The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1921-04-13
ABSTRACT SPEECH OF HOMER CUMMINGS
AT THE JEFFERSON DAY BANQUET, MONDAY

When the great founder Of the Dem
ocratic party drafted the Declaration OF
Independence there We're released upon
this continent, forces which ultimately
made America free. When at the close
OF the Great War Woodrow Wilson, CO.
operating with the representatives OF
the dominant governments OF the world,
formulated the covenant OF the League
of Nations, there We're put in motion
forces, destined ultimately TO set the
whole world free.
Men talk of failure" and speak Of
the tragedy that is supposed to reside
in the fact that all the high hopes that
hung upon the Paris Conference have
not been realized. The word failure"
cannot be applied to any project which
has for its purpose the establishment
OF permanent peace or to any man VINO
labors in its support. Merely to under
take such 4 plan, to formulate its terms
TO give it to the world is triumph for
the ages; and TO secure the adherence
of the forty nations that recently gath
cred about the Peace Table at Geneva,
marks the farthest advance of states
manship in the history Of the human
race. An achievement of this character
is beyond the reach of critics for 1t is
in accord with the Divine purpose itself.
Failure" is a term properly applicable
to those who, at the most critical mo-
ment of the worlds history, used their
power and the weapons forged by sedi-
Ia ~ l.al4 "
the realization Of the worlds hope.
No matter what else may be said OF
the campaign of 1920, this always must
be said-the Democratic Party did not
dip the flag. 1t fought the good fight;
| 1t kept the faith; and, in the light or
events, faces the future with undimin-
| ished courage, proud of its achieve
ments, confident OF the verdict of his
tory and serene in the knowledge that
it will be asked again to take the man
agement of the great affairs Of our
country.
Today, though crowned with power,
the Republican Party has neither pro-
gram nor settled policy. The Secretary
Of State, in dealing with Mexico and
China, in discussing the cable lines az
Yap, in considering the Russian stu
alton, and the Colombian Treaty and
in presenting American contentious
relative 10 Mesopotamia, speaks the
language and proclaims the policies OF
his Democratic predecessor. 1t was said
that all the Wilson policies would be
repudiated and that there would be
established a separate peace with Ger
many as soon as Republican Congress
could pass the law and Republican
President could sign it. This was CON
venient propaganda for the purpose OF
a campaign: but responsibility has had
a SOLDERING effect, and such course
now appears to Republican leaders as
inconsistent with American honor. Each
advancing hour furnishes new proof ol
the soundness of the Democratic posi-
ton.
In our dealings with the tariff ques
ton, We understood what Republican
leaders are so loath to learn, that ma
ton cannot sell without buying; that
foreign and domestic commerce are not
different things, but only different as
poets OF the same thing; that foreign
business begets domestic enterprise ana
that America cannot prosper without
export markets for wheat, cotton, cop
per and manufactured goods. The en-
actment of Child Labor Legislation, the
passage of the Clayton act and the estab'
lishment of the Farm Loan Banks in
dicated the spirit behind the legislative
purposes of the Democratic Admins
tration; while the creation Of the Fed
eral Reserve System gave to our coun'
try an economic soundness which il has
never possessed under Republican ruiz
and which enabled us to withstand sue
cessfully the enormous financial stralf
Of the Great War.
II was the craftsmanship of Woodrow
Wilson that drove a wedge between the
armies Of the Central Powers. 1t wa:
American initiative that secured unified
command of the Allied armies and broke
up the U-boat warfare. When the tim'
came to lay down the terms of the arm
istice, 1t was the American Presiden
who dictated the terms. The pen o
Woodrow Wilson was mighter than tn,
sword of Prussia.
say to you, in all solemnity, tina
American power, prestige, honor AM
craftsmanship have never, in the entr'
history OF our country, reached tn
heights that they did under the leader
ship of Woodrow Wilson. America ha'
1t in her power, not only to be the mora
leader OF the world; but the materia
leader Of a new world fashioned in tn
moulds Of peace. This was the suprem
moment of our history. our hearts bea
the faster when We realized that 1t ha'
been given TO our country to lead tn
stricken peoples Of the world up fron
the valleys to the higher planes o
, achievement. The hour was ripe for thi
great adventure. The very air was sur
charged with large and generous emo
tions. The time had come to redeem