Pyitieeny hy Soke Eee es pata a a) are rh ee Leer ees ena pryaee Sretbaa na mites pte rtrk cs ae ru - a Svea be he aioe Sin sae aees Sees Cte a eS eat Sonn Beer bree rater) Sab paay sree CaNey pera Reisen Reruns freer oe es s a Dat et Any “e, Teese University of Virginia Library D619 .A33 1919 | ther histo | 4 2ASSL LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ae Bee ae a een GIFT OF HARCOURT PARRISH, B.A. ’20 IN MEMORY OF HIS MOTHER FANNIE HARCOURT PARRISH a en aaa tt Oe ES) ce myTr —o PRESIDENT WILSON'’S GREAT SPEECHES AND OTHER **The world must be made safe for democracy.’’ Woodrow Wilson. CHICAGO STANTON270 VANVILET G. PUBLISHERS et (al 4-Copyright 1917, 1918, 1919 STANTON & VAN VLIET CO.CONTENTS PRESIDENT WILSON’s GREAT SPEECHES PAGE Se ee Met oe yee ho 7 The Famous War Message to Congress, APT SHOU i 11 The Declaration of War with ETAT i. We a eee 23 Text of the Joint Resolution of Congress, April 6. President Wilson’s Address to His Fellow-Countrymen, POPE Me sain are etnias Ms cla UM Shins Ura Gi ate Un 24 The Army Draft Law—Hssential Provisions................. 30 President’s Proclamation Setting Date of Registration for PRP B My Shah dain ese dies 4 adda doe Vad aie eo cue 33 Statement Declining Col. Roosevelt’s Offer to Raise Volunteer Divisions for Immediate Service................... 36 Statement on the Food-Control Program of the Government.. 39 American Neutrality—Statement by the President, August MS ETA aps ein bin «oss esuvaw alld sia hepa e aan eee 43 Address to Congress on Raising Additional Revenue, Septem- uBio Sc EN ah FREEADS FEI eR ORE ORNS Si ie 46 Annual Address (Message) to Congress, December 8, 1914... 50 Address at Flag-Day Exercises, June £6) LOLS a Ne ae duces 64 Address at G. A. R. Celebration, September 26, 1915.......... 68 Address to Daughters of the American Revolution, October 11, 1915 PAN Vl cueeier ey wie S18) Me ee Mm Sorel eG ew hake) iol ae tatlol ailatbh wi ataceaAAG ES CONTENTS PAGE Annual Address to Congress, December 7, 1915, Including Historic Remarks on Disloyalty Within the Nation.. 79 The Submarine Peril—Address to Congress, April 19, 1916.. 100 President Wilson’s Inner Self Revealed—Address at National Pross Club; May 15, 1916.20.00 +, esses hese cents: 107 Address to the League to Enforce Peace, May OF. VOLG. «os ALT On Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace—Address at Hodgenville, Kentucky, September 4, 1916......----+seeeeeeeees 122 Preventing a Great Railroad Strike—Address to Congress on the Threatening Situation, August 29, TO1G. 20. s 127 Annual Address to Congress, December 5, 1916....--..--+++: 136 Last Hopes of Peace with Germany—Address to the United States Senate, January 22, 1917........---+-+++05: 144 Letter from President Wilson, May 22, 1917, on the Causes Of the WAL. cei siewals 65 Gal eaih> ERIE Ja eA eer 153 Diplomatic Relations Broken—Address to Congress, February BOUT cio oS els cones suoreccivectvityotore\ereraateat teat mate tee Ras ws 154 The War Clouds Thicken—Address to Congress, February BG DOD Titans wits «oh sign gu Flseia bs tine Ce emee = s 5 Pk 160 Second Inaugural Address, March 5, 1917.........+-+e--ee- 166 Advice to New Citizens—Address at Philadelphia, May KOs RONG a se a cele aera eed och eines chee Rae i7i First Address to Congress, Delivered at a Joint Session, APPIN SG, 1913 i... kao dee ve mate eS eae SG powers Nols 176 First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1913...........-seeeeeee 180 On Mexican Affairs—Address to Congress, August 27, 1913... 186 At Independence Hall—Address in Philadelphia, July 4,1914.. 194 President Wilson on Censorship of the Press..............+06-CONTENTS History-MAKING DOCUMENTS PAGE Restraints of United States Commerce—First Proclamation of the German Admiralty Declaring a Naval War Zone.. 205 BG POIWO TI POL CSE fic cs 5 che aia sal: 4 Sye.dip'aia bole Sie aoadeelg evens 206 Secretary Bryan to Ambassador Gerard. Use of American Flag by British Ships. ..5.........00. dees 209 Ambassador Page to the Secretary of State. American Proposal for Agreement as to Neutral Ships........ 211 Identic Note to England and Germany. The German Reply (Translation) ........-.e+esscerereteaes 214 Ambassador Gerard to the Secretary of State. British Statement on Submarine Warfare.............-.+6. 217 The British Ambassador to the Secretary of State. Rejoinder of the United States.......... 0. eee eee eee cece 219 Seeretary Bryan to Ambassador Page. The Atiitdde OF PYaAnGO.. occ 5 sles cc's canes eines nes awed eee 222 Ambassador Sharp to the Secretary of State. British Charges Against Germany...........+- sees ee reeeees 225 Ambassador Page to the Secretary of State (Memoran- dum from Sir Edward Grey). Sales of Munitions—The Policy of the United States........ 231 Secretary Bryan to the German Ambassador. When the Lusitania Was Sunk—First Note of Protest........ 235 Secretary Bryan to Ambassador Gerard. Verdict of Coroner’s Jury in the Lusitania Case..........+.- 240 German Statement on the Lusitania Sinking................ 241 British Reply to the Foregoing.......seeeeeeeee eee reeeeees 242 Second Lusitania Note to Germany.......eseeeereeeeceeeces 245 Secretary of State ad Interim to Ambassador Gerard. Germany’s Reply a Month Later.......--- ee eee eee reece 251 The American Rejoinder......cceeeec sce e ccc teserecrceecs 259 Secretary Lansing to Ambassador Gerard.CONTENTS PAGE Germany’s Broken Agreement Respecting Submarines....... 262 Recall of Ambassador Dumba of Austria.....+-seeseeererees 262 Recall of German Attachés......-sseecessesrseecsreesecces 264 The Diplomatic Correspondence. Submarines and Armed Merchantmen........-+-++eeeeeeees 267 Informal and Confidential Letter to the Belligerent Powers. Sinking of the ‘‘Sussex’?.... +. esses sree errs eee et esses 272 First Threat to Sever Diplomatic Relations with Germany. Facts in the ‘‘Sussex’’? Case......e see eee reer ee ere ree ececs 279 Peace Note to the Powers........cee sees ce tee cence ecccees 280 Secretary of State to Ambassador Page. British Answer to American Peace Note.....-...eeeeeeeeees 284 Memorandum from the British Embassy. The German ADSWET...... cece cece cece teeter ee ere eeeeeces 290 Note from Foreign Minister Zimmerman. Germany’s Last Memorandum......... sees eee cece cece eens 291 German Ambassador to Secretary of State. Conditions of Safety for American Ships.........-...+++e-- 294 Diplomatic Relations Severed.........eeeeeeeeee eee e cece 296 Secretary Lansing to Ambassador von Bernstorff. American Minister Whitlock Withdrawn from Belgium....... 300 Statement Given to the Press March 24, 1917. Allied Agreement to Make No Separate Peace with Germany.. 302 Act of Congress Providing for the ‘‘ Liberty Loan’’.......... 303 The President’s Note to Russia Stating Our War Aims...... 309 M. Viviani’s Speech to House of Representatives............ 313 PNGUTeRs (OL ney Primes, OL, UGING Sos 0. UN aiealelb caw ee Rete s 316 Remarks of Right Hon. Arthur J, Balfour... 00.0... 55 aces 321 Facsimile Signatures of Members of the ‘‘ War Congress’’....CONTENTS PAGE President Wilson’s Reply to the Second Peace Plea of the OPE amIRIE on AU el tae a oe ia NO a ae 324 President Wilson’s Address to the Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor at Buffalo, N. Y., Novem- NOE LZ SERA EUR ofa od sie a cvamip 4 Wael GAC awe cle maie 328 Re President Wilson’s Address to Congress, Proclaiming the | War Aims of the United States, January 8, 1918....... 339 President Wilson’s Third Liberty Loan Speech, Baltimore, DO PUA Dg MEMEO A NC ura ley eg Minin Ge ol ble! alll Gay ates 349 The President Announces His Intention to Go to Paris...... 350 The Four Points Supplementing the Fourteen Principles.... 373 Five Fundamentals for a League of Nations................ 389 President Wilsons Speech ah Rome. oa ee kee ore So ee 399 he PPOs et 8 ETS GOO iene G6) Sy 2 oa or ow wielene’ Ws $46) ae iE 403 hie Speech to The Tropes I Uae. ob) os 00d dé cie sabes 409 Prosioent VWaison 's. Dipndom Mpeeth .: .oile ses elas hance 412 heaeue OF OpRIOn, WAGON Warns . oii. vieice cles vies keelesPRESIDENT WILSON’S GREAT SPEECHES INTRODUCTION The public addresses and state papers of Woodrow Wilson will undoubtedly occupy a place of pre-eminence among the historical records of the American nation. Posterity will fix their final value, but we of the present know and appreciate their importance in this most crit- ical period of the world’s history. No messages to the American people, no diplomatic documents, were ever more fraught with interest to the average citizen, or touched more closely the lives and liberties of our myriad population. Humanity itself is deeply concerned with the subject- matter and the text of President Wilson’s utterances since the Great War began. That is the keynote of many of these historic addresses to the Congress of the United States, public speeches on various occasions, and diplo- matic notes to belligerent powers, which have been care- . fully culled from a great mass of available material for the purposes of this volume. Regard for the best inter- ests of humanity being their noble theme, they will ever be read by American citizens with patriotic pride. On the declaration by Congress of the existence of a state of war between the United States and Germany— this nation of a hundred and ten million peace-loving and democratic people aligned itself with practical soli- 7INTRODUCTION 8 darity behind its great leader in the White House. The strife of parties for political supremacy was laid aside as of minor consequence in a time of grave national danger. Patriotism became the sole standard of public action. Americans realized that there was in the White House not only a great man and a great President, but also a great patriot, whose leadership it was a solemn duty to follow. Marvelously patient as the President was during the earlier period of the European struggle and the first stages of German ruthlessness; greatly as he desired to maintain an honorable peace and to keep his country out of war, he did not hesitate when the issue was finally forced upon him. The man of peace became a man of war, confident in the right, and in language that no pa- triot can misunderstand or fail to echo in his heart of hearts, Mr. Wilson gave to the world his most perfect reasons for drawing the sword in the cause of humanity. As he himself declared in the address to Congress that prefaced the declaration of war, ‘‘The world must be made safe for democracy.’? This memorable address, that carried hope and encouragement to the nations across the sea fighting for a lasting peace, is fittingly reproduced at the beginning of this book, where it stands as an undying exposition of the unanswerable reasons for our conflict with Germany. Seldom if ever has a President of the United States been called on to face responsibilities as great as those which have confronted Mr. Wilson. It is sufficient to say here that Woodrow Wilson has risen superior to every emergency and has at his back a united nation, imbued to the core with confidence in his leadership. Regarded from whatever standpoint they may be, President Wilson’s state papers were models of interna-INTRODUCTION 9 tional propriety, and will live in history as such. His speeches were enlightening, because so far as was pos- sible he took the people into his confidence as the grave international situation developed from time to time. Hence these papers and addresses furnish a wonderful political history of the Great War in its relation to the interests of the United States. Underlying all of Mr. Wilscn’s addresses there is evi- dence of his sincere conviction that his country has a nobler mission to perform for civilization than that of merely safeguarding its own material interests, Impor- tant as that consideration is to every American citizen. ‘‘The world must be made safe for democracy.’’ And the civilized world looks to America to help make it safe. That is the idea which Mr. Wilson realizes and has made plain to his fellow-countrymen in his addresses. To read and study them is a patriotic duty. Sincerity is another keynote of all the War President’s utterances. Every American knows that Mr. Wilson was convinced almost against his will of the necessity for war. But the very sincerity that marked his efforts to keep the country out of war compelled his final action and prompted his determination to win the war. Seldom if ever has a series of speeches and documents like those in the following pages been so replete with sig- nificance or so clearly expressed. Even in the diplo- matic exchanges which have been selected for reproduc- tion there is a remarkable absence of the ambiguity usual in such documents. Hence their contents will appeal to the average patriotic reader as well as to the student of current history and of the causes of the war. Long as the world shall last, these addresses will live. Our children and our children’s children will be reading them when the present generation shall have passedNASON 10 INTRODUCTION away, leaving the world the better off for our work for humanity in this war. And if any there be, calling them- selves American citizens, who harbor the shadow of a doubt as to the wisdom, nay the national necessity, of President Wilson’s policy toward the world war, leading to our final participation in the great struggle, let them read these addresses and the diplomatic, history-making documents which supplement and support them in these pages,—and be forever convinced. Little need be said as to the literary quality of these state papers. Our great President is a master of the English language, unquestionably the greatest master of English that ever occupied the presidential chair. Language is a weapon which he wields with unerring skill. He wastes no words, but like Shakespeare gives to each its proper weight and worth. His speeches are studded with literary gems and while they command and hold the interest of the average reader, they furnish mines of wealth for continuous study by those who seek models of good diction. Scholarly, sincere, wise, patriotic—these are the out- standing characteristics of Mr. Wilson’s speeches and state papers, and the greatest of these is their patriotic quality, reflecting as an exemplar for every American citizen the deyoted patriotism of our providential President.BIOGRAPHY Woodrow Wilson was born at Staunton, Va., December 28, 1856; attended Davidson College, North Carolina, 1874-5; A.B., Princeton, 1879, A.M., 1882; graduated in law, University of Virginia, 1881, and practiced law in Atlanta, Ga., 1882-3; took & post-graduate course at Johns Hopkins University, 1882-3, obtaining degree of Ph.D. in 1886. On June 24, 1885, he married Ellen Louise Axsen, of Savan- nah, Ga. (died August 6, 1914). From 1885 to 1888 he was Associate Professor of History and Political Economy at Bryn Mawr College; 1888-1890, Professor of History and Political Economy, Wesleyan University; 1890- 1895, Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Economy, Prince- ton University, and from 1895 to 1897, Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton; Professor of Jurisprudence and Politics, Princeton, 1897-1910, and President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910. From January 17, 1911, to March 1, 1912, he was Governor of New Jersey, and at the Democratic National Convention at Baltimore, 1912, was nominated for President of the United States. He was elected on November 4, 1912, receiving 435 electoral votes against 88 for Theodore Roosevelt, Progressive, and 8 for William Howard Taft, Republican. On December 18, 1915, he married Edith Bolling Galt, of Washington, D. C. He was nominated for his second presidential term by the Democratic National Convention at St. Louis, June, 1916, and elected on November 7, 1916, receiving 276 electoral votes against 255 for Charles E. Hughes, Republican, with a popular plurality of about 400,000. He is the author of ‘‘Congressional Government, A Study in American Polities’’ (1885); ‘‘The State—Elements of Historical and Practical Politics’? (1889); ‘‘Division and Reunion, 1829- 1889’’ (1893); ‘‘An Old Master, and Other Political Essays’’ (1893); ‘‘Mere Literature, and Other Essays’’ (1893); ‘‘ George Washington’’ (1896); ‘‘A History of the American People’’ (1902); ‘Constitutional Government in the United States’’ (1908); ‘‘Free Life’’ (1913) ; ‘‘The New Freedom’’ (1913); ‘When a Man Comes to Himself’’ (1915); ‘‘On Being Human’”’ (1916). On April 6, 1917, he issued a declaration of war against Ger- many, and against Austria on December 12, 1917. Left United States on December 4, 1918, to participate in Allied Peace Conference at Paris, France.WHY WE WENT TO WAR President Wilson’s Famous Address at the Opening of the War Congress, April 2, 1917 GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there are serious, very serious, choices of volicy to be made, and made immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible that I should as- sume the responsibility of making. On the third of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and Ireland or the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean. That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine warfare earlier in the war, but since April of last year the Imperial Government had some- what restrained the commanders of its undersea craft in conformity with its promise then given to us that passen- ger boats should not be sunk and that due warning would be given to all other vessels which its submarines might seek to destroy, when no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that their crews were given at least a fair chance to save their lives in their open boats. The precautions taken were meagre and haphazard 11YO 12 PRESIDENT WILSON’S enough, as was proved in distressing instance after in- stance in the progress of the cruel and unmanly busi- ness, but a certain degree of restraint was observed. The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruth- lessly sent to the bottom without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents. Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the lat- ter were provided with safe conduct through the pro- scribed areas by the German Government itself and were distinguished by unmistakable marks of identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion or of principle. I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would in fact be done by any government that had hitherto subscribed to the humane practices of civilized nations. International law had its origin in the attempt to set up some law which would be respected and ob- served upon the seas, where no nation had right of dominion and where lay the free highways of the world. By painful stage after stage has that law been built up, with meagre enough results, indeed, after all was accom- plished that could be accomplished, but always with a clear view, at least, of what the heart and conscience of mankind demanded. This minimum of right the Ger- man Government has swept aside under the plea of re- taliation and necessity and because it had no weapons which it could use at sea except these which it is impossi- ble to employ as it is employing them without throwing to the winds all scruples of humanity or of respect for the understandings that were supposed to underlie theGREAT SPEECHES 13 intercourse of the world. I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of non-combatants, men, women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the dark- est periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for; the lives of peace- ful and innocent people cannot be. The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind. It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and peo- ple of other neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all man- kind. Hach nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion. | When I addressed the Congress on the twenty-sixth of February last I thought that it would suffice to assert our neutral rights with arms, our right to use the seas against unlawful interference, our right to keep our people safe against unlawful violence. But armed neutrality, it now appears, is impracticable. Because submarines are in effect outlaws when used as the German submarines have been used against’ merchant shipping, it is impossible to defend ships against their attacks as the law of nations14 PRESIDENT WILSON’S has assumed that merchantmen would defend themselves against privateers or cruisers, visible craft giving chase upon the open sea. It is common prudence in such cir- cumstances, grim necessity indeed, to endeavor to destroy them before they have shown their own intention. They must be dealt with upon sight, if dealt with at all. The German Government denies the right of neutrals to use arms at all within the areas of the sea which it has pro- scribed, even in the defense of rights which no modern ‘ publicist has ever before questioned their right to defend. The intimation is conveyed that the armed guards which we have placed on our merchant ships will be treated as beyond the pale of law and subject to be dealt with as pirates would be. Armed neutrality is ineffectual enough at best ; in such circumstances and in the face of such pre- tensions it is worse than.ineffectual; it is likely only to produce what it was meant to prevent; it is practically certain to draw us into the war without either the rights or the effectiveness of belligerents. There is one choice we cannot make, we are incapable of making: we will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or vio- lated. The wrongs against which we now array ourselves are no common wrongs; they cut to the very roots of human life. With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the step I am taking and of the grave respon- sibilities which it involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty, I advise that the Congress declare the recent course of the Imperial Ger- man Government to be in fact nothing less than war against the government and people of the United States ; that it formally accept the status of belligerent whichGREAT SPEECHES 15 has thus been thrust upon it; and that it take immediate steps not only to put the country in a more thorough state of defense but also to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring the Government of the German Empire to terms and end the war. What this will involve is clear. It will involve the utmost practicable cooperation in counsel and action with the governments now at war with Germany, and, as inci- dent to that, the extension to those governments of the most liberal financial credits, in order that our resources may so far as possible be added to theirs. It will involve the organization and mobilization of all the material resources of the country to supply the materials of war aud serve the incidental needs of the nation in the most abundant and yet the most economical and efficient way possible. It will involve the immediate full equipment of the navy in all respects, but particularly in supplying it with the best means of dealing with the enemy’s sub- marines. It will involve the immediate addition to the armed forces of the United States already provided for by law in case of war of at least five hundred thousand men, who should, in my opinion, be chosen upon the principle of universal liability to service, and also the authorization of subsequent additional increments of equal force so soon as they may be needed and can be handled in training. It will involve also, of course, the granting of adequate credits to the Government, sustained, I hope, so far as they can equitably be sustained by the present generation, by well conceived taxation. I say sustained so far as may be equitable by taxation because it seems to me that it would be most unwise to base the credits which will now be necessary entirely on money borrowed. It is our duty, I most respectfully16 ' PRESIDENT WILSON’S urge, to_protect our people so far as we may against the very serious hardships and evils which would be likely to arise out of the inflation which would be produced by vast loans. In carrying out the measures by which these things are to be accomplished we should keep constantly in mind the wisdom of interfering as little as possible in our own preparation and in the equipment of our own military forces with the duty,—for it will be a very practical duty, —of supplying the nations already at war with Germany with the materials which they can obtain only from us or by our assistance. They are in the field and we should help them in every way to be effective there. I shall take the liberty of suggesting, through the sev- eral executive departments of the Government, for the consideration of your committees, measures for the accom- plishment of the several objects I have mentioned. J hope that it.will be your pleasure to deal with them as having been framed after very careful thought by the branch of the Government upon which the responsibility of conducting the war and safeguarding the nation will most directly. fall. While we do these things, these deeply momentous things, let us be very clear, and make very clear to all the world what our motives and our objects are. My own thought has not been driven from its habitual and normal course by the unhappy events of the last two months, and T do not believe that the thought of the nation has been altered or clouded by them. I have exactly the same things in mind now that I had in mind when I addressed the Senate on the twenty-second of January last; the same that I had in mind when I addressed the Congress on the third of February and on the twenty-sixth of Feb-GREAT SPEECHES 17 ruary. Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the prin- ciples of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed peoples of the world - Such a concert of purpose and of action as will henceforth ensure the observance of those principles. Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic governments backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of their people. We have seen the last of neutrality in such cir- cumstances. We are at the beginning of an age in which | it will be insisted that the same standards of conduct and | of responsibility for wrong done shall be observed among nations and their governments that are observed among the individual citizens of civilized states. We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling toward them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse that their Government acted in entering this war. It was not with their previous knowledge or approval. It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere con- sulted by their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambi- tious men who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools. Self-governed nations do not fill their neighbor states with spies or set the course of in- trigue to bring about some critical posture of affairs which will give them an opportunity to strike and make conquest. Such designs can be successfully worked out only under cover and where no one has the right to askSee SG 18 PRESIDENT WILSON’S questions. Cunningly contrived plans of deception or aggression, carried, it may be, from generation to gener- ation, can be worked out and kept from the light only within the privacy of courts or behind the earefully guarded confidences of a narrow and privileged class. They are happily impossible where. public opinion com- mands and insists upon full information concerning all the nation’s affairs. A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except bya partnership of democratic nations. No auto- cratic government could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a league of honor, a partnership of opinion. Intrigue would eat its vitals away ; the plottings of inner circles who could plan what they would and render account to no one would be a cor- ruption seated at its very heart. -Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a common end and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest of their own. Does not every American feel that assurance has been added to our hope for the future peace of the world by the wonderful and heartening things that have been hap- pening within the last few weeks in Russia? Russia was known by those who knew it best to have been always in fact democratic at heart, in all the vital habits of her thought, in all the intimate relationships of her people that spoke their natural instinct, their habitual attitude toward life. The autocracy that crowned the summit of her political structure, long as it had stood and terrible as was the reality of its power, was not in fact Russian in origin, character, or purpose; and now it has been shaken off and the great, generous Russian people have been added in all their native majesty: and might to the forcegGREAT SPEECHES 19 that are fighting for freedom in the world, for justice, and for peace. Here is a fit partner for a League of Honor. One of the things that has served to convince us that the Prussian autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that from the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting communities and even our offices of government with spies and set criminal intrigues every- where afoot against our national unity of counsel, our peace within and without, our industries and our com- merece. Indeed, it is now evident that its spies were here even before the war began; and it is unhappily not a mat- ter of conjecture, but a fact proved in our courts of jus- tice that the intrigues which have more than once come perilously near to disturbing the peace and dislocating the industries of the country have been carried on at the instigation, with the support, and even under the personal direction of official agents of the Imperial Government accredited to the Government of the United States. Even in checking these things and trying to extirpate them we have sought to put the most generous interpretation possible upon them because we knew that their source lay, not in any hostile feeling or purpose of the German people toward us (who were no doubt as ignorant of them as we ourselves were), but only in the selfish designs of a Gov- ernment that did what it pleased and told its people noth- ing. But they have played their part in serving to con- vince us at last that that Government entertains no_real friendship for us and means to act against our peace and security at its convenience. That it means to stir up ene- mies against us at our very doors the intercepted note to the German Minister at Mexico City is eloquent evidence. We are accepting this challenge of hostile purpose because we know that in such a government, followingSe 20 PRESIDENT WILSON’S such methods, we can never have a friend; and that in the presence of its organized power, always lying in wait to accomplish we know not what purpose, there can be no assured security for the democratic governments of the world. We are now about to accept gage of battle with this natural foe to liberty and shall, if necessary, spend the whole force of the nation to check and nullify its pre- tensions and its power. We are glad, now that we see the facts with no veil of false pretense about them, to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, the German peoples included: for the rights of nations great and small and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and of obed- ience. The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them. Just because we fight without rancour and without selfish object, seeking nothing for ourselves but what we shall wish to share with all free peoples, we shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations as belligerents with- out passion and ourselves observe with proud punctilio the principles of right and of fair play we profess to be fighting for. I have said nothing of the governments allied with the Imperial Government of Germany because they have not made war upon us or challenged us to defend our right and our honor. The Austro-Hungarian Government has,GREAT SPEECHES 91 indeed, avowed its unqualified endorsement and accept- ance of the reckless and lawless submarine warfare adopted now without disguise by the Imperial German Government, and it has therefore not been possible for this Government to receive Count Tarnowski, the Am- bassador recently accredited to this Government by the Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary ; but that Government has not actually engaged in war- fare against citizens of the United States on the seas, and I take the liberty, for the present at least, of postponing a discussion of our relations with the authorities’ at Vienna. We enter this war only where we are clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defend- ing our rights. It will be all the easier for us to conduct ourselves as belligerents in a high spirit of mght and fairness because we act without animus, not in enmity towards a people or with the desire to bring any injury or disadvan- tage upon them, but only in armed opposition to an irre- sponsible government which has thrown aside all con- siderations of humanity and of right and is running amuck. We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early re-establishment of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us—however hard it be may for them, for the time being, to believe that this 1s spoken from our hearts. We have borne with their present gov- ernment through all these bitter months because of that friendship—exercising a patience and forbearance which would otherwise have been impossible. We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friendship in our daily attitude and actions towards the millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy whoSa oo PRESIDENT WILSON’S live amongst us and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it towards all who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the Government in the hour of test. They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt to stand with us in rebuking and restraining the few who may be of a different mind and purpose. If there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt with with a firm hand of stern repression; but, if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only here and there and with- out countenance except from a lawless and malignant few. It is a distressing and oppressive duty, Gentlemen of the Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts—for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happi- ness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.GREAT SPEECHES THE DECLARATION OF WAR Sixty-Fifth Congress of the United States of America At the first session, begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the second day of April, one thousand nine hundred and seventeen. Joint resolution declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial German Government and the Gov- ernment and the people of the United States and making provision to prosecute the same. Whereas the Imperial German Government has com- mitted repeated acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America; therefore, be it | Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial German Government which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and that the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Govern- ment to carry on war against the Imperial German Gov- ernment; and to bring the conflict to a successful termi- nation all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States. CHamp CLARK, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Tos. R. MARSHALL, Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate. Approved, April 6, 1917, Wooprow WILSON.24 PRESIDENT WILSON’S PRESIDENT WILSON’S ADDRESS TO HIS FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN April 16, 1917 My FELLOW-CoUNTRYMEN : The entrance of our own beloved country into the grim and terrible war for democracy and human rights which has shaken the world creates so many problems of national life and action which call for immediate consideration and settlement that I hope you will permit me to address to you a few words of earnest counsel and appeal with regard to them. We are rapidly putting our navy upon an effective war footing and are about to create and equip a great army, but these are the simplest parts of the great task to which we have addressed ourselves. There is not a single selfish element, so far as I can see, in the cause we are fighting for. We are fighting for what we believe and wish to be the rights of mankind and for the future peace and se- curity of the world. To do this great thing worthily and successfully we must devote ourselves to the service without regard to profit or material advantage and with an energy and intelligence that will rise to the level of the enterprise itself. We must realize to the full how great the task is and how many things, how many kinds and elements of capacity and service and self-sacrifice, it involves. These, then, are the things we must do, and do well, besides fighting—the things without which mere ficht- ing would be fruitless: We must supply abundant food for ourselves and for our armies and our seamen not only, but also for a largeGREAT SPEECHES Of part of the nations with whom we have now made com. mon cause, in whose support and by whose sides we shal be fighting ; We must supply ships by the hundreds out of our ship- yards to carry to the other side of the sea, submarines or no submarines, what will every day be needed there, and abundant materials out of our fields and our mines and our factories with which not only to clothe and equip our own forces on land and sea but also to clothe and support our people for whom the gallant fellows under arms can no longer work, to help clothe and equip the armies with