not come back till it's over, over there
And vet pray God, in the interests OF
peace and Of the world, that that may
he soon. .....
The first thing that nm going
to tell the people on the other side
Of the water is that an Overwhelm-
ing ma jority Of the American peo-
pie is in favor Of the league Of
nations. / know that that is true:
| have had unmistakable intima-
tiOns Of it from all parts of the
country, and the voice rings true
in every case. ] count myself for
tunate to speak here under the un-
usual circumstances Of this eve
ming. l am happy to associate
myself with Mr.. Taft in this great
cause. He has displayed an eleva-
tion Of view. and devotion to pub
lie duty which is beyond praise.
Z. NO PARTY DARE OPPOSE
And l am the more happy because
this means that this is, not q party
issue. No party has the right to ap.
a ~ 7vvy1l1
in the long run dare oppose it. ..es
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.
l do not know when have been more
impressed, than by the conferences
of the commission set ur hysgthe econ-
ference Of peace to draw up a. coven.
ant for tho "leagne Of nations. The
representatives Of {. fourteen nations
sat around that hoard--not young
men. not men inexperienced 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 effec-
tive working agreement with regard
tn this league Of the civilized world.
ALL WORK FOR LEAGUE
"Thcrc was a conviction in the whole
impulse: there was conviction Of moro
than ono sort: there was the convic-
tion that this thing ought to be done.
and there was also the conviction that
not a man there would venture to 60
home and say that ne had not tried
to do it.
'ATr. Taft has set the picture for you
of what a failure Of this great purpose
would mean We have been hearing
for all these weary months that this
agony Of war has lasted because OF the
sinister purposes Of the central EN-.
pires 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 Bagdad?
They lay through these very regions
tJ which Mr.. Taft has called your at
tention. but they lay then through unit.
cd empire, the AustrO- Hungarian EN-.
pire whose integrity Germany was
bound to respect as her ally lay in
the path of that line of conquest: the
empire whose interests she
professed to make her own lay in the
direct path that she intended to tread.
WOULD PREVENT INTRIGUE
The Austro-Hungarian empire has
gone to pieces and the Turkish en-
pire has disappeared and the ma
tiOnS that effected that great re-
sult-for ii was a result of libera-
tion-are now responsible rs 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 old poisonous seed
of intrigue could be planted with
the certainty that the crop would
he abundant; and one of the things
that the league Of nations is in
tended to watch is the course of
intrigue. Intrigue cannot stand
publicity, and if the league of ma
tions were nothing but great de-
hating society it would kill in
trigue.
''It is one Of the agreements Of this
covenant that it is the friendly right
of every nation a member of the league
to call attention to anything that it
thinks will disturb the peace Of the
world, no matter where that thing is
occurring.
WOULD HAVE PREVENTED WAR
There is no subject that may touch
the peace Of the world which is ex-
empt from inquiry and discussion. and
l think everybody here present will
agree with me that Germany would
never have gone to war if she had
permitted the world to discuss the ae.
gression upon Serbia for single week.
''The British foreign Office suggest
ed, it pleaded, that there might be .
day or two delay SO that represents
tives of the nations Of Europe could
49,