The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-08-10

The other half is not won yet. To
 the cry of the French at Nerdun;
 They shall not pass,' the cheer of our own men in the Argonne, We shnll go through'-we must add \ this. 1t shall not occur again , This is the positive declaration of our wills; that the world shall be saved from n repetition of tkis crime.
 ITO this end the democratic party off, | ters a treaty of peace which, to make | it a real treaty for a real peace must | include a League of Nations; because this peace treaty, if our pest and bray est are not to have died in vain, must | be no tGnly disguised armistice de- vised by cynical statesmen to mask their preparations for renewal of greed-inspired cenquests later on. Peace must mean peacethat will last. [ A practical, work ble, permanent! en- | forcible kind of a peace that will hold as tightly as the business contracts of | the individual. We must indeed be, above all things. business-like and practical in this peace treaty making | business of ours. The League of Nit- 1 tions is practical solution of prac- ! tical situation. It is no more perfect 1 than our original constitution. which has been amended eighteen times and 1 will soon, we hope. be amended the l nineteenth. was perfect. It is not antl- national it is anti-war. No super nation, binding us to the decisions of l its tribunals. is suggested. but the | method and machinery by which the 1 opinion of civilization may become et- fective against those who seek war is at least within the reach of hu manity Through it we may with nearly every other duly constituted government in the whole world throw our moral force and our potential DOW CT into the scale of peace. That such an object should be contrary to Ameri can policy is unthinkable; but if there be any citizen who has honest fears that it may be perverted from its plain intent so as to conflict with our established form of government. it will
 be simple to declare to him and to the other nations that the constitution
 of the United States is in every way supreme. There must be no equivocs- : l tion, no vagueness, no doubt dealing l with the people on this issue. The l league will not die. An idea does not die which meets the call of the hearts T of our mothers.
 | MUTUAL CONSENT
 "So, tco, with peace. War may be | deciared.' peace cannot. It must be established by mutual consent, by meeting of the minds of the parties in
 int crest. From the practical point of
 d
 Congress is unavoidable. From the
 point of view of the millions of splen-
 did Americans whom served in that l whirlwind of war, and of those other
 millions at home who saw, in our
 part of the conflict, the splendid hopa
 of days of peace for future genera
 tions, a peace by resolution of Con-
 gress is an insult and a denial Of our
 national purpose.
 "Today we are offered seat at
 the table of the family of nations to the end that smaller peoples
 may be truly safe to work out their own destiny, to the end that the II sword shall not follow on the heels
 of the merchant, to the end that the burden or incre9sinE armies
 nnd navfes shall be lifted from the
 shoulders of n world already stag gering under the weight of taxa ton. We shall take that place. say so because I have faith-fafth l that this nation has no selfish des-
 tiny. faith that our people are
 looking into the years beyond for
 better things, and that they are
 not afraid to do their part. "The fundamental outlook on the as l sociations between this republic ant
 the other nations can never be yer, l different in character from the princi | ples which one applies to our owi purely internal affairs. A man wh' opposes concrete reforms and improve i ments in international relations Is O necessity a reactionary. or at least conservative in viewing his home prob
 lens.
 We can well rejoice in our grea land in our great citizenship brough hither out of many kindreds ant tongues, but to fulfill our true destin, we must be glad also for the opportun | ity for greater service. So much call
 to us for action, and the need is s' : | pressing that the stacker of peace IS greater menace than the stacker O war. Progress will come not through
 the takers, but through the doers. SOLEMN PLEDGE
 Tt is for this reason that am es , pecially happy in the pledges given il
 the platform of the democratic party That document is definite. It is , solemn pledge that. given the author s ity. our party will accomplish clea
 aims.
 Among the most pressing of thes } national needs I place the bettering O , our citizenship, the extension of teach ing to over 5.000,000 of our population l above the age of ten who are ilhterate
 the streng gth ening of our immigration laws to exclude the physically an' morally unfit. the improvement o , working conditions especially, in tn \ lcongested centers. the extension 0 1 communications to make rural lit more attractive the further protection
 of child life and of women in industry All of these demand action. If we rais , the standard of education. of physica , | fitness, of moral sense, the generation to come will have no difficulty in cop ling with the problems of materia
 economies.
 "So also with regard to the furthe
 development of our natural resource
 we offer a constructive and definit
 objective.
 We begin to appreciate that as
 nation we have been wasteful of ou
 opportunities. We need not merel. thrift by saving. but thrift by tn
 proper use of what we have at hand
 Our efforts in the past have been scat
 tered. It is now time to undertake ' well considered co-ordinated plan o development, so that each year will se progress along definite lines. The daA of pork barrel legislation are over Every dollar of our expenditures fo port facilities. for inland waterways
 for flood control, for the reclamation of swamp and arid lands. for highways for public buildings. shall be expendet only by trained men in accordance with a continuing plan.
 The golden rule of the true pubii servant is to give to his work the sam,