51'c j^ijir^': W'M Qass I'O ; Book % 65di G>Dgre8s, 1st Session Senate Docnment No. 87 VISITING WAR MISSIONS TO THE UNITED STATES ^ PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE OCCASION OF THE RECEPTIONS TENDERED TO THE WAR MISSIONS OF FRANCE, GREAT BRITAIN. ITALY, RUSSIA, BELGIUM, AND JAPAN WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFHCB 1917 65th Coni^ress, 1st Session Senate Document No. 87 VISITING WAR MISSIONS TO THE UNITED STATES PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE OCCASION OF THE RECEPTIONS TENDERED TO THE WAR MISSIONS OF FRANCE, GREAT BRITAIN, ITALY, RUSSIA, BELGIUM, AND JAPAN WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1917 /\0 ^^r^f^ SENATE RESOLUTION Na 130. [presented by MR. MARTIN.] In the Senate of the United States, September 12, 1917. Resolved, That the proceedings of the Senate and House of Representatives on the occasions of the recep- tions given to the war missions of France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Belgium, and Japan, nineteen hundred and seventeen, be printed as a Senate document. Attest: James M. Baker, Secretary. D, of D« NiW 16 191/ THE FRENCH WAR MISSION VISITING WAR MISSIONS TO THE UNITED STATES. THE FRENCH WAR MISSION. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. Friday, April 27, 1917. STATEMENT OF MR. RENE VIVIANI. Mr. James. Mr. President, Mr. Rene Viviani, the head of the French Commission to the United States, made a statement to the Washington newspaper men yesterday, which is so eloquent and presents in such a splendid and feeling way the affection of the French people for America, that I ask that it may be printed in the Record. The Presiding Officer (Mr. Warren in the chair). Without objection, the matter referred to will be printed in the Record. The statement referred to is as follows : I promised to receive you after having reserved, as elementary courtesy required, my first communication solely for the Presi- dent. I have just had the honor, which I shared with the other members of the Mission, of being received by him. I am indeed happy to have been chosen to present the greetings of the French Republic to the illustrious man whose name is in every French mouth to-day, whose incomparable message is at this very hour being read and commented upon in all our schools as the most perfect charter of human rights, and which so fully expresses the virtues of your race — long-suffering patience be- fore appealing to force, and force to avenge that long-suffering patience when there can be no other means. Since you are here to listen to me, I ask you to repeat a thousandfold the expression of our deep gratitude for the en- thusiastic reception the American people have granted us in 5 6 Visiting War Missions to the United States. Washington. It is not to us, but to our beloved and heroic France, that reception was accorded. We were proud to be her children in those unforgetable moments when we read in the radiance of the faces we saw the noble sincerety of your hearts. And I desire to thank also the press of the United States, represented by you. I fully realize the ardent and disinterested help you have given by your tireless propaganda in the cause of right. I know your action has been incalculable. Gentlemen, I thank you. We have come to this land to salute the American people and its Government, to call to fresh vigor our lifelong friendship, sweet and cordial in the ordinary course of our lives, and which these tragic hours have raised to all the ardor of brotherly love — a brotherly love which in these last years of suffering has multiplied its most touching expressions. You have given help not only in treasure, in every act of kindness and good will^ — ^for us your children have shed their blood, and the names of your sacred dead are inscribed forever in our hearts. And it was with a full knowledge of the meaning of what you did that you acted. Your inexhaustible generosity was not the charity of the fortunate to the distressed, it was an affirmation of your conscience, a reasoned approval of your judgment. Your fellow countrymen knew that under the savage assaults of a nation of prey which has made of war, to quote a famous saying, its national industry, we were upholding with our incomparable allies, faithful and valiant to the death, with all those who are fighting shoulder to shoulder with us on the firing line, the sons of indomitable England, a struggle for the violated rights of man, for that democratic spirit which the forces of autocracy were attempting to crush throughout the world. We are ready to carry that struggle on to the end. And now, as President Wilson has said, the Republic of the United States rises in its strength as a champion of right and rallies to the side of France and her allies. Only our descend- ants, when time has removed them sufficiently far from present events, will be able to measure the full significance, the grandeur of an historic act which has sent a thrill through the whole world. From to-day on all the forces of freedom are let loose. And not only victory, of which we were already assured, is certain; the true meaning of victory is made manifest. It can not be merely a fortunate military conclusion to this struggle; The French War Mission. 7 it will be the victory of morality and right, and will forever secure the existence of a world in which all our children shall draw free breath in full peace and undisturbed pursuit of their labors. To accomplish this great work, which will be carried to com- pletion, we are about to exchange views with the men in your Government best quahfied to help. The cooperation of the Republic of the United States in this world conflict is now assured. We work together as freemen who are resolved to save the ideals of mankind. (Cong. Record, p. 1328.) [A duplicate of the above order and statement was printed in the Congressional Record (Senate) on pp. 1356, 1357, Apr. 28, 1917.] Tuesday, May 1, 1917. PREUMINARY PROCEEDINGS. The Vice President. The Chair makes the following statement: At 12.15 to-day the French vice premier, the inspector general of public instruction, and Gen. JofTre are cqming to visit the Senate of the United States. Two of them are members of the French Assembly and, of course, are entitled to the privileges of the floor. The marshal is not entitled to the privileges of the floor if there is any objection. The Chair is therefore inquiring whether there will be any objection to the marshal coming in on the floor of the Senate ? Mr. Overman. I ask that the rule be suspended and unanimous consent given that he may have the privileges of the floor. The Vice President. If there is no objection, he will be admitted. The Chair in looking over past occasions, when Gen. Lafayette and Louis Kossuth were here, has ascertained that very shortly after they had been admitted to the Senate Chamber a recess was taken in order that Senators might be presented to the visitors. The Chair suggests 8 Visiting War Missions to the United States. that course of action upon the present occasion. There will be no speeches of any kind whatever; it will be simply a formal visit. Mr. Overman. I understand that when the distin- guished Austrian visited the Senate there was a motion for a recess. The Vice President. The Chair is simply making the announcement m order that his conduct may meet with the approval of the Senate. On Saturday last when it became apparent that the Senate of the United States would be in session tmtil near the hour of midnight, Senators having been invited to the Army and Navy Club to attend a reception to the marshal of France, the Vice President transmitted a letter stating the facts and expressing regret that Senators could not attend. A reply has been received to that letter, which the Chair desu'es to have inserted in the Record. The letter referred to is as follows: [I^ Marechal Jofi: e, Republique Francaise.] Washington, April 30, 19 17. To the Hon. Thomas R. Marshall, Vice President of the United States, Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Vice PREsroENT: I wish to thank you for your warm letter in behalf of France and of her Army which I rep- resent here. I am particularly appreciative of the words you have said in the name of the Senate and which reflect so well the friendship uniting our two countries. The law which you have voted is a most eloquent proof of the common will that inspires us both. Kindly, I pray you, Mr. President, transmit to your colleagues the expression of my high appreciation for the sympathy with which they have honored me during my sojourn in Washington and receive the assurances of my high appreciation. J. JoFPRE. (Cong. Record, pp. 1600, 1601.) ***** The French War Mission. 9 The Vice President. Will the Senator from Wisconsin bear with the Chair? The Chair assumes that the Sena- tor from Wisconsin will not conclude by 12.15 his discus- sion of the amendment, and if agreeable to the Senator, as it is less than 10 minutes before it will be necessary to interrupt the proceedings until the visitors have de- parted, the Chair suggests to the Senator that he do not proceed now; and when the visitors depart the Chair will recognize the Senator from Wisconsin on the subject of his amendment. Mr. La Foi.i.ette. Mr. President, I thank the Vice President for the suggestion. I should like to say, how- ever, that what I have to offer to the Senate for its con- sideration upon this amendment will require not to exceed 25 or 30 minutes of the Senate's time, but I would, of course, prefer to have the opportunity to present it con- nectedly and without interruption. The Vice President. That is why the Chair made the suggestion, and in order to accommodate the Senator. Mr. CHAMBERI.AIN. I suggest that the Senate be at ease for a few minutes without taking a recess. The Vice President. That course will be satisfactory. After a little delay. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. The Vice President said : The Chair requests the Sen- ator from Nebraska [Mr. Hitchcock] and tlie Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge] to meet the distin- guished guests of the Senate and escort them into the Chamber. At 12 o'clock and 30 minutes p. m. the Commissioners of the French Republic to the Government of the United States, M. Rene Viviani, Vice Premier of the Council of Ministers; Marshal Joffre; Vice Admiral Chocheprat, of the Navy of France; and M. Emile Hovelaque, inspector general of public instruction, escorted by Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Lodge, the committee appointed by the Vice President, entered the Senate Chamber, accompanied by lo Visiting War Missions to the United States. Mr. Jusserand, the French Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary accredited to the United States, aides of the French officers, and the Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Phillips. The distinguished visitors having been seated in chairs provided to the right and left, re- spectively, of the Vice President, ADDRESS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT. The Vice President. The Senate of the United States has had the pleasure and honor many times in the past of receiving and welcoming distinguished visitors to the Republic. It had the glorious honor of receiving Gen. Lafayette. Nearly a century afterwards it now has the great pleasure and honor of welcoming the Vice Premier of the French Government, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Marshal of France, and Vice Admiral Chocheprat, of the French Navy. Mr. Martin. Mr. President, in order that Senators may have an opportunity to be presented to the distinguished guests of the Nation who are now in the Senate Chamber, I move that the Senate take a recess for 25 minutes. The Vice President. Without objection, it is so ordered. Thereupon (at 12 o'clock and 32 minutes p. m.) the Senate took a recess for 25 minutes. During the recess the members of the French Commis- sion took their places at the right of the Vice President's desk, and the Members of the Senate were, presented to them. The Vice President. While the Senate is not in session the Presiding Officer has decided to vary the proceedings by asking the French Premier to address you very briefly in recess. [Applause.] [M. Viviani thereupon addressed the Senate in French, his remarks bein? received with frequent manifestations of applause. The address, in English, will he published hereafter.) In response to calls for an address. Marshal Joffre said: " I do not speak English. Vive les Eta ts Unisl" [Ap- plause.] The French War Mission. 1 1 The Vice President. As we said "Hail!" so now we say "Farewell," and yet again, please God, "Hail!" [Applause.] The distinguished visitors were then escorted from the Chamber. (Cong. Rec, pp. 1607, 1608.) Friday, May 4, 1917. ADDRESS BY M. VIVIANI. The Vice President. The Chair has received a trans- lation of the address delivered by the French Vice Premier in the Senate Chamber on the ist instant. If there is no objection, the Chair will order it printed in the Record, and when incorporated in the permanent Record it will be of value in future years. The address referred to is as follows: M. ViviANi. Mr. President and Senators, since I have been granted the supreme honor of speaking before the Representatives of the American people, may I ask them first to allow me to thank this magnificent Capital for the welcome it has accorded us? Accustomed as we are in our own free land to popular manifestations, and though we had been warned by your fellow countrymen who live in Paris of the enthusiasm burning in your hearts, we are still full of the emotion raised by the sights that awaited us. I shall never cease to see the proud and stalwart men who saluted our passage; your women, whose grace adds fresh beauty to your city, their arms outsti-etched, full of flowers; and your children hurrying to meet us as if our coming were looked upon as a lesson for them, all with one accord acclaiming in our perishable persons immortal France. And I predict there will be a yet grander manifestation on the day when your illustrious President, relieved from the burden of power, will come among us bearing the salute of the Republic of the United 12 Visiting War Missions to the United States. States to a free Europe, whose foundations from end to end shall be based on right. It is with unspeakable emotion that we crossed the threshold of this Legislative Palace, where prudence and boldness meet, and that I for the first time in the annals of America, though a foreigner, speak in this Hall, which only a few days since resounded with the words of virile force. You have set all the democracies of the world the most magnificent example. So soon as the common peril was made manifest to you, with simplicity and within a few short days, you voted a formidable war credit and proclaimed that a formidable army was to be raised. President Wilson's commentary on his acts, which you made yours, remains in the history of free peoples the weightiest of lessons. Doubtless you Vv^ere resolved to avenge the insults offered your Flag, which the whole world respected; doubtless through the thickness of these massive walls the mournful cry of all the victims that criminal hands hurled into the depths of the sea has reached and stirred your souls, but it will be your honor in history that you also heard the cry of humanity and invoked against autocracy the rights of democracies. And I can only wonder as I speak what, if they still have any power to think, are the thoughts of the autocrats who three years ago against us, three months ago against you, unchained this conflict. Ah! doubtless they said among themselves that a democracy is an ideal government, that it showers re- forms on mankind, that it can in the domain of labor quicken all economic activities. And yet now we see the French Republic fighting in defense of its territory and the liberty of nations and opposing to the avalanche let loose by Prussian militarism the union of all its chil- dren, who are still capable of striking many a weighty blow. And now we see England, far removed like you from conscription, who has also, by virtue of a discipline all accept, raised from her soil millions of fighting men. And we see other nations, accomplishing the same act; and that liberty not only inflames all hearts but coordi- The French War Mission. 13 nates and brings into being all needed efforts. And now, we see all America rise and sharpen her weapons in the midst of peace for the common struggle. Together we will carry on that struggle, and when by force we have at last imposed military victory our labors will not be concluded. Our task will be — I quote the noble words of President Wilson — to organize the society of nations. I well know^ that our enemies, who have never seen before them anything but horizons of carnage, will never cease to jeer at so noble a design. Such has always been the fate of great ideas at their birth; and if thinkers and men of action had allowed themselves to be discouraged by skeptics mankind would still be in its infancy and we should still be slaves. After material victory we will win this moral victory. We will shatter the ponderous sword of militarism; we will establish guaranties for peace; and then we can disappear from the world's stage, since we shall leave at the cost of our common immolation the noblest heritage future generations can possess. (Cong. Record, p. 1823.) PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- TIVES. Thursday, May 3, 1917. PREUMINARY PROCEEDINGS. The Speaker. The Chair appoints as a committee to escort the French Commissioners to the floor of the House the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Flood; the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Linthicum; the gentleman from Ar- kansas, Mr. Goodwin; the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Cooper; the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Porter, being members of the regular Committee on Foreign Af- fairs; and also appoints the gentleman from Louisiana, Gen. Estopinal, and the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Mc- Cormick, as they can each read and speak the French Ian- 14 Visiting War Missions to the United States. guage. The committee will proceed to the Speaker's room, and the House stands in recess for 30 minutes. The Chair will further suggest that the Hon. Rene Viviani and Marshal Joffre come up in the first instance to the Speaker's desk to be presented to the House, and then that they take their stand at the right of the Speaker's desk, so that everybody can pass by and shake hands. Accordingly, at 12 o'clock and 7 minutes p. m., the House stood in recess for 30 minutes. At 12 o'clock and 10 minutes p. m. the Commissioners of the French Republic to the Government, of the United States, M. Rene Viviani, Vice Premier of the Council of Ministers; Marshal Joffre; Vice Admiral Chocheprat, of of the Navy of France; and M. Emile Hovelaque, Inspector General of Public Instruction, escorted by Mr. Flood, Mr. Linthicum, Mr. Goodwin of Arkansas, Mr. Cooper of Wis- consin, Mr. Porter, Mr. Estopinal, and Mr. McCormick, entered the Hall of the House, accompanied by Mr. Jus- serand, the French Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleni- potentiary accredited to the United States, Aides of the French Officers, and the Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Phillips. The distinguished visitors were escorted to the Speaker's rostrum amid prolonged applause and cheers. The Speaker. Gentlemen of the House of Representa- tives, I present to you the Vice Premier, the Minister of Justice of France, M. Rene Viviani. [Prolonged applause.] [M. Viviani thereupon addressed the House in French, his remarks being received with frequent manifestations of applause. The address, in English, will be published hereafter.] The Speaker. Gentlemen of the House of Representa- tives, I present to you the Marshal of France, Gen. Joffre. [Prolonged applause.] In response to calls for an address, Marshal Joffre said: "I thank you. Vive 1' Amerique ! " [Applause.] The Speaker. Gentlemen of the House of Representa- tives, I present you the great-grandson of Gen. Lafayette, Marquis de Chambrun. [Applause.] The French War Mission. 15 Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, I present to you the x\mbassador from France, M. Jusserand. [Applause.] In response to calls for an address, M. Jusserand said: ADDRESS BY M. JUSSERAND. Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House oe Repre- sentatives: I intended to repeat only the word of Marshal Joffre, though I have not the same excuse for not making a longer speech ; but the words interpret very well my feel- ings as well as his feelings and the feelings of all my com- patriots. Gentlemen, I thank you. [Applause.] This occasion is a very great one, a unique one, and I am sure that those two men whose portraits adorn this Hall, Washington and Lafayette, those two friends who fought for liberty, would, if they could, also applaud and say to their descendants, their American descendants and their French descendants, "Dear people, we thank you." [Ap- plause.] What you have been doing, the laws you have passed, the decisions you have taken, touch us deeply, and touch the French people in a very particular fashion, be- cause what you have done is a sort of counterpart of what we did long ago. What we did was to come to the rescue of men who wanted to be free, and our desire was to help them and to have no other recompense than to succeed, and that liberty should be established in this new conti- nent. [Applause.] What we did was unique in the his- tory of the world. We expected no recompense but your friendship, and that we got. [Applause.] We did not know that ever a time would come when the same event, the same action could be taken by another of the nations of the world, and yet that time has come, the same action has been taken, with the same energy, the same generosity, the same disinterestedness that characterize the conduct of those ot^ier men many years ago. What you do now is to come to Europe to take part in the fight for liberty, a fight in which you expect no recompense, nothing to your advantage, except that very great advantage, that in the 1 6 Visiting War Missions to the United States. same way that we secured liberty — human Hberty, indi- vidual liberty, national liberty — on this continent, you will fight to see that liberty be preserved in the Old World and, thanks to you, we shall see the calamities of this struggle shortened, and we shall see that a new spirit of liberty will grow greater and stronger, and, thanks to you, be rejuvenated. [Applause.] The members of the French Commission then took their places at the right of the Speaker's rostrum and the Members of the House were presented to them. The distinguished visitors were then escorted from the Hall of the House. (Cong. Record, pp. 1782, 1783.) Thursday, June 7, 1917. ADDRESS BY M. VIVIANI. The- Speaker. The Chair has received from the Secre- tary of State a communication inclosing the speech of M. Viviani, recently delivered in the House, in French and an English translation thereof, which the Secretary of State requests to have printed in the Record. With- out objection, it will be so printed. There was no objection. The communication referred to is as follows : Department op State, Washington, June 4, 1917. The Hon. Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Sir : I have the honor to inclose herewith for inclusion in the Congressional Record the French text, with a translation thereof, of the speech delivered by M. Viviani, of the French mission, before the House of Representatives. This text and the translation were furnished to the depart- ment by Mr. Emile Hovelaque, of the mission. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Robert Lansing, The French War Mission. 17 Messieurs : Nous voici done une fois encore, mes com- patriotes et moi, admis aux honneurs de la seance dans une enceinte legislative. Pourraije vous d^peindre 1' emo- tion qui nous etreint devant cette derogation solennelle k vos regies seculaires, et en ce qui me conceme, pourraije vous dire, comme parlementaire habitue, depuis plus de vingt ans, aux passions et aux orages des assemblies, que je goiite peut-etre plus qu' un autre k cette heure la joie supreme de me trouver k cette tribune, k cette tribune si haute, que, si faible que soit la voix, elle est entendue de I'univers. Messieurs, je ne vous remercierai pas, non parce que notre gratitude est ^puisee, mais parce que son epuisees les paroles nouvelles par lesquelles je pourrais la traduire; je ne vous remercierai pas de votre accueil. Nous avons tons senti, mes compagnons et moi, que les acclamations qui montaient vers nous ne sortaient pas seulement de vos levres. Nous avons tous senti que vous ne remplis- siez pas seulement les obligations de la courtoisie interna- tionale; brusquement, nous avons vu se devoiler k nos ^regards, dans son intimity charmante, la complexity de I'dme americaine. Lorsq'on aborde un Amdricain, il semble qu'on aborde un homme pratique, seulement pratique, vivant pour les affaires, par les affaires, dans les affaires. Mais, lorsqu'k certaines heures de la vie priv^e, on se penche sur I'dme americaine, on en d^couvre k la fois la fraichuer et la d^licatesse; et lorsqu'k certaines heures de la vie publique, on interroge Tame nationale, alors on voit surgir d'elle toute la puissance de I'id^al; si bien que ce peuple amdri- cain, admirablement equilibre, est k la fois pratique et sentimental, r^aliste et reveur, et qu'il est toujours possible de mettre ses qualites postivies k la disposition de sa forte pens^e. Et voyez. Messieurs, le parall^le glorieux qu'k notre profit, k votre profit, nous pouvons ^tablir entre nos ennemis et nous. Mandataires d'un peuple libre, nous 16720— S. Doc. 87, 65-1 2 1 8 Visiting War Missions to the United States. venons au milieu des hommes libres pour confronter nos idees, pour echanger nos vues, pour apercevoir le formid- able probleme siirgi de la guerre. Et toutes les nations alliees, par celk meme qu'elles reposent sur des institutions democratiques par leu gouvemement, se concertent k la meme hauteur, dans la meme egalite et dans la meme liberte. Je sais bien qu'a I'heure actuelle au milieu des empires centraux, se trouve un monarque absolu qui rattache a lui, par les liens d'une vassalite de fer, d'autres peuples. On a dit que c'etait le signe de la force. Ce n'en est que I'ap- parence derisoire. Kt en eflet, il y a quelques semaines, k la veille du jour ou I'Amerlque fremissante allait se dresser de tout son elan, au lendemain du jour oil la temps les soldats aux armes et le peuple a I'independance, on a vu ce monarque absolu trebucher sur les degres de son trone, sentant passer sur sa couronne le souffle les pre- mieres tempetes. Et il s'est abaisse vers ce peuple, s'est humilie, et, afin de le gagner, il est alle emprunter aux nations libres leur institution supreme en promettant k leurs sujets de leur donner le suffrage universel. Ici comme aux heures de notre histoire, comme aux heures de la votre, c'est la liberte qui fraye le chemin aux combattants. Nous voici tous debout pour la civilisa- tion et pour le droit. Avant-hier, dans une reunion publique a laquelle j'assistais, j'entendais un de vos plus grands orateurs dire, avec une emotion concentree: "C'est jure sur le tombeau de Washington." Et j'ai compris alors 1' emotion forte et le sens profond de ces paroles. Si Washington pouvait se lever de son tombeau, du haut de sa montagne sacree, s'il pouvait apercevoir le monde teli qu'il est, devenu plus petit, par le rapproche- ment des distances materielles et morales, et par I'enche- vetrement des relations economiques, il sentirait que son oeuvre n'est pas finie, et que, de meme qu'un homme puissant et superieur se doit aux autres hommes, de meme un peuple puissant et superieur se doit aux autres peuples, et, apres avoir etabli sa propre independance, The French War Mission. 19 doit aider les autres a maintenir leur ind^pendance ou a la conquerir. C'est la logique mysterieuse de I'histoire qu'a si merveilleusement comprise M. le President Wilson, cet esprit si fort, si fin, k la fois capable d'analyse et de synthase, d'observations minutieuses vite suivies d'une forte action. C'est jure sur le tombeau de Washington! C'est jur^ sur le tombeau des soldats allies, tomb^s pour la cause sainte! C'est jure sur nos blesses! C'est jure sur la tete de nos orphelins! C'est jurd sur les berceaux et les tombeaux! C'est jur6! (Translation.] Gentlemen: Once more my fellow countrymen and I are admitted to the honor of being present at a sitting in a Legislative Chamber. May I be permitted to express our emotion at this solemn derogation against rules more than a centiu-y old, and, so far as my own person is con- cerned, may I say that, as a Member of Parliament, ac- customed for 20 years to the passions and storms which sweep through political assemblies, I appreciate more than anyone at this moment the supreme joy of being near this chair, which is in such a commanding position that, however feeble may be the voice that speaks thence, it is heard over the whole world ? Gentlemen, I will not thank you, not because our grati- tude fails, but because new words to express it fail. No; I do not thank you for your welcome. We have all felt, my companions and myself, that the manifestations which rose toward oiu" persons came not only from your lips, but from your heart. We have felt that you were not merely fulfilling the obligations of international courtesy. Suddenly, in all its charming intimacy, the complexity of the American soul was revealed to us. When one meets an American one is supposed to meet a practical man, merely a practical man, caring only for business, only interested in business. But when at cer- tain hours in private life one studies the American soul, one discovers at the same time how fresh and delicate 20 Visiting War Missions to the United States. it is ; and when at certain moments of public life one con- siders the soul of the Nation, then one sees all the force of the ideals that rise from it ; so that this American people, in its perfect balance, is at once practical and sentimental, a realizer and a dreamer, and is always ready to place its practical qualities at the disposal of its puissant thoughts. And see, gentlemen, what a glorious comparison, to our profit, yours also, we can establish between our enemies and us. Intrusted with a mandate from a free people, we came among free men to compare our ideals, to ex- change our views, to measure the whole extent of the problems raised by this war; and all the Allied Nations, simply because they repose on democratic institutions, through their Governments meet in the same lofty region on equal terms, in full liberty. I well know that at this very hour in the Central Empire there is an absolute monarch who binds to his will by vassal links of steel other peoples. It has been said this was a sign of strength; it is only a derisive ap- pearance of strength. And in truth only a few weeks ago, on the eve of the day when outraged America was about to rise in its force, on the morrow of the day when the Russian Revolution, faithful to its alliance, called at once its soldiers to arms and its people to independence, this absolute monarch was seen to totter on the steps of his throne as he felt the first breath of the tempest pass over his crown. And he bent toward his people in humilia- tion, and in order to win its sympathy borrowed from free peoples the highest institutions and promised his subjects universal suffrage. Here, as in the cinicial hours of our history as in these of yours, it is liberty which clears the way for our soldiers. We are all now united in our common effort for civiliza- tion, for right. The day before yesterday, in a public meeting at which I was present, I heard one of your greatest orators say with deep emotion, "It has been sworn on the Tomb of Washington." And then I understood the full emotion The French War Mission. 