which we are co-operating in Hurope, and to keep the looms and manufactories there in raw material; coal to keep the fires going in ships at sea and in the fur- naces of hundreds of factories across the sea; steel out of which to make arms and ammunition both here and there; rails for worn-out railways back of the fighting fronts; locomotives and rolling stock to take the place of those every day going to pieces; mules, horses, cattle for labor and for military service; everything with which the people of England and France and Italy and Russia have usually supplied themselves but can not now afford the men, the materials, or the machinery to make. It is evident to every thinking man that our indus- tries, on the farms, in the shipyards, in the mines, in the factories, must be made more prolific and more effi- cient than ever and that they must be more economically managed and better adapted to the particular require- ments of our task than they have been; and what I want to say is that the men and the women who devote their thought and their energy to these things will be serving the country and conducting the fight for peace and freedom just as truly and just as effectively as the menSe PRESIDENT WILSON’S on the battlefield or in the trenches. The industrial forces of the country, men and women alike, will be a great national, a great international, Service Army—a notable and honored host engaged in the service of the nation and the world, the efficient friends and saviors of free men everywhere. Thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands, of men otherwise liable to military service will of right and necessity be excused from that service and assigned to the fundamental, sustaining work of the fields and factories and mines, and they will be as much part of the great patriotic forces of the nation as the men under fire. I take the liberty, therefore, of addressing this word to the farmers of the country and to all who work on the farms: The supreme need of our own nation and of the nations with which we are co-operating is an abundance of supplies, and especially of foodstuffs. The impor- tance of an adequate food supply, especially for the present year, 1s superlative. Without abundant food, alike for the armies and the peoples now at war, the whole great enterprise upon which we have embarked will break down and fail. The world’s food reserves are low. Not only during the present emergency but for some time after peace shall come both our own people and a large proportion of the people of Europe must rely upon the harvests in America. Upon the farmers of this coun- try, therefore, in large measure, rests the fate of the war and the fate of the nations. May the nation not count upon them to omit no step that will increase the produe- tion of their land or that will bring about the most effectual co-operation in the sale and distribution of their products? The time is short. It is of the most impera- tive importance that everything possible be done andGREAT SPEECHES oT done immediately to make sure of large harvests. I eall upon young men and old alike and upon the able-bodied boys of the land to accept and act upon this duty—to turn in hosts to the farms and make certain that no pains and no labor is lacking in this great matter. I particularly appeal to the farmers of the South to plant abundant foodstuffs as well as cotton. They can show their patriotism in no better or more convincing way than by resisting the great temptation of the pres- ent price of cotton and helping, helping upon a great scale, to feed the nation and the peoples everywhere who are fighting for their liberties and for our own. The variety of their crops will be the visible measure of their comprehension of their national duty. The Government of the United States and the govern- ments of the several States stand ready to co-operate. They will do everything possible to assist farmers in se- curing an adequate supply of seed, an adequate force of laborers when they are most needed, at harvest time, and the means of expediting shipments of fertilizers and farm machinery, as well as of the crops themselves when harvested. The course of trade shall be as unhampered as it is possible to make it and there shall be no unwar- ranted manipulation of the nation’s food supply by those who handle it on its way to the consumer. This is our opportunity to demonstrate the efficiency of a great De- mocracy and we shall not fall short of 1t! This let me say to the middlemen of every sort, whether they are handling our foodstuffs or our raw materials of manufacture or the products of our mills and factories : The eyes of the country will be especially upon you. This is your opportunity for signal service, efficient and dis- interested. The country expects you, as it expects allSee te Sa 28 PRESIDENT WILSON’S others, to forego unusual profits, to organize and expedite shipments of supplies of every kind, but especially of food, with an eye to the service you are rendering and in the spirit of those who enlist in the ranks, for their people, not for themselves. I shall confidently expect you to deserve and win the confidence of people of every sort and station. To the men who run the railways of the country, whether they be managers or operative employees, let me say that the railways are the arteries of the nation’s life and that upon them rests the immense responsibility of seeing to it that those arteries suffer no obstruction of any kind, no inefficiency or slackened power. To the merchant let me suggest the motto, ‘‘Small profits and quick service;’’ and to the shipbuilder the thought that the life of the war depends upon him. The food and the war supplies must be carried across the seas no matter how many ships are sent to the bottom. The places of those that go down must be supphed and supphed at onee. ‘T'o the miner let me say that he stands where the farmer does: the work of the world waits on him. If he id statesmen are helpless. He also is enlisted in the great Service Army. The manu- facturer does not need to be told, I hope, that the nation looks to him to speed and perfect every process; and I want only to remind his employees that their service is absolutely indispensable and is counted on by every man who loves the country and its liberties. y 4 7 slackens or fails, armies a1 ‘ Let me suggest, also, that everyone who creates or culti- vates a garden helps, and helps greatly, to solve the problem of the feeding of the nations; and that every housewife who practices strict economy puts herself in the ranks of those who serve the nation. This is the timeGREAT SPEECHES 29 for America to correct her unpardonable fault of waste- fulness and extravagance. Let every man and every woman assume the duty of careful, provident use and expenditure as a public duty, as a dictate of patriotism which no one can now expect ever to be excused or for- given for ignoring. In the hope that this statement of the needs of the nation and of the world in this hour of supreme crisis may stimulate those to whom it comes and remind all who need reminder of the solemn duties of a time such as the world has never seen before, I beg that all editors and pub- lishers everywhere will give as prominent publication and as wide circulation as possible to this appeal. I venture to suggest, also, to all advertising agencies that they would perhaps render a very substantial and timely service to the country if they would give it widespread repetition. And I hope that clergymen will not think the theme of it an unworthy or inappropriate subject of comment and homily from their pulpits. The supreme test of the nation has come. We must all speak, act, and serve together! Wooprow WILSON.THE ARMY DRAFT LAW Essential Provisions as Quoted by the President in His Proclamation of May 18, 1917, Setting the Day of Registration Sec. 5. That all male persons between the ages of 21 and 30, both inclusive, shall be subject to registration in accordance with regulations to be prescribed by the presi- dent; and upon proclamation by the president or other public notice given by him or by his direction stating the time and place of such registration it shall be the duty of all persons of the designated ages, except officers and enlisted men of the regular army, the navy, and the na- tional guard and naval militia, while in the service of the United States, to present themselves for and submit to registration under the provisions of this act, and every such person shall be deemed to have notice of the re- quirements of this act upon the publication of said proc- lamation or other notice as aforesaid given by the presi- dent or by his direction; and any person who shall will- fully fail or refuse to present himself for registration or to submit thereto as herein provided shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction in the District court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year, and shall thereupon be duly registered, provided that in the call of the docket precedence shall be given in courts trying the same to the trial of criminal proceedings under this act. i 30ARMY DRAFT LAW 31 Provided further, that persons shall be subject to reg- istration, as herein provided, who shall have attained their twenty-first birthday and who shall not have at- tained their thirty-first birthday on or before the day set for the registration, and all persons so registered shall be and remain subject to draft into the forces hereby au- thorized, unless exempted or excused therefrom as in this act provided. Provided, further, that in the case of temporary ab- sence from actual place of legal residence of any person lable to registration as provided herein, such registra- tion may be made by mail under regulations to be pre- scribed by the president. Sec. 6. That the president is hereby authorized to utilize the service of any or all departments and any or all officers or agents of the United States and of the sev- eral states, territories, and the District of Columbia, and subdivisions thereof, in the execution of this act, and all officers and agents of the United States and of the several states, territories, and subdivisions thereof, and of the District of Columbia, and all persons designated or ap- pointed under regulations prescribed by the president, whether such appointments are made by the president himself or by the governor or other officer of any state or territory to perform any duty in the execution of this act, are hereby required to perform such duty as the president shall order or direct, and all such officers and agents and persons so designated or appointed shall hereby have full authority for all acts done by them in the execution of this act by the direction of the president. Correspondence in the execution of this act may be car- ried in penalty envelopes bearing the frank of the war department. Any person charged as herein provided with the dutyST hee 32 ARMY DRAFT LAW of carrying into effect any of the provisions of this act or the regulations made or directions given thereunder who shall fail or neglect to perform such duty, and any person charged with such duty or having and exercising any authority under said act, regulations, or directions who shall knowingly make or be a party to the making of any false or incorrect registration, physical examina- tion, exemption, enlistment, enrollment, or muster; and any person who shall make or be a party to the making of any false statement or certificate as to the fitness or liability of himself or any other person for service under the provisions of this act or regulations made by the president thereunder, or otherwise evades or aids another to evade the requirements of this act or of said regula- tions, or who, in any manner, shall fail or neglect fully to perform any duty required of him in the execution of this act, shall, if not subject to military law, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction in the District court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, be pun- ished by imprisonment for not more than one year, or, if subject to military law, shall be tried by court martial and suffer such punishment as a court martial may direct.PROCLAMATION OF MAY 18, 1917 Naming the Day of Registration (June 5) for All Citizens Liable to Draft Under the Provi- sions of the Foregoing Law I, Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States, do call upon the governor of each of the several states and territories, the board of commissioners of the District of Columbia, and all officers and agents of the several states and territories, of the District of Columbia, and of the counties and municipalities therein, to perform certain duties in the execution of the foregoing law, which duties will be communicated to them directly in regulations of even date herewith. And I do further proclaim and give notice to all per- sons subject to registration in the several states and in the District of Columbia in accordance with the above law, that the time and place of such registration shall be between 7 a. m. and 9 p. m. on the 5th day of June, 1917, at the registration place in the precinct wherein they have their permanent homes. Those who shall have attained their twenty-first birth- day and who shall not have attained their thirty-first birthday on or before the day here named are required to register, excepting only officers and enlisted men of the regular army, the navy, the marine corps, and the national guard and naval militia while in the service of the United States, and officers in the officers’ reserve corps and enlisted men in the enlisted reserve corps while in active service.34 PRESIDENT WILSON’S In the territories of Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico a day for registration will be named in a later proclamation. And I do charge those who, through sickness, shall be unable to present themselves for registration that they apply on or before the day of registration to the county elerk of the county where they may be for instructions as to how they may be registered by agent. Those who expect to be absent on the day named from the counties in which they have their permanent homes may register by mail, but their mailed registration cards must reach the places in which they have their perma- nent homes by the day named herein. They should apply as soon as practicable to the county clerk of the county wherein they may be for instructions as to how they may accomplish their registration by mail. In case such persons as, through sickness or absence, may be unable to present themselves personally for reg- istration shall be sojourning in cities of over 30,000 pop- ulation they shall apply to the city clerk of the city wherein they may be sojourning rather than to the clerk of the county. The clerks of counties and of cities of over 30,000 popu- lation in which numerous applications from the sick and from nonresidents are expected are authorized to estab- lish such sub-agencies and to employ and deputize such clerical force as may be necessary to accommodate these applications. The power against which we are arrayed has sought to impose its will upon the world by force. To this end it has increased armament until it has changed the face of war. In the sense in which we have been wont to think of armies there are no armies in this struggle. There are entire nations armed. Thus, the men who remain to tillGREAT SPEECHES 95 the soil and man the factories are no less a part of the army than the men beneath the battle flags. It must be so with us. It is not an army that we must shape and train for war; it is a nation. To this end our people must draw close in one compact front against a common foe. But this cannot be if each man pursue a private purpose. All must pursue one pur- pose. The nation needs all men; but it needs each man, not in the field that will most pleasure him, but in the endeavor that will best serve the common good. Thus, though a sharpshooter pleases to operate a trip- hammer for the forging of great guns, and an expert machinist desires to march with the flag, the nation is being served only when the sharpshooter marches and the machinist remains at his levers. The whole nation must be a team in which each man shall play the part for which he is best fitted. To this end congress has pro- vided that the nation shall be organized for war by selec- tion and that each man shall be classified for service in the place to which it shall best serve the general good to eall him. The significance of this cannot be overstated. It is a new thing in our history and a landmark in our progress. It is a new manner of accepting and vitalizing our duty to give ourselves with thoughtful devotion to the common purpose of us all. It is in no sense a conscription of the unwilling; it is rather selection from a nation which has volunteered in mass. It is no more a choosing of those who shall march with the colors than it is a selection of those who shall serve an equally necessary and devoted purpose in the industries that he behind the battle line. The day here named is the time upon which all shall present themselves for assignment to their tasks. It is for that reason destined to be remembered as one of theRPO AAS SATO E SE LEE LLL LS 36 PRESIDENT WILSON’S most conspicuous moments in our history. It is nothing less than the day upon which the manhood of the country shall step forward in one solid rank in defense of the ideals to which this nation is consecrated. It is impor- tant to thoseeideals no less than to the pride of this gen- eration in manifesting its devotion to them that there be no gaps in the ranks. It is essential that the day be approached in thoughtful apprehension of its significance and that we accord to it the honor and the meaning that it deserves. Our industrial need prescribes that it be not made a technical holiday, but the stern sacrifice that is before us urges that it be carried in all our hearts as a great day of patriotic devotion and obligation when the duty shall lie upon every man, whether he is himself to be registered or not, to see to it that the name of every male person of the designated ages is written on these lists of honor. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this 18th day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seventeen and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-first. Wooprow WILSON. DECLINES COL. ROOSEVELT’S OFFER When Congress authorized Mr. Wilson to accept Col. Roosevelt’s offer to raise four divisions of volunteer troops for ‘‘immediate service in France,’’ the President declined to avail himself of the authority, and made the following statement, May 18, 1917:GREAT SPEECHES 87 I shall not avail myself, at any rate at the present stage of the war, of the authorization conferred by the act to organize volunteer divisions. To do so would seriously interfere with the carrying out of the chief and most immediately important-purpose contemplated by this leg- islation, the prompt creation and early use of an effective army, and would contribute practically nothing to the effective strength of the armies now engaged against Germany. I understand that the section of this act which author- izes the creation of volunteer divisions in addition to the draft was added with a view to providing an independent command for Mr. Roosevelt and giving the military au- thorities an opportunity to use his fine vigor and enthu- siasm in recruiting the forces now at the western front. It would be very agreeable to me to pay Mr. Roosevelt this compliment, and the allies the compliment of sending to their aid one of our most distinguished public men, an ex-president who has rendered many conspicuous publie services and proved his gallantry in many striking ways. Politically, too, it would no doubt have a very fine effect and make a profound impression. But this is not the time or the occasion for compliment or for any action not calculated to contribute to the immediate success of the war. The business now in hand is undramatic, practical, and of scientific definiteness and precision. I shall act with regard to it at every step and in every particular under expert and professional advice, from both sides of the water. That advice is that the men most needed are men of the ages contemplated in the draft provisions of the pres- ent bill, not men of the age and sort contemplated in the section which authorizes the formation of volunteer units,38 PRESIDENT WILSON’S and that for the preliminary training of the men who are to be drafted we shall need all of our experienced officers. Mr. Roosevelt told me, when I had the pleasure of seeing him a few weeks ago, that he would wish to have associated with him some of the most effective officers of the regular army. He named many of those whom he would desire to have designated for the service, and they were men who cannot possibly be spared from the too small force of officers at our command for the much more pressing and necessary duty of training regular troops to be put into the field in France and Belgium as fast as they can be got ready. The first troops sent to France will be taken from the present forces of the regular army and will be under the command of trained soldiers only. The responsibility for the successful conduct of our own part in this great war rests upon me. I could not escape it if I would. I am too much interested in the cause we are fighting for to be interested in anything but success. ‘I'he issues involved are too immense for me to take into consideration anything whatever except the best, most effective, most immediate means of military action. What these means are I know from the mouths of men who have seen war as it is now conducted, who have no illusions, and to whom the whole grim matter is a matter of business. I shall center my attention upon those means and let everything else wait. I should be deeply to blame should I do otherwise, whatever the argument of policy or of personal gratification or advantage.GREAT SPEECHES STATEMENT ON THE FOOD LAW President Wilson’s Explanation, May 19, 1917, of the Food-Control Program of the Administration It is very desirable, in order to prevent misunderstand- ings or alarms and to assure co-operation in a vital matter, that the country should understand exactly the scope and purpose of the very great powers which I have thought it necessary in the circumstances to ask the Congress to put in my hands with regard to our food supplies. Those powers are very great indeed, but they are no greater than it has proved necessary to lodge in the other governments which are conducting this momentous war, and their object is stimulation and conservation, not. ar- bitrary restraint or injurious interference with the nor- mal processes of production. They are intended to benefit and assist the farmer and all those who play a legitimate part in the preparation, distribution and mar- keting of foodstuffs. It is proposed to draw a sharp line of distinction be- tween the normal activities of the government represented in the Department of Agriculture in reference to food production, conservation and marketing on the one hand and the emergency activities necessitated by the war in reference to the regulation of food distribution and con- sumption on the other. All measures intended directly to extend the normal activities of the Department of Agriculture, in reference to the production, conservation and the marketing of farm crops, will be administered, as in normal times, through that department, and the powers asked for over distribution and consumption, over exports, imports,40 PRESIDENT WILSON’S prices, purchase and requisition of commodities, storing and the like which may require regulation during the war will be placed in the hands of a commissioner of food administration appointed by the President and directly responsible to him. The objects sought to be served by the legislation asked for are: Full inquiry into the existing available stocks of foodstuffs and into the costs and practices of the vari- ous food-producing and distributing trades; the preven- tion of all unwarranted hoarding of every kind and of the control of the foodstuffs by persons who are not in any legitimate sense producers, dealers or traders; the requisitioning when necessary for the public use of food supplies and of the equipment necessary for handling them properly ; the licensing of wholesome and legitimate mixtures and milling percentages, and the prohibition of the unnecessary or wasteful use of foods. Authority is asked also to establish prices—but not in order to limit the profits of the farmers, but only to guar- antee to them when necessary a minimum price which will insure them a profit where they are asked to attempt new crops, and to secure the consumer against extortion by breaking up corners and attempts at speculation when they occur by fixing temporarily a reasonable price at which middlemen must sell. I have asked Mr. Herbert C. Hoover to undertake this all-important task of food administration. He has ex- pressed his willingness to do so on condition that he is to receive no payment for his services and that the whole of the force under him, exclusive of clerical assistance, shall be employed so far as possible upon the same volunteer basis. He has expressed his confidence that this difficultGREAT SPEECHES Al matter of food administration ean be successfully accom- plished through the voluntary co-operation and direction of legitimate distributors of foodstuffs and with the help of the women of the country. Although it is absolutely necessary that unquestion- able powers shall be placed in my hands in order to insure the success of this administration of the food supplies of the country, I am confident that the exercise of those powers will be necessary only in the few cases where some small and selfish minority proves unwilling to put the nation’s interests above personal advantage, and that the whole country will heartily support Mr. Hoover’s efforts by supplying the necessary volunteer agencies through- out the country for the intelligent control of food con- sumption and securing the co-operation of the most capa- ble leaders of the very interests most directly affected, that the exercise of the powers deputed to him will rest very successfully upon the good-will and co-operation of the people themselves, and that the ordinary economic machinery of the country will be left substantially undis- turbed. The proposed food administration is intended, of course, only to meet a manifest emergency and to con- tinue only while the war lasts. Since it will be com- posed for the most part of volunteers there need be no fear of the possibility of a permanent bureaucracy arising out of it. All control of consumption will disappear when the emergency has passed. It is with that object in view that the administration considers it to be of pre- eminent importance that the existing associations of pro- ducers and distributors of foodstuffs should be mobilized and made use of on a volunteer basis. This successful conduct of the projected food adminis-49 PRESIDENT WILSON’S tration by such means will be the finest possible demon- stration of the willingness, the ability and the efficiency of democracy, and of its justified reliance upon the free- dom of individual initiative. The last thing that any American could contemplate with equanimity would be the introduction of anything resembling Prussian autoc- racy into the food control of this country. It is of vital interest and importance to every man who produces food and to every man who takes part in its distribution that these policies thus liberally adminis- tered should succeed and succeed altogether. It is only in that way that we can prove it to be absolutely unnec- essary to resort to the rigorous and drastic measures which have proved to be necessary in some of the Euro- pean countries.GREAT SPEECHES AMERICAN NEUTRALITY Statement of the President, August 19, 1914 in the Early Days of the Great War My FELLOW-COoUNTRYMEN: I suppose that every thoughtful man in America has asked himself, during these last troubled weeks, what influence the European war may exert upon the United States, and I take the liberty of addressing a few words to you in order to point out that it is entirely within our own choice what its effects upon us will be and to urge very earnestly upon you the sort of speech and conduct which will best safeguard the Nation against distress and disaster. The effect of the war upon the United States will de- pend upon what American citizens say and do. Every man who really loves America will act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, which is the spirit of impar- tiality and fairness and friendliness to all concerned. The spirit of the Nation in this critical matter will be determined largely by what individuals and society and those gathered in public meetings do and say, upon what newspapers and magazines contain, upon what ministers utter in their pulpits, and men proclaim as their opinions on the street. The people of the United States are drawn from many nations, and chiefly from the nations now at war. It is natural and inevitable that there should be the utmost variety of sympathy and desire among them with regard to the issues and circumstances of the conflict. Some will wish one nation, others another, to succeed in the momentous struggle. It will be easy to excite passion and difficult to allay it. Those responsible for exciting it44 PRESIDENT WILSON’S will assume a heavy responsibility, responsibility for no less a thing than that the people of the United States, whose love of their country and whose loyalty to its Gov- ernment should unite them as Americans all, bound in honor and affection to think first of her and her interests, may be divided in camps of hostile opinion, hot against each other, involved in the war itself in impulse and opinion if not in action. Such divisions among us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might seriously stand in the way of the proper performance of our duty as the one great nation at peace, the one people holding itself ready to play a part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a friend. I venture, therefore, my fellow-countrymen, to speak a solemn word of warning to you against that deepest, most subtle, most essential breach of neutrality which may spring out of partisanship, out of passionately taking sides. The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name during these days that are to try men’s souls. We must be impartial in thought as well as in action, must put a curb upon our sentiments as well as upon every transaction that might be construed as a preference of one party to the struggle before another. My thought is of America. I am speaking, I feel sure, the earnest wish and purpose of every thoughtful Amer- ican ‘that this -great_ country of ours, which is, of course, the first in our thoughts and in our hearts, should show herself in this time of peculiar trial a Nation fit beyond ‘Others to exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of self-control, the efficiency of dispassionate action ; a Nation that neither sits in Judgment uponGREAT SPEECHES 45 others nor is disturbed in her own counsels and which keeps herself fit and free to do what is honest and disin- terested and truly serviceable for the peace of the world. Shall we not resolve to put upon ourselves the restraints which will bring to our people the happiness and the great and lasting influence for peace we covet for them?AG PRESIDENT WILSON’S. ADDRESS TO CONGRESS ON RAISING ADDITIONAL REVENUE September 4, 1914 GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: I come to you today to discharge a duty which I wish with all my heart I might have been spared; but it is a very clear duty, and therefore I perform it without hesi- tation or apology. I come to ask very earnestly that additional revenue be provided for the Government. During the month of August there was, as compared with the corresponding month of last year, a falling off of $10,629,538 in the revenues collected from customs. A continuation of this decrease in the same proportion throughout the current fiscal year would probably mean a loss of customs revenues of from sixty to one hundred millions. I need not tell you to what this falling off is due. It is due, in chief part, not to the reductions re- cently made in the customs duties, but to the great de- crease in importations; and that is due to the extraordi- nary extent of the industrial area affected by the present war in Europe. Conditions have arisen which no man foresaw ; they affect the whole world of commerce and eco- nomic production ; and they must be faced and dealt with. It would be very unwise to postpone dealing with them. Delay in such a matter and in the particular circum- stances in which we now find ourselves as a nation might involve consequences of the most embarrassing and de- plorable sort, for which I, for one, would not care to be responsible. It would be very dangerous in the present circumstances to create a moment’s doubt as to the strength and sufficiency of the Treasury of the United States, its ability to assist, to steady, and sustain theGREAT SPEECHES 4a financial operations of the country’s business. If the Treasury is known, or even thought, to be weak, where will be our peace of mind? The whole industrial activity of the country would be chilled and demoralized. Just now the peculiarly difficult financial problems of the mo- ment are being successfully dealt with, with great self- possession and good sense and very sound judgment; but they are only in process of being worked out. If the process of solution is to be completed, no one must be given reason to doubt the solidity and adequacy of the Treasury, of the Government which stands behind the whole method by which our difficulties are being met. and handled. The Treasury itself could get along for a considerable period, no doubt, without immediate resort to new sources of taxation. But at what cost to the business of the com- munity? Approximately $75,000,000, a large part of the present Treasury balance, is now on deposit with national banks distributed throughout the country. It is deposited, of course, on call. I need not point out to you what the probable consequences of inconvenience and distress and confusion would be if the diminishing in- come of the Treasury should make it necessary rapidly to withdraw these deposits. And yet without additional revenue that plainly might become necessary, and the time when it became necessary could not be controlled or determined by the convenience of the business of the country. It would have to be determined by the opera- tions and necessities of the Treasury itself. Such risks are not necessary and ought not to be run. We can not too scrupulously or carefully safeguard a financial situ- ation which is at best, while war continues in Europe, dif- ficult and abnormal. Hesitation and delay are the worst forms of bad policy under such conditions.48 PRESIDENT WILSON’S And we ought not to borrow. We ought to resort to taxation, however we may regret the necessity of putting additional temporary burdens on our people. To sell bonds would be to make a most untimely and unjustifiable demand on the money market; untimely, because this is manifestly not the time to withdraw working capital from other uses to pay the Government’s bills; unjustifiable, because unnecessary. The country is able to pay any just and reasonable taxes without distress. And to every other form of borrowing, whether for long periods or for short, there is the same objection. These are not the cir- eumstances, this is at this particular moment and in this particular exigency not the market, to borrow large sums of money. What we are seeking is to ease and assist every financial transaction, not to add a single additional em- barrassment to the situation. The people of this country are both intelligent and profoundly patriotic. They are ready to meet the present conditions in the right way and to support the Government with generous self-denial. They know and understand, and will be intolerant only of those who dodge responsibility or are not frank with them. The occasion is not of our own making. We had no part in making it. But it is here. It affects us as di- rectly and palpably almost as if we were participants in the circumstances which gave rise to it. We must accept the inevitable with calm judgment and unruffled spirits, like men accustomed to deal with the unexpected, habitu- ated to take care of themselves, masters of their own affairs and their own fortunes. We shall pay the bill, though we did not deliberately incur it. In order to meet every demand upon the Treasury with- out delay or peradventure and in order to keep the Treas- ury strong, unquestionably strong, and strong throughoutGREAT SPEECHES 49 the present anxieties, I respectfully urge that an addi- tional revenue of $100,000,000 be raised through internal taxes devised in your wisdom to meet the emergency. The only suggestion I take the liberty of making is that such sources of revenue be chosen as will begin to yield at once and yield with a certain and constant flow. I can not close without expressing the confidence with which I approach a Congress, with regard to this or any other matter, which has shown so untiring a devotion to public duty, which has responded to the needs of the Nation throughout a long season despite inevitable fatigue and personal sacrifice, and so large a proportion of whose Members have devoted their whole time and energy to the business of the country.50 PRESIDENT WILSON’S ANNUAL ADDRESS (MESSAGE) TO CONGRESS December 8, 1914 GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: The session upon which you are now entering will be the closing session of the Sixty-third Congress, a Con- gress, I venture to say, which will long be remembered