The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-09-16
Aid to Moral Influence.

case of Ireland in mind. Now, if we are members of the league. we may, i as a friendly nation bring to the at tention of the assembly or the council the case of Ireland. And if and when we do. Ireland has the right which in all her great history she never before has had. She may send her repres- entative and present her case to tribunal. And that tribunal may publish the facts to the world and the great force of public opinion is some thing that no government, no matter how powerful, can long. withstand The great heart of America beats Tn unison and sympathy with the aspira- tions of any people to have a govern ment of their own choosing and the heart of America can and will when legally permitted, and by peaceful methods help every people to eStab- fish their own form of government. And that is something that we, in our IA years of history, could not do in the past unless we went to war against England, and which we cannot do in the future except by war, unless we have the League of Nations. We can then exert a moral influence when, as in the past and now, without the league, we are not permitted to do. I, am convinced that when the League of Nations, with America as a mem- Der, is formed and is functioning, the epitaph of Robert Emmett will at last be written. And I believe that you will join with me in saying, God speed the day.
 This world in it's thousands of years of recorded history has always been saddened by the shadows of war. There never has been a generation in all recorded history that somewhere on this earth a war has not been in progress. And as a continuation came the great war. We seemed to have forgotten since the armistice, the ter of f1PTca But the gold-starred mother, the be- reaved widow, or the orphan, the crippled or the blind are not per- mitted so easily to forget.
 Let me rehearse briefly the gigantic scale upon which that war was waged. Here is the cost in money. exclusive of inter-a1lied loans: Great Britain, 5000, 00O,000; France, $26,000,0O0; United States, 100000 (only figuring the direct cost); Russia, s1S,- and the total including other coun- tries, s123,0oo, 100000. The Central Powers - Germany, $39,000,0 900; Austria Hungary, $21,000, 900, 900; a total of $6s, 900, 900, 900; and a grand total of $186, 100000. Our expen- ditures alone were at the rate of one million dollars an hour; every hour of the "A. for a period of two years.
 Then the deaths: Russia, 1,700,-
  Austria, sOO,OOO; Italy, 364,00O: United States, 50,30O; a total for all the benigerents of 7,450,200 men. It is difficult to visualize these figures. Suppose all the dead of France were to arise and walk across the stage four abreast at the regular military pace. It would take two weeks to pass in review before you.
 Then the wounded: There are no exact figures available, except our own.e The United States had 2sO,O0O, excluding: those who died. So this rate if applied to the other beIhger- ents. would mean over thirty million men wounded. More men were killed in this war than in all the wars from 1793 to 1914; yes, a million and a half more.
 What horrible thought to con- asked if it was not possible for the human mind to devise some means for minimizing the probabilities of war, if indeed 1t was not possible to tical approach to the realization of that happyv and age-old dream is the League of Nations. Its preamble recites its purpose. It says: Tn or der to promote international cooper alton and to achieve international peace and security, by the accept ance of obligations not to resort to war, etc.,
 Not A Super-GOvernment.
 It was not so long ago that man would be considered dishonorab1e and not worthy of the respect and association of xnen if he did not chal- lenge to a duel another man whom he thought had insrrlted him. The duel has been made unfashionable. Nations are but aggrega lions of in dividuals. Cannot the aggregate of men do what the individual man has been compelled, both by law and by public opinion, to do, namely, to fight his battles in a court of justice? And that is all the League of Nations is. It is not a uper-government; it is not magician's wand; it is estab- lfshed for the purpose of bringing peace upon earth: and If after thou an opportunity for peace. let us strive with every fibre of our being to bring it about; and may God in his infinite mercy give us the. grace to succeed. For war is not what it formerly | was. It is not a clash of soldiers merely. War involves every human being in the nations engaged. New York city might have a million | trained soldiers within its borders defending 1t, and yet by the use ot the aeroplane and poisoned gas every | man, women and child in that me. tropolis might be wiped out in hall an hour. And New York is no longer far away from Europe. We trans I lion men, notwithstanding the sub | marine. And we did it in few l months. What has been done can b, done again. AeropIanes have crossed the Atlantic and Improvements art
 constantly being made. War now i
 80 deadly that that alone in sufficien 1 to give men palise before they ente 1 into it
 And aside from the terrible cost il life and limb there is the colossal ex | pense, which has shackled itself upo1
 the world like the old man of the sea | and which will take generations t, pay off. We expended directly an, l indirectly about 40 billion dollars il
 the short time we were engaged il
 the recent conflict. Every man, woman
 and child is paying their share of tha
 expenditure. My friends, out of ever,
 dollar spent by Uncle Sam seven cent
 goes for the ordinary expenses of gov
 ernment, and 94 cents goes for appro
 priations for war purposes, eithe
 past, present or future. This state
 ment excludes the postofice depart
 ment which is self-sustaining I'm
 agfne the reduction of taxes. fmagin
 and visualize the common good tha