21 and import of those words. If Washington could rise from his tomb, if from his sacred momid he could view the world as it now is, shrunk to smaller proportions by the lessening of material and moral distances and the mingling of every kind of communication between men, he would feel his labors are not yet concluded, and that just as a man of superior and powerful mind has a debt to all other men, so a superior and powerful nation owes a debt to other nations, and after establishing its own independence must aid others to maintain their independence or to conquer it. It is the mysterious logic of history which President Wilson so marvelously understood, thanks to a mind as vigorous as it is subtle, as capable of analysis as it is of synthesis, of minute observation followed by swift action. It has been sworn on the Tomb of Washington. It has been sworn on the tomb of our allied soldiers, fallen in a sacred cause. It has been sworn by the bedside of our wounded men. It has been sworn on the heads of oiir orphan children. It has been sworn on cradles and on tombs. It has been sworn. (Cong. Record, pp. 3539, 3540.) THE BRITISH WAR MISSION THE BRITISH WAR MISSION. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. Tuesday, May 8, 1917. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. The Vice President (at 12 o'clock and 27 minutes p. m.). The British Commissioners having arrived at the Capitol, the Chair requests the Senator from Alabama [Mr. Bankhead], the Senator from Mississippi [Mr. Williams], the Senator from Ohio [Mr. Pomerene], the Senator from Rhode Island [Mr. Colt], and the Senator from Idaho [Mr. Borah] to meet the members of the British Commission in the Vice President's room and escort them into the Senate Chamber. At 12 o'clock and 30 minutes p. m. the Commissioners of the Government of Great Britain to the Government of the United States, the Right Hon. Arthur James Balfour, M. P., O. M., Principal British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; the Hon, Sir Eric Drummond, K. C. M. G., C. B.; Mr. Ian Malcolm, M. P.; Mr. C. F. J. Dormer; Rear Admiral Sir Dudley R. S. de Chair, R. N., K. C. B., M. V. O.; Fleet Paymaster Gen. Vincent A. Lawford, R. N., D. S. O.; Maj. Gen. G. T. M. Bridges, G. M. G., D. S. O.; Maj. H. H. Spender-Clay, M. P., British General Staff, escorted by the committee appointed by the Vice President, consisting of Mr. Bankhead, Mr. Williams, Mr. Pomerene, Mr. Colt, and Mr. Borah, entered the Senate Chamber, accompanied by Sir Cecil Arthur Spring-Rice, the British Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary accredited to the United States; aids of the British officers; the Assistant Secretary of Slate, as 26 Visiting War Missions to the United States. Mr. William Phillips; Mr. Hugh Gibson, of the State Department; and Capt. George Quekemeyer, United States Army. The distinguished visitors were escorted to the places assigned to them, the Right Hon. Arthur J. Balfour and the British Ambassador, Sir Cecil Arthur Spring-Rice, being seated, respectively, at the right and left of the Vice President. Mr. Martin. Mr. President, in honor of the distinguished representative of Great Britain, who are guests of the Nation and who are now in the Senate Chamber, and in order that Senators may have an opportunity to be pre- sented to them, I move that the Senate take a recess for 30 minutes. The Vice President. The question is on agreeing to the motion of the Senator from Virginia. The motion was agreed to; and accordingly (at 12 o'clock and 32 minutes p. m.) the Senate took a recess for 30 minutes. During the recess, ADDRESS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT. The Vice President. Senators, for more than a cen- tury and a quarter the one great reason for the existence of this body has been to preserve the equality of all men before the law. A few days since we had the pleasure of greeting the representatives of that people whose shibbo- leth is "fraternity." To-day we honor, and in turn are ourselves honored, by receiving the representatives of that people whose forbears centuries ago, in an age of almost universal absolutism, compelled their King, anointed though he was with the holy oil of consecration, to give to them the Great Charter of human liberty. It were mere prophecy to say that without that Great Charter the Republic either of France or of America would not be or have a hope of being. May I express the hope that at the end of this most horrific warfare, when the representatives of liberty, fra- ternity, and equality shall take their seats at the council The British War Mission. 27 table of the nations, they will not arise therefrom until they shall, so far as human ingenuity can do so, guarantee to every people the right to be free from the fear of assault from without or oppression from within [applause], until they shall write this legend in the firmament, above the sun rising for a newer and, if not a better, at least a safer, civilization, "I shine only for the wise; they are not wise who are not just"? In the words of one woman lawyer, for whom I have profound respect, the wise Portia, to Antonio, Bassanio's best friend: Sir, you are very welcome to our house; It must appear in other ways than words, Therefore I scant this breathing courtesy. I have the honor and the great pleasure of presenting to you the foremost champion of Magna Charta, the Right Hon, Arthur James Balfour, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. [Applause.] ADDRESS BY RIGHT HON. ARTHUR J. BALFOUR. Mr. Balfour. Mr. President and gentlemen of the Senate, you, Mr. President, have in graceful and pregnant sentences brought to our recollection the common origin of those liberties v/hich, whether in France, in Britain, or in the United States of America, we all rejoice in and are all determined to defend. [Applause.] You have also in warm words of welcome spoken kindly of the Mis- sion of which I have the honor to be the head and to which you are now paying the rare, the very rare, honor of wel- coming within your walls. Gentlemen, on their behalf not less than on my own, I most sincerely thank you for your welcome. I know well that it is not a welcome to individuals. The kindness ^vhich each one of us as indi- viduals has received since we came to this great city will never be forgotten by any one of us. It has been kind- ness, abundant, overflowing, generous, unlimited; but, gentlemen, behind that kindness paid by individuals to individuals, behind the expression of a hospitable and 28 Visiting War Missions to the United States. generous feeling to guests within your gates, there is, after all, something much deeper, something much more important, something which is, after all, the animating spirit which brings this great assembly here to-day. The original object of our Mission, if I may so express it, was mainly a purely business one. We came here to discuss matters of the deepest moment for the conduct of that great war in which both our nations are involved. We came here to explain to your leaders and statesmen what were the needs from which the allies mainly suffered, and to lay freely at the disposal of those responsible for the conduct of your affairs the results of our own ex- perience, the consequences, perhaps I ought to say, in some cases of our own errors and blunders during two years and a half of strenuous and sanguinary fighting. That was the original object; that was the business side of our Mission. But the reception which you have given us here, the treatment which we have received from the President, from the Cabinet, from the House of Represent- atives, from the Senate — that treatment raises the whole level of our Mission from a purely business operation to' a great incident in the common life of two great and free peoples. Gentlemen, I do not think the importance of that is easy to overrate. I believe that the consequences will not be measured by any mere record of the transactions that may take place between our various Governments, nor will the effects of it vanish when we ourselves, in consequence of the calls of duty elsewhere, leave your hospitable city. No, gentlemen, this Mission and the French Mission which is associated with it, mark a new epoch in the relations of our three countries, and I believe that in the alliance thus cemented lie secure some of the greatest hopes, some of the proudest expectations, which we dare to entertain about the future of civilization. [Applause.] Gentlemen, it is not, however, your kindness of heart alone which has given this significance to contemporary The British War Mission. 