for the great body of thoughtful and constructive work which it has done, in loyal response to the thought and needs of the country. I should lke in this address to review the notable record and try to make adequate as- sessment of it; but no doubt we stand too near the work that has been done and are ourselves too much part of it.to play the part of historians toward it. Our program of legislation with regard to the regula- tion of business is now virtually complete. It has been put forth, as we intended, as a whole, and leaves no con- jecture as to what is to follow. The road at last hes clear and firm before business. It is a road which it can travel without fear or embarrassment. It is the road to ungrudged, unclouded success. In it every honest man, every man who believes that the public interest is part of his own interest, may walk with perfect confidence. Moreover, our thoughts are now more of the future than of the past. While we have worked at our tasks of peace the circumstances of the whole age have been al- tered by war. What we have done for our own land and our own people we did with the best that was in us, whether of character or of intelligence, with sober enthu- siasm and a confidence in the principles upon which we were acting which sustained us at every step of the diffi- eult undertaking; but itis done. It has passed from ourGREAT SPEECHES 51 hands. It is now an established part of the legislation of the country. Its usefulness, its effects will disclose themselves in experience. What chiefly strikes us now, as we look about us during these closing days of a year which will be forever memorable in the history of the world, is that we face new tasks, have been facing them these six months, must face them in the months to come —face them without partisan feeling, hike men who have forgotten everything but a common duty and the fact that we are representatives of a great people whose thought is not of us but of what America owes to herself and to all mankind in such circumstances as these upon which we look amazed and anxious. War has interrupted the means of trade not only but also the processes of production. In Europe it is destroy- ing men and resources wholesale and upon a scale unpre- eedented and appalling. There is reason to fear that the time is near, if it be not already at hand, when several of the countries of Europe will find it difficult to do for their people what they have hitherto been always easily able to do—many essential and fundamental things. At any rate, they will need our help and our manifold serv- ices as they have never needed them before; and we should be ready, more fit and ready than we have ever been. It is of equal consequence that the nations whom Eu- rope has usually supplied with innumerable articles of manufacture and commerce of which they are in constant need and without which their economic development halts and stands still, can now get only a small part of what they formerly imported and eagerly look to us to supply their all but empty markets. This is particularly true of our own neighbors, the States, great and small, of Cen- tral and South America. Their lines of trade have hith-ete ae Peas oY 52 PRESIDENT WILSON’S erto run chiefly athwart the seas, not to our ports but to the ports of Great Britain and of the older continent of Europe. I do not stop to inquire why, or to make any comment on probable causes. What interests us just now is not the explanation but the fact, and our duty and opportunity in the presence of it. Here are markets which we must supply, and we must find the means of action. The United States, this great people for whom we speak and act, should be ready, as never before, to serve itself and to serve mankind; ready with its re- sources, its energies, its forces of production, and its means of distribution. It is a very practical matter, a matter of ways and means. We have the resources, but are we fully ready to use them? And, if we can make ready what we have; have we the means at hand to distribute it? We are not fully ready; neither have we the means of distribu- tion. We are willing, but we are not fully able. We have the wish to serve and to serve greatly, generously ; but we are not prepared as we should be. We are not ready to mobilize our resources at once. We are not prepared to use them immediately and at their best, with- out delay and without waste. To speak plainly, we have grossly erred in the way in which we have stunted and hindered the development of our merchant marine. And now, when we need ships, we have not got them. We have year after year debated, without end or conclusion, the best policy to pursue with regard to the use of the ores and forests and water powers of our national domain in the rich States of the West, when we should have acted; and they are still locked up. The key is still turned upon them, the door shut fast at which thousands of vigorous men, full of initiative, knockGREAT SPEECHES 53 clamorously for admittance. The water power of our navigable streams outside the national domain also, even in the eastern States, where we have worked and planned for generations, is still not used as it might be, because we will and we won’t; because the laws we have made do not intelligently balance encouragement against restraint. We withhold by regulation. I have come to ask you to remedy and correct these mistakes and omissions, even at this short session of a Congress which would certainly seem to have done all the work that could reasonably be expected of it. The time and the circumstances are extraordinary, and so must our efforts be also. Fortunately, two great measures, finely conceived, the one to unlock, with proper safeguards, the resources of the national domain, the other to encourage the use of the navigable waters outside that domain for the genera- tion of power, have already passed the House of Repre- sentatives and are ready for immediate consideration and action by the Senate. With the deepest earnestness I urge their prompt passage. In them both we turn our backs upon hesitation and makeshift and formulate a genuine policy of use and conservation, in the best sense of those words. We owe the one measure not only to the people of that great western country for whose free and systematic development, as it seems to me, our legis- lation has done so little, but also to the people of the Nation as a whole; and we as clearly owe the other in fulfillment of our repeated promises that the water power of the country should in fact as well as in name be put at the disposal of great industries which can make eco- nomical and profitable use of it, the rights of the publie being adequately guarded the while, and monopoly in the use prevented. To have begun such measures andpS 54 PRESIDENT WILSON’S not completed them would indeed mar the record of this great Congress very seriously. I hope and confidently believe that they will be completed. And there is another great piece of legislation which awaits and should receive the sanction of the Senate: I mean the bill which gives a larger measure of self-gov- ernment to the people of the Philippines. How better, in this time of anxious questioning and perplexed policy, could we show our confidence in the principles of lib- erty, as the source as well as the expression of life, how better could we demonstrate our own self-possession and steadfastness in the courses of justice and disinterested- ness than by thus going calmly forward to fulfill our promises to a dependent people, who will now look more anxiously than ever to see whether we have indeed the liberality, the unselfishness, the courage, the faith we have boasted and professed. I can not believe that the Senate will let this great measure of constructive justice await the action of another Congress. Its passage would nobly crown the record of these two years of memorable labor. Coe 4 But I think that you will agree with me that this does not complete the toll of our duty. How are we to carry our goods to the empty markets of which I have spoken if we have not the ships? How are we to build up a great trade if we have not the certain and constant means of transportation upon which all profitable and useful com- merce depends? And how are we to get the ships if we wait for the trade to develop without them? To correct the many mistakes by which we have discouraged and all but destroyed the merchant marine of the country, to retrace the steps by which we have, it seems almost de- liberately, withdrawn our fiag from the seas, exceptGREAT SPEECHES oe where, here and there, a ship of war is bidden carry it or some wandering yacht displays it, would take a long time and involve many detailed items of legislation, and the trade which we ought immediately to handle would disappear or find other channels while we debated the items. The case is not unlike that which confronted us when our own continent was to be opened up to settlement and industry, and we needed long lines of railway, extended means of transportation prepared beforehand, if devel- opment was not to lag intolerably and wait interminably. We lavishly subsidized the building of transcontinental railroads. We lock back upon that with regret now, be- cause the subsidies led to many scandals of which we are ashamed ; but we know that the railroads had to be built, and if we had it to do over again we should of course build them, but in another way. Therefore I propose another way of providing the means of transportation, which must precede, not tardily follow, the development of our trade with our neighbor states of America. It may seem a reversal of the natural order of things, but it 1s true, that the routes of trade must be actually opened— by many ships and regular sailings and moderate charges —hbefore streams of merchandise will flow freely and profitably through them. Hence the pending shipping bill, discussed at the last session but as yet passed by neither House. In my judg- ment such legislation is imperatively needed and can not wisely be postponed. The Government must open these gates of trade, and open them wide; open them before it is altogether profitable to open them, or altogether rea- sonable to ask private capital to open them at a venture. It is not a question of the Government monopolizing the field. Itshould take action to make it certain that trans-PRESIDENT WILSON ’S 56 portation at reasonable rates will be promptly provided, even where the carriage is not at first profitable; and then, when the carriage has become sufficiently profitable to attract and engage private capital, and engage it in abundance, the Government ought to withdraw. I very earnestly hope that the Congress will be of this opinion, and that both Houses will adopt this exceedingly impor- tant bill. The great subject of rural credits still remains to be dealt with, and it is a matter of deep regret that the diffi- culties of the subject have seemed to render it impossible to complete a bill for passage at this session. But it can not be perfected yet, and therefore there are no other constructive measures the necessity for which I will at this time call your attention to; but I would be negligent of a very manifest duty were I not to call the attention of the Senate to the fact that the proposed convention for safety at sea awaits its confirmation and that the limit fixed in the convention itself for its acceptance is the last day of the present month. The conference in which this convention originated was called by the United States; the representatives of the United States played a very influential part indeed in framing the provisions of the proposed convention; and those provisions are in them- selves for the most part admirable. It would hardly be consistent with the part we have played in the whole matter to let it drop and go by the board as if forgotten and neglected. It was ratified in May last by the German Government and in August by the Parliament of Great Britain. It marks a most hopeful and decided advance in international civilization. We should show our earnest good faith in a great matter by adding our own acceptance of it.GREAT SPEECHES 57 There is another matter of which I must make special mention, if I am to discharge my conscience, lest it should escape your attention. It may seem a very small thing. It affects only a single item of appropriation. But many human lives and many great enterprises hang upon it. It is the matter of making adequate provision for the survey and charting of our coasts. It is immediately pressing and exigent in connection with the immense coast line of Alaska, a coast line greater than that of the United States themselves, though it is also very impor- tant indeed with regard to the older coasts of the conti- nent. We can not use our great Alaskan domain, ships will not ply thither, if those coasts and their many hidden dangers are not thoroughly surveyed and charted. The work is incomplete at almost every point. Ships and lives have been lost in threading what were supposed to be well-known main channels. We have not provided adequate vessels or adequate machinery for the survey and charting. We have used old vessels that were not big enough or strong enough and which were so nearly unseaworthy that our inspectors would not have allowed private owners to send them to sea. This is a matter which, as I have said, seems small, but is in reality very great. Its importance has only to be looked into to be appreciated. Before I close may I say a few words upon two topics, much discussed out of doors, upon which it is highly im- portant that our judgments should be clear, definite, and steadfast ? One of these is economy in government expenditures. The duty of economy is not debatable. It is manifest and imperative. In the appropriations we pass we are spending the money of the great people whose servantsPRESIDENT WILSON’S we are—not our own. We are trustees and responsible stewards in the spending. The only thing debatable and upon which we should be careful to make our thought and purpose clear is the kind of economy demanded of us. I assert with the greatest confidence that the people of the United States are not jealous of the amount their Government costs if they are sure that they get what they need and desire for the outlay, that the money is being spent for objects of which they approve, and that it is being applied with good business sense and manage- ment. Governments grow, piecemeal, both in their tasks and in the means by which those tasks are to be performed, and very few Governments are organized, I venture to say, aS wise and experienced business men would organize them if they had a clean sheet of paper to write upon. Certainly the Government of the United States is not. I think that it is generally agreed that there should be a systematic reorganization and reassembling of its parts So as to secure greater efficiency and effect considerable Savings in expense. But the amount of money saved in that way would, I believe, though no doubt considerable in itself, running, it may be, into the millions, be rela- tively small—small, I mean, in proportion to the total necessary outlays of the Government. It would be thor- oughly worth effecting, as every saving would, great or small. Our duty is not altered by the scale of the saving. But my point is that the people of the United States do not wish to curtail the activities of this Government ; they wish, rather, to enlarge them: and with every enlarge- ment, with the mere growth, indeed, of the country itself, there must come, of course, the inevitable increase of ex- pense. The sort of economy we ought to practice may be effected, and ought to be effected, by a careful study andGREAT SPEECHES 59 assessment of the tasks to be performed; and the money spent ought to be made to yield the best possible returns in efficiency and achievement. And, like good stewards, we should so account for every dollar of our appropria- tions as to make it perfectly evident what it was spent for and in what way it was spent. It is not expenditure but extravagance that we should fear being criticized for; not paying for the legitimate enterprises and undertakings of a great Government whose people command what it should do, but adding what will benefit only a few or pouring money out for what need not have been undertaken at all or might have been postponed or better and more economically con- ceived and carried out. The Nation is not niggardly; it is very generous. It will chide us only if we forget for whom we pay money out and whose money it 1s we pay. These are large and general standards, but they are not very difficult of application to particular cases. The other topic I shall take leave to mention goes deeper into the principles of our national life and policy. It is the subject of national defense. It can not be discussed without first answering some very searching questions. It is said in some quarters that we are not prepared for war. What is meant by being prepared? Is it meant that we are not ready upon brief notice to put a nation in the field, a nation of men trained toarms? Of course we are not ready to do that; and we shall never be in time of peace so long as we retain our present political principles and institutions. And what is it that it is suggested we should be prepared to do? To defend ourselves against attack? We have always found means to do that, and shall find them whenever it is necessary without calling our people away from their60 PRESIDENT WILSON’S necessary tasks to render compulsory military service in times of peace. Allow me to speak with great plainness and directness upon this great matter and to avow my convictions with deep earnestness. I have tried to know what America is, what her people think, what they are, what they most cherish and hold dear.. I hope that some of their finer passions are in my own heart—some of the great concep- tions and desires which gave birth to this Government and which have made the voice of this people a voice of peace and hope and liberty among the peoples of the world, and that, speaking my own thoughts, I shall, at least in part, speak theirs also, however faintly and inade- quately, upon this vital matter. We are at peace with all the world. No one who speaks counsel based on fact or drawn from a just and candid interpretation of realities can say that there is reason to fear that from any quarter our independence or the in- tegrity of our territory is threatened. Dread of the power of any other nation we are incapable of. We are not jealous of rivalry in the fields of commerce or of any other peaceful achievement. We mean to live our own lives as we will; but we mean also to let live. We are, indeed, a true friend to all the nations of the world, be- cause we threaten none, covet the possessions of none, desire the overthrow of none. Our friendship can be accepted and is accepted without reservation, because it is offered in a spirit and for a purpose which no one need ever question or suspect. Therein lies our greatness. We are the champions of peace and of concord. And we should be very jealous of this distinction which we have sought to earn. Just now we should be particularly jeal- ous of it, because it is our dearest present hope that this character and reputation may presently, in God’s provl-GREAT SPEECHES 61 dence, bring us an opportunity such as has seldom been vouchsafed any nation, the opportunity to counsel and obtain peace in the world and reconciliation and a healing settlement of many a matter that has cooled and inter- rupted the friendship of nations. This is the time above all others when we should wish and resolve to keep our strength by self-possession, our influence by preserving our ancient principles of action. From the first we have had a clear and settled policy with regard to military establishments. We never have had, and while we retain our present principles and ideals we never shall have, a large standing army. If asked, Are you ready to defend yourselves? we reply, Most as- suredly, to the utmost; and yet we shall not turn America into a military camp. We will not ask our young men to spend the best years of their lives making soldiers of themselves. There is another sort of energy in us. It will know how to declare itself and make itself effective should occasion arise. And especially when half the world is on fire we shall be careful to make our moral insurance against the spread of the conflagration very definite and certain and adequate indeed. Let us remind ourselves, therefore, of the only thing we can do or will do. We must depend in every time of national peril, in the future as in the past, not upon a standing army, nor yet upon a reserve army, but upon a citizenry trained and accustomed to arms. It will be right enough, right American policy, based upon our accustomed principles and practices, to provide a system by which every citizen who will volunteer for the train- ing may be made familiar with the use of modern arms, the rudiments of drill and maneuver, and the mainte- nance and sanitation of camps. We should encourage62 PRESIDENT WILSON’S such training and make it a means of discipline which our young men will learn to value. It is right that we should provide it not only, but that we should make it as attractive as possible, and so induce our young men to undergo it at such times as they can command a little freedom and can seek the physical development they need, for mere health’s sake, if for nothing more. Every means by which such things can be stimulated is legiti- mate, and such a method smacks of true American ideas. It is right, too, that the National Guard of the States should be developed and strengthened by every means which is not inconsistent with our obligations to our own people or with the established policy of our Government. And this, also, not because the time or occasion specially calls for such measures, but because it should be our con- stant policy to make these provisions for our national peace and safety. More than this carries with it a reversal of the whole history and character of our polity. More than this, proposed at this time, permit me to say, would mean merely that we had lost our self-possession, that we had been thrown off our balance by a war with which we have nothing to do, whose causes can not touch us, whose very existence affords us opportunities of friendship and dis- interested service which should make us ashamed of any thought of hostility or fearful preparation for trouble. This is assuredly the opportunity for which a people and a government like ours were raised up, the opportunity not only to speak but actually to embody and exemplify the counsels of peace and amity and the lasting concord which is based on justice and fair and generous dealing. A powerful navy we have always regarded as our proper and natural means of defense; and it has always been of defense that we have thought, never of aggres-GREAT SPEECHES 63 sion or of conquest. But who shall tell us now what sort of a navy to build? We shall take leave to be strong upon the seas, in the future as in the past; and there will be no thought of offense or of provocation in that. Our ships are our natural bulwarks. When will the experts tell us just what kind we should construct—and when will they be right for ten years together, if the relative efficiency of craft of different kinds and uses continues to change as we have seen it change under our very eyes in these last few months. But I turn away from the subject. It is not new. There is no new need to discuss it. We shall not alter our attitude toward it because some amongst us are nervous and excited. We shall easily and sensibly agree upon a policy of defense. The question has not changed its aspect because the times are not normal. Our policy will not be for an occasion. It will be conceived as a permanent and settled thing, which we will pursue at all seasons, without haste and after a fashion perfectly consistent with the peace of the world, and the abiding friendship of states, and the unhampered freedom of all with whom we deal. Let there be no misconception. The country has been misinformed. We have not been negli- gent of national defense. We are not unmindful of the great responsibility resting upon us. We shall learn and profit by the lesson of every experience and every new circumstance ; and what is needed will be adequately done. I close, as I began, by reminding you of the great tasks and duties of peace which challenge our best powers and invite us to build what will last, the tasks to which we can address ourselves now and at all times with free-hearted zest and with all the finest gifts of constructive wisdom we possess. To develop our life and our resources; to supply our own people, and the people of the world asPOS es 64 PRESIDENT WILSON’S their need arises from the abundant plenty of our fields and our marts of trade; to enrich the commerce of our own States and of the world with the products of our mines, our farms, and our factories, with the creations of our thought and the fruits of our character—this is what will hold our attention and our enthusiasm steadily, now and in the years to come, as we strive to show in our life as a nation what liberty and the inspirations of an eman- cipated spirit may do for men and for societies, for indi- viduals, for states, and for mankind. ADDRESS AT FLAG-DAY EXERCISES of the Treasury Department, June 14, 1915 Mr. Secretary, FRIENDS AND F'ELLOW-CITIZENS: I know of nothing more difficult than to render an adequate tribute to the emblem of our nation. For those of us who have shared that nation’s life and felt the beat of its pulse it must be considered a matter of impossibility to express the great things which that emblem embodies. I venture to say that a great many things are said about the flag which very few people stop to analyze. For me the flag does not express a mere body of vague sentiment. The flag of the United States has not been created by rhetorical sentences in declarations of independence and in bills of rights. It has been created by the experience of a great people, and nothing is written upon it that has not been written by their hfe. It is the embodiment, not of a sentiment, but of a history, and no man ean rightly serve under that flag who has not caught some of the meaning of that history.GREAT SPEECHES 65 Experience, ladies and gentlemen, is made by men and women. National experience is the product of those who do the living under that flag. It is their living that has created its significance. You do not create the meaning of a national life by any literary exposition of it, but by the actual daily endeavors of a great people to do the tasks of the day and live up to the ideals of honesty and righteousness and just conduct. And as we think of these things, our tribute is to those men who have created this experience. Many of them are known by name to all the world—statesmen, soldiers, merchants, masters of in- dustry, men of letters and of thought who have coined our hearts into action or into words. Of these men we feel that they have shown us the way. They have not been afraid to go before us. They have known that they were speaking the thoughts of a great people when they led that great people along the paths of achievement. There was not a single swashbuckler among them. They were men of sober, quiet thought, the more effective because there was no bluster in it. They were men who thought along the lines of duty, not along the lines of self-aggran- dizement. They were men, in short, who thought of the people whom they served and not of themselves. But while we think of these men and do honor to them as to those who have shown us the way, let us not forget that the real experience and life of a nation lies with the great multitude of unknown men. It lies with those men whose names are never in the headlines of newspapers, those men who know the heat and pain and desperate loss of hope that sometimes comes in the great struggle of daily life; not the men who stand on the side and com- ment, not the men who merely try to interpret the great struggle, but the men who are engaged in the struggle. They constitute the body of the nation. This flag is the66 PRESIDENT WILSON’S essence of their daily endeavors. This flag does not ex- press any more than what they are and what they desire to be. As I think of the life of this great nation it seems to me that we sometimes look to the wrong places for its sources. We look to the noisy places, where men are talking in the market place; we look to where men are expressing their individual opinions; we look to where partisans are expressing passion; instead of trying to attune our ears to that voiceless mass of men who merely go about their daily tasks, try to be honorable, try to serve the people they love, try to live worthy of the great communities to which they belong. These are the breath of the nation’s nostrils; these are the sinews of its might. How can any man presume to interpret the emblem of the United States, the emblem of what we would fain be among the family of nations, and find it Incumbent upon us to be in the daily round of routine duty? This is Flag Day, but that only means that it is a day when we are to recall the things which we should do every day of our lives. There are no days of special patriotism. There are no days when we should be more patriotic than on other days. We celebrate the Fourth of July merely because the great enterprise of liberty was started on the fourth of July in America, but the great enterprise of liberty was not begun in America. It is illustrated by the blood of thousands of martyrs who lived and died before the great experiment on this side of the water. The Fourth of July merely marks the day when we con- secrated ourselves as a nation to this high thing which we pretend to serve. The benefit of a day like this is merely in turning away from the things that distract us, turning away from the things that touch us personally and absorb our interest in the hours of daily work. WeGREAT SPEECHES 67 remind ourselves of those things that are greater than we are, of those principles by which we believe our hearts to be elevated, of the more difficult things that we must undertake in these days of perplexity when a man’s judg- ment is safest only when it follows the line of principle. I am solemnized in the presence of such a day. I would not undertake to speak your thoughts. You must interpret them for me. But I do feel that back, not only of every public official, but of every man and woman of the United States, there marches that great host which has brought us to the present day ; the host that has never for- gotten the vision which it saw at the birth of the nation; the host which always responds to the dictates of human- ity and of liberty; the host that will always constitute the strength and the great body of friends of every man who does his duty to the United States. I am sorry that you do not wear a little flag of the Union every day instead of some days. I can only ask you, if you lose the physical emblem, to be sure that you wear it in your heart, and the heart of America shall interpret the heart of the world.PRESIDENT WILSON’S ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT at G. A. R. Celebration, Camp Emery, Washington, September 28, 1915 Mr. CHAIRMAN, GENTLEMEN OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : I bid you a very cordial welcome to the capital of the Nation, and yet I feel that it is not necessary to bid you welcome here, because you know that the welcome is always warm and always waiting for you. One could not stand in this presence without many moving thoughts. It is a singular thing that men of a single generation should have witnessed what you have witnessed in the crowded fifty years which you celebrate tonight. You took part when you were young men in a struggle the meaning of which, I dare say, you thought would not be revealed during your lifetime, and yet more has happened in the making of this Nation in your life- time than has ever happened in the making of any other nation in the lifetime of a dozen generations. The Nation in which you now live is not the Nation for whose union you fought. You have seen many things come about which have made this Nation one of the rep- resentative nations of the world with regard to the mod- ern spirit of that world, and you have the satisfaction, which I dare say few soldiers have ever had, of looking back upon a war absolutely unique in this, that instead of destroying it healed, that instead of making a permanent division it made a permanent union. You have seen something more interesting than that, because there is a sense in which the things of the heart are more interesting than the things of the mind. This Nation was from the beginning a spiritual enterprise, and you have seen theGREAT SPEECHES 69 spirits of the two once divided sections of this country absolutely united. A war which seemed as if it had the seed of every kind of bitterness in it has seen a single generation put bitterness absolutely out of its heart, and you feel, as I am sure the men who fought against you feel, that you were comrades even then, though you did not know it, and that now you know that you are com- rades in a common love for a country which you are equally eager to serve. This is a miracle of the spirit, so far as national history is concerned. This is one of the very few wars in which in one sense everybody engaged may take pride. Some wars are to be regretted; some wars mar the annals of history ; but some wars, contrasted with those, make those annals distinguished, show that the spirit of man some- times springs to great enterprises that are even greater than his own mind had conceived. So it seems to me that, standing in a presence like this, no man, whether he be in the public service or in the ranks of private citizens merely, can fail to feel the challenge to his own heart, can fail to feel the challenge to a new consecration to the things that we all believe in. The thing that sinks deepest in my heart as I try to realize the memories that must be crowding upon you is this: You set the Nation free for that great career of development, of unhampered development, which the world has wit- nessed since the Civil War, but for my own part I would not be proud of the extraordinary physical development of this country, of its extraordinary development in mate- rial wealth and financial power, did I not believe that the people of the United States wished all of this power devoted to ideal ends. There have been other nations as rich as we; there have been other nations as powerful; there have been other nations as spirited; but I hope we70 PRESIDENT WILSON’S shall never forget that we created this Nation, not to serve ourselves, but to serve mankind. I love this country because it is my home, but every man loves his home. It does not suffice that I should be at- tached to it because it contains the places and the persons whom I love—because it contains the threads of my own life. That does not suffice for patriotic duty. I should also love it, and I hope I do love it, as a great instrument for the uplift of mankind ; and what you, gentlemen, have to remind us of as you look back through a lifetime to the great war in which you took part is that you fought that this instrument meant for the service of mankind should not be impaired either in its material or in its spiritual power. I hope I may say without even an implication of eriti- cism upon any other great people in the world that it has always seemed to me that the people of the United States wished to be regarded as devoted to the promotion of par- ticular principles of human right. The United States were founded, not to provide free homes, but to assert human rights. This flag meant a great enterprise of the human spirit. Nobody, no large bodies of men, in the time that flag was first set up believed with a very firm belief in the efficacy of democracy. Do you realize that only so long ago as the time of the American Revolution democ- racy was regarded as an experiment in the world and we were regarded as rash experimenters? But we not only believed in it; we showed that our belief was well founded and that a nation as powerful as any in the world could be erected upon the will of the people; that, indeed, there was a power in such a nation that dwelt in no other nation unless also in that other nation the spirit of the people prevailed. Democracy is the most difficult form of government,GREAT SPEECHES val because it 1s the form under which you have to persuade the largest number of persons to do anything in particu- lar. But I think we were the more pleased to undertake it because it is difficult. Anybody can do what is easy. We have shown that we could do what was hard, and the pride that ought to dwell in your hearts tonight is that you saw to it that that experiment was brought to the day of its triumphant demonstration. We now know, and the world knows, that the thing that we then undertook, rash as it seemed, has been practicable, and that we have set up in the world a government maintained and promoted by the general conscience and the general conviction. So I stand here, not to weleome you to the Nation’s capital as if I were your host, but merely to welcome you to your own capital, because I am, and am proud to be, your servant. I hope I shall catch, as I hope we shall all catch, from the spirit of this occasion a new consecration to the high duties of American citizenship.12 PRESIDENT WILSON’S ADDRESS TO THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Washington, October 11, 1915 MApAM PRESIDENT AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Again it is my very great privilege to welcome you to the City of Washington and to the hospitalities of the Capital. May I admit a point of ignorance? I was sur- prised to learn that this association is so young, and that an association so young should devote itself wholly to memory I can not believe. For to me the duties to which you are consecrated are more than the duties and the pride of memory. There is a very great thrill to be had from the memories of the American Revolution, but the American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation, and the duty laid upon us by that beginning is the duty of bringing the things then begun to a noble triumph of completion. For it seems to me that the peculiarity of patriotism in Amer- ica is that it is not a mere sentiment. It is an active prin- ciple of conduct. It is something that was born into the world, not to please it but to regenerate it. It is some- thing that was born into the world to replace systems that had preceded it and to bring men out upon a new plane of privilege. The glory of the men whose memories you honor and perpetuate is that they saw this vision, and it was a vision of the future. It was a vision of great days to come when a little handful of three million people upon the borders of a single sea should have become a great multitude of free men and women spreading across a great continent, dominating the shores of two oceans, and sending West as well as East the influences of indi- vidual freedom. These things were consciously in their minds as they framed the great Government which wasGREAT SPEECHES 73 born out of the American Revolution; and every time we gather to perpetuate their memories it 1s Incumbent upon us that we should be worthy of recalling them and that we should endeavor by every means in our power to emulate their example. The American Revolution was the birth of a nation; it was the creation of a great free republic based upon traditions of personal liberty which theretofore had been confined to a single little island, but which it was purposed should spread to all mankind. And the singular fascina- tion of American history is that it has been a process of constant re-creation, of making over again in each genera- tion the thing which was conceived at first. You know how peculiarly necessary that has been in our case, be- cause America has not grown by the mere multiplication of the original stock. It is easy to preserve tradition with continuity of blood; it is easy in a single family to remem- ber the origins of the race and the purposes of its organi- zation; but it is not so easy when that race is constantly being renewed and augmented from other sources, from stocks that did not carry or originate the same principles. So from generation to generation strangers have had to be indoctrinated with the principles of the American family, and the wonder and the beauty of it all has been that the infection has been so generously easy. For the principles of liberty are united with the principles of hope. Every individual, as well as every Nation, wishes to realize the best thing that is in him, the best thing that can be conceived out of the materials of which his spirit is constructed. It has happened in a way that fascinates the imagination that we have not only been augmented by additions from outside, but that we have been greatly stimulated by those additions. Living in the easy pros- perity of a free people, knowing that the sun had alwaysPRESIDENT WILSON’S ¢4 been free to shine upon us and prosper our undertakings, we did not realize how hard the task of liberty 1s and how rare the privilege of liberty is; but men were drawn out of every climate and out of every race because of an irre- sistible attraction of their spirits to the American ideal. They thought of America as lifting, like that great statue in the harbor of New York, a torch to light the pathway of men to the things that they desire, and men of all sorts and conditions struggled toward that light and came to our shores with an eager desire to realize it, and a hunger for it such as some of us no longer felt, for we were as if satiated and satisfied and were indulging ourselves after a fashion that, did not belong to the ascetie devotion of the early devotees of those great principles. Strangers came to remind us of what we had promised ourselves and through ourselves had promised mankind. All men came to us and said, ‘‘ Where is the bread of life with which you promised to feed us, and have you partaken of it your- selves?’’