Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-15

! WAUSAU. Wis. August 15.--The text
| OF President Coolidge'S address at Tho
| State convention of the American
| Legion today follows:
Members OF the American Legion o!
! Wisconsin:
| 1t is now 10 years since the events
| were taking place which brought youl
/ organization into existence They have
! been years necessarily attended by n
great deal of hardship. but they have
I also been years when the world has
made great deal OF progress. The wal
left the chief nations utterly exhausted
How many people directly and indirect
" lost their lives by reason of that
conflict will never be known. 1t ran
/ into many millions. The cost in treas
ure was SO great that 1t can never be
counted. 1t ran into hundreds of bill
| lions. The material resources of sew
eral of the powers involved were so far
exhausted as to require almost complete
reconstruction. Our own loss OF life.
happily. was comparatively small, but
the cost in direct outlay 10 the Ma
tlonal Treasury ran between 100000
100000 and $40 600 900 600 and is still
gong on. OF all the countries engaged.
the United States has proceeded far
theSt toward recovery although we are
yet a long distance from its compile
ton.
While the war proved StupendouS
catastrophe for all those who were in
IT, and IN 10 months destroyed values
which 1t had taken us generations to
create, on the other hand its lessons
can be made a great advantage to us.
II gave US an opportunity TO know the
world and afforded us place IN the
world which we did not have before. Ii
nt.,ga 1Atrr sf.ArN4 tN.Ngl
our powers and our responsibilities. 1t
demonstrated so clearly the interde
pendence of all people that We are not
likely TO hear again i'll responsible
quarters that what other nations do is
no concern of ours. 1t is also easier for
us to remember that what We do has
its effect on other nations. quite prop
erly, under international law. one peO-
pie is debarred from interfering in the
strictly domestic affairs of another peo-
pie. The first law of liberty, which was
one of the principles for which we were
fighting, requires that each people
should be free to manage their own al
fairs so long as they observe the rights
OF others In the domain OF foreign
relations there can be no doubt that
throughout civilization new DISPOSE
ton was created to discard the old rule
VI 1UfCG GtlO dQOpN ttAS
rule of law. relying for enforcement
upon its own moral power.
Brings New Sympathy.
This has brought about among the
nations OF the world new sympathy
for each other and new forbearance
toward each other which did not before
exist. 1t has eliminated great deal
of Selfishness and produced a desire for
mutual helpfulnesS, even at the cost OF
considerable sacrifice. In their foreign
relations all over the world a very dis
tinct manifestation can be seen in the
some restraint and an effort to con-
clude by patient negotiation what but
short time ago would have been de-
termined with an iron hand
Another result which the United
States very much hoped to see secured
was broader application to the peoples
of the different nations OF the principle
of Self-goyernment. On the whole the
movement may be said TO be strongly
in that direction. Arbitrary rule applied
under system of hereditary monarchy
has almost disappeared While 1t was
not possible for all people at once sue
cessfully TO make the transition into
republican form of government, yet
believe that even among those nations
which have appeared TO be finding that
experience very difficult they are lay
ing the preliminary foundations. and
are so strongly imbued with the spirit
of nationality under freedom that ulti-
mately they will be successful in &C
complishing the desired ends.
As the nations OF the earth have come
to see each othter in new relation
ship. SO there has been revealed to the
people of our own country the existence
OF relationship which they did not
before fully comprehend. During the
war We heard much about man power.
We found that it was matter not only
of quantity, but of quality The draft
demonstrated to lis our strength, but
also our weakness. We found a very
disquieting lack of education which
reached into every State in the Union.
Too many of our newer citizens did not
the English language. These
disadvantages were in some ways COM
pensated by the wonderful spirit Of
loyalty and devotion that was manifest
in the heart of the whole Nation. We
learned not only the importance which
we are to each other, but the necessity
for individual development.
Realize Obligation.
We found that we needed not only
large number OF people. but a large
number of trained and educated people
capable of putting forth common ef-
fort through being able to arrive at
a common understanding. We came to
new sense OF our dependence on the
individual and a new realization OF the
obligation of society to him and his
worth 10 society. This has immeasur-
ably raised both the economic and
spiritual standards OF our country. A
citizen Of the United States holds new
position. higher than that which was
ever held in any past time. The opp0r-
III en-