The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1919-07-25

VlBOT, VI Tic COuhuCuSc Ihut Sno"S~
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 fit men to
carry such a hope and make good the
assurance 1t 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 eulogy Of the armies Amer
lea sent to France, but perhaps since
am speaking of their mission, may
speak also of the pride shared with
every American who saw or dealt with
them there. They were the sort OF
men America would wish to be repre-
sented by, the sort of men every Amer
lean would wish to claim as fellow
countrymen and comrades IN 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. 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 1t 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, ethe nations that had
come by our assistance to their free
dom. 1t was our duty to do every
thing that it was within our power to
do to make the triumph of freedom
and of right lasting triumph In the
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 it's way to perform. They
were inseparable from the settlements
Of peace. They were thrust upon 1t
by circumstances which could not be
overlooked. The war had created
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 adj
justed by merely prescribing In
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 waite r
ways, with regard to Illicit traffic
many kinds, In arms or In dead
drugs, or with regard to the adjus
ment of many varying information
administrative arrangements cou
not be assured If the treaty were
provide no permanent common Int
national agency, If its execution
such matters was to be left to t
slow and uncertain processes Of
operation by ordinary methods Of
gotiation.
Common Tribunal Necessary.
II the peace conference itself W
to be the end Of cooperative author
and common counsel among the Cd
ernments to which the world was loo
ing to enforce justice and give pledg
of an enduring settlement, regio
like the Saar basin could not be p
under a temporary administrative
CINE which did not involve a transf
Of political sovereignty and viii
a final determination
its political connections by popu
vote to be taken at a distant dat
no free city like Danzig could be G
ated which was under elaborate int