? For my part, I believe that the constant renewal of this people out of foreign stocks has been a constant source of reminder to this people of what the inducement was that was offered to men who would come and be of our number. Now we have come to a time of special stress and test. There never was a time when we needed more clearly to conserve the principles of our own patriotism than this present time. The rest of the world from which our polities were drawn seems for the time in the crucible and no man can predict what will come out of that crucible. We stand apart, unembroiled, conscious of our own prin- ciples, conscious of what we hope and purpose, so far as our powers permit, for the world at large, and it is nec- essary that we should consolidate the American principle,GREAT SPEECHES 15 Every political action, every social action, should have for its object in America at this time to challenge the spirit of America; to ask that every man and woman who thinks first of America should rally to the standards of our life. There have been some among us who have not thought first of America, who have thought to use the might of America in some matter not of America’s origination. They have forgotten that the first duty of a nation is to express its own individual principles in the action of the family of nations and not to seek to aid and abet any rival or contrary ideal. Neutrality is a negative word. It is a word that does not express what America ought to feel. America has a heart and that heart throbs with all sorts of intense sym- pathies, but America has schooled its heart to love the things that America believes in, and it ought to devote itself only to the things that America believes in, and be- lieving that America stands apart in its ideals, it ought not to allow itself to be drawn, so far as its heart is con- cerned, into anybody’s quarrel. Not because it does not understand the quarrel, not because it does not in its head assess the merits of the controversy, but because America has promised the world to stand apart and maintain cer- tain principles of action which are grounded in law and in justice. We are not trying to keep out of trouble; we are trying to preserve the foundations upon which peace can be rebuilt. Peace can be rebuilt only upon the ancient and accepted principles of international law, only upon those things which remind nations of their duties to each other, and, deeper than that, of their duties to mankind and to humanity. ! America has a great cause which is not confined to th ‘American continent. It is the cause of humanity itself. I do not mean in anything that I say even to imply a judg-76 PRESIDENT WILSON’S ment upon any nation or upon any policy, for my object here this afternoon is not to sit in judgment upon any- body but ourselves and to challenge you to assist all of us who are trying to make America more than ever conscious of her own principles and her own duty. I look forward to the necessity in every political agitation in the years which are immediately at hand of calling upon every man to declare himself, where he stands. Is it America first or is it not? We ought to be very careful about some of the impres- gions that we are forming just now. There is too general an impression, I fear, that very large numbers of our fellow-citizens born in other lands have not entertained with sufficient intensity and affection the American ideal. But the number of such is, I am sure, not large. Those who would seek to represent them are very vocal, but they are not very influential. Some of the best stuff of America has come out of foreign lands, -and some of the best stuff in America is in the men who are naturalized citizens of the United States. I would not be afraid upon the test of ‘‘ America first’’ to take a census of all the foreign-born citizens of the United States, for I know that the vast majority of them came here because they believed in America; and their belief in America has made them better citizens than some people who were born in America. They can say that they have bought this privilege with a great price. They have left their homes, they have left their kindred, they have broken all the nearest and dearest ties of human life in order to come to a new land, take a new rootage, begin a new life, and so by self-sacrifice express their confidence in a new prin- ciple ; whereas, it cost us none of these things.. We were born into this privilege; we were rocked and cradled in it; we did nothing to create it; and it is, therefore, theGREAT SPEECHES 77 greater duty on our part to do a great deal to enhance it and preserve it. I am not deceived as to the balance of opinion among the foreign-born citizens of the United States, but I am in a hurry for an opportunity to have a line-up and let the men who are thinking first of other countries stand on one side and all those that are for America first, last, and all the time on the other side. Now, you can do a great deal in this direction. When I was a college officer I used to be very much opposed to hazing ; not because hazing is not wholesome, but because sophomores are poor judges. I remember a very dear friend of mine, a professor of ethics on the other side of the water, was asked if he thought it was ever justifiable to tell a lie. He said Yes, he thought it was sometimes justifiable to lie; ‘‘but,’’ he said, ‘‘it is so difficult to judge of the justification that I usually tell the truth.’’ I think that ought to be the motto of the sophomore. There are freshmen who need to be hazed, but the need is to be judged by such nice tests that a sophomore is hardly old enough to determine them. But the world can determine them. We are not freshmen at college, but we are con- stantly hazed. I would a great deal rather be obliged to draw pepper up my nose than to observe the hostile glances of my neighbors. I would a great deal rather be beaten than ostracized. I would a great deal rather endure any sort of physical hardship if I might have the affection ef my fellow-men. We constantly discipline our fellow-citizens by having an opinion about them. That is the sort of discipline we ought now to administer to everybody who is not to the very core of his heart an American. Just have an opinion about him and let him experience the atmospheric effects of that opinion! And I know of no body of persons comparable to a body ofet ean 72 PRESIDENT WILSON’S ladies for creating an atmosphere of opinion! I] have myself in part yielded to the influences of that atmos- phere, though it took me a long time to determine how I was going to vote in New Jersey. So it has seemed to me that my privilege this afternoon was not merely a privilege of courtesy, but the real priv- ilege of reminding you—for I am sure IT am doing nothing more—of the great principles which we stand associated to promote. I for my part rejoice that we belong to a country in which the whole business of government is SO difficult. We do not take orders from anybody; it is a universal communication of conviction, the most subtle, delicate, and difficult of processes. There is not a single individual’s opinion that is not of some consequence in making up the grand total, and to be in this great coopera- tive effort is the most stimulating thing in the world. A man standing alone may well misdoubt his own judgment. He may mistrust his own intellectual processes; he may even wonder if his own heart leads him right in matters of public conduct; but if he finds his heart part of the great throb of a national life, there can be no doubt about it. If that is his happy circumstance, then he may know that he is part of one of the great forces of the world. I would not feel any exhilaration in belonging to America if I did not feel that she was something more than a rich and powerful nation. I should not feel proud to be in some respects and for a little while her spokes- man if I did not believe that there was something else than physical force behind her. I believe that the glory of America is that she is a great spiritual conception and that in the spirit of her institutions dwells not only her distinction but her power. The one thing that the world ean not permanently resist is the moral force of great and triumphant convictions.GREAT SPEECHES 79 ANNUAL ADDRESS TO CONGRESS December 7, 1915 [This Address Includes Mr. Wilson’s Historic Remarks on Dis- loyalty Within the Nation.] GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: since I last had the privilege of addressing you on the state of the Union the war of nations on the other side of the sea, which had then only begun to disclose its portentous proportions, has extended its threatening and sinister scope until it has swept within its flame some portion of every quarter of the globe, not excepting our own hemisphere, has altered the whole face of interna- tional affairs, and now presents a prospect of reorganiza- tion and reconstruction such as statesmen and peoples have never been called upon to attempt before. We have stood apart, studiously neutral. It was our manifest duty to do so. Not only did we have no part or interest in the policies which seem to have brought the conflict on; it was necessary, if a universal catastrophe was to be avoided, that a limit should be set to the sweep of destructive war and that some part of the great family of nations should keep the processes of peace. alive, if only to prevent collective economic ruin and the breakdown throughout the world of the industries by which its pop- ulations are fed and sustained. It was manifestly the duty of the self-governed nations of this hemisphere to redress, if possible, the balance of economic loss and con- fusion in the other, if they could do nothing more. In the day of readjustment and recuperation we earnestly hope and believe that they can be of infinite service. In this neutrality, to which they were bidden not only by their separate life and their habitual detachment from80 PRESIDENT WILSON’S the politics of Europe but also by a clear perception of international duty, the states of America have become conscious of a new and more vital community of interest and moral partnership in affairs, more clearly conscious of the many common sympathies and interests and duties which bid them stand together. There was a time in the early days of our own oreat nation and of the republics fighting their way to inde- pendence in Central and South America when the govern- ment of the United States looked upon itself as In Some sort the guardian of the republics to the south of her as against any encroachments or efforts at political control from the other side of the water; felt it its duty to play the part even without invitation from them; and I think that we can claim that the task was undertaken with a true and disinterested enthusiasm for the freedom of the Americas and the unmolested self-government of her independent peoples. But it was always difficult to main- tain such a role without offence to the pride of the peoples whose freedom of action we sought to protect, and without provoking serious misconceptions of our motives, and every thoughtful man of affairs must welcome the altered circumstances of the new day in whose light we now stand, when there is no claim of guardianship or thought of wards but, instead, a full and honorable association as of partners between ourselves and our neighbors, in the interest of all America, north and south. Our concern for the independence and prosperity of the states of Central and South America is not altered. We retain unabated the spirit that has inspired us throughout the whole life of our government and which was so frankly put into words by President Monroe. We still mean always to make a common cause of national independence and of political liberty in America. But that purpose is nowGREAT SPEECHES RI better understood so far as it concerns ourselves. It is known not to be a selfish purpose. It is known to have in it no thought of taking advantage of any government in this hemisphere or playing its political fortunes for our own benefit. All the governments of America stand, so far as we are concerned, upon a footing of genuine equality and unquestioned independence. We have been put to the test in the case of Mexico, and we have stood the test. Whether we have benefited Mex- ico by the course we have pursued remains to be seen. Her fortunes are in her own hands. But we have at least proved that we will not take advantage of her in her dis- tress and undertake to impose upon her an order and gov- ernment of our own choosing. Liberty is often a fierce and intractable thing, to which no bounds can be set, and to which no bounds of a few men’s choosing ought ever to be set. Every American who has drunk at the true fountains of principle and tradition must subscribe with- out reservation to the high doctrine of the Virginia Bill of Rights, which in the great days in which our government was set up was everywhere amongst us accepted as the ereed of free men. That doctrine is, ‘‘That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, pro- tection, and security of the people, nation, or commu- nity ;’’ that ‘‘of all the various modes and: forms of gov- ernment, that is the best which is capable of producing the greatest. degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministra- tion; and that, when any government shall be found in- adequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the eommunity hath an indubitable, inalienable, and inde- feasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such man- ner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal.’’Sea tayh yh 82 PRESIDENT WILSON’S We have unhesitatingly applied that heroic principle to the case of Mexico, and now hopefully await the rebirth of the troubled Republic, which had so much of which to purge itself and so little sympathy from any outside quarter in the radical but necessary process. We will aid and befriend Mexico, but we will not coerce her; and our course with regard to her ought to be sufficient proof to all America that we seek no political suzerainty or selfish control. The moral is, that the states of America are not hostile rivals but codperating friends, and that their growing sense of community of interest, alike in matters political and in matters economic, is likely to give them a new sig- nificance as factors in international affairs and in the political history of the world. It presents them aS In a very deep and true sense a unit in world affairs, spiritual partners, standing together because thinking together, quick with common sympathies and common ideals. Sep- arated they are subject to all the cross currents of the confused politics of a world of hostile rivalries; united in spirit and purpose they cannot be disappointed of their peaceful destiny. This is Pan-Americanism. It has none of the spirit of empire in it. It is the embodiment, the effectual em- bodiment, of the spirit of law and independence and liberty and mutual service. A very notable body of men recently met in the City of Washington, at the invitation and as the guests of this Government, whose deliberations are likely to be looked back to as marking a memorable turning point in the his- tory of America. They were representative spokesmen of the several independent states of this hemisphere and were assembled to discuss the financial and commercialGREAT SPEECHES 83 relations of the republics of the two continents which nature and political fortune have so intimately linked together. J earnestly recommend to your perusal the reports of their proceedings and of the actions of their committees. You will get from them, I think, a fresh con- ception of the ease and intelligence and advantage with which Americans of both continents may draw together in practical cooperation and of what the material founda- tions of this hopeful partnership of interest must consist, —of how we should build them and of how necessary it is that we should hasten their building. There is, I venture to point out, an especial significance just now attaching to this whole matter of drawing the Americas together in bonds of honorable partnership and mutual advantage because of the economic readjust- ments which the world must inevitably witness within the next generation, when peace shall have at last resumed its healthful tasks. In the performance of these tasks I believe the Americas to be destined to play their parts together. I am interested to fix your attention on this prospect now because unless you take it within your view and permit the full significance of it to command your thought I cannot find the right light in which to set forth the particular matter that lies at the very front of my whole thought as I address you today. I mean national defense. No one who really comprehends the spirit of the great people for whom we are appointed to speak can fail to perceive that their passion is for peace, their genius best displayed in the practice of the arts of peace. Great democracies are not belligerent. They do not seek or desire war. Their thought is of individual liberty and of the free labor that supports life and the uncensored84 PRESIDENT WILSON’S thought that quickens it. Conquest and dominion are not in our reckoning, or agreeable to our principles. But just because we demand unmolested development and the undisturbed government of our own lives upon our own principles of right and liberty, we resent, from whatever quarter it may come, the aggression we ourselves will nat practice. We insist upon security in prosecuting our self- chosen lines of national development. We do more than that. We demand it also for others. We do not confine our enthusiasm for individual liberty and free national development to the incidents and movements of affairs which affect only ourselves. We feel it wherever there is a people that tries to walk in these difficult paths of independence and right. From the first we have made common cause with all partisans of liberty on this side the sea, and have deemed it as important that our neighbors should be free from all outside domination as that we our- selves should be, have set America aside as a whole for the uses of independent nations and political freemen. Out of such thoughts grow all our policies. We regard war merely as a means of asserting the rights of a people against aggression. And we are as fiercely jealous of coercive or dictatorial power within our own nation as of aggression from without. We will not maintain a stand- ing army except for uses which are as necessary in times of peace as in times of war; and we shall always see to it that our military peace establishment is no larger than is actually and continuously needed for the uses of days in which no enemies move against us. But we do believe ina body of free citizens ready and sufficient to take care of themselves and of the governments which they have set up to serve them. In our constitutions themselves we have commanded that ‘‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,’’ and our confidenceGREAT SPEECHES 85 has been that our safety in times of danger would lie in the rising of the nation to take care of itself, as the farmers rose at Lexington. But war has never been a mere matter of men and cuns. It is a thing of disciplined might. If our citizens are ever to fight effectively upon a sudden summons, they must know how modern fighting is done, and what to do when the summons comes to render themselves immediately available and immediately effective. And the govern- ment must be their servant in this matter, must supply them with the training they need to take care of them- selves and of it. The military arm of their government, which they will not allow to direct them, they may prop- erly use to serve them and make their independence se- cure,—and not their own independence merely but the rights also of those with whom they have made common eause, should they also be put in jeopardy. They must be fitted to play the great réle in the world, and particularly in this hemisphere, which they are qualified by principle and by chastened ambition to play. It is with these ideals in mind that the plans of the Department of War for more adequate national defense were conceived which will be laid before you, and which IT urge you to sanction and put into effect as soon as they ean be properly scrutinized and discussed. They seem to me the essential first steps, and they seem to me for the present sufficient. They contemplate an increase of the standing force of the regular army from its present strength of five thou- sand and twenty-three officers and one hundred and two thousand nine hundred and eighty-five enlisted men of all services to a strength of seven thousand one hundred and thirty-six officers and one hundred and thirty-four86 PRESIDENT WILSON’S thousand seven hundred and seven enlisted men, or 141,- 843, all told, all services, rank and file, by the addition of fifty-two companies of coast artillery, fifteen companies of engineers, ten regiments of infantry, four regiments of field artillery, and four aero squadrons, besides seven hundred and fifty officers required for a great variety of extra service, especially the all important duty of training the citizen force of which I shall presently speak, seven hundred and ninety-two noncommissioned officers for service in drill, recruiting and the like, and the necessary quota of enlisted men for the Quartermaster Corps, the Hospital Corps, the Ordnance Department, and other similar auxiliary services. These are the additions neces- sary to render the army adequate for its present duties, duties which it has to perform not only upon our own con- tinental coasts and borders and at our interior army posts, but also in the Philippines, in the Hawaiian Islands, at the Isthmus, and in Porto Rico. By way of making the country ready to assert some part of its real power promptly and upon a larger scale, should occasion arise, the plan also contemplates supple- menting the army by a force of four hundred thousand disciplined citizens, raised in increments of one hundred and thirty-three thousand a year throughout a period of three years. This it is proposed to do by a process of enlistment under which the serviceable men of the coun- try would be asked to bind themselves to serve with the colors for purposes of training for short periods through- out three years, and to come to the colors at call at any time throughout an additional ‘‘furlough’’ period of three years. This force of four hundred thousand men would be provided with personal accoutrements as fast as en- listed and their equipment for the fiéld made ready to be supplied at any time. They would be assembled forGREAT SPEECHES 87 training at stated intervals at convenient places in asso- ciation with suitable units of the regular army. Their period of annual training would not necessarily exceed two months in the year. It would depend upon the patriotic feeling of the younger men of the country whether they responded to such a call to service or not. It would depend upon the patriotic spirit of the employers of the country whether they made it possible for the younger men in their employ to respond under favorable conditions or not. I, for one, do not doubt the patriotic devotion either of our young men or of those who give them employment,—those for whose benefit and protection they would in fact enlist. I would look forward to the success of such an experiment with entire confidence. At least so much by way of preparation for defense seems to me to be absolutely imperative now. We cannot do less. The programme which will be laid before you by the Secretary of the Navy is similarily conceived. It involves only a shortening of the time within which plans long matured shall be carried out; but it does make definite and explicit a programme which has heretofore been only implicit, held in the minds of the Committees on Naval Affairs and disclosed in the debates of the two Houses but nowhere formulated or formally adopted. It seems to me very clear that it will be to the advantage of the coun- try for the Congress to adopt a comprehensive plan for putting the navy upon a final footing of strength and efficiency and to press that plan to completion within the next five years. We have always looked to the navy of the country as our first and chief line of defense; we have always seen it to be our manifest course of prudenceNakane. 88 PRESIDENT WILSON’S to be strong on the seas. Year by year we have been creating a navy which now ranks very high indeed among the navies of the maritime nations. We should now defi- nitely determine how we shall complete what we have begun, and how soon. The programme to be laid before you contemplates the construction within five years of ten battleships, six battle cruisers, ten scout cruisers, fifty destroyers, fifteen fleet submarines, eighty-five coast submarines, four gunboats, one hospital ship, two ammunition ships, two fuel oil ships, and one repair ship. It is proposed that of this number we shall the first year provide for the construc- tion of two battle ships, two battle cruisers, three scout cruisers, fifteen destroyers, five fleet submarines, twenty- five coast submarines, two gunboats, and one hospital ship; the second year, two battleships, one scout cruiser, ten destroyers, four fleet submarines, fifteen coast sub- marines, one gunboat, and one fuel oil ship; the third year, two battle ships, one battle cruiser, two scout cruis- ers, five destroyers, two fleet submarines, and fifteen coast submarines; the fourth year, two battle ships, two battle cruisers, two scout cruisers, ten destroyers, two fleet submarines, fifteen coast submarines, one ammunition ship, and one fuel oil ship; and the fifth year, two battle ships, one battle cruiser, two scout cruisers, ten de- stroyers, two fleet submarines, fifteen coast submarines, one gunboat, one ammunition ship, and one repair ship. The Secretary of the Navy is asking also for the im- mediate addition to the personnel of the navy of seven thousand five hundred sailors, twenty-five hundred ap- prentice seamen, and fifteen hundred marines. This in- crease would be sufficient to care for the ships which are to be completed within the fiscal year 1917 and also for the number of men which must be put in training to manGREAT SPEECHES 89 the ships. which will be completed early in 1918. It is also necessary that the number of midshipmen at the Naval Academy at Annapolis should be increased by at least three hundred in order that the force of officers should be more rapidly added to; and authority is asked to appoint, for engineering duties only, approved grad- uates of engineering colleges, and for service in the aviation corps a certain number of men taken from civil life. If this full programme should be carried out we should have built or building in 1921, according to the estimates of survival and standards of classification followed by the General Board of the Department, an effective navy consisting of twenty-seven battleships, of the first line, six battle cruisers, twenty-five battleships of the second line, ten armored cruisers, thirteen scout cruisers, five first class cruisers, three second class cruisers, ten third class cruisers, one hundred and eight destroyers, eighteen fleet submarines, one hundred and fifty-seven coast subma- rines, six monitors, twenty gunboats, four supply ships, fifteen fuel ships, four transports, three tenders to tor- pedo vessels, eight vessels of special types, and two ammu- nition ships. This would be a navy fitted to our needs and worthy of our traditions. But armies and instruments of war are only part of what has to be considered if we are to provide for the supreme matter of national self-sufficiency and security in all its aspects. There are other great matters which will be thrust upon our attention whether we will or not. There is, for example, a very pressing question of trade and shipping involved in this great problem of national adequacy. It is necessary for many weighty reasons of national efficiency and development that we should havePRESIDENT WILSON’S 90 a great merchant marine. The great merchant fleet we once used to make us rich, that great body of sturdy sailors who used to carry our flag into every sea, and who were the pride and often the bulwark of the nation, we have almost driven out of existence by inexcusable neg- lect and indifference and by a hopelessly blind and pro- vincial policy of so-called economic protection. It is high time we repaired our mistake and resumed our commer- cial independence on the seas. For it is a question of independence. If other nations go to war or seek to hamper each other’s commerce, our merchants, it seems, are at their mercy, to do with as they please. We must use their ships, and use them as they determine. We have not ships enough of our own. We cannot handle our own commerce on the seas. Our inde- pendence is provincial, and is only on land and within our own borders. We are not likely to be permitted to use even the ships of other nations in rivalry of their own trade, and are without means to extend our commerce even where the doors are wide open and our goods desired. Such a situation is not to be endured. It is of capital importance not only that the United States should be its own carrier on the seas and enjoy the economic inde- pendence which only an adequate merchant marine would give it, but also that the American hemisphere as a whole should enjoy a like independence and self-sufficiency, if it is not to be drawn into the tangle of European affairs. Without such independence the whole question of our political unity and self-determination is very seriously clouded and complicated indeed. Moreover, we can develop no true or effective American policy without ships of our own—not ships of war, but ships of peace, carrying goods and carrying much more: creating friendships and rendering indispensable sery-GREAT SPEECHES 91 ices to all interests on this side the water. They must move constantly back and forth between the Americas. They are the only shuttles that can weave the delicate fabric of sympathy, comprehension, confidence, and mu- tual dependence in which we wish to clothe our policy of America for Americans. The task of building up an adequate merchant marine for America, private capital must ultimately undertake and achieve, as it has undertaken and achieved every other like task amongst us in the past, with admirable enterprise, intelligence, and vigor; and it seems to me a manifest dictate of wisdom that we should promptly remove every legal obstacle that may stand in the way of this much to be desired revival of our old independ- ence and should facilitate in every possible way the build- ing, purchase, and American registration of ships. But capital cannot accomplish this great task of a sudden. It must embark upon it by degrees, as the opportunities of trade develop. Something must be done at once; done to open routes and develop opportunities where they are as yet undeveloped; done to open the arteries of trade where the currents have not yet learned to run—espe- cially between the two American continents, where they are, singularly enough, yet to be created and quickened ; and it is evident that only the government can under- take such beginnings and assume the initial financial risks. When the risk has passed and private capital begins to find its way in sufficient abundance into these new channels, the government may withdraw. But it cannot omit to begin. It should take the first steps, and should take them at once. Our goods must not le piled up at our ports and stored upon side tracks in freight . ears which are daily needed on the roads; must not be left without means ¢f transport to any foreign quarter.92 PRESIDENT WILSON’S We must not await the permission of foreign s.i.ip-owners and foreign governments to send them where we will. With a view to meeting these pressing necessities of our commerce and availing ourselves at the earliest pos- sible moment of the present unparalleled opportunity of linking the two Americas together in bonds of mutual interest and service, an opportunity which may never return again if we miss it now, proposals will be made to the present Congress for the purchase or construction of ships to be owned and directed by the government similar to those made to the last Congress, but modified in some essential particulars. I recommend these proposals to you for your prompt acceptance with the more confi- dence because every month that has elapsed since the former proposals were made has made the necessity for such action more and more manifestly imperative. That need was then foreseen; it is now acutely felt and every- where realized by those for whom trade is waiting but who | ean find no conveyance for their goods. I am not so much interested in the particulars of the programme as I am in taking immediate advantage of the great oppor- tunity which awaits us if we will but act in this emer- gency. In this matter, as in all others, a spirit of common counsel should prevail, and out of it should come an early solution of this pressing problem. There is another matter which seems to me to be very intimately associated with the question of national safety and preparation for defense. That is our policy towards the Philippines and the people of Porto Rico. Our treat- ment of them and their attitude towards us are manifestly of the first consequence in the development of our duties in the world and in getting a free hand to perform those duties. We must be free from every unnecessary burdenGREAT SPEECHES 