29 events. That significance is forced upon our notice whether we be citizens of America or citizens of France or citizens of Britain; but I speak especially at this moment of citizens of America and citizens of Britain. It is forced upon our notice by the unwearied efforts of an unconscionable German propaganda. Whether we live on the other side of the Atlantic or on this side of the Atlantic, we English-speaking peoples have never organ- ized ourselves for military purposes; we have never been military States; and, when the war broke out, undoubtedly the Germans looked around the world, estimated the value (from their point of view) of the nations with whom they might be concerned, and, profoundly contemptuous of our views of civilization, whether they were British or American views, they decided that neither Britain nor America counted in the struggle by which they hoped to obtain the domination of the world. They found us un- prepared ; they found us unmilitary ; and because we were unprepared and because we were unmilitary, they jumped rashly to the conclusion, firstly, that we were afraid to fight, and, secondly, that if we fought, we would be wholly negligible quantities, I think they are beginning, possibly, to find out their mistake. [Great applause.] How, gentlemen, did that mistake ever arise? It arose from the utter incapacity of the German ruling class — and it is only of the German ruling class that I speak to-day — to estimate value except in terms of drilled men and military preparation. They saw that England and America were prosperous, were unwarlike, were immersed in the arts of peace and involved in the industrial in- terests incident to a peaceful civilization, and they drew from that two conclusions: They drew from it, in the first place, the conclusion that because we were commercial we were therefore material; that we were incapable of high ideals or great sacrifices; and the further conclusion that even if we determined late in the day to pursue those high ideals and to make those great sacrifices we should be so utterly incompetent in the arts to which they had 30 Visiting War Missions to the United States. devoted so much of their attention that our interference in the war would be a thing which they could leave wholly on one side. On that miscalculation have been wrecked, and will be wrecked, all their hopes. [Applause.] It was their fatal blunder, a blunder from which they will never recover, but a blunder which has saved civilization. Gentlemen, I speak with confidence about the issue of this great struggle, a confidence which is redoubled since you have thrown in your lot with those who have been fighting since 1 914. [Great applause.] I see, indeed, sug- gestions that Germany, incapable of winning by arms, is going to win through the illegitimate weapon of submarine warfare. I believe it not. I do not at all minimize, I do not wish to minimize, the gravity of the submarine menace. After all, in the two years and a half during which the war has been going on, more than one difficulty of like magnitude has met us and more than one difficulty of like magnitude has been overcome. The question of munitions is a case in point. I do not wish to detain you on such an occasion with details, but at the beginning of the war it became evident that Ger- many had recognized the importance of the munitions question, had been preparing for this war through years of peace by having at her disposal a supply of ammuni- tion greater than all the rest of the world put together, and at one time it almost looked as if the cause of civili- zation and liberty w^ere to be crushed under the multitude of shells and the weight of artillery. We have siirmounted that difficulty. It was a very great one. I do not deny that the submarine difficulty is a very great one. I do not deny that it will require every effort made, either in Britain or here, sucessfuUy to overcome it; but that those efforts will be made, that this menace will be overcome, that the United States of America, like Great Britain and her dominions, will throw themselves into the task with ungrudging efforts, and that those efforts will be crowned with success, I do not doubt for a The British War Mission. 31 moment. [Great applause.] This war is not going to be settled by the sinking of helpless neutrals or by sending women and children to the bottom by torpedoes or gun- fire. It is to be settled by hard fighting; and when it comes to hard fighting neither America nor Britain nor France need fear measuring themselves at any moment against those who have risen up against all that we hold dear for the future. I therefore, gentlemen, look forward — not, of course, in a spirit of light and easy and unthinking confidence, but with firm faith — to the futm'e of this war. It requires every man and woman on this side of the Atlantic, as on the other side of the Atlantic, to throw their united eff^orts into the scale of right. That effort unquestionably will be made, is being made, will be made yet further, and, being made, I doubt not that it will be crowned with success, and that posterity will look back upon the union of these peoples, symbolized by such meetings as that which I am now addressing, as marking a new epoch in the history of the world ; an epoch in which all the civilized nations roused themselves in miity to deal with one of their number which has forgotten its responsibilities, forgotten its duties, and which, in unscrupulous lust for universal domination, has brought the greatest of known calamities upon the world. Gentlemen, I have detained you too long, but I was led away by my subject. On my own behalf and on behalf of my friends around me, I beg to thank you for the unique honor which you have paid to us, and, through us, to our country, to our cause, which is your cause, and to the futiure of civilization, which is yours as much as ours. I thank you. The Vice President. The British Commissioners will take pleasure in greeting the Senators of the United States and such guests as may be upon the floor of the Senate. At the hour of i o'clock the Chair will ask Senator Robin- son, of Arkansas, to take the chair. 32 Visiting War Missions to the United States. The members of the British Commission then took their places at the left of the Vice President's desk, and the Members of the Senate were presented to them by the committee of the vSenate appointed by the Vice President for that pmpose At I o'clock p. m., upon the expiration of the recess, the distinguished visitors were escorted from the Chamber, and the vSenate reassembled. (Cong. Record, pp. 2021, 2022.) PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESEN- TATIVES. Saturday, May 5, 1917. PR^IylMINARY PROCEEDINGS. The Speaker. The Chair appoints as a committee to escort the British Commissioners to the floor of the House the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Flood; the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Linthicum; the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Goodwin; the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Cooper; and, in the absence of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Porter, and the gentleman from Mas- sachusetts, Mr. Rogers, the next ranking members of the Committee*on Foreign Affairs, he appoints the gentle- man from Pennsylvania, Mr. Temple. The committee will proceed to the Speaker's room, and, in accordance with the previous order, the House will stand in recess for 30 minutes. Accordingly (at 12 o'clock and 30 minutes p. m.) the House stood in recess. The president of the United States entered the Execu- tive gallery of the House and was greeted with prolonged applause and cheers. The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States were seated in front of the. Speaker's rostrum. The British War Mission. 33 At 12 o'clock and 35 minutes p. m., the Commissioners of the Government of Great Britain to the Government of the United States, the Right. Hon. Arthur James Balfour, Principal British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Gen. G. T. M. Bridges, of the British Army; Admiral Sir Dudley R. S. De Chair, K. C. B , of the British Navy; Fleet Paymaster V. A. Lawford, D. S. O. R. N.; Lord Cunliffe, Governor of the Bank of England; Mr. Ian Malcolm, M. P.; and Maj. Spender-Clay, M. P., British General Staff, escorted by Mr. Flood, Mr. Linthi- cum, Mr. Goodwin of Arkansas, Mr. Cooper of Wisconsin, and Mr. Temple, entered the Hall of the House, accom- panied by Sir Cecil Arthur Spring-Rice, the British Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary accredited to the United States, aids of the British officers, and the Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Phillips, and Mr. Hugh Gibson, of the Department of State. The distinguished visitors were escorted to the Speaker's rostrum amid prolonged applause and cheers. The Speaker. Gentlemen of the House of Representa- tives, I present to you the Right Hon. Arthur James Balfour, Principal British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. [Prolonged applause.] ADDRESS BY RIGHT HON. ARTHUR J. BALFOUR. Mr. Balfour. Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the House of Representatives, will you permit me, on behalf of my friends and myself, to offer you my deepest and sincerest thanks for the rare and valued honor which you have done us by receiving us here to-day ? We all feel the greatness of this honor, but I think to none of us can it come home so closely as to one who, like myself, has been for 43 years in the service of a free assembly like your own. I rejoice to think that a member — a very old member, I am sorry to say — of the British House of Commons has been received here to-day by this great 16720— S. Doc. 87, 65-1—17 3 34 Visiting War Missions to the United States. sister assembly with such kindness as you have shown to me and to my friends. [Applause.] Ladies and gentlemen, these two assemblies are the greatest and the oldest of the free assemblies now govern- ing great nations in the world. The history indeed of the two is very different. The beginnings of the British House of Commons go back to a dim historic past, and its full rights and status have only been conquered and per- manently secured after centuries of political struggle. Your fate has been a happier one. You were called into existence at a much later stage of social development. You came into being complete and perfected and all your powers determined, and your place in the Constitution secured beyond chance of revolution; but, though the history of these two great assemblies is different, each of them lepresents the great democratic principle to which we look forward as the security for the future peace of the world. [Applause.] All of the free assemblies now to be found governing the great nations of the earth have been modeled either upon your practice or upon oiurs, or upon both combined. Mr. Speaker, the compliment paid to the Mission from Great Britain by such an assembly and upon such an occasion is one not one of us is ever likely to forget, but there is something, after all, even deeper and more signifi- cant in the circumstances under which I now have the honor to address you than any which arise out of the inter- change of courtesies, however sincere, between two great and friendly nations. We all, I think, feel instinctively that this is one of the great moments in the history of the world and that what is now happening on both sides of the Atlantic represents the drawing together of great and free peoples for mutual protection against the aggression of military despotism. [Prolonged applause and cheers.] I am not one of those and none of you are among those who are such bad democrats as to say that democracies make no mistakes. All free assemblies have made blun- ders; sometimes they have committed crimes. Why is it, The British War Mission. 35 then, that we look forward to the spread of free institu- tions throughout the world, and especially among our present enemies, as one of the greatest guaranties of the future peace of the world? I will tell you, gentlemen, how it seems to me. It is quite true that the people and the representatives of the people may be betrayed by some momentary gust of passion into a policy which they ultimately deplore, but it is only a military despotism of the German type which can, through generations if need be, pursue steadily, remorselessly, unscrupulously, the appalling object of dominating the civilization of man- kind. [Applause.] And mark you, this evil, this menace under which we are now suffering, is not one which di- minishes with the growth of knowledge and the progress of material civilization, but, on the contrary, it increases with them. When I was young we used to flatter our- selves that progress inevitably meant peace, and that growth of knowledge was always accompanied, as its natural fruit, by the growth of good will among the nations of the earth. Unhappily we know better now, and we know there is such a thing in the world as a power which can with unvarying persistency focus all the resources of knowledge and of civilization into the one great task of making itself the moral and material master of the world. It is against that danger that we, the free peoples of western civilization, have banded ourselves together. [Applause.] It is in that great cause that we are going to fight and are now fighting this very moment side by side. [Applause.] In that cause we shall surely conquer [applause], and our children will look back to this fateful date as the one day from which democracies can feel secure that their progress, their civilization, their rivalry, if need be, will be conducted, not on German lines, but in that friendly and Christian spirit which really befits the age in which we live. Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, I beg most sincerely to repeat again how heartily I thank you for the cordial welcome which you have given us to-day, and to repeat 36 Visiting War Missions to the United States. my profound sense of the significance of this unique meeting. [Great applause.] The members of the EngHsh Commission took their places at the right of the Speaker's rostrum and the Members of the House were presented to them, the Presi- dent of the United States accompanying the Members. The distinguished visitors were then escorted from the Hall of the House. (Cong. Record, p. 1928.) THE ITALIAN WAR MISSION 37 THE ITALIAN WAR MISSION. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. Thursday, May 31, 1917. PRElvIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. Mr. Martin. Mr. President, as we all know, a Mission composed of distinguished representatives of the Italian Government is in the city, and in order that they may come on the floor of the Senate and Senators may have an opportunity to be introduced to them, I move that the Senate take a recess for 30 minutes. The motion was agreed to. The Vice President. The Chair appoints Mr. Martin, Mr. Saulsbury, Mr. Stone, Mr. Swanson, Mr. Lodge, Mr. Knox, and Mr. New as the committee to introduce the visitors to the Senate Chamber. The Senate thereupon took a recess for 30 minutes. At 12 o'clock and 15 minutes p. m. the members of the Italian Mission to the Government of the United States were escorted by the committee appointed by the Vice President into the Senate Chamber, the members of the Mission being — His Royal Highness Ferdinando di' Savoia, Prince of Udine. Tenente de Zara, aid to the Prince. His excellency the Hon. Enrico Arlotta, Minister of Transportation. His excellency Marquis Luigi Borsarelli di Rifreddo, Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Hon. Francesco Saverio Nitti, member of the Chamber of Deputies. 39 40 Visiting War Missions to the United States. Hon. Augusto Ciuffelli, member of the Chamber of Deputies. Cavaliere de Parente, Secretary of Legation and Secre- tary of Mission. Duke of Sangro, aid to Senator Marconi. Cavaliere Pietra, of the Commercial Mission. Gen. Guglielmotti, Military Attache. Commander Vannutelli, Naval Attache. Count V. Macchi di Cellere, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, accompanied the Mission to the Senate Chamber, and also Hon. William Phillips, Assistant Secretary of State; Lieut. Col. J. C. Gilmore, United States Army; and Mr. Warren Robbins, of the State Department. The Prince of Udine was seated on the right of the Vice President and Count di Cellere upon his left. ADDRESS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT. The Vice President. Senators, it will perhaps rejoice you hereafter to remember that within a very few days you have had the honor and pleasure of participating in three great historic scenes. For myself, I may say that I am very glad the distinguished visitors and myself both belong to posterity rather than to ancestry, for I have a historic recollection that some 1,900 years ago the ances- tors of these distinguished gentlemen were pursuing through the islands of Britain my ancestors, clad in sheep- skin. I am glad that I have lived in a time when the eagles of the Senate and the people of Rome come in peace to visit the American eagle in the Senate of the United States. [Applause.] History sometimes reverses itself and sometimes repeats itself. When Rome stood exclusively for power and sought to bring the habitable globe under her control she never quite succeeded in conquering the Belgian people. Nine- teen hundred years after that failure the Roman people have concluded that what Rome as the representative of The Italian War Mission. 41 power could not do no other representative of power shall ever be permitted to do. [Applause.] History repeats itself in another instance. When I was trying to ascertain the history of this great people, digging it out of the original, I learned as I pronounce it in the Hoosier vulgate, that one of the great Romans closed each of his addresses in the Roman Senate with this remarkable statement : ' ' Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam. ' ' History, I hope, again repeats itself in that the people of the seven-hilled city beside the yellow Tiber have resolved that for themselves and for humanity the house of Haps- burg must be destroyed. [Loud applause.] It is my honor and my pleasure to present to you the representative of the people of Italy, the Prince of Udine. [Loud applause.] ADDRESS BY PRINCE UDINE. Prince Udine. Mr. President and gentlemen of the Senate, I consider it a great honor for the mission of His Majesty, the King of Italy, to be welcomed by the Ameri- can Senate ; it is also a great honor for me, and a source of deep satisfaction, to greet you on behalf of my country and to speak in this glorious assembly, which has never forgotten the noble traditions of democracy and the prin- ciples of liberty, in the name of which it was constituted. In this hour of danger, in which military absolutism is threatening everyone, there are nations that have for- gotten old and new competitions and have united to defeat this menace to the common safety. We are in a more fortunate position. Between the United States of America and Italy there has never been any cause of conflict. Therefore, in your history and in ours there is no page which should be forgotten in this hour of brother- hood. In our present alliance we need not forget any war, nor any rivalry, nor any strife. If nothing brings men closer together than to fight for the same ideals, and to face the sufferings and the dangers of a great war, for 42 Visiting War Missions to the United States. the cause of justice and of humanity, we must acknowl- edge that this new and closer union means for us a greater bond of sympathy and solidarity in addition to those which already linked us. This long friendship without strife, this union without mistrust, this cloudless future, are enhanced by the fact that both our peoples are at war, not because of any imminent danger that threatened us but to defend the same ideals of humanity and justice. [Applause.] Nearly three years have elapsed since Europe, without any justifying motive, perhaps without any motive at all beyond the will of a small military oligarchy, was driven into the greatest conflict which human history records. The struggle has extended beyond Europe, and now a great part of humanity is suffering the anguish of a war which it did not desire and in which it did not believe. So much wealth, the fruit of long labor and suffering, has been destroyed; so many noble lives, for which the future held bright hopes, have been cut off before their time, that we can not bear to think of this spectacle of destruction without profound grief. But a deeper anguish is stirring our souls. That which has grieved us more than the wealth destroyed, more than the lives cut off in the flower of their youth, is the sight of cultivated and intelligent nations who, but yesterday, shared with us all a communion of life and intellect, who have now denied those principles of humanity and of justice which were the result of long centuries of work and the great and difficult conquest of civiHzation. Little nations, which were entirely guiltless and which, within their small territory, contained masterpieces of art and treasures of industry, have been barbarously sacri- ficed. In the conquered countries personal slavery has returned as in the worst periods of medieval invasions. You know what methods have been introduced into submarine warfare, how nothing has been respected, neither neutral vessels, nor Red Cross ships, nor inoffensive The Italian War Mission. 