Evening star., 1925-07-04
COOLIDGE URGES OLD World
TO SEEK RENEWED GOOD FAITH
Speaking at Washington Anniversary, President De-
clares Support of america Depends Upon
Policy of Mutual Understanding.


terests in America than any so other
people. That observation was more
profound than its maker could have
realized. Washington had been sent
with a small force, as the emiSSary
of Gov. Dinwiddie of Virginia, to
notify the French that their agsres-
sions in the upper Ohio territory
were occasion of deep concern to the
British colonies and must cease. 1t
was the wish of Washington and his
superiors that the message be deliv-
cred without bringing about any
clash at arms. But events decreed
otherwise, and a skirmish took place
in the wilderness in which a number
of men were killed and wounded,
among them a French officer of some
rank and importance. 1t is deeply
suggestive of the destiny which had
marked Washington that this back
woods brush at arms should have
occasioned the first bloodshed in that
long series of wars which was to
drench the Western World for near
two generations. and did not end un-
til the downfall of Napoleon.
From the day of that clash in the
western forests of Pennsylvania. pre-
cfpitated by the determination of
Washington to execute his mission,
the seven years wan2was a foregone
conclusion. Washington was de-
nounced in France as a murderer, a
man-eating freebooter of the wilds. In
England his boldness and determina-
ton won him a good deal of reputa-
ton. In the Colonies there was much
difference of opinion, for the time be-
ing, whether his course was justified
or had brought the country face to
face with the possibility of dis
astrous struggle.
AT any rate, from that day until
the downfall of Napoleon at Water
loo, there was no peace in either Eu-
rope or America, save for brief periods
which represented little more than
temporary truces. Doubtless that
long and fearful series of conflicts
was inevitable. Whether 1t was or
not, the facts of history show Wash
ington, a youth of %. as the COM
mander whose order proved the torch
to set a world on fire. From that
hour. responsible men in both Britain
and France realized that there could
be no lasting peace until those coun-
tries had fought the duel which
should determine the supremacy of
one or the other in the New World.
There was not room for both.
Kindled Many Fires.
the establishment of British domina-
ton in North America. A little later
came the American Revolution, the
French Revolution and the Napoleonic
wars. One can but wonder what
might have been the reflections of
Washington. If he could have imagin-
ed on that July morning of 1854, when
he resolved that he must fight, If he
could have known the train of events
that would follow upon his determina-
ton. But such conjecture is of little
value. To us there is more of i'm
mediate interest in the curious CO.
incidence that the skirmish for pos
session of Fort Necessity took place
on July 8, 1854, exactly 81 years be-
fore the day when Washington in this
place assumed command of the Cont
mental Army.
And those 81 years, as Washington
lived them, constituted a fitting pro-
baton for the career that awaited
him. The echoes of the little bat
tie of Fort Necessity reverberated
throughout the American Colonies and
the European courts as If 1t had been
an engagement Of Titans. Its political
effects were tremendous. 1t made
Washington a marked man through.
out the colonies and give him a real
European reputation.
His part in the Braddock expedf-
ton, though vastly better known,
probably had less effect in forming
his character or directing his career
than his expedition to Fort Necessity.
Nevertheless, his reputation was fur
ther increased by his conduct in the
Braddock campaign. But that heroic
episode was followed by a long and
disappointing experience as head of
the Virginia forces defending the
western frontier. He saw little of
satisfying service during this period.
But he learned the supreme impor-
tance of organization and preparation
in connection with military opera
tions. In the end it was his privi-
lege to lead his Virginians to the oc-
cupation of Fort Pitt, when it was
finally surrendered by the French.
But the real campaign for control of
the Ohio Valley was made from the
north by Gen. Wolfe on the Plains of
Abraham rather, than from Virginia,
and Washington found his part in 1t
small.
Was Man of Wisdom
Not only the Braddock campaign of
1855, but his earlier operations, both
diplomatic and military, on the upper
Ohio, marked him as a man of eau
ton, sagacity and wisdom in plan
ming and conducting military opera
tons. At the same time they showed
him, as the intrepid and fearless fight
ing soldier in the hours of action
One thing that Washington learned
during the French War must have
contributed greatly to form his opin-
ions about relations between Britain
and the Colonies. He was brought to
realize that the form Of colonial gov
ernment, with which bitter expert
ence made him so familiar, could not
long satisfy the people of the larger,
weather. and fast-growing Colonies.
With Washington, the idea of sub
stantial freedom long preceded that
of independence. Like most of the
colonial youth, he hoped that a more
enlightened policy in London and a
more sympathetic execution of it by
the royal governors might compose
the growing differences. During the
troublous epoch between the French
War and the Revolution he thought
deeply of these matters, and his cor
respondence gives evidence of the
growing impression that a contest
must come. He followed the develop
ment of events in Massachusetts, with
a close and understanding concern.
His writings and occasional public
pronouncements during this period
show him acutely anxious that the
Colonies should present a united front
when the test came. One in his po-
sition of leadership, authority and in
dependent fortune, living as a Vir-
ginia gentleman, might easily enough
have felt that the troubles of the
Massachusetts Bay colony had small
concern for him. High churchman,
conformist in most things, enjoying
excellent repute in England and with
English officials In America, his in
f1uence might logically enough have
been thrown to the royalists. Yet, as
early as the Spring of 1869, he wrote