93 or embarrassment; and there is no better way to be clear of embarrassment than to fulfil our promises and promote the interests of those dependent on us to the utmost. Bills for the alteration and reform of the government of the Philippines and for rendering fuller political justice to the people of Porto Rico: were submitted to’the sixty- third Congress. They will be submitted also to Vous uy need not particularize their details. You are most of you already familiar with them. But I do recommend them to your early adoption with the sincere conviction that there are few measures you could adopt which would more serviceably clear the way for the great policies by which we wish to make good, now and always, our right to lead in enterprises of peace and good will and economic and political freedom. a * # * % *% *% I have spoken to you to-day, Gentlemen, upon a single theme, the thorough preparation of the nation to care for its own security and to make sure of entire freedom to play the impartial réle in this hemisphere and in the world which we all believe to have been providentially assigned to it. I have had in my mind no thought of any immediate or particular danger arising out of our relations with other nations. We are at peace with all the nations of the world, and there is reason to hope that no question in controversy between this and other Governments will lead to any serious breach of amicable relations, grave as some differences of attitude and policy have been and may yet turn out to be. I am sorry to say that the greatest threats against our na- tional peace and safety have been uttered within our own borders. There are citizens of the United States, I blush to admit, born under other flags but welcomed94 PRESIDENT WILSON’S under our generous naturalization laws to the full free- dom and opportunity of America, who have poured the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life; who have sought to bring the authority and good name of our Government into contempt, to destroy our industries wherever they thought it effective for their vindictive purposes to strike at them, and to debase our politics to the uses of foreign intrigue. Their num- ber is not great as compared with the whole number of those sturdy hosts by which our nation has been enriched in recent generations out of virile foreign stocks; but it is great enough to have brought deep dis- grace upon us and to have made it necessary that we should promptly make use of processes of law by which we may be purged of their corrupt distempers. America never witnessed anything like this before. It never dreamed it possible that men sworn into its own citizenship, men drawn out of great free stocks such as supplied some of the best and strongest ele- ments of that little, but how heroic, nation that in a high day of old staked its very life to free itself from every entanglement that had darkened the fortunes of the older nations and set up a new standard here,—that men of such origins and such free choices of allegiance would ever turn in malign reaction against the Govern- ment and people who have welcomed and nurtured them and seek to make this proud country once more a hot- bed of European passion. A little while ago such a thing would have seemed incredible. Because it was incredible we made no preparation for it. We would have been almost ashamed to prepare for it, as if we were suspicious of ourselves, our own comrades and neighbors! But the ugly and incredible thing has act- ually come about and we are without adequate federalGREAT SPEECHES 95 laws to deal with it. I urge you to enact such laws at the earliest possible moment and feel that in doing so I am urging you to do nothing less than save the honor and self-respect of the nation. Such creatures of pas- sion, disloyalty, and anarchy must be crushed out. They are not many, but they are infinitely malignant, and the hand of our power should close over them at once. They have formed plots to destroy property, they have entered into conspiracies against the neutrality of the Government, they have sought to pry into every con- fidential transaction of the Government in order to serve interests alien to our own. It is possible to deal with these things very effectually. I need not suggest the terms in which they may be dealt with. I wish that it could be said that only a few men, misled by mistaken sentiments of allegiance to the oOV- ernments under which they were born, had been guilty of disturbing the self-possession and misrepresenting the temper and principles of the country during these days of terrible war, when it would seem that every man who was truly an American would instinctively make it his duty and his pride to keep the scales of judgment even and prove himself a partisan of no na- tion but his own. But it cannot. There are some men among us, and many resident abroad who, though born and bred in the United States and calling themselves Americans, have so forgotten themselves and their honor as citizens as to put their passionate sympathy with one or the other side in the great European conflict above their regard for the peace and dignity of the United States. They also preach and practice disloy- alty. No laws, I suppose, can reach corruptions of the mind and heart; but I should not speak of others with- out also speaking of these and expressing the even96 PRESIDENT WILSON’S deeper humiliation and scorn which every self-possessed. and thoughtfully patriotic American must feel when he thinks of them and of the discredit they are daily bring- ing upon Us. While we speak of the preparation of the nation to make sure of her security and her effective power we must not fall into the patent error of supposing that her real strength comes from armaments and mere safeguards of written law. It comes, of course, from her people, their energy, their success in their under- takings, their free opportunity to use the natural re- sources of our great home land and of the lands outside our continental borders which look to us for protection, for encouragement, and for assistance in their develop- ment; from the organization and freedom and vitality of our economic life. The domestic questions which en- caged the attention of the last Congress are more vital +o the nation in this its time of test than at any other time. We cannot adequately make ready for any trial of our strength unless we wisely and promptly direct the force of our laws into these all-important fields of domestic action. A matter which it seems to me we should have very much at heart is the creation of the right instrumentalities by which to mobilize our eco- nomic resources in any time of national necessity. I take it for granted that I do not need your authority to call into systematic consultation with the directing officers of the army and navy men of recognized leader- ship and ability from among our citizens who are thor- oughly familiar, for example, with the transportation facilities of the country and therefore competent to advise how they may be codrdinated when the need arises, those who can suggest the best way in whichGREAT SPEECHES 97 to bring about prompt codperation among the manufac- turers of the country, should it be necessary, and those who could assist to bring the technical skill of the coun- try to the aid of the Government in the solution of par- ticular problems of defense. I only hope that if I should find it feasible to constitute such an advisory body the Congress would be willing to vote the small sum of money that would be needed to defray the expenses that would probably be necessary to give it the clerical and administrative machinery with which to do serviceable work. , What is more important is, that the industries and resources of the country should be available and ready for mobilization. It is the more imperatively neces- sary, therefore, that we should promptly devise means for doing what we have not yet done: that we should give intelligent federal aid and stimulation to indus- trial and vocational education, as we have long done in the large field of our agricultural industry; that, at the same time that we safeguard and conserve the natural resources of the country we should put them at the disposal of those who will use them promptly and intelligently, as was sought to be done 1 in the admirable bills submitted to the last Congress from its commit- tees on the public lands, bills which I earnestly recom- mend in principle to your consideration; that we should put into early operation some provision for rural credits which will add to the extensive borrowing facilities already afforded the farmer by the Reserve Bank Act adequate instrumentalities by which long credits may be obtained on land mortgages; and that we should study more carefully than they have hitherto been studied the right adaptation of our economic arrange- ments to changing conditions.98 PRESIDENT WILSON’S Many conditions about which we have repeatedly legislated are being altered from decade to decade, it is evident, under our very eyes, and are likely to change even more rapidly and more radically in the days im- mediately ahead of us, when peace has returned to the world and the nations of Europe once more take up their tasks of commerce and industry with the energy of those who must bestir themselves to build anew. Just what these changes will be no one can certainly foresee or confidently predict. There are no calculable, because no'stable, elements in the problem. The most we can do is to make certain that we have the necessary instrumentalities of information constantly at our serv- ice so that we may be sure that we know exactly what we are dealing with when we come to act, if it should be necessary to act at all. We must first certainly know what it is that we are seeking to adapt ourselves to. I may ask the privilege of addressing you more at length on this important matter a lttle later In your session. In the meantime may I make this suggestion? The transportation problem is an exceedingly serious and pressing one in this country. There has from time to time of late been reason to fear that our railroads would not much longer be able to cope with it successfully, as at present equipped and coordinated. I suggest that it, would be wise to provide for a commission of inquiry to ascertain by a thorough canvass of the whole question whether our laws as at present framed and adminis- tered are as serviceable as they might be in the solution of the problem. It is obviously a problem that lies at the very foundation of our efficiency as a people. Such an inquiry ought to draw out every circumstance and opinion worth considering and we need to know allGREAT SPEECHES 99 sides of the matter if we mean to do anything in the field of federal legislation. No one, I am sure, would wish to take any backward step. The regulation of the railways of the country by federal commission has had admirable results and has fully justified the hopes and expectations of those by whom the policy of regulation was originally proposed. The question is not what should we undo? It is, whether there is anything else we can do that would suvply us with effective means, in the very process of regulation, for bettering the conditions under which the railroads are operated and for making them more useful servants of the country as a whole. It seems to me that it might be the part of wisdom, therefore, before further legisla- tion in this field is attempted, to look at the whole prob- lem of coordination and efficiency in the full light of a fresh assessment of circumstance and opinion, as a guide to dealing with the several parts of it. For what we are seeking now, what in my mind is the single thought of this message, is national efficiency and security. We serve a great nation. We should serve it in the spirit of its peculiar genius. It is the genius of common men for self-government, industry, justice, liberty and peace. We should see to it that it lacks no instrument, no facility or vigor of law, to make it sufficient to play its part with energy, safety, and assured success. In this we are no partisans but heralds and prophets of a new age.RO yok PRESIDENT WILSON’S THE SUBMARINE PERIL President Wilson’s Address to Congress, April 19, 1916, on German Violations of International Law GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: A situation has arisen in the foreign relations of the country of which it is my plain duty to inform you very frankly. It will be recalled that in February, 1915, the Imperial German Government announced its intention to treat the waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland as embraced within the seat of war and to destroy all merchant ships owned by its enemies that might be found within any part of that portion of the high seas, and that it warned all vessels, of neutral as well as of belligerent ownership, to keep out of the waters 1t had thus proscribed or else enter them at their peril. The Government of the United States earnestly protested. It took the position that such a policy could not be pursued without the practical certainty of gross and palpable violations of the law of nations, particularly if submarine craft were to be employed as its instru- ments, inasmuch as the rules prescribed by that law, rules founded upon principles of humanity and estab- lished for the protection of the lives of non-combatants at sea, could not in the nature of the case be observed by such vessels. It based its protest on the ground that persons of neutral nationality and vessels of neutral ownership would be exposed to extreme and intolerable risks, and that no right to close any part of the high Seas against their use or to expose them to such risks could lawfully be asserted by any belligerent govern- ment. The law of nations in these matters, upon whichGREAT SPEECHES 101 the Government of the United States based its protest, is not of recent origin or founded upon merely arbitrary principles set up by convention. It is based, on the contrary, upon manifest and imperative principles of humanity and has long been established with the ap- proval and by the express assent of all civilized nations. Notwithstanding the earnest protest of our Govern- ment, the Imperial German Government at once pro- ceeded to carry out the policy it had announced. It expressed the hope that the dangers involved, at any rate the dangers to neutral vessels, would be reduced to a minimum by the instructions which it had issued to its submarine commanders, and assured the Govern- ment of the United States that it would take every possible precaution both to respect the rights of neu- trals and to safeguard the lives of non-combatants. What has actually happened in the year which has since elapsed has shown that those hopes were not justi- fied, those assurances insusceptible of being fulfilled. In pursuance of the policy of submarine warfare against the commerce of its adversaries, thus announced and entered upon by the Imperial German Government in despite of the solemn protest of this Government, the commanders of German undersea vessels have attacked merchant ships with greater and greater activity, not only upon the high seas surrounding Great Britain and Ireland, but wherever they could encounter them, in a way that has grown more and more ruthless, more and more indiscriminate as the months have gone by, less and less observant of restraints of any kind; and have delivered their attacks without compunction against vessels of every nationality and bound upon every sort of errand. Vessels of neutral ownership, even vessels of neutral ownership bound from neutral port to neutral102 PRESIDENT WILSON’S port, have been destroyed along with vessels of bel- ligerent ownership in constantly increasing numbers. Sometimes the merchantman attacked has been warned and summoned to surrender before being fired on or torpedoed; sometimes passengers or crews have been vouchsafed the poor security of being allowed to take to the ship’s boats before she was sent to the bottom. But again and again no warning has been given, no escape even to the ship’s boats allowed to those on board. What this Government foresaw must happen has happened. Tragedy has followed tragedy on the seas in such fashion, with such attendant circumstances, as to make it grossly evident that warfare of such a sort, if warfare it be, cannot be carried on without the most palpable violation of the dictates alike of right and of humanity. Whatever the disposition and inten- tion of the Imperial German Government, it has mani- festly proved impossible for it to keep such methods of attack upon the commerce of its enemies within the bounds set by either the reason or the heart of mankind. In February of the present year the Imperial German Government informed this Government and the other neutral governments of the world that it had reason to believe that the Government of Great Britain had armed all merchant vessels of British ownership and had given them secret orders to attack any submarine of the enemy they might encounter upon the seas, and that the Impe- rial German Government felt justified in the cirecum- stances in treating all armed merchantmen of belliger- ent ownership as auxiliary vessels of war, which it would have the right to destroy without warning. The law of nations has long recognized the right of mer- chantmen to carry arms for protection and to use them to repel attack, though to use them, in such circum-GREAT SPEECHES 103 stances, at their own risk; but the Imperial German Government claimed the right to set these understand- ings aside in circumstances which it deemed extraor- dinary. Even the terms in which it announced its purpose thus still further to relax the restraints it had previously professed its willingness and desire to put upon the operations of its submarines carried the plain impheation that at least vessels which were not armed would still be exempt from destruction without warning and that personal safety would be accorded their pas- sengers and crews; but even that limitation, if it was ever practicable to observe it, has in fact constituted no check at all upon the destruction of ships of every sort. Again and again the Imperial German Government has given this Government its solemn assurances that at least passenger ships would not be thus dealt with, and yet it has again and again permitted its undersea com- manders to disregard those assurances with entire im- punity. Great liners like the Lusitania and the Arabic and mere ferryboats like the Sussex have been attacked without a moment’s warning, sometimes before they had even become aware that they were in the presence of an armed vessel of the enemy, and the lives of non-com- batants, passengers and crew, have been sacrificed wholesale, in a manner which the Government of the United States cannot but regard as wanton and without the slightest color of justification. No limit of any kind has in fact been set to the indiscriminate pursuit and destruction of merchantmen of all kinds and nationali- ties within the waters, constantly extending in area, where these operations have been carried on; and the roll of Americans who have lost their lives on ships thus attacked and destroyed has grown month by month until the ominous toll has mounted into the hundreds.pS 104 PRESIDENT WILSON ’S One of the latest and most shocking instances of this method of warfare was that of the destruction of the French cross-Channel steamer Sussex. It must stand forth, as the sinking of the steamer Lusitania did, as so singularly tragical and unjustifiable as to constitute a truly terrible example of the inhumanity of submarine warfare as the commanders of German vessels have for the past twelvemonth been conducting it. If this in- stance stood alone, some explanation, some disavowal by the German Government, some evidence of criminal mistake or wilful disobedience on the part of the com- mander of the vessel that fired the torpedo might be sought or entertained; but unhappily it does not stand alone. Recent events make the conclusion inevitable that it is only one instance, even though it be one of the most extreme and distressing instances, of the spirit and method of warfare which the Imperial German Govern- ment has mistakenly adopted, and which from the first xposed that Government to the reproach of thrusting all neutral rights aside in pursuit of its immediate objects. The Government of the United States has been very patient. At every stage of this distressing experience of tragedy after tragedy in which its own citizens were involved it has sought to be restrained from any extreme course of action or of protest by a thoughtful considera- tion of the extraordinary circumstances of this unprece- dented war, and actuated in all that it said or did by the sentiments of genuine friendship which the people of the United States have always entertained and continue to entertain towards the German nation. It has, of course, accepted the successive explanations and assurances of the Imperial German Government as given in entire sincerity and good faith, and has hoped, even againstGREAT SPEECHES 105 hope, that it would prove to be possible for the German Government so to order and control the acts of its naval commanders as to square its policy with the principles of humanity as embodied in the law of nations. It has been willing to wait until the significance of the facts became absolutely unmistakable and em ie of but one interpretation. That point has now unhappily been reached. The facts are susceptible of but one interpretation. The Imperial German Government has been unable to put any limits or restraints upon its warfare against either freight or passenger ships. It has therefore become painfully evident that the position which this Govern- ment took at the very outset is inevitable, namely, that the use of submarines for the destruction of an enemy’s commerce is of necessity, because of the very character of the vessels employed and the very methods of attack which their employment of course involves, Incompat- ible with the principles of humanity, the long estab- lished and incontrovertible rights of neutrals, and the sacred immunities of non-combatants. I have deemed it my duty, therefore, to say to the Imperial German Government that if it 1s still its pur- pose to prosecute relentless and indiscriminate warfare against vessels of commerce by the use of submarines, notwithstanding the now demonstrated impossibility of conducting that warfare in accordance with what the Government of the United States must consider the sacred and indisputable rules of international law and the universally recognized dictates of humanity, the Government of the United States is at last forced to the conclusion that there is but one course it can pursue ; and that unless the Imperial German Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandon-106 PRESIDENT WILSON’S ment of its present methods of warfare against pas- senger and freight carrying vessels this Government ean have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the Government of the German Empire altogether. This decision I have arrived at with the keenest regret: the possibility of the action contemplated I am sure all thoughtful Americans will look forward to with unaffected reluctance. But we cannot forget that we are in some sort and by the force of circumstances the responsible spokesmen of the rights of humanity, and that we cannot remain silent while those rights seem in process of being swept utterly away in the maelstrom of this terrible war. We owe it to a due regard for our own rights as a nation, to our sense of duty as a representative of the rights of neutrals the world over, and to a just conception of the rights of mankind to take this stand now with the utmost solemnity and. firmness. I have taken it, and taken it in the confidence that it will meet with your approval and support. All sober- minded men must unite in hoping that the Imperial German Government, which has in other circumstances stood as the champion of all that we are now contending for in the ifsterest of humanity, may recognize the jus- tice of our demands and meet them in the spirit in which they are made.“ GREAT SPEECHES THE PRESIDENT’S INNER SELF Remarkable Heart-to-Heart Talk to Newspaper Men at the National Press Club, May 15, 1916 Mr. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE Press CLUB: I am both glad and sorry to be here; glad because I am always happy to be with you, and know and like so many of you, and sorry because I have to make a speech. One of the leading faults of you gentlemen of the press is your inordinate desire to hear other men talk, to draw them out upon all occasions, whether they wish to be drawn out or not. I remember being in this Press Club once before, making many unpremeditated disclosures of myself, and then having you with your singular instinct for publicity insist that I should give it away to every- body else. I was thinking as I was looking forward to coming here this evening of that other occasion when I stood very nearly at the threshold of the duties that I have since been called upon to perform, and I was going over in my mind the impressions that I then had by way of forecast of the duties of President and comparing them with the experiences that have followed. I must say that the forecast has been very largely verified, and that the impressions I had then have been deepened rather than weakened. You may recall that I said then that I felt constantly a personal detachment from the Presidency ; that one thing that I resented when I was not performing the duties of the office was being reminded that I was the President of the United States. I felt toward it as a man feels toward a great function which, in working hours, he is obliged to perform, but which, out of working hours, heSSS eC. Ue 108 PRESIDENT WILSON’S is glad to get away from and almost forget and resume the quiet course of his own thoughts. I am constantly reminded as I go about, as I do sometimes at the week end, of the personal inconvenience of being President of the United States. If I want to know how many people live in a small town all I have to do is to go there and they at once line up to be counted. I might, in a census- taking year, save the census takers a great deal of trouble by asking them to accompany me and count the people on the spot. Sometimes, when I am most beset, I seri- ously think of renting a pair of whiskers or of doing something else that will furnish me with an adequate disguise, because I am sorry to find that the eut of my jib is unmistakable and that I must sail under false colors if I am going to sail incognito. Yet as I have matched my experiences with my antici- pations, I, of course, have been aware that I was taken by surprise because of the prominence of many things to which I had not looked forward. When we are deal- ing with domestic affairs, gentlemen, we are dealing with things that to us as Americans are more or less calculable. There is a singular variety among our citizenship, it is true, a greater variety even than I had anticipated; but, after all, we are all steeped in the same atmosphere, we are all surrounded by the same environment, we are all more or less affected by the same traditions, and, more- over, we are working out something that has to be worked out among ourselves, and the elements are there to be dealt with at first hand. But when the fortunes of your own country are, so to say, subject to the incalculable winds of passion that are blowing through other parts of the world, then the strain is of a singular and unpre- cedented kind, because you do not know by what turn of the wheel of fortune the control of things is going to beGREAT SPEECHES 109 taken out of your hand; it makes no difference how deep the passion of the Nation lies, that passion may be so overborne by the rush of fortune in circumstances like those which now exist that you feel the sort of—I had almost said resentment that a man feels when his own affairs are not within his own hands. You can imagine the strain upon the feeling of any man who is trying to interpret the spirit of his country when he feels that that spirit can not have its own way beyond a certain point. And one of the greatest points of strain upon me, if I may be permitted to point it out, was this: There are two reasons why the chief wish of America is for peace. One is that they love peace and have noth- ing to do with the present quarrel; and the other is that they believe the present quarrel has carried those engaged in it so far that they can not be held to ordinary stand- ards of responsibility, and that, therefore, as some men have expressed it to me, since the rest of the world is mad, why should we not simply refuse to have anything to do with the rest of the world in the ordinary channels of action? Why not let the storm pass, and then, when it is all over, have the reckonings? Knowing that from both these two points of view the passion of America was for peace, I was, nevertheless, aware that America is one of the Nations of the world, not only, but one of the chief Nations of the world—a Nation that grows more and more powerful almost in spite of herself; that grows morally more and more influential even when she is not aware of it; and that if she is to play the part which she most covets, it is necessary that she should act more or less from the point of view of the rest of the world. If I can not retain my moral influence over a man except by occa- sionally knocking him down, if that is the only basis upon which he will respect me, then for the sake of his soul I110 PRESIDENT WILSON’S have got occasionally to knock him down. You know how we have read in—isn’t it in Ralph Connor’s stories of western life in Canada ?—that all his sky pilots are ready for a fracas at any time, and how the ultimate salvation of the souls of their parishioners depends upon their using their fists occasionally. If a man will not listen to you quietly in a seat, sit on his neck and make him listen ; just as I have always maintained, particularly in view of certain experiences of mine, that the shortest road to a boy’s moral sense is through his cuticle. There is a direct and, if I may be permitted the pun, a fundamental con- nection between the surface of his skin and his moral consciousness. You arrest his attention first in that way, and then get the moral lesson conveyed to him in milder ways that, if he were grown up, would be the only ways you would use. So I say that I have been aware that in order to do the very thing that we are proudest of the ability to do, there might come a time when we would have to do it in a way that we would prefer not to do it; and the great burden on my spirits, gentlemen, has been that it has been up to me to choose when that time came. Can you imagine a thing more calculated to keep a man awake at nights than that? Because, just because I did not feel that I was the whole thing and was aware that my duty was a duty of inter- pretation, how could I be sure that I had the right ele- ments of information by which to interpret truly? What we are now talking about is largely spiritual. You say, ‘‘ All the people out my way think so and so.”’ Now, I know perfectly well that you have not talked with all the people out your way. JI find that out again and again. And so you are taken by surprise. The people of the United States are not asking anybody’s leave to do their own thinking, and are not asking anybody to tipGREAT SPEECHES 111 them off what they ought to think. They are thinking for themselves, every man for himself; and you do not know, and, the worst of it is, since the responsibility is mine, I do not know what they are thinking about. I have the most imperfect means of finding out, and yet I have got to act asif I knew. That is the burden of it, and I tell you, gentlemen, it is a pretty serious burden, particularly if you look upon the office as I do—that I am not put here to do what I please. If I were, it would have been very much more interesting than it has been. I am put here to interpret, to register, to suggest, and, more than that, and much greater than that, to be suggested to. Now, that is where the experience that I forecast has differed from the experience that I have had. In do- mestic matters I think I can in most cases come pretty near a guess where the thought of America is going, but in foreign affairs the chief element is where action is going on in other quarters of the world and not where thought is going in the United States. Therefore, I have several times taken the liberty of urging upon you gen- tlemen not yourselves to know more than the State De- partment knows about foreign affairs. Some of you have shown a singular range of omniscience, and certain things have been reported as understood in administra- tive circles which J never heard of until I read the news- papers. I am constantly taken by surprise in regard to decisions which are said to be my own, and this gives me an uncomfortable feeling that some providence is at work with which I have had no communication at all. Now, that is pretty dangerous, gentlemen, because it hap- pens that remarks start fires. There is tinder lying every- where, not only on the other side of the water, but on this side of the water, and a man that spreads sparks may be responsible for something a great deal worse thanLY PRESIDENT WILSON’S burning a town on the Mexican border. Thoughts may be bandits. Thoughts may be raiders. Thoughts may be invaders. Thoughts may be disturbers of interna- tional peace; and when you reflect upon the importance of this country keeping out of the present war, you will know what tremendous elements we are all dealing with. We are all in the same boat. If somebody does not keep the processes of peace going, if somebody does not keep their passions disengaged, by what impartial judgment and suggestion is the world to be aided to a solution when the whole thing is over? If you are in a conference in which you know nobody is disinterested, how are you going to make a plan? I tell you this, gentlemen, the only thing that saves the world is the little handful of disinterested men that are in it. Now, I have found a few disinterested men. I wish I had found more. I can name two or three men with whom I have conferred again and again and again, and T have never caught them by an inadvertence thinking about themselves for their own interests, and I tie to those men as you would tie to an anchor. I tie to them as you would tie to the voices of conscience if you could be sure that you always heard them. Men who have no axes togrind! Men who love America so that they would give their lives for it and never care whether anybody heard that they had given their lives for it; willing to die in obscurity if only they might serve! Those are the men, and nations like those men are the nations that are going to serve the world and save it. There never was a time in the history of the world when character, just sheer character all by itself, told more than it does now. A friend of mine says that every man who takes office in Washington either grows or swells, and when I give a man an office, I watch him carefully to see whether he isGREAT SPEECHES 113 swelling or growing. The mischief of it is that when they swell they do not swell enough to burst. If they would only swell to the point where you might insert a pin and let the gases out, it would be a great delight. I do not know any pastime that would be more diverting, except that the gases are probably poisonous, so that we would have to stand from under. But the men who grow, the men who think better a year after they are put in office than they thought when they were put in office, are the balance wheel of the whole thing. They are the ballast that enables the craft to carry sail and to make port in the long run, no matter what the weather is. So I have come willing to make this narrative of experi- ence to you. I have come through the fire since I talked to you last. Whether the metal is purer than it was, God only knows; but the fire has been there, the fire has pene- trated every part of it, and if I may believe my own thoughts I have less partisan feeling, more impatience of party maneuver, more enthusiasm for the right thing, no matter whom it hurts, than I ever had before in my hfe. And I have something that it is no doubt danger- ous to have, but that I can not help having. I have a pro- found intellectual contempt for men who can not see the signs of the times. I have to deal with some men who know no more of the modern processes of polities than if they were living in the eighteenth century, and for them J have a profound and comprehensive intellectual con- tempt. They are blind. They are hopelessly blind; and the worst of it is I have to spend hours of my time talking to them when I know before I start as much as after I have finished that it is absolutely useless to talk to them. I am talking wn vacuo. The business of every one of us, gentlemen, is to realize that if we are correspondents of papers who have not yet114 PRESIDENT WILSON’S heard of modern times we ought to send them as many intimations of modern movements as they are willing to print. There is a simile that was used by a very inter- esting English writer that has been much in my mind. Like myself, he had often been urged not to try to change so many things. I remember when I was president of a university a man said to me, ‘‘Good heavens, man, why don’t you leave something alone and let it stay the way it is?’’? And I said, ‘‘If you will guarantee to me that it will stay the way it is I will let it alone; but if you knew anything you would know that if you leave a live thing alone it will not stay where it is. It will develop and will either go in the wrong direction or decay.’’ I reminded him of this thing that the English writer said, that if you want to keep a white post white you can not let it alone. It will get black. You have to keep doing some- thing toit. In that instance you have got to keep paint- ing it white, and you have got to paint it white very frequently in order to keep it white, because there are forees at work that will get the better of you. Not only will it turn black, but the forces of moisture and the other forces of nature will penetrate the white paint and get at the fiber of the wood, and decay will set in, and the next time you try to paint it you will find that there is nothing but punk to paint. Then you will remember the Red Queen in ‘‘Alice in Wonderland,’’ or ‘‘ Alice Through the Looking Glass’’—I forget which, it has been so long since I read them—who takes Alice by the hand and they rush along at a great pace, and then when they stop Alice looks around and says, ‘‘ But we are just where we were when we started.’’ ‘‘Yes,’’ says the Red Queen, ‘‘you have to run twice as fast as that to get anywhere else.’’ That is also true, gentlemen, of the world and of affairs.GREAT SPEECHES 115 You have got to run fast merely to stay where you are, and in order to get anywhere, you have got to run twice as fast as that. That is what people do not realize. That is the mischief of these hopeless dams against the stream known as reactionaries and standpatters, and other words of obloquy. That is what is the matter with them; they are not even staying where they were. They are sinking further and further back in what will sometime com- fortably close over their heads as the black waters of oblivion. I sometimes imagine that I see their heads going down, and I am not inclined even to throw them a life preserver. The sooner they disappear, the better. We need their places for people who are awake; and we particularly need now, gentlemen, men who will divest themselves of party passion and of personal preference and will try to think in the terms of America. If aman describes himself to me now in any other terms than those terms, I am not sure of him; and I love the fellows that come into my office sometimes and say, ‘‘Mr. Presi- dent, Iam an American.’’ Their hearts are right, their instinct true, they are going in the right direction, and will take the right leadership if they believe that the leader is also a man who thinks first of America. You will see, gentlemen, that I did not premeditate these remarks, or they would have had some connection with each other. They would have had some plan. I have merely given myself the pleasure of telling you what has really been in my heart, and not only has been in my heart but is in my heart every day of the week. If I did not go off at week ends occasionally and throw off, as much as it is possible to throw off, this burden, I could not stand it. This week I went down the Potomac and up the James and substituted history for polities, and there was an infinite, sweet calm in some of those old116 PRESIDENT WILSON’S places that reminded me of the records that were made in the days that are past; and I comforted myself with the recollection that the men we remember are the disin- terested men who gave us the deeds that have covered the name of America all over with the luster of imperish- able glory.GREAT SPEECHES ADDRESS TO THE LEAGUE TO ENFORCE PEACE Washington, May 27, 1916 When the invitation to be here tonight came to me, I was glad to accept it,—not because it offered me an opportunity to discuss the programme of the League,— that you will, I am sure, not expect of me,—but because the desire of the whole world now turns eagerly, more and more eagerly, toward the hope of peace, and there is Just reason why we should take our part in counsel upon this great theme. It is right that I, as spokesman of our Government, should attempt to give expression to what I believe to be the thought and purpose of the people of the United States in this vital matter. This great war that broke so suddenly upon the world two years ago, and which has swept within its flame so great a part of the civilized world, has affected us very profoundly, and we are not only at liberty, it is perhaps our duty, to speak very frankly of it and of the great interests of civilization which it affects. With its causes and its objects we are not concerned. The obscure fountains from which its stupendous flood has burst forth we are not interested to search for or explore. But so great a flood, spread far and wide to every quarter of the globe, has of necessity engulfed many a fair province of right that lies very near to us. Our own rights as a Nation, the liberties, the privileges, and the property of our people have been profoundly affected. We are not mere disconnected lookers-on. The longer the war lasts, the more deeply do we become concerned that it should be brought to an end and the world be permitted to resume its normal life and course118 PRESIDENT WILSON’S again. And when it does come to an end we shall be as much concerned as the nations at war to see peace assume an aspect of permanence, give promise of days from which the anxiety of uncertainty shall be lifted, bring some assurance that peace and war shall always hereafter be reckoned part of the common interest of mankind. We are participants, whether we would or not, in the life of the world. The interests of all nations are our own also. We are partners with the rest. What affects mankind is inevitably our affair as well as the affair of the nations of Europe and of Asia. One observation on the causes of the present war we are at liberty to make, and to make it may throw some light forward upon the future, as well as backward upon the past. It is plain that this war could have eome only as it did, suddenly and out of secret counsels, without warning to the world, without discussion, with- out any of the deliberate movements of counsel with which it would seem natural to approach so stupendous a contest. It is probable that if it had been foreseen just what would happen, just what alliances would be formed, just what forces arrayed against one another, those who brought the great contest on would have been glad to substitute conference for force. If we ourselves had been afforded some opportunity to apprise the belligerents of the attitude which it would be our duty to take, of the policies and practices against which we would feel bound to use all our moral and economic strength, and in certain circumstances even our physical strength also, our own contribution to the counsel which might have averted the struggle would have been con- sidered worth weighing and regarding. And the lesson which the shock of being taken by surprise in a matter so deeply vital to all the nations ofGREAT SPEECHES 119 the world has made poignantly clear is, that the peace of the world must henceforth depend upon a new and more wholesome diplomacy. Only when the great nations of the world have reached some sort of agreement as to what they hold to be fundamental to their common interest, and as to some feasible method of acting in concert when any nation or group of nations seeks to disturb those fundamental things, can we feel that elvilization is at last in a way of justifying its existence and claiming to be finally established. It is clear that nations must in the future be governed by the same high code of honor that we demand of individuals. We must, indeed, in the very same breath with which we avow this conviction, admit that we have ourselves upon occasion in the past been offenders against the law of diplomacy which we thus forecast; but our conviction is not the less clear, but rather the more clear, on that account. If this war has accomplished nothing else for the benefit of the world, it has at least disclosed a great moral neeessity and set forward the thinking of the states- men of the world by a whole age. Repeated utterances of the leading statesmen of most of the great nations now engaged in war have made it plain that their thought has come to this, that the principle of public right must henceforth take precedence over the individual interests of particular nations, and that the nations of the world must in some way band themselves together to see that that right prevails as against any sort of selfish aggres- sion; that henceforth alliance must not be set up against alliance, understanding against understanding, but that there must be a common agreement for a common object, and that at the heart of that common object must lie the inviolable rights of peoples and of mankind. The na- tions of the world have become each other’s neighbors.120 PRESIDENT WILSON’S Tt is to their interest that they should understand each other. In order that they may understand each other, it is imperative that they should agree to cooperate in a common cause, and that they should so act that the guid- ing principle of that common cause shall be even-handed and impartial justice. This is undoubtedly the thought of America. This is what we ourselves will say when there comes proper occa- sion to say it. In the dealings of nations with one an- other arbitrary force must be rejected and we must move forward to the thought of the modern world, the thought of which peace is the very atmosphere. That thought consti- tutes a chief part of the passionate conviction of America. We believe these fundamental things: First, that every people has aright to choose the sovereignty under which they shall live. Like other nations, we have ourselves no doubt once and again offended against that principle when for a little while controlled by selfish passion, as our franker historians have been honorable enough to admit; but it has become more and more our rule of life and action. Second, that the small states of the world have aright to enjoy the same respect for their sovereignty and for their territorial integrity that great and powerful nations expect and insist upon. And, third, that the world has a right to be free from every disturbance of its peace that has its origin in aggression and disregard of the rights of peoples and nations. So sincerely do we believe in these things that I am sure that I speak the mind and wish of the people of America when I say that the United States is willing to become a partner in any feasible association of nations formed in order to realize these objects and make them secure against violation. There is nothing that the United States wants forGREAT SPEECHES 121 itself that any other nation has. We are willing, on the contrary, to limit ourselves along with them to a pre- scribed course of duty and respect for the rights of others which will check any selfish passion of our own, as it will check any aggressive impulse of theirs. If it should ever be our privilege to suggest or initiate a movement for peace among the nations now at war, I am sure that the people of the United States would wish their Government to move along these lines: First, such a settlement with regard to their own immediate interests as the belligerents may agree upon. We have nothing material of any kind to ask for ourselves, and are quite aware that we are In no sense or degree parties to the present quarrel. Our interest is only in peace and its future guarantees. Second, an universal association of the nations to maintain the inviolate security of the high- way of the seas for the common and unhindered use of all the nations of the world, and to prevent any war begun either contrary to treaty covenants or without warning and full submission of the causes to the opinion of the world—a virtual guarantee of territorial integrity and political independence. But I did not come here, let me repeat, to discuss a programme. I came only to avow a creed and give ex- pression to the confidence I feel that the world is even now upon the eve of a great consummation, when some common force will be brought into existence which shall safeguard right as the first and most fundamental inter- est of all peoples and all governments, when coercion shall be summoned not to the service of political ambition or selfish hostility, but to the service of a common order, a common justice, and a common peace. God grant that the dawn of that day of frank dealing and of settled peace, concord, and codperation may be near at hand!PRESIDENT WILSON’S ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S BIRTHPLACE Mr. Wilson’s Address on the Acceptance by the War Department of a Deed of Gift to the Nation of the Lincoln Farm at Hodgenville, Kentucky, september 4, 1916 No more significant memorial could have been pre- sented to the nation than this. It expresses so much of what is singular and noteworthy in the history of the country ; it suggests so many of the things that we prize most highly in our life and in our system of government. How eloquent this little house within this shrine is of the vigor of democracy! There is nowhere in the land any home so remote, so humble, that it may not contain the power of mind and heart and conscience to which nations yield and history submits its processes. Nature AVS NO pone to aristocracy, subscribes to no ereed of caste, renders fealty to no monarch or master of any name or es in Md. Genius is no snob. It does not run after titles or seek by preference the high circles of society. It affects ee company as well as great. It pays no 19 £ special tril ven CG a rds ¢ eatness, but serenely chooses its own cele its own aes its own cradle even, and its own lite of adventure and of training. Here is proof LO ave ersities or learned societies or con- YT of it. This little hut was the cradle of one of the great sons of men, a man ao singular, delightful, vital genius who presently emerged upon the great oh of the na- tion’s history, gaunt, shy, ungainly, but dominant and majestic, a natural ae of men, himself inevitably the central figure of the great plot. No man ean explain his, but every man ean see how it demonstrates the vigor of democracy, hee every door is open, in every hamletGREAT SPEECHES 123 and countryside, in city and wilderness alike, for the ruler to emerge when he will and claim his leadership in the free life. Such are the authentic proofs of the validity and vitality of democracy. Here, no less, hides the mystery of democracy. Who shall guess this secret of nature and providence and a free polity? Whatever the vigor and vitality of the stock from which he sprang, its mere vigor and sound- ness do not explain where this man got his great heart that seemed to comprehend all mankind in its catholic and benignant sympathy, the mind that sat enthroned behind those brooding, melancholy eyes, whose vision swept many an horizon which those about him dreamed not of—that mind that camprehended what it had never seen, and understood the language of affairs with the r that nature e tl 1e familiar of ready ease of one to the manner borr which seemed in its varied richness to men of every way of life. This is the sacred mystery of democracy, that its richest fruits spring up out of soils which no man has prepared and in circumstances amidst which they are the least expected. This is a place alike of mystery and of reassurance. It is likely that in a society ordered otherwise than our own, Lincoln could not have found himself or the path of fame and power upen which he walked serenely to his death. In this place it is right that we should remind ourselves of the solid and striking facts upon which our faith in democracy is founded. Many another man be- sides Lincoln has served the nation in its highest places of counsel and of action whose origins were as humble as his. Though the greatest example of the universal energy, richness, stimulation, and force of democracy, he is only one example among many. The permeating and all-per- rasive virtue of the freedom which challenges us in Amer-sist a2 124 PRESIDENT WILSON’S ica to make the most of every gift and power we possess, every page of our history serves to emphasize and illus- trate. Standing here in this place, it seems almost the whole of the stirring story. Here Lincoln had his beginnings. Here the end and consummation of that great life seem remote and a bit incredible. And yet there was no break anywhere be- tween beginning and end, no lack of natural sequence anywhere. Nothing really incredible happened. Lin- coln was unaffectedly as much at home in the White House as he was here. Do youshare with me the feeling, I wonder, that he was permanently at home nowhere? It seems to me that in the case of a man—I would rather say of a spirit—like Lincoln the question where he was is of little significance, that it is always what he was that really arrests our thought and takes hold of our imagi- nation. It is the spirit always that is sovereign. Lin- coln, like the rest of us, was put through the discipline of the world—a very rough and exacting discipline for him, an indispensable discipline for every man who would know what he is about in the midst of the world’s affairs; but his spirit got only its schooling there. It did not derive its character or its vision from the experiences which brought it to its full revelation. The test of every American must always be, not where he is, but what he is. That, also, is of the essence of democracy, and is the moral of which this place is most gravely expressive. We would like to think of men like Lineoln and Wash- ington as typical Americans, but no man can be typical who is so unusual as these great men were. It was typ- ical of American life that it should produce such men with supreme indifference as to the manner in which it produced them, and as readily here in this hut as amidst the little circle of cultivated gentlemen to whom VirginiaGREAT SPEECHES 125 owed so much in leadership and example. And Lincoln and Washington were typical Americans in the use they made of their genius. But there will be few such men at best, and we will not look into the mystery of how and why they come. We will only keep the door open for them always, and a hearty weleome—after we have rec- ognized them. I have read many biographies of Lincoln; I have sought out with the greatest interest the many intimate stories that are told of him, the narratives of nearby friends, the sketches at close quarters, in which those who had the privilege of being associated with him have tried to depict for us the very man himself ‘‘in his habit as he lived’’; but I have nowhere found a real intimate of Lincoln’s. I nowhere get the impression in any narrative or remi- niscence that the writer had in fact penetrated to the heart of his mystery, or that any man could penetrate to the heart of it. That brooding spirit had no real famil- lars. I get the impression that it never spoke out in complete self-revelation, and that it could not reveal itself completely to anyone. It was a very lonely spirit that looked out from underneath those shaggy brows and comprehended men without fully communing with them, as if, in spite of all its genial efforts at comradeship, it dwelt apart, saw its visions of duty where no man looked on. There is a very holy and very terrible isolation for the conscience of every man who seeks to read the destiny in affairs for others as well as for himself, for a nation as well as for individuals. That privacy no man can intrude upon. That lonely search of the spirit for the right perhaps no man can assist. This strange child of the cabin kept company with invisible things, was born into no intimacy but that of its own silently assembling and deploying thoughts.sah 126 PRESIDENT WILSON’S I have come here today, not to utter a eulogy on Lin- coln; he stands in need of none, but to endeavor to inter- pret the meaning of this gift to the nation of the place of his birth and origin. Is not this an altar upon which we may forever keep alive the vestal fire of democracy as upon a shrine at which some of the deepest and most sacred hopes of mankind may from age to age be rekin- dled? For these hopes must constantly be rekindled, and only those who live can rekindle them. The only stuff that can retain the life-giving heat is the stuff of living hearts. And the hopes of mankind cannot be kept alive by words merely, by constitutions and doc- trines of right and codes of liberty. The object of de- mocracy is to transmute these into the life and action of society, the self-denial and self-sacrifice of heroic men and women willing to make their lives an embodiment of right and service and enlightened purpose. The com- mands of democracy are as imperative as its privileges and opportunities are wide and generous. Its compul- sion is upon us. It will be great and lift a great hght for the guidance of.the nations only if we are great and earry that light high for the guidance of our own feet. We are not worthy to stand here unless we ourselves be in deed and in truth real democrats and servants of man- kind, ready to give our very lives for the freedom and justice and spiritual exaltation of the great nation which shelters and nurtures us.GREAT SPEECHES 127 PREVENTING A GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE Address of the President to Congress on the Threatening Situation, August 29, 1916 GENTLEMEN OF THE ConaREss: I have come to you to seek your assistance in dealing with a very grave situation which has arisen out of the demand of the employees of the railroads engaged in freight train service that they be granted an eight-hour working day, safeguarded by payment for an hour and a half of service for every hour of work beyond the eight. The matter has been agitated for more than @ year. The public has been made familiar with the demands of the men and the arguments urged in favor of them, and even more familiar with the objections of the railroads and their counter demand that certain privileges now enjoyed by their men and certain bases of payment worked out through many years of contest be reconsid- ered, especially in their relation to the adoption of an eight-hour day. The matter came some three weeks ago to a final issue and resulted in a complete deadlock be- tween the parties. The means provided by law for the mediation of the controversy failed and the means of arbitration for which the law provides were rejected. The representatives of the railway executives proposed that the demands of the men be submitted in their en- tirety to arbitration, along with certain questions of re- adjustment as to pay and conditions of employment which seemed to them to be either closely associated with the demands or to call for reconsideration on their own merits; the men absolutely declined arbitration, espe- cially if any of their established privileges were by thatPRESIDENT WILSON’S means to be drawn again in question. The law in the matter put no compulsion upon them. The four hun- dred thousand men from whom the demands proceeded had voted to strike if their demands were refused; the strike was imminent; it has since been set for the fourth of September next. It affects the men who man the freight trains on practically every railway in the coun- try. The freight service throughout the United States must stand still until their places are filled, if, indeed, it should prove possible to fill them at all. Cities will be eut off from their food supplies, the whole commerce of the nation will be paralyzed, men of every sort and occu- pation will be thrown out of employment, countless thou- sands will in all likelihood be brought, it may be, to the very point of starvation, and a tragical national calamity brought on, to be added to the other distresses of the time, because no basis of accommodation or settlement has been found. Just so soonras it became evident that mediation under the existing law had failed and that arbitration had been rendered impossible by the attitude of the men, I consid- ered it my duty to confer with the representatives of both the railways and the brotherhoods, and myself offer me- diation, not as an arbitrator, but merely as spokesman of the nation, in the interest of justice, indeed, and as a friend of both parties, but not as judge, only as the rep- resentative of one hundred millions of men, women, and children who would pay the price, the incalculable price, of loss and suffering should these few men insist upon approaching and concluding the matters in controversy between them merely as employers and employees, rather than as patriotic citizens of the United States looking before and after and accepting the larger responsibility which the public would put upon them.GREAT SPEECHES 129 It seemed to me, in considering the subject-matter of the controversy, that the whole spirit of the time and the preponderant evidence of recent economic experience spoke for the eight-hour day. It has been adjudged by the thought and experience of recent years a thing upon which society 3s justified in insisting as in the interest of health, efficiency, contentment, and a general increase of economic vigor. The whole presumption of modern ex- perience would, it seemed to me, be in its favor, whether there was arbitration or not, and the debatable points to settle were those which arose out of the acceptance of the eight-hour day rather than those which affected its establishment. I, therefore, proposed that the eight-hour day be adopted by the railway managements and put into practice for the present as a substitute for the existing ten-hour basis of pay and service; that I should appoint, with the permission of the Congress, a small commission to observe the results of the change, carefully studying the figures of the altered operating costs, not only, but also the conditions of labor under which the men worked and the operation of their existing agreement’ with the railroads, with instructions to report the facts as they found them to the Congress at the earliest possible day, but without recommendation; and that, after the facts had been thus disclosed, an adjustment should in some orderly manner be sought of all the matters now left unadjusted between the railroad managers and the men. These proposals were exactly in line, it is interesting to note, with the position taken by the Supreme Court of the United States when appealed to to protect certain litigants from the financial losses which they confidently expected if they should submit to the regulation of their charges and of their methods of service by public legis- lation. The Court has held that it would not undertake130 PRESIDENT WILSON’S to form a judgment upon forecasts, but could base its action only upon actual experience; that it must be sup- plied with facts, not with calculations and opinions, how- ever scientifically attempted. To undertake to arbitrate the question of the adoption of an eight-hour day in the light of results merely estimated and predicted would be to undertake an enterprise of conjecture. No wise man could undertake it, or, if he did undertake it. could feel assured of his conclusions. I unhesitatingly offered the friendly services of the administration to the railway managers to see to it that justice was done the railroads in the outcome. I felt warranted in assuring them that no obstacle of law would be suffered to stand in the way of their increasing their revenues to meet the expenses resulting from the change so far as the development of their business and of their administrative efficiency did not prove adequate to meet them. The public and the representatives of the public, I felt justified in assuring them, were disposed to nothing but justice in such cases and were willing to serve those who served them. The representatives of the brotherhoods accepted the plan; but the representatives of the railroads declined to accept it. In the face of what I cannot but regard as the practical certainty that they will be ultimately obliged to accept the eight-hour day by the concerted action of organized labor, backed by the favorable judgment of society, the representatives of the railway management have felt justified in declining a peaceful settlement which would engage all the forces of justice, public and private, on their side to take care of the event. They fear the hostile influence of shippers, who would be opposed to an increase of freight rates (for which, however, of course,GREAT SPEECHES 131 the public itself would pay); they apparently feel no confidence that the Interstate Commerce Commission could withstand the objections that would be made. They do not care to rely upon the friendly assurances of the Congress or the President. They have thought it best that they should be forced to yield, if they must yield, not by counsel, but by the suffering of the country. While my conferences with them were in progress, and when to all outward appearance those conferences had come to a standstill, the representatives of the brotherhoods sud- denly acted and set the strike for the fourth of September. The railway managers based their decision to reject my counsel in this matter upon their conviction that they must at any cost to themselves or to the country stand firm for the principle of arbitration which the men had rejected. I based my counsel upon the indisputable fact that there was no means of obtaining arbitration. The law supplied none; earnest efforts at mediation had failed to influence the men in the least. To stand firm for the principle of arbitration and yet not get arbitration seemed to me futile, and something more than futile, be- cause it involved incalculable distress to the country and ‘consequences in some respects worse than those of war, and that in the midst of peace. I yield to no man in firm adherence, alike of conviction and of purpose, to the principle of arbitration in indus- trial disputes; but matters have come to a sudden crisis in this particular dispute and the country had been caught unprovided with any practicable means of enforcing that conviction in practice (by whose fault we will not now stop to inquire). A situation had to be met whose ele- ments and fixed conditions were indisputable. The prac- tical and patriotic course to pursue, as it seemed to me,132 PRESIDENT WILSON’S was to secure immediate peace by conceding the one thing in the demands of the men which society itself and any arbitrators who represented public sentiment were most likely to approve, and immediately lay the foundations for securing arbitration with regard to everything else involved. The event has confirmed that judgment. I was seeking to compose the present in order to safe- guard the future; for I wished an atmosphere of peace and friendly codperation in which to take counsel with the representatives of the nation with regard to the best means for providing, so far as it might prove possible to provide, against the recurrence of such unhappy situa- tions in the future—the best and most practicable means of securing calm and fair arbitration of all industrial disputes in the days to come. This is assuredly the best way of vindicating a principle, namely, having failed to make certain of its observance in the present, to make certain of its observance in the future. But I could only propose. I could not govern the will of others who took an entirely different view of the cir- cumstances of the case, who even refused to admit the circumstances to be what they have turned out to be. Having failed to bring the parties to this critical con- troversy to an accommodation, therefore, I turn to you, deeming it clearly our duty as public servants to leave nothing undone that we can do to safeguard the life and interests of the nation. In the spirit of such a purpose, I earnestly recommend the following legislation: First, immediate provision for the enlargement and administrative reorganization of the Interstate Commerce Commission along the lines embodied in the bill recently passed by the House of Representatives and now await- ing action by the Senate; in order that the CommissionGREAT SPEECHES 133 may be enabled to deal with the many great and various duties now devolving upon it with a promptness and thoroughness which are, with its present constitution and means of action, practically impossible. Second, the establishment of an eight-hour day as the legal basis alike of work and of wages in the employment of all railway employees who are actually engaged in the work of-operating trains in interstate transportation. Third, the authorization of the appointment by the President of a small body of men to observe the actual results in experience of the adoption of the eight-hour day in railway transportation alike for the men and for the railroads; its effects in the matter of operating costs, in the application of the existing practices and agree- ments to the new conditions and in all other practical aspects, with the provision that the investigators shall report their conclusions to the Congress at the earliest possible date, but without recommendation as to legisla- tive action; in order that the public may learn from an unprejudiced source just what actual developments have ensued. Fourth, explicit approval by the Congress of the con- sideration by the Interstate Commerce Commission of an increase of freight rates to meet such additional expend- itures by the railroads as may have been rendered neces- sary by the adoption of the eight-hour day and which have not been offset by administrative readjustments and economies, should the facts disclosed justify the increase. Fifth, an amendment of the existing federal statute which provides for the mediation, conciliation, and arbi- tration of such controversies as the present by adding to it a provision that in case the methods of accommodation now provided for should fail, a full public investigation134 PRESIDENT WILSON’S of the merits of every such dispute shall be instituted and completed before a strike or lockout may lawfully be attempted. And, sixth, the lodgment in the hands of the Hxecu- tive of the power, in case of military necessity, to take control of such portions and such rolling stock of the railways of the country as may be required for military use and to operate them for military purposes, with au- thority to draft into the military service of the United States such train crews and administrative officials as the circumstances require for their safe and efficient use. This last suggestion I make because we cannot In any circumstances suffer the nation to be hampered in the essential matter of national defense. At the present moment circumstances render this duty particularly ob- vious. Almost the entire military force of the nation is stationed upon the Mexican border to guard our terri- tory against hostile raids. It must be supphed, and steadily supplied, with whatever it needs for its main- tenance and efficiency. If it should be necessary for purposes of national defense to transfer any portion of it upon short notice to some other part of the country, for reasons now unforeseen, ample means of transporta- tion must be available, and available without delay. The power conferred in this matter should be carefully and explicitly limited to cases of military necessity, but in all such cases it should be clear and ample. There is one other thing we should do if we are true champions of arbitration. We should make all arbitral awards judgments by record of a court of law in order that their interpretation and enforcement may lie, not with one of the parties to the arbitration, but with an impartial and authoritative tribunal.GREAT SPEECHES iap These things I urge upon you, not in haste or merely as a means of meeting a present emergency, but as perma- nent and necessary additions to the law of the land, sug- gested, indeed, by circumstances we had hoped never to see, but imperative as well as just, if such emergencies are to be prevented in the future. I feel that no ex- tended argument is needed to commend them to your favorable consideration. They demonstrate themselves. The time and the occasion only give emphasis to their importance. We need them now and we shall continue to need them.136 PRESIDENT WILSON’S ANNUAL ADDRESS TO CONGRESS December 5, 1916 GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: In fulfilling at this time the duty laid upon me by the Constitution of communicating to you from time to time information of the state of the Union and recommending to your consideration such legislative measures as may be judged necessary and expedient, I shall continue the practice, which I hope has been acceptable to you, of leaving to the reports of the several heads of the execu- tive departments the elaboration of the detailed needs of the public service and confine myself to those matters of more general public policy with which it seems necessary and feasible to deal at the present session of the Congress. I realize the limitations of time under which you will necessarily act at this session and shall make my sugges- tions as few as possible; but there were some things left undone at the last session which there will now be time to complete and which it seems necessary in the interest of the public to do at once. In the first place, it seems to me imperatively necessary that the earliest possible consideration and action should be accorded the remaining measures of the programme of settlement and regulation which I had occasion to recommend to you at the close of your last session in view of the public dangers disclosed by the unaccommodated difficulties which then existed, and which still unhappily continue to exist, between the railroads of the country and their locomotive engineers, conductors, and trainmen. I then recommended: First, immediate provision for the enlargement and administrative reorganization of the Interstate Com-GREAT SPEECHES Tad merce Commission along the lines embodied in the bill recently passed by the House of Representatives and now awaiting action by the Senate; in order that the Commission may be enabled to deal with the many great and various duties now devolving upon it with a prompt- ness and thoroughness which are, with its present con- stitution and means of action, practically impossible. Second, the establishment of an eight-hour day as the legal basis alike of work and of wages in the employment of all railway employees who are actually engaged in the work of operating trains in interstate transportation. Third, the authorization of the appointment by the President of a small body of men to observe the actual results in experience of the adoption of the eight-hour day in railway transportation alike for the men and for the railroads. Fourth, explicit approval by the Congress of the con- sideration by the Interstate Commerce Commission of an increase of freight rates to meet such additional expend- itures by the railroads as may have been rendered neces- sary by the adoption of the eight-hour day and which have not been offset by administrative readjustments and economies, should the facts disclosed justify the increase. Fifth, an amendment of the existing federal statute which provides for the mediation, conciliation, and arbi- tration of such controversies as the present by adding to it a provision that, in case the methods of accommo- dation now provided for should fail, a full public inves- tigation of the merits of every such dispute shall be instituted and completed before a strike or lockout may lawfully be attempted. And, sixth, the lodgment in the hands of the Executive of the power, in case of military necessity, to take control138 PRESIDENT WILSON’S of such portions and such rolling stock of the railways of the country as may be required for military use and to operate them for military purposes, with authority to draft into the military service of the United States such train crews and administrative officials as the circum- stances require for their safe and efficient use. The second and third of these recommendations the Congress immediately acted on; it established the elght- hour day as the legal basis of work and wages in train Service and it authorized the appointment of a commis- Sion to observe and report upon the practical results, deeming these the measures most immediately needed; but it postponed action upon the other suggestions until an opportunity should be offered for a more deliberate consideration of them. The fourth recommendation I do not deem it necessary to renew. The power of the Interstate Commerce Commission to grant an increase of rates on the ground referred to ig indisputably clear and a recommendation by the Congress with regard to such a matter might seem to draw in question the scope of the Commission’s authority or its inclination to do justice when there is no reason to doubt either, The other suggestions—the increase in the Interstate Commerce Commission’s membership and in its facilities for performing its manifold duties, the provision for full public investigation and assessment of industrial dis- putes, and the grant to the Executive of the power to control and operate the railways when necessary in time of war or other like public necessity—I now very ear- nestly renew. The necessity for such legislation is manifest and press- ing. Those who have entrusted us with the responsibility and duty of sorving and safeguarding them in such mat- ters would find it hard, I believe, to excuse a failure toGREAT SPEECHES 139 act upon these grave matters or any unnecessary post- ponement of action upon them. Not only does the Interstate Commerce Commission now find it practically impossible, with its present mem- bership and organization, to perform its great functions promptly and thoroughly, but it is not unlikely that it may presently be found advisable to add to its duties still others equally heavy and exacting. It must first be per- fected as an administrative instrument. The country cannot and should not consent to remain any longer exposed to profound industrial disturbances for lack of additional means of arbitration and concilia- tion which the Congress can easily and promptly supply. And all will agree that there must be no doubt as to the power of the Executive to make immediate and uninter- rupted use of the railroads for the concentration of the military forces of the nation wherever they are needed and whenever they are needed. This is a programme of regulation, prevention, and administrative efficiency which argues its own case in the mere statement of it. With regard to one of its items, the increase in the efficiency of the Interstate Com- merce Commission, the House of Representatives has already acted; its action needs only the concurrence of the Senate. I would hesitate to recommend, and I dare say the Congress would hesitate to act upon the suggestion should I make it, that any man in any occupation should be obliged by law to continue in an employment which he desired to leave. To pass a law which forbade or pre- vented the individual workman to leave his work before receiving the approval of society in doing so would be to adopt a new principle into our jurisprudence which I take it for granted we are not prepared to introduce.140 PRESIDENT WILSON’S But the proposal that the operation of the railways of the country shall not be stopped or interrupted by the concerted action of organized bodies of men until a public investigation shall have been instituted which shall make the whole question at issue plain for the judgment of the opinion of the nation is not to propose any such principle. It is based upon the very different principle that the con- eerted action of powerful bodies of men shall not be per- mitted to stop the industrial processes of the nation, at any rate before the nation shall have had an opportunity to acquaint itself with the merits of the case as between employee and employer, time to form its opinion upon an impartial statement of the merits, and opportunity to consider all practicable means of conciliation or arbi- tration. I can see nothing in that proposition but the justifiable safeguarding by society of the necessary proc- esses of its very life. There is nothing arbitrary or unjust in it unless it be arbitrarily and unjustly done. It can and should be done with a full and scrupulous regard for the interests and liberties of all concerned as well as for the permanent interests of society itself. Three matters of capital importance await the action of the Senate which have already been acted upon by the House of Representatives: the bill which seeks to extend greater freedom of combination to those engaged in promoting the foreign commerce of the country than is now thought by some to be legal under the terms of the laws against monopoly; the bill amending the present organic law of Porto Rico; and the bill proposing a more thorough and systematic regulation of the expenditure of money in elections, commonly called the Corrupt Prac- tices Act. I need not labor my advice that these meas- ures be enacted into law. Their urgency lies in the manifest circumstances which render their adoption atGREAT SPEECHES 141 this time not only opportune but necessary. Even delay would seriously jeopard the interests of the country and of the government. Immediate passage of the bill to regulate the expend- iture of money in elections may seem to be less necessary than the immediate enactment of the other measures to which I refer ; because at least two years will elapse before another election in which federal offices are to be filled ; but it would greatly relieve the public mind if this im- portant matter were dealt with while the circumstances and the dangers to the public morals of the present method of obtaining and spending campaign funds stand clear under recent observation and the methods of ex- penditure can be frankly studied in the light of present experience; and a delay would have the further very serious disadvantage of postponing action until another election was at hand and some special object connected with it might be thought to be in the mind of those who urged it. Action can be taken now with facts for guid- ance and without suspicion of partisan purpose. I shall not argue at length the desirability of giving a reer hand in the matter of combined and concerted effort to those who shall undertake the essential enter- prise of building up our export trade. That enterprise will presently, will immediately assume, has indeed al- ready assumed, a magnitude unprecedented in our expe- rience. We have not the necessary instrumentalities for its prosecution ; it is deemed to be doubtful whether they could be created upon an adequate scale under our pres- ent laws. We should clear away all legal obstacles and create a basis of undoubted law for it which will give freedom without permitting unregulated license. The thing must be done now, because the opportunity is here and may escape us if we hesitate or delay.142 PRESIDENT WILSON’S The argument for the proposed amendments of the organic law of Porto Rico is brief and conclusive. The present laws governing the Island and regulating the rights and privileges of its people are not just. We have created expectations of.extended privilege which we have not satisfied. There is uneasiness among the people of the Island and even a suspicious doubt with regard to our intentions concerning them which the adoption of the pending measure would happily remove. We do not doubt what we wish to do in any essential particular. We ought to do it at once. At the last session of the Congress a bill was passed by the Senate which provides for the promotion of voca- tional and industrial education which is of vital impor- tance to the whole country because it concerns a matter, too long neglected, upon which the thorough industrial preparation of the country for the critical years of eco- nomic development immediately ahead of us in very large measure depends. May I not urge its early and favor- able consideration by the House of Representatives and its early enactment into law? It contains plans which affect all interests and all parts of the country and I am sure that there is no legislation now pending before the Congress whose passage the country awaits with more thoughtful approval or greater impatience to see a great and admirable thing set in the way of being done. There are other matters already advanced to the stage of conference between the two Houses of which it is not necessary that I should speak. Some practicable basis of agreement concerning them will no doubt be found and action taken upon them. Inasmuch as this is, Gentlemen, probably the last occa- sion I shall have to address the Sixty-fourth Congress, I hope that you will permit me to say with what genuineGREAT SPEECHES 143 pleasure and satisfaction I have cooperated with you in the many measures of constructive policy with which you have enriched the legislative annals of the country. It has been a privilege to labor in such company. I take the liberty of congratulating you upon the completion of a record of rare serviceableness and distinction.PRESIDENT WILSON’S LAST HOPES OF PEACE President Wilson’s Address to the Senate of the United States, January 22, 1917 GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE: On the eighteenth of December last I addressed an identic note to the governments of the nations now at war requesting them to state, more definitely than they had yet been stated by either group of belligerents, the terms upon which they would deem it possible to make peace. I spoke on behalf of humanity and of the rights of all neutral nations like our own, many of whose most vital interests the war puts in constant jeopardy. The Central Powers united in a reply which stated merely that they were ready to meet their antagonists in conference to dis- euss terms of peace. The Entente Powers have replied much more definitely and have stated, in general terms, indeed, but with sufficient definiteness to imply details, the arrangements, guarantees, and acts of reparation which they deem to be the indispensable conditions of a satisfactory settlement. We are that much nearer a defi- nite discussion of the peace which shall end the present war. We are that much nearer the discussion of the international concert which must thereafter hold the world at peace. In every discussion of the peace that must end this war it is taken for granted that that peace must be followed by some definite concert of power which will make it virtually impossible that any such catas- trophe should ever overwhelm us again. Every lover of mankind, every sane and thoughtful man must take that for granted. I have sought this opportunity to address you because I thought that I owed it to you, as the council associatedGREAT SPEECHES 145 with me in the final determination of our international obligations, to disclose to you without reserve the thought and purpose that have been taking form in my mind in regard to the duty of our Government in the days to come when it will be necessary to lay afresh and upon a new plan the foundations of peace among the nations. It is inconceivable that the people of the United States should play no part in that great enterprise. To take part in such a service will be the opportunity for which they have sought to prepare themselves by the very prin- ciples and purposes of their polity and the approved practices of their Government ever since the days when they set up a new nation in the high and honorable hope that it might in all that it was and did show mankind the way to liberty. They cannot in honor withhold the service to which they are now about to be challenged. They do not wish to withhold it. But they owe it to themselves and to the other nations of the world to state the conditions under which they will feel free to render it. That service is nothing less than this, to add their authority and their power to the authority and force of other nations to guarantee peace and justice throughout the world. Such a settlement cannot now be long post- poned. It is right that before it comes this Government should frankly formulate the conditions upon which it would feel justified in asking our people to approve its formal and solemn adherence to a League for Peace. I am here to attempt to state those conditions. The present war must first be ended; but we owe it to candor and to a just regard for the opinion of mankind to say that, so far as our participation in guarantees of future peace is concerned, it makes a great deal of dif- ference in what way and upon what terms it is ended. The treaties and agreements which bring it to an end146 PRESIDENT WILSON’S must embody terms which will create a peace that is worth guaranteeing and preserving, a peace that will win the approval of mankind, not merely a peace that will serve the several interests and immediate aims of the nations engaged. We shall have no voice in determining what those terms shall be, but we shall, I feel sure, have a. voice in determining whether they shall be made lasting or not by the guarantees of a universal covenant; and our judgment upon what is fundamental and essential as a condition precedent to permanency should be spoken now, not afterwards when it may be too late. No covenant of codperative peace that does not in- elude the peoples of the New World can suffice to keep the future safe against war; and yet there is only one sort of peace that the peoples of America could join in euaranteeing. The elements of that peace must be ele- ments that engage the confidence and satisfy the prin- ciples of the American governments, elements consistent with their political faith and with the practical convic- tions which the peoples of America have once for all embraced and undertaken to defend. I do not mean to say that any American government would throw any obstacle in the way of any terms of peace the governments now at war might agree upon, or seek to upset them when made, whatever they might be. I only take it for granted that mere terms of peace be- tween the belligerents will not satisfy even the belligerents themselves. Mere agreements may not make peace secure. Tt will be absolutely necessary that a force be created as a guarantor of the permanency of the settlement so much greater than the force of any nation now engaged ‘or any alliance hitherto formed or projected that no nation, no probable combination of nations could face or withstand it. If the peace presently to be made is toGREAT SPEECHES 147 endure, it must be a peace made secure by the organized major force of mankind. The terms of the immediate peace agreed upon will determine whether it is a peace for which such a guaran- tee can be secured. The question upon which the whole future peace and policy of the world depends is this: Is the present war a struggle for a just and secure peace, or only for a new balance of power? Ifit be only a strug- gle for a new balance of power, who will gusrantee, who can guarantee, the stable equilibrium of the new arrange- ment? Only a tranquil Europe can be a stable Kurope. There must be, not a balance of power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries, but an organized com- mon peace. Fortunately we have received very explicit assurances on this point. The statesmen of both of the groups of nations now arrayed against one another have said, in terms that could not be misinterpreted, that it was no part of the purpose they had in mind to crush their antag- onists. But the implications of these assuranees may not be equally clear to all,—may not be the same on both sides of the water. I think it will be serviceable if I attempt to set forth what we understand them to be. They imply, first of all, that 1t must be a peace without victory. It is not pleasant to say this. I beg that I may be permitted to put my own interpretation upon it and that it may be understood that no other interpretation was in my thought. I am seeking only to face realities and to face them without soft concealments. Victory would mean peace forced upon the loser, a victor’s terms imposed upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace would rest, not permanently,148 PRESIDENT WILSON’S but only as upon quicksand. Only a peace between equals can last. Only a peace the very principle of which is equality and a common participation in a common benefit. The right state of mind, the right feeling between nations, is as necessary for a lasting peace as is the just settlement of vexed questions of territory or of racial and national allegiance. The equality of nations upon which peace must be founded if it is to last must be an equality of rights; the guarantees exchanged must neither recognize nor imply a difference between big nations and small, between those that are powerful and those that are weak. Right must be based upon the common strength, not upon the indi- vidual strength, of the nations upon whose concert peace will depend. Equality of territory or of resources there of course cannot be; nor any other sort of equality not gained in the ordinary peaceful and legitimate develop- ment of the peoples themselves. But no one asks or ex- pects anything more than an equality of rights. Mankind is looking now for freedom of life, not for equipoises of power. And there is a deeper thing involved than even equality of right among organized nations. No peace can last, or ought to last, which does not recognize and accept the principle that governments derive all their just powers from the consent of the governed, and that no right any- where exists to hand peoples about from Sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were property. I take it for granted, for instance, if I may venture upon a single example, that statesmen everywhere are agreed that there should be a united, independent, and autonomous Poland, and that henceforth inviolable security of life, of worship, and of industrial and social development should be guaranteed to all peoples who have livedGREAT SPEECHES 149 hitherto under the power of governments devoted to a faith and purpose hostile to their own. I speak of this, not because of any desire to exalt an abstract political principle which has always been held very dear by those who have sought to build up liberty in America, but for the same reason that I have spoken of the other conditions of peace which seem to me clearly indispensable,—because I wish frankly to uncover reali- ties. Any peace which does not recognize and accept this principle will inevitably be upset. It will not rest upon the affections or the convictions of mankind. The fer- ment of spirit of whole populations will fight subtly and constantly against it, and all the world will sympathize. The world can be at peace only if its life is stable, and there can be no stability where the will is in rebellion, where there is not tranquility of spirit and a sense of justice, of freedom, and of right. So far as practicable, moreover, every great people now struggling towards a full development of its re- sources and of its powers should be assured a direct outlet to the great highways of the sea. Where this cannot be done by the cession of territory, it can no doubt be done by the neutralization of direct rights of way under the general guarantee which will assure the peace itself. With a right comity of arrangement no nation need be shut away from free access to the open paths of the world’s commerce. And the paths of the sea must alike in law and in fact be free. The freedom of the seas is the sine qua non of peace, equality, and cooperation. No doubt a somewhat radical reconsideration of many of the rules of interna- tional practice hitherto thought to be established may be necessary in order to make the seas indeed free and com- mon in practically all circumstances for the use of man-150 PRESIDENT WILSON’S kind, but the motive for such changes is convincing and compelling. There can be no trust or intimacy between the peoples of the world without them. The free, con- stant, unthreatened intercourse of nations is an essential part of the process of peace and of development. It need not be difficult either to define or to secure the freedom of the seas if the governments of the world sincerely desire to come to an agreement concerning it. It is a problem closely connected with the limitation of naval armaments and the cooperation of the navies of the world in keeping the seas at once free and safe. And the question of limiting naval armaments opens the wider and perhaps more difficult question of the limitation of armies and of all programmes of military preparation. Difficult and delicate as these questions are, they must be faced with the utmost candor and decided in a spirit of real accommodation if peace is to come with healing in its wings, and come to stay. Peace cannot be had with- out concession and sacrifice. There can be no sense of safety and equality among the nations if great prepon- derating armaments are henceforth to continue here and there to be built up and maintained. The statesmen of the world must plan for peace and nations must adjust and accommodate their policy to it as they have planned for war and made ready for pitiless contest and rivalry. The question of armaments, whether on land or sea, is the most immediately and intensely practical question con- nected with the future fortunes of nations and of man- kind. I have spoken upon these great matters without reserve and with the utmost explicitness because it has seemed to me to be necessary if the world’s yearning desire for peace was anywhere to find free voice and utterance.GREAT SPEECHES 151 Perhaps I am the only person in high authority amongst all the peoples of the world who is at liberty to speak and hold nothing back. I am speaking as an individual, and yet I am speaking also, of course, as the responsible head of a great government, and I feel confident that I have said what the people of the United States would wish me to say. May I not add that I hope and believe that I am in effect speaking for liberals and friends of humanity in every nation and of every programme of liberty? I would fain believe that I am speaking for the silent mass of mankind everywhere who have as yet had no place or opportunity to speak their real hearts out concerning the death and ruin they see to have come already upon the persons and the homes they hold most dear. And in holding out the expectation that the people and Government of the United States will join the other civ- ilized nations of the world in guaranteeing the perma- nence of peace upon such terms as I have named I speak with the greater boldness and confidence because it is clear to every man who can think that there is in this promise no breach in either our traditions or our policy as a nation, but a fulfilment, rather, of all that we have professed or striven for. I am proposing, as it were, that the nations should with one accord adopt the doctrine of President Monroe as the doctrine of the world: that no ration should seek to extend its polity over any other nation or people, but that every people should be left free to determine its own polity, its own way of develop- ment, unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, the little along with the great and powerful. I am proposing that all nations henceforth avoid en- tangling alliances which would draw them into compe- titions of power, catch them in a net of intrigue and selfish rivalry, and disturb their own affairs with influ-PRESIDENT WILSON’S 152 ences intruded from without. There is no entangling alliance in a concert of power. When all unite to act in the same sense and with the same purpose all act in the common interest and are free to live their own lives under a common protection. I am proposing government by the consent of the gov- erned; that freedom of the seas which in international conference after conference representatives of the United States have urged with the eloquence of those who are the convinced disciples of liberty; and that moderation of armaments which makes of armies and navies a power for order merely, not an instrument of aggression or of selfish violence. These are American principles, American policies. We could stand for no others. And they are also the prin- ciples and policies of forward looking men and women everywhere, of every modern nation, of every enlightened community. They are the principles of mankind and must prevail.GREAT SPEECHES Letter to a Congressman ‘**TIt is incomprehensible to me how any frank or honest person could doubt or question my position with regard to the war and its objects. I have again and again stated the very serious and long continued wrongs which the imperial German Government has perpetrated against the rights, the commerce, and the citizens of the United States. The list is long and overwhelming. No nation that respects itself or the rights of humanity could have borne those wrongs any longer. ‘Our objects in going into the war have been stated with equal clearness. The whole of the conception which I take to be the conception of our fellow countrymen, with regard to the outcome of the war and the terms of its set- tlement I set forth with the utmost explicitness in an address to the Senate of the United States on the 22d of January last. Again in my message to Congress on the 2d of April last those objects were stated In unmis- takable terms. ‘‘T can conceive of no purpose in seeking to becloud this matter except the purpose of weakening the hands of the Government and making the part which the United States is to play in this great struggle for human liberty an inefficient and hesitating part. We have entered he war for our own reasons and with our own objects clearly stated, and shall forget neither the reasons nor the objects. ‘“There is no hate in our hearts for the German people, but there is a resolve which cannot be shaken even by misrepresentation to overcome the pretensions of the autocratic government which act upon purposes to which the German people have never consented.”’ May 22, 1917. Wooprow WILSON.154 PRESIDENT WILSON’S DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN The President’s Address to Congress, February 3, 1917 GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: The Imperial German Government on the thirty-first of January announced to this Government and to the governments of the other neutral nations that on and after the first day of February, the present month, it would adopt a policy with regard to the use of submarines against all shipping seeking to pass through certain desig- nated areas of the high seas to which it is clearly my duty to call your attention. Let me remind the Congress that on the eighteenth of April last, in view of the sinking on the twenty-fourth of March of the cross-channel passenger steamer ‘‘Sussex’’ by a German submarine, without summons or warning, and the consequent loss of the lives of several citizens of the United States who were passengers aboard her, this Government addressed a note to the Imperial German Government in which it made the following declaration: ‘Tf it is still the purpose of the Imperial Government to prosecute relentless and indiscriminate warfare against vessels of commerce by the use of submarines without regard to what the Government of the United States must consider the sacred and indisputable rules of interna- tional law and the universally recognized dictates of humanity, the Government of the United States is at last forced to the conclusion that there is but one course it can pursue. Unless the Imperial Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of submarine warfare against pas- Senger and freight-carrying vessels, the Government ofGREAT SPEECHES 155 the United States can have no choice but to sever diplo- matic relations with the German Empire altogether.”’ In reply to this declaration the Imperial German Gov- ernment gave this Government the following assurance: ‘‘The German Government is prepared to do its utmost to confine the operations of war for the rest of its dura- tion to the fighting forces of the belligerents, thereby also insuring the freedom of the seas, a principle upon which the German Government believes, now as before, to be in agreement with the Government of the United States. ‘‘Mhe German Government, guided by this idea, notifies the Government of the United States that the German naval forces have received the following orders: In ac- cordance with the general principles of visit and search and destruction of merchant vessels recognized by inter- national law, such vessels, both within and without the area declared as naval war zone, shall not be sunk with- out warning and without saving human lives, unless these ships attempt to escape or offer resistance. ‘‘But,’’ it added, ‘‘neutrals can not expect that Ger- many, forced to fight for her existence, shall, for the sake of neutral interest, restrict the use of an effective weapon if her enemy is permitted to continue to apply at will methods of warfare violating the rules of inter- national law. Such a demand would be incompatible with the character of neutrality, and the German Government ig convinced that the Government of the United States does not think of making such a demand, knowing that the Government of the United States has repeatedly declared that it is determined to restore the principle of the freedom of the seas, from whatever quarter it has been viclated.’’156 PRESIDENT WILSON’S To this the Government of the United States replied on the eighth of May, accepting, of course, the assurances given, but adding, ‘The Government of the United States feels it neces- sary to state that it takes it for granted that the Imperial German Government does not intend to imply that the maintenance of its newly announced policy is in any way contingent upon the course or result of diplomatic nego- tiations between the Government of the United States and any other belligerent Government, notwithstanding the fact that certain passages in the Imperial Government’s note of the 4th instant might appear to be susceptible of that construction. In order, however, to avoid any pos- sible misunderstanding, the Government of the United States notifies the Imperial Government that it ean not for a moment entertain, much less discuss, a suggestion that respect by German naval authorities for the rights of citizens of the United States upon the high seas should in any way or in the slightest degree be made contingent upon the conduct of any other Government affecting the rights of neutrals and noncombatants. Responsibility in such matters is single, not joint; absolute, not relative.’’ To this note of the eighth of May the Imperial German Government made no reply. On the thirty-first of January, the Wednesday of the present week, the German Ambassador handed to the Secretary of State, along with a formal note, a memo- randum which contains the following statement: ‘“The Imperial Government, therefore, does not doubt that the Government of the United States will understand the situation thus forced upon Germany by the Entente Allies’ brutal methods of war and by their determinationGREAT SPEECHES 15e to destroy the Central Powers, and that the Government of the United States will further realize that the now openly disclosed intentions of the Entente Allies give back to Germany the freedom of action which she reserved in her note addressed to the Government of the United States on May 4, 1916. ‘Under these circumstances Germany will meet the illegal measures of her enemies by forcibly preventing after February 1, 1917, in a zone around Great Britain, France, Italy, and in the Eastern Mediterranean all nav- igation, that of neutrals included, from and to England and from and to France, etc., etc. All ships met within the zone will be sunk.’’ I think that you will agree with me that, in view of this declaration, which suddenly and without prior inti- mation of any kind deliberately withdraws the solemn assurance given in the Imperial Government’s note of the fourth of May, 1916, this Government has no alter- native consistent with the dignity and honor of the United States but to take the course which, in its note of the eighteenth of April, 1916, it announced that it would take in the event that the German Government did not declare and effect an abandonment of the methods of submarine warfare which it was then employing and to which it now purposes again to resort. I have, therefore, directed the Secretary of State to announce to His Excellency the German Ambassador that all diplomatic relations between the United States and the German Empire are severed, and that the American Ambassador at Berlin will immediately be withdrawn ; and, in accordance with this decision, to hand to His Excellency his passports. Notwithstanding this unexpected action of the Ger-PRESIDENT WILSON’S man Government, this sudden and deeply deplorable renunciation of its assurances, given this Government at one of the most critical moments of tension in the rela- tions of the two governments, I refuse to believe that it is the intention of the German authorities to do in fact what they have warned us they will feel at liberty to do. I cannot bring myself to believe that they will indeed pay no regard to the ancient friendship between their people and our own or to the solemn obligations which have been exchanged between them and destroy American ships and take the lives of American citizens in the wilful prosecu- tion of the ruthless naval programme they have an- nounced their intention to adopt. Only actual overt acts on their part can make me believe it even now. If this inveterate confidence on my part in the sobriety and prudent foresight of their purpose should unhappily prove unfounded; if American ships and American lives should in fact be sacrificed by their naval commanders in heedless contravention of the just and reasonable un- derstandings of international law and the obvious dictates of humanity, I shall take the liberty of coming again before the Congress to ask that authority be given me to use any means that may be necessary for the protection of our seamen and our people in the prosecution of their peaceful and legitimate errands on the high seas. I can do nothing less. I take it for granted that all neutral gov- ernments will take the same course. We do not desire any hostile conflict with the Imperial German Government. We are the sincere friends of the German people and earnestly desire to remain at peace with the Government which speaks for them. We shall not believe that they are hostile to us unless and until we are obliged to believe it; and we purpose nothing more than the reasonable defense of the undoubted rights of ourGREAT SPEECHES 159 people. We wish to serve no selfish ends. We seck merely to stand true alike in thought and in action to the imme- morial principles of our people which I sought to express in my address to the Senate only two weeks ago,—seek merely to vindicate our right to liberty and justice and an unmolested life. These are the bases of peace, not war. God grant we may not be challenged to defend them by acts of wilful injustice on the part of the Government of Germany !PRESIDENT WILSON’S THE WAR CLOUDS THICKEN Mr. Wilson’s Address to Congress, February 26, 1917 Asking Power to Arm Ships GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: I have again asked the privilege of addressing you because we are moving through critical times during which it seems to me to be my duty to keep in close touch with the Houses of Congress, so that neither counsel nor action shall run at cross purposes between us. On the third of February I officially informed you of the sudden and unexpected action of the Imperial Ger- man Government in declaring its intention to disregard the promises it had made to this Government in April last and undertake immediate submarine operations against all commerce, whether of belligerents or of neutrals, that should seek to approach Great Britain and Ireland, the Atlantic coasts of Europe, or the harbors of the eastern Mediterranean, and to conduct those operations without regard to the established restrictions of international practice, without regard to any considerations of human- ity even which might interfere with their object. That policy was forthwith put into practice. It has now been in active execution for nearly four weeks. Its practical results are not yet fully disclosed. The commerce of other neutral nations is suffering severely, but not, perhaps, very much more severely than it was already suffering before the first of February, when the new policy of the Imperial Government was put into operation. We have asked the codperation of the other neutral governments to prevent these depredations, but so far none of them has thought it wise to join us in any common course of action. Our own commerce has suf-GREAT SPEECHES 161 fered, is suffering, rather in apprehension than in fact, rather because so many of our ships are timidly keeping to their home ports than because American ships have been sunk. Two American vessels have been sunk, the Housatonic and the Lyman M. Law. The case of the Housatonic, which was carrying foodstuffs consigned to a London firm, was essentially like the case of the Frye, in which, it will be recalled, the German Government admitted its hability for damages, and the lives of the crew, as in the case of the Frye, were safeguarded with reasonable care. The case of the Law, which was carrying lemon-box staves to Palermo, disclosed a ruthlessness of method which de- serves grave condemnation, but was accompanied by no circumstances which might not have been expected at any time in connection with the use of the submarine against merchantmen as the German Government has used it. In sum, therefore, the situation we find ourselves in with regard to the actual conduct of the German sub- marine warfare against commerce and its effects upon our own ships and people is substantially the same that it was when I addressed you on the third of February, except for the tying up of our shipping in our own ports because of the unwillingness of our shipowners to risk their vessels at sea without insurance or adequate protec- tion, and the very serious congestion of our commerce which has resulted, a congestion which is growing rapidly more and more serious every day. This in itself might presently accomplish, in effect, what the new German sub- marine orders were meant to accomplish, so far as we are concerned. We can only say, therefore, that the overt act which I have ventured to hope the German command- ers would in fact avoid has not occurred.162 PRESIDENT WILSON’S But, while this is happily true, it must be admitted that there have been certain additional indications and expres- sions of purpose on the part of the German press and the German authorities which have increased rather than lessened the impression that, if our ships and our people are spared, it will be because of fortunate circumstances or because the commanders of the German submarines which they may happen to encounter exercise an unex- pected discretion and restraint rather than because of the instructions under which those commanders are acting. It would be foolish to deny that the situation is fraught with the gravest possibilities and dangers. No thought- ful man can fail to see that the necessity for definite action may come at any time, if we are in fact, and not in word merely, to defend our elementary rights as a neutral nation. It would be most imprudent to be unprepared. I cannot in such circumstances be unmindful of the fact that the expiration of the term of the present Con- gress is inmediately at hand, by constitutional limitation ; and that it would in all likelihood require an unusual length of time to assemble and organize the Congress which is to succeed it. I feel that I ought, in view of that fact, to obtain from you full and immediate assurance of the authority which I may need at any moment to exer- cise. No doubt I already possess that authority without special warrant of law, by the plain implication of my constitutional duties and powers; but I prefer, in the present circumstances, not to act upon general implica- tion. I wish to feel that the authority and the power of the Congress are behind me in whatever it may become necessary for me to do. We are jointly the servants of the people and must act together and in their spirit, so far as we can divine and interpret it.GREAT SPEECHES 163 No one doubts what it is our duty to do. We must defend our commerce and the lives of our people in the midst of the present trying circumstances, with discretion but with clear and steadfast purpose. Only the method and the extent remain to be chosen, upon the occasion, if occasion should indeed arise. Since it has unhappily proved impossible to safeguard our neutral rights by diplomatic means against the unwarranted infringements they are suffering at the hands of Germany, there may be no recourse but to armed neutrality, which we shall know how to maintain and for which there is abundant American precedent. t is devoutly to be hoped that it will not be necessary to put armed force anywhere into action. The American people do not desire it, and our desire is not different from theirs. J am sure that they will understand the spirit in which I am now acting, the purpose I hold near- est my heart and would wish to exhibit in everything I do. I am anxious that the people of the nations at war also should understand and not mistrust us. I hope that I need give no further proofs and assurances than I have already given throughout nearly three years of anxious patience that I am the friend of peace and mean to pre- serve it for America so long as I am able. JI am not now proposing or contemplating war or any steps that need lead to it. I merely request that you will accord me by your own vote and definite bestowal the means and the authority to safeguard in practice the right of a great people who are at peace and who are desirous of exercis- ing none but the rights of peace to follow the pursuits of peace in quietness and good will,—rights recognized time out of mind by all the civilized nations of the world. No course of my choosing or of theirs will lead to war. War ean come only by the wilful acts and aggressions of others.164 PRESIDENT WILSON’S You will understand why I can make no definite pro- posals or forecasts of action now and must ask for your supporting authority in the most general terms. The form in which action may become necessary cannot yet be foreseen. I believe that the people will be willing to trust me to act with restraint, with prudence, and in the true spirit of amity and good faith that they have them- selves displayed throughout these trying months; and it is in that belief that I request that you will authorize me to supply our merchant ships with defensive arms, should that become necessary, and with the means of using them, and to employ any other instrumentalities or methods that may be necessary and adequate to protect our ships and our people in their legitimate and peace- ful pursuits on the seas. I request also that you will grant me at the same time, along with the powers I ask, a suffi- cient credit to enable me to provide adequate means of protection where they are lacking, including adequate insurance against the present war risks. 1 have spoken of our commerce and of the legitimate errands of our people on the seas, but you will not be mis- led as to my main thought, the thought that lies beneath these phrases and gives them dignity and weight. It is not of material interests merely that we are thinking. It is, rather, of fundamental human rights, chief of all the right of life itself. I am thinking, not only of the rights of Americans to go and come about their proper business by way of the sea, but also of something much deeper, much more fundamental than that. I am thinking of those rights of humanity without which there is no civili- zation. My theme is of those great principles of com- passion and of protection which mankind has sought to throw about human lives, the lives of noncombatants, the lives of men who are peacefully at work keeping the indus-GREAT SPEECHES 165 trial processes of the world quick and vital, the lives of women and children and of those who supply the labor which ministers to their sustenance. We are speaking of no selfish material rights but of rights which our hearts support and whose foundation is that righteous passion for justice upon which all law, all structures alike of family, of state, and of mankind must rest, as upon the ultimate base of our existence and our liberty. I can- not imagine any man with American principles at his heart hesitating to defend these things.166 PRESIDENT WILSON’S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 1917 [The date of Mr. Wilson’s second accession to the Presidency of the United States, March 4, 1917, falling on a Sunday, he took the oath of office privately on that day, and delivered his inaugural address next day, March 5, in the presence of an immense throng gathered outside the Capitol at Washington, as follows:] My Feuiow-Citizens: The four years which have elapsed since last I stood in this place have been crowded with counsel and actior. of the most vital interest and consequence. Perhaps no equal period in our history has been so fruitful of im- portant reforms in our economic and industrial life or so full of significant changes in the spirit and purpose of our political action. We have sought very thought- fully to set our house in order, correct the grosser errors and abuses of our industrial life, hberate and quicken the processes of our national genius and energy, and lift our politics to a broader view of the people’s essential interests. It is a record of singular variety and singular distinction. But I shall not attempt to review it. It speaks for itself and will be of increasing influence as the years go by. This is not the time for retrospect. It is time, rather, to speak our thoughts and purposes concern- ing the present and the immediate future. Although we have centered counsel and action with such unusual concentration and success upon the great problems of domestic legislation to which we addressed ourselves four years ago, other matters have more and more forced themselves upon our attention, matters lying outside our own life as a nation and over which we had no control, but which, despite our wish to keep free of them, have drawn us more and more irresistibly into their own current and influence. It has been impossible to avoid them. They haveGREAT SPEECHES 167 affected the life of the whole world. They have shaken men everywhere with a passion and an apprehension they never knew before. It has been hard to preserve calm counsel while the thought of our own people swayed this way and that under their influence. We are a composite and cosmopolitan people. We are of the blood of all the nations that are at war. The currents of our thoughts as well as the currents of our trade run quick at all sea- sons back and forth between us and them. The war inevitably set its mark from the first alike upon our minds, our industries, our commerce, our politics, and our social action. To be indifferent to it or independent of it was out of the question. And yet all the while we have been conscious that we were not part of it. In that consciousness, despite many divisions, we have drawn closer together. We have been deeply wronged upon the seas, but we have not wished to wrong or 1njure in return; have retained throughout the consciousness of standing in some sort apart, intent upon an interest that transcended the immediate issues of the war itself. As some of the injuries done us have become intolerable we have still been clear that we wished nothing for ourselves that we were not ready to demand for all mankind,—fair dealing, justice, the freedom to live and be at ease against organized wrong. It is in this spirit and with this thought that we have grown more and more aware, more and more certain that the part we wished to play was the part of those who mean to vindicate and fortify peace. We have been obliged to arm ourselves to make good our claim to a certain minimum of right,and of freedom of action. We stand firm in armed neutrality since it seems that in no other way we can demonstrate what it is we insist upon and cannot forego. We may even be drawn on, by cir-168 PRESIDENT WILSON’S cumstances, not by our own purpose or desire, to a more active assertion of our rights as we see them and a more immediate association with the great struggle itself. But nothing will alter our thought or our purpose. They are too clear to be obscured. They are too deeply rooted in the principles of our national life to be altered. We desire neither conquest nor advantage. We wish nothing that can be had only at the cost of another people. We have always professed unselfish purpose and we covet the opportunity to prove that our professions are sincere. There are many things still to do at home, to clarify our own politics and give new vitality to the industrial processes of our own life, and we shall do them as time and opportunity serve; but we realize that the greatest things that remain to be done must be done with the whole world for stage and in cooperation with the wide and uni- versal forces of mankind, and we are making our spirits ready for those things. They will follow in the immediate wake of the war itself and will set civilization up again. We are provincials no longer. The tragical events of the thirty months of vital turmoil through which we have just passed have made us citizens of the world. There ean be no turning back. Our own fortunes as a nation are involved, whether we would have it so or not. And yet we are not the less Americans on that account. We shall be the more American if we but remain true to the principles in which we have been bred. They are not the principles of a province or of a single continent. We have known and boasted all along that they were the principles of a liberated mankind. These, therefore, are the things we shall stand for, whether in war or in peace: That all nations are equally interested in the peace of the world and in the political stability of free peoples, and equally responsible for their maintenance;GREAT SPEECHES 129 U That the essential principle of peace is the actual equal- ity of nations in all matters of right or privilege; That peace cannot securely or justly rest upon an armed balance of power; That goverriments derive all their just powers from the consent of the governed and that no other powers should be supported by the common thought, purpose, or power of the family of nations; That the seas should be equally free and safe for the use of all peoples, under rules set up by common agree- ment and consent, and that, so far as practicable, they should be accessible to all upon equal terms; That national armaments should be limited to the neces- sities of national order and domestic safety ; That the community of interest and of power upon which peace must henceforth depend imposes upon each nation the duty of seeing to it that all influences proceed- ing from its own citizens meant to encourage or assist revolution in other states should be sternly and effectually suppressed and prevented. I need not argue these principles to you, my fellow- countrymen: they are your own, part and parcel of your own thinking and your own motive in affairs. They spring up native amongst us. Upon this as a platform of purpose and of action we can stand together. And it is imperative that we should stand together. Weare being forged into a new unity amidst the fires that now blaze throughout the world. In their ardent heat we shall, in God’s providence, let us hope, be purged of faction and division, purified of the errant humors of party and of private interest, and shall stand forth in the days to come with a new dignity of national pride and spirit. Let each man see to it that the dedication is in hisPRESIDENT WILSON’S 170 own heart, the high purpose of the Nation in his own mind, ruler of his own will and desire. I stand here and have taken the high and solemn oath to which you have been audience because the people of the United States have chosen me for this august dele- gation of power and have by their gracious judgment named me their leader in affairs. I know now what the task means. I realize to the full the responsibility which it involves. I pray God I may be given the wisdom and the prudence to do my duty in the true spirit of this great people. J am their servant and can succeed only as they sustain and guide me by their confidence and their counsel. The thing I shall count upon, the thing without which neither counsel nor action will avail, is the unity of America,—an America united in feeling, in purpose, and in its vision of duty, of opportunity, and of service. We are to beware of all men who would turn the tasks and the necessities of the Nation to their own private profit or use them for the building up of private power ; beware that no faction or disloyal intrigue break the harmony or embarrass the spirit of our people; beware that our Government be kept pure and incorrupt in all its parts. United alike in the conception of our duty and in the high resolve to perform it in the face of all men, let us dedicate ourselves to the great task to which we must now set our hand. For myself I beg your toler- ance, your countenance, and your united aid. The shad- ows that now lie dark upon our path will soon be dis- pelled and we shall walk with the light all about us if we be but true to ourselves,—to ourselves as we have wished to be known in the counsels of the world and in the thought of all those who love liberty and justice and the right exalted.GREAT SPEECHES ADVICE TO NEW CITIZENS The President’s Address to Newly Naturalized Ameri- cans, Philadelphia, May 10, 1915 Mr. Mayor, FevLtow CItizens: It warms my heart that you should give me such a reception; but it is not of myself that I wish to think tonight, but of those who have just become citizens of the United States. This is the only country in the world which experiences this constant and repeated rebirth. Other countries de- pend upon the multiplication of their own native people. This country is constantly drinking strength out of new sources by the voluntary association with it of great bodies of strong men and forward-looking women out of other lands. And so by the gift of the free will of inde- pendent people it is being constantly renewed from gen- eration to generation by the same process by which it was originally created. It is as if humanity had determined to see to it that this great Nation, founded for the benefit of humanity, should not lack for the allegiance of the people of the world. You have just taken an oath of allegiance to the United States. Of allegiance to whom? Of allegiance to no one, unless it be God—certainly not of allegiance to those who temporarily represent this great Government. You have taken an oath of allegiance to a great ideal, to a great body of principles, to a great hope of the human race. You have said, ‘‘We are going to America not only to earn a living, not only to seek the things which it was more difficult to obtain where we were born, but to help forward the great enterprises of the human spirit—to let men know that everywhere in the world there are menPRESIDENT WILSON’S who will cross strange oceans and go where a speech is spoken which is alien to them if they can but satisfy their quest for what their spirits crave; knowing that what- ever the speech there is but one longing and utterance of the human heart, and that is for liberty and justice.’’ And while you bring all countries with you, you come with a purpose of leaving all other countries behind you —pbringing what is best of their spirit, but not looking over your shoulders and seeking to perpetuate what you intended to leave behind in them. I certainly would not be one even to suggest that a man cease to love the home of his birth and the nation of his origin—these things are very sacred and ought not to be put out of our hearts —but it is one thing to love the place where you were born and it is another thing to dedicate yourself to the place to which you go. You can not dedicate yourself to America unless you become in every respect and with every purpose of your will thorough Americans. You can not become thorough Americans if you think of your- selves in groups. America does not consist of groups. A man who:thinks of himself as belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become an Amerti- ean, and the man who goes among you to trade upon your nationality is no worthy son to live under the Stars and Stripes. My urgent advice to you would be, not only always to think first of America, but always, also, to think first of humanity. You do not love humanity if you seek to divide humanity into jealous camps. Humanity can be welded together only by love, by sympathy, by justice, not by jealousy and hatred. I amsorry for the man who seeks to make personal capital out of the passions of his fellow- men. He has lost the touch and ideal of America, for America was created to unite mankind by those passionsGREAT SPEECHES Vs which lift and not by the passions which Separate and debase. We came to America, either ourselves or in the persons of our ancestors, to better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had seen before, to get rid of the things that divide and to make sure of the things that unite. It was but an historical accident no doubt that this great country was called the ‘‘United States’’; yet I am very thankful that it has that word ‘‘United’’ in its title, and the man who seeks to divide man from man, group from group, interest from interest in this great Union is striking at its very heart. It is a very interesting circumstance to me, in thinking of those of you who have just sworn allegiance to this great Government, that you were drawn across the ocean by some beckoning finger of hope, by some belief, by some vision of a new kind of justice, by some expectation of a better kind of life. No doubt you have been disappointed in some of us. Some of us are very disappointing. No doubt you have found that justice in the United States goes only with a pure heart and a right purpose as it does everywhere else in the world. No doubt what you found here did not seem touched for you, after all, with the complete beauty of the ideal which you had conceived beforehand. But remember this: If we had grown at all poor in the ideal, you brought some of it with you. A man does not go out to seek the thing that is not in him. A man does not hope for the thing that he does not believe in, and if some of us have forgotten what America believed in, you, at any rate, imported in your own hearts a renewal of the belief. That is the reason that I, for one, make you welcome. If I have in any degree for- gotten what America was intended for, I will thank God if you will remind me. I was born in America. You dreamed dreams of what America was to be, and I hope174 PRESIDENT WILSON’S you brought the dreams with you. Noman that does not see visions will ever realize any high hope or undertake any high enterprise. Just because you brought dreams with you, America is more likely to realize dreams such as you brought. You are enriching us if you came ex- pecting us to be better than we are. See, my friends, what that means. It means that ‘Americans must have a consciousness different from the consciousness of every other nation in the world. I am not saying this with even the slightest thought of criti- cism of other nations. You know how it is with a family. A family gets centered on itself if it is not careful and is less interested in the neighbors than it is in its own mem- bers. Soa nation that is not constantly renewed out of new sources is apt to have the narrowness and prejudice of a family; whereas, America must have this conscious- ness, that on all sides it touches elbows and touches hearts with all the nations of mankind. The example of Amer- ica must be a special example. The example of America must be the example not merely of peace because it will not fight, but of peace because peace is the healing and elevating influence of the world and strife is not. There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right. You have come into this great Nation voluntarily seek- ing something that we have to give, and all that we have to give 1s this: We can not exempt you from work. No man is exempt from work anywhere in the world. We ean not exempt you from the strife and the heartbreak- ing burden of the struggle of the day—that is common to mankind everywhere; we can not exempt you from the loads that you must carry. We can only make them light by the spirit in which they are carried. That is theGREAT SPEECHES 175 spirit of hope, it is the spirit of liberty, it is the spirit of justice. When I was asked, therefore, by the Mayor and the committee that accompanied him to come up from Wash- ington to meet this great company of newly admitted citizens, I could not decline the invitation. I ought not to be away from Washington, and yet I feel that it has renewed my spirit as an American to be here. In Wash- ington men tell you so many things every day that are not so, and I like to come and stand in the presence of a great body of my fellow-citizens, whether they have been my fellow-citizens a long time or a short time, and drink, as it were, out of the common fountains with them and £0 back feeling what you have so generously given me—the sense of your support and of the living vitality in your hearts of the great ideals which have made America the hope of the world.176 PRESIDENT WILSON’S FIRST ADDRESS TO CONGRESS Delivered at a Joint Session of the Two Houses, April 8, 1913 Mr. Speaker, Mr. PRESIDENT, GENTLEMEN OF THE Con- GRESS : I am very glad indeed to have this opportunity to ad- dress the two Houses directly and to verify for myself the impression that the President of the United States is a person, not a mere department of the Government hail- ing Congress from some isolated island of jealous power, sending messages, not speaking naturally and with his own voice—that he is a human being trying to co-oper- ate with other human beings in a common service. After this pleasant experience I shall feel quite normal in all our dealings with one another. I have called the Congress together in extraordinary session because a duty was laid upon the party now in power at the recent elections which it ought to perform promptly, in order that the burden carried by the people under existing law may be lightened as soon as possible and in order, also, that the business interests of the country may not be kept too long in suspense as to what the fiscal changes are to be to which they will be re- quired to adjust themselves. It is clear to the whole country that the tariff duties must be altered. They must be changed to meet the radical alteration in the conditions of our economic life which the country has witnessed within the last generation. While the whole face and method of our industrial and commercial life were being changed beyond recognition the tariff sched- ules have remained what they were before the change began, or have moved in the direction they were givenGREAT SPEECHES Td, when no large circumstance of our industrial develop- ment was what it is to-day. Our task is to square them with the actual facts. The sooner that is done the sooner we shall escape from suffering from the facts and the sooner our men of business will be free to thrive by the law of nature (the nature of free business) instead of by the law of legislation and artificial arrangement. We have seen tariff legislation wander very far afield in our day—very far indeed from the field in which our prosperity might have had a normal growth and stimula- tion. No one who looks the facts squarely in the face or knows anything that lies beneath the surface of action ean fail to perceive the principles upon which recent tariff legislation has been based. We long ago passed beyond the modest notion of ‘‘protecting’’ the industries of the country and moved boldly forward to the idea that they were entitled to the direct patronage of the Govern- ment. For a long time—a time so long that the men now active in public policy hardly remember the conditions that preceded it—we have sought in our tariff schedules to give each group of manufacturers or producers what they themselves thought that they needed in order to maintain a practically exclusive market as against the rest of the world. Consciously or unconsciously, we have built up a set of privileges and exemptions from competi- tion behind which it was easy by any, even the crudest, forms of combination to organize monopoly; until at last nothing is normal, nothing is obliged to stand the tests of efficiency and economy, in our world of big business, but everything thrives by concerted arrangement. Only new principles of action will save us from a final hard erystallization of monopoly and a complete loss of the influences that quicken enterprise and keep independent energy alive.178 PRESIDENT WILSON’S It is plain what those principles must be. We must abolish everything that bears even the semblance of privi- lege or of any kind of artificial advantage, and put our business men and producers under the stimulation of a constant necessity to be efficient, economical, and enter- prising, masters of competitive supremacy, better work- ers and merchants than any in the world. Aside from the duties laid upon articles which we do not, and probably ean not, produce, therefore, and the duties laid upon luxuries and merely for the sake of the revenues they yield, the object of the tariff duties henceforth laid must be effective competition, the whetting of American wits by eontest with the wits of the rest of the world. It would be unwise to move toward this end headlong, with reckless haste, or with strokes that cut at the very root of what has grown up amongst us by long process and at our own invitation. It does not alter a thing to upset it and break it and deprive it of a chance to change. It destroys it. We must make changes in our fiscal laws, in our fiscal system, whose object is development, a more free and wholesome development, not revolution or upset or confusion. We must build up trade, especially foreign trade. We need the outlet and the enlarged field of energy more than we ever did before. We must build up industry as well, and must adopt freedom in the place of artificial stimulation only so far as it will build, not pull down. In dealing with the tariff the method by which this may be done will be a matter of Judgment, exercised item by item. 'T'o some not accustomed to the excitements and responsibilities of greater freedom our methods may in some respects and at some points seem heroic, but remedies may be heroic and yet be remedies. It is our business to make sure that they are genuine remedies. Our object is clear. If our motive is aboveGREAT SPEECHES 179 just challenge and only occasional error of judgment is chargeable against us, we shall be fortunate. We are called upon to render the country a great serv- ice in more matters than one. Our responsibility should be met and our methods should be thorough, as thorough as moderate and well considered, based upon the facts as they are, and not worked out as if we were beginners. We are to deal with the facts of our own day, with the facts of no other, and to make laws which square with those facts. It is best, indeed it is necessary, to begin with the tariff. I will urge nothing upon you now at the open- ing of your session which can obscure that first object or divert our energies from that clearly defined duty. At a later time I may take the liberty of calling your atten- tion to reforms which should press close upon the heels of the tariff changes, if not accompany them, of which the chief is the reform of our banking and currency laws; but just now I refrain. For the present, I put these mat- ters on one side and think only of this one thing—of the changes in our fiscal system which may best serve to epen once more the free channels of prosperity to a great people whom we would serve to the utmost and throughout both rank and file. I thank you for your courtesy.PRESIDENT WILSON’S FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS Delivered by President Wilson at the Capitol, March 4, 1913 There has been a change of government. It began two years ago, when the House of Representatives became Democratic by a decisive majority. It has now been com- pleted. The Senate about to assemble will also be Demo- eratic. The offices of President and Vice President have been put into the hands of Democrats. What does the change mean? That is the question that 1s uppermost in our minds to-day. That is the question 1 am going to try to answer, in order, if I may, to interpret the occasion. It means much more than the mere success of a party. The success of a party means little except when the Nation is using that party for a large and definite pur- pose. No one can mistake the purpose for which the Nation now seeks to use the Democratic Party. It seeks to use it to interpret a change in its own plans and point ef view. Some old things with which we had grown familiar, and which had begun to creep into the very habit of our thought and of our lives, have altered their aspect as we have latterly looked critically upon them, with fresh, awakened eyes; have dropped their disguises and shown themselves alien and sinister. Some new things, as we look frankly upon them, willing to compre- hend their real character, have come to assume the aspect of things long believed in and familiar, stuff of our own convictions. We have been refreshed by a new insight into our own life. We see that in many things that life is very great. It is incomparably great in its material aspects, in its body of wealth, in the diversity and sweep of its energy, in theGREAT SPEECHES 181 industries which have been conceived and built up by the genius of individual men and the limitless enterprise of groups of men. It is great, also, very great, in its moral force. Nowhere else in the world have noble men and women exhibited in more striking forms the beauty and the energy of sympathy and helpfulness and counsel in their efforts to rectify wrong, alleviate suffering, and set the weak in the way of strength and hope. We have built up, moreover, a great system of government, which has stood through a long age as in many respects a model for those who seek to set liberty upon foundations that will endure against fortuitous change, against storm and accident. Our life contains every great thing, and con- tains it in rich abundance. But the evil has come with the good, and much fine gold has been corroded. With riches has come inexcusable waste. We have squandered a great part of what we might have used, and have not stopped to conserve the exceeding bounty of nature, without which our genius for enterprise would have been worthless and impotent, scorning to be careful, shamefully prodigal as well as admirably efficient. We have been proud of our indus- trial achievements, but we have not hitherto stopped thoughtfully enough to count the human cost, the cost of lives snuffed out, of energies overtaxed and broken, the fearful physical and spiritual cost to the men and women and children upon whom the dead weight and burden of it all has fallen pitilessly the years through. The groans and agony of it all had not yet reached our ears, the solemn, moving undertone of our life, coming up out of the mines and factories and out of every home where the struggle had its intimate and familiar seat. With the great Government went many deep secret things which we too long delayed to look into and scrutinize with candid,182 PRESIDENT WILSON’S fearless eyes. The great Government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish purposes, and those who used it had forgotten the people. At last a vision has been vouchsafed us of our life as a whole. We see the bad with the good, the debased and decadent with the sound and vital. With this vision we approach new affairs. Our duty is to cleanse, to reconsider, to restore, to correct the evil without impair- ing the good, to purify and humanize every process of our common life without weakening or sentimentalizing it. There has been something crude and heartless and unfeeling in our haste to succeed and be great. Our thought has been ‘‘Let every man look out for himself, let every generation look out for itself,’’ while we reared giant machinery which made it impossible that any but those who stood at the levers of control should have a chance to look out for themselves. We had not forgotten our morals. We remembered well enough that we had set up a policy which was meant to serve the humblest as well as the most powerful, with an eye single to the stand- ards of justice and fair play, and remembered it with pride. But we were very heedless and in a hurry to be great. We have come now to the sober second thought. The scales of heedlessness have fallen from our eyes. We have made up our minds to square every process of our national life again with the standards we so proudly set up at the beginning and have always carried at our hearts. Our work is a work of restoration. We have itemized with some degree of particularity the things that ought to be altered and here are some of the chief items: 1 9 Secretary of Treasury General DAVID FRANKLIN ROBERT LANSING . , Postmaster ’ Y BURLESON, WILLIAM COX REDFIELD, Secretary of Commerce. So © Q < S a N ~Q ~ —_ S = s 4 4 ~ e > > 3 q o {S| ~ — lo) Pm Le 8 = a — oO ® spl a =) & —_ Zz < Q 2) > an a a MQ © E> ee 3 i o a od O Py o a ° ~~ ~ < —_~ mM x o MH q — — fH 2 oe g q _ SH jo) Pa H oS 2S = —_ oO o 2 Zz o R 4 —_— Ay © ke lanl oO = Dues f Ip ff Oj A f GOET fame? « Dabok NEW YORK.Ne ee Tot ata PW bce Su ae RR 57 to Coletreh, Coad lblou engl Cate J Opp k Cla pith Ly He 8. 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