43 travelers, nor women and children, who, even in times which we consider barbarous, enjoyed protection and safety. In the enemy's camp science has perhaps sought to justify all these excesses. Will the human conscience ever be able to justify them? Your wars have been fought for independence and for liberty, and your heroes have been men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln — human heroes, shining lights of the intellect, who looked with a kindly heart even upon their adversaries. [Ap- plause.] We, too, after having suffered greatly at the hands of foreign oppressors, have conquered liberty and independ- ence; and our heroes, the men who gathered around Victor Emanuel II, and gave Italy unity and freedom, were men such as Cavour, Garibaldi, Mazzini, champions of idealism, men who belonged to humanity rather than to their own country, pure glories of the world's democracy. [Applause.] In your wars and in ours an ideal light has guided us, and our efforts were directed toward a most noble aim. What ideals did those who have brought so much suffering upon the world aim at outside the dominion of force and the triumph of violence ? Gentlemen of the Senate, for nearly three years our continent has been involved in this great struggle, and it looked with anxious eyes toward your great and free country. We knew that the European war had increased your trade and given new vigor to your industries. Many feared that because of the ocean that divides us the great cry of grief of oppressed Belgium would only sound faintly in your ears; many feared that, absorbed by the activi- ties of industry and labor, you would fail to take an in- terest in our struggle and in our sorrows. We, however, looked toward you with trusting sympathy; we felt that the great fatherland of liberty, the noble democracy which offered its hospitality to all the people of Europe, without 44 Visiting War Missions to the United States. distinction of race, of religion, or of languages, and granted to all of them the protection of the same just and humane laws, could not remain indifferent, [Applause.] Nevertheless, we awaited your decision with anxiety, and it seemed to us that the holiness of our cause was in need of recognition by those who from afar would judge us with m.ore serenity. You waited to intervene until violence and offenses against right had become clearer and more evident. When your flag, the stars of which, growing in number symbolize the growing prosperity of Am-erica and the triumphs of American labor — when your flag, always uni- versally respected, was insulted, you hesitated no longer, and your mighty accents of promise and of faith rang in our ears. [Applause.] Your Nation has colonized immense territories; it has created powerful industries; it has developed an ever- growing trade. You bring all the enthusiasm of your national youth to science and to labor. Our enemies are aware that you will bring into the war, which is flooding Europe with blood and making the earth barren, the invaluable strength of your men and of your wealth. For this most noble adherence to our cause, given with- out any thought of conquest or of material wealth, we shall always be grateful to you. [Applause.] But, gentlemen of the Senate, you tsring us to-day something which is far greater than the help of men, of wealth, or of food; you bring us the sacred recognition of our right; you bring us moral confidence and the con- viction — nay, rather the faith — that our cause is holy and that the free democracies, and even the greatest among them, share our feelings, our spirit, and our hopes. How greatly the knowledge of your approval has helped us I need not tell you, who are strong men, who did not hesitate to enter into the whirlpool of war, and who pre- ferred the hard way of duty to a comfortable and resigned indifference. [Applause.] The Italian War Mission. 45 The message of your President, as our sovereign has said, is worthy, by the nobihty of its conceptions and the dignity of its form, to rank with the most inspiring pages in the history of ancient and immortal Rome. [Applause.] It was greeted with the enthusiasm of faith when it made clear the objects of the war and defined the aims of American action. Our soldiers, at the foot of the snowy Alps, amid the atrocious life of underground trenches; our sailors, defying the treacherous warfare of the subma- rines, the populations of France and of Belgium, suffer- ing under the most cruel servitude, could not read it without a profound emotion. By proclaimxing that right is more precious than peace; that autocratic governments, supported by the force of arms, are a menace to civilization; by affirming the ne- cessity of guaranteeing the safety of the world's democra- cies; by proclaiming the right of small nations to live and to prosper, America has now, through the action of her President, acquired a title of mierit which history will never forget. [Applause.] You decided to take part in the war not by a sudden im- pulse but after having seen its full extent and m.easured all its horrors. And though you were able to choose freely between the tranquillity of a peace resigned to evil and the pain of a participation, which will require at your hands sacrifices of wealth and of lives, you did not hesitate. All this we appreciate very deeply, and every effort of yours to shorten the war will be blessed by mil- lions of human creatures, victims of the greatest bar- barity. [Applause.] The increase of material wealth, the marvels of industry, the progress of science, all these are as nothing if their aim be not the moral elevation of mankind. There are sorrows which elevate men more than any joys; sacrifices which ennoble more than any successes. By our sacrifices we must prepare the way for a hu- manity in which collective violence shall no longer be possible, and in the bosom of which each nation may 46 Visiting War Missions to the United States. freely unfold its activity and realize that social justice which is the divine goal to which we are all tending, each in his own way. [Applause.] Italy, gentlemen of the Senate, entered into the war with aims equal to those which you pursue. Her terri- tory had not been invaded, her insecure boundaries had not been violated. Our people understood that the sac- rifice of free nations was the prelude to their own sacrifice, and that we could not remain indifferent without denying the very reasons of our existence. [Applause.] Italy has suffered more than any other nation in Europe the horror of foreign domination, the martyrdom of in- vasion and pillage; and, therefore, she will never forget the principles which presided over her birth and which constitute her strength and her defense. Italy wants the safety of her boundaries and her coasts, and she wants to secure herself against new aggressions. Italy wants to deliver from long-standing martyrdom populations of Italian race and language that have been persecuted implacably, and are nevertheless prouder than ever of their Italian nationality. [Applause.] But Italy has not been and never will be an element of discord in Europe ; and as she willed her own free national existence at the cost of any sacrifice, so she will con- tribute with all her strength to the free existence and de- velopment of other nations. By increasing the ruthlessness of submarine warfare and thus rendering navigation unsafe and dangerous, our enemies, who were not able to defeat our soldiers by the force of arms, hope to win the war by increasing misery and suffering. They hope that our powerful ally. Great Britain, will lack food; that France will lack food and men; and that Italy will lack especially food, and that which is more necessary, coal for the war, for industries, and for railways. The problem of shipping is for all of us the greatest problem of the war. With our united efforts we shall vanquish all these dif- ficulties; and that which the force of arms, secretly pre- The Italian War Mission. 47 pared and unexpectedly employed, was not able to accom- plish will not be accomplished by disloyal means on land and water. We shall triumph over all these difficulties if we continue our efforts in brotherly agreement, united by the great duty which we have now voluntarily taken upon us for a cause which is superior to all worldly in- terests and which partakes of an almost divine nobility. [Applause.] The Mission of which I have the honor to be the head and in which there are representatives of the Senate of the Kingdom, of the Chamber of Deputies, and members of the Government, desires to express through me the liveliest sympathy to the representatives of the American people. [Applause.] May God protect our two nations. Italy, which has given the world three civilizations, considers herself worthily at your side in this hour, full of sorrow it is true, but also great because of its moral nobility. [Applause.] A day will come when we shall be proud of our suffering and when our sacrifices will be rewarded. Let us en- deavor, gentlemen, to bring that day nearer which shall put an end to the sorrows of so many who are suffering and dying without guilt. Let us hasten its coming, worthy representatives of the American people, by our firm will to obtain the victory and by our complete solidarity of ideals, of sacrifices, and of deeds. [Applause.] The Vice President. Prince Udine and the members of the Italian mission will be gratified to meet the Mem- bers of the United States Senate. The members of the Italian Mission took their places at the left of the Vice President's desk, and the Members of the Senate were presented to them by the committee appointed by the Vice President. The distinguished visitors were escorted from the Chamber, and, at 12 o'clock and 45 minutes p. m., upon the expiration of the recess, the Senate reassembled. (Cong. Record, pp.3300, 3301, 3302.) 48 Visiting War Missions to the United States. PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- TIVES. Thursday, May 31, 1917. INVITATION. Mr. LaGuardia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous con- sent that the Speaker be authorized to extend an invita- tion to the Italian Mission now visiting the United States to visit this House on Saturday next, at an hour con- venient to themselves, and that the House stand in re- cess for 30 minutes at that time that they may be received on the floor of the House. The Speaker. The gentleman from New York [Mr. TaGuardia] asks unanimous consent that the Speaker be authorized to invite the Italian Mission to visit the House on Saturday next, at such time as shall be satisfactory to them, and that the House stand in recess for 30 minutes at that time to receive them on the floor of the House. Is there objection? There was no objection. (Cong. Record, p. 3326.) Friday, June 1, 1917. THE ITALIAN MISSION. The Speaker. The Chair lays before the House a com- munication from the Italian Mission, which the Clerk will read. The Clerk read as follows: June I, 1917. The Hon. Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Dear Mr. Speaker: I am directed by His Royal Highness the Prince of Udine and by the members of the Italian Mission to express to you and to ask you to be so good as to convey to the House of Representatives their cordial thanks for the kind The Italian War Mission. 49 invitation you have addressed to them. His royal highness and the members of the Mission will have the honor to visit the House to-morrow, Saturday, June 2, at 11.45. Believe me, Mr. Speaker, Yours, very respectfully, P. DE Parent©, Secretary of the Mission. (Cong. Record, p. 3396.) Saturday, June 2, 1917. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. The Speaker. The Chair appoints as the committee to escort the Italian Mission to the floor of the House Mr. Flood, Mr. Linthicum, Mr. Goodwin of Arkansas, Mr. Cooper of Wisconsin, Mr. Porter, and Mr. LaGuardia, and, in accordance with the order hertofore made, the House will stand in recess for 30 minutes. Accordingly (at 11 o'clock and 45 minutes a. m.) the House stood in recess. At II o'clock and 55 minutes a. m. the Commissioners of the Italian Government to the Government of the United States, His Royal Highness Ferdinando di' vSavoia, Prince of Udine; Tene de Zara, aid to the Prince; His Excellency the Hon. Enrico Arlotta, Minister of Trans- portation; His Excellency Marquis Luigi Borsarelli di Rifreddo, Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Hon. Guglielmo Marconi, Senator of the Kingdom; Hon. Francesco Saverio Nitti, member of the Chamber of Deputies; Hon. Augusto Ciuffelli, member of the Chamber of Deputies; Cavaliere de Parente, Secretary of Legation and Secretary of the Mission; Duke of Sangro, aid to Senator Marconi; Cavaliere Pietra, of the Commercial Mission; Gen. Guglielnotti, Military Attach^; and Com- mander Vannutelli, Naval Attache, accompanied by Count V. Macchi di Cellere, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary accredited to the United States; 16720-8. Doc. 87, 65-1—17 4 50 Visiting War Missions to the United States. Mr. Breckinridge Long, Assistant Secretary of State; and Lieut. Col. J. C. Gilmore, United States Army. The distinguished visitors were escorted to the Speak- er's rostrum amid prolonged applause and cheers, and the Prince of Udine was seated on the right of the Speaker. The Speaker. Gentlemen of the House of Represen- tatives, I present to you His Royal Highness, the Prince of Udine. [Applause.] ADDRESS BY THE PRINCE OP UDINE. Mr. Speaker and Members oe the House: No one could appreciate the honor of your invitation more than myself and my colleagues. To address the Representatives of the greatest among new democracies at a time when the destinies of humanity are awaiting decision, at a time when our destiny and yours depend on the issue of the war, to bring you the greeting of distant brothers who are fighting for the same ideals at the foot of the snowy Alps or in the deadly trenches, to express to you our feelings and our sympathy for your feelings — all those are for me so many reasons for legitimate pride. [Applause.] During our brief stay among you we have found every- where the most joyous welcome and the most friendly cordiality. Everywhere it was not only friendly words that greeted us but also friendly souls who welcomed us. We have felt deeply moved by this. We know, gentlemen, that such cordial sentiments, such hearty friendship, are meant not so much for our persons as for our beautiful and distant country; our country, of which every foot is sacred to us because of its century^old greatness and sufferings and because of the noble share which it has always had in human thought and history. [Applause.] But your great Republic, when it grants us such courteous hospitality, honors still more that which at the The Italian War Mission. 51 present moment is dearest to us — the efforts of Italy's soldiers, the noble sacrifice of so many young lives freely given for their country and for civilization and in defense of ideals which you have made your own and which we all love. In the name of the soldiers of Italy, one of whom I am proud to be ; in the name of all those who are fighting on the mountains, on the plains, and on the treacherous seas; in the name of those to whom your words of friendship have brought a message of hope and faith across the ocean, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. [Applause.] The aims of the war for the allied nations were pointed out by President Wilson in his magnificent message, which will not only remain in the minds of our descendants as a historic event, but which has already aroused, because of its moral force, intense admiration among all civilized peoples. We shall be satisfied, whatever sacrifices we may be called upon to make, when the rights of humanity are assured, when the guarantees of peace are effectual, and when free nations are able to work for their own pros- perity and elevation. President Wilson has proclaimed that to the Americans right is more precious than peace and that the people of the United States are ready to shed their blood in defense of those principles in the name of which they became a nation. For the sake of the same principles we are ready to face every sacrifice and every sorrow. We are fighting a terrible war. Our enemies were long since prepared for it, while we were content to live, trusting in peace, and only sought to contribute to the development of our people and to the progress of our country, almost unconscious of the clouds which so sud- denly grew dark over our heads. We came into the war when we realized that there was no room for neutrals and that neutrality was neither pos- sible nor desirable, when the freedom of all democratic 52 Visitmg War Missions to the United States. nations was threatened and the very existence of free peoples was at stake. Bver since that day we have not hesitated before any danger or any suffering. Our wide fighting front presents conditions of exceptional difficulty. The enemy is, or has been until now, in possession of the best positions. He has dug deep trenches; he has concealed his guns among the mountains. We are even compelled to fight at altitudes of eight and ten thousand feet, in spots where it seemed im.possible that any fighting should ever take place. We are alone on our wide and treacherous front, and every step forward that we take, every progress that we accomplish, costs us great efforts and many lives. The enthusiasm of our soldiers has often helped them among the glaciers of the Alps and the many snares of the Carso to triumph over difficulties which seemed to defy every human effort. But the deep faith which burns in them kept their strength alive. [Applause.] We must, we will, triumph over other difficulties and other insidious devices. Nature, which gave us our pure skies, our mild climate, has denied us almost entirely the two great necessities of modern industry — coal and iron. Therefore, with indus- tries still in course of formation, Italy has had ever since their inception to overcome obstacles which appeared in- superable. Italy occupies one of the first places in Europe as regards the number and power of her waterfalls; but this wealth, which constitutes the great reserve of the future, has only been partly exploited until now. The treacherous enemy, who has long since prepared the weapons of aggression, not having obtained victory on the field, is now trying by means of submarine warfare to endanger our existence, to cause a scarcity of food, and, above all, a scarcity of the coal which Italy needs for her ammunition factories, for her railways, and for her industries. We have reduced our consumption of all necessities, and we are ready to reduce it still further within the The Italian War Mission. 53 limits of possibility. We do not complain of the priva- tions that we have to endure. Wealth itself has no value if life and liberty are endangered. And when millions of soldiers offer their young lives for their country there is not one among the civil population who is not ready to make any sacrifice. But to overcome the dangers of the submarines, which, in defiance of every law of humanity, are not only destroy- ing wealth but endangering the lives of peaceful travelers, sinking hospital ships, and murdering women and chil- dren, we must all make a great effort. We must unite all our forces to oppose the strongest resistance to the insidious devices of the enemy. You possess a great and magnificent industrial organization. You, more than anyone, are in a position to put an end to the enemy's barbarous dream