The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-27
ONCE FOR AMERICA FIRST.
Warnings by President Wilson Against
Foreign Entanglements.

Harding relative to the beliefs once
held by Woodrow Wilson he quotes the
latter as having expressed himself on
May Q. 1914. as follows:
America should lead her own life. We
cannot form alliances with these who
are not going our way. We need not.
and we should not form alliances with
any nation In the world. These who are
right, these who hold their honor higher
than their advantage. do not need ALI
ance.
II Is possible to supplement this quo
tation with many others enunciated by
Woodrow Wilson in the period prior to
the time that he became obsessed with
the ambition to make himself the Pres
ident of the world I quote few Of
his expressions for the purpose OF prov
ing that he was once an eloquent cham
pion of that type Of Americanism which
he and the followers Of his League of
Nations now denounce. These, extra cts
are taken from the columns OF the New
York Times.
In q speech delivered before the MEM
bers of the Associated Press. New York,
April 80. 1915. President Wilson said:
when say that our whole duty for tho
present. at any rate. Is summed up In
this motto: America First" Let US
think OF America before we think OF
Europe.
In a speech addressed to the Daugh-
tiers Of the American Revolution in
Washington on April 81, 1915, Presi-
dent Wilson said;
America forgets what she was born
for when she does exactly the way every
other nation does-when she loses her
recollection OF her main object. as some
times other nations do and sometimes
perhaps she has done. in pursuing some
immediate and transitory object.
In his speech at Long Branch, N. j..
September 8, 1916. President Wilson
made this significant statement In ac-
oepting his party's denomination for the
Presidency:
We have been neutral, not only because
II was the fixed and traditional policy
of the United States to stand aloof from
the policies of Europe, but because we
had no part either of action of policy
in tho influences which brought on the
present war.
In campaign speech delivered in
Milwaukee on February /, 1916, Presi-
dent Wilson said:
Some men seem to have forgotten that
there is no precedent In American history
for action OF aggression on the part OF the
United States. or for any action which
will indicate that America Is seeking to
connect herself with controversies on the
other side of the water.
In campaign speech delivered in
Des Moines. February 2. 1916, President
Wilson said:
There arc actually men In the United
States who are preaching war, who are
preaching the duty of the United States to
do what It would never do before-seek
entanglements In the controversies which
have arisen on the other side of the
water, abandon fits habitual and deliberate
policy and deliberately engage in the
conflict which is now engulfing the rest
OF the world. / do not know what the
standards OF citizenship of these gentle
men may be. only know that /, for
one. cannot subscribe to these standards.
In this same speech Woodrow Wilson
said:
No voice has ever come TO any public
man more audibly, more Enthusiastically,
than the voice OF this great people has
come to me, bearing this impressive
lesson: I'VE are counting on you TO
keep this country out of war" And I
call you TO witness. my fellow country
men. that have spent every thought
! and energy that has been vouchsafed
! me in order 10 keep this country out of
war.
The above quotations should serve to
prove conclusively that there was a time
when Woodrow Wilson subscribed to
the policies enunciated by Washington
and Endorsed by jefferson and other
| founders of the Democratic party
These statements are in glaring con-
tradiction to everything which Woodrow
Wilson and his deluded followers now
advance as arguments In favor of the
participation of the United States In the
Wilsonian conception of a league OF
nations.
The opinion which Woodrow Wilson
held concerning the motives which con-
trolled the nations which had allied
themselves against Germany is best in
dicated In what he said while he was
using every influence In his power ia
keep the United States from assisting
Great Britain, france. Belgium and
Italy in their struggle to make the
world safe for democracy" In an ad-
dress before the National Press Club In
Washington, May II. 1916. President
Wilson said:
There are two reasons why tho chief
wish Of America Is for peace. One Is
that they lovo peace and have nothing
to do with the present quarrel. and the
other Is that they believe tho present
quarrel has carried those engaged in Il
80 far that they cannot be held to or
binary standards OF responsibility, and
that. therefore. as some men have ex-
pressed II 20 me, since tho rest OF the
world Is mad, why should we not refuse
to have anything TO do with the rest OF
the world m the ordinary channels OF
action7 Why not let the storm pass, and
thou, when n is all over. have the reck-
oning7
/ In his annual message TO Congress
delivered on September 0. 1914. Presi.
dent Wilson said:
More than this. proposed at this time.
permit mo to say, would mean merely
that we had lost our self-possession, that
we had been thrown off our balance by
n war with which we havs nothing 20
do whose causes cannot touch US. whose
very existence affords US opportunities
for friendship and disinterested service
which should make us ashamed OF any
thought OF hostility or fearful prepare
ton for trouble.
In an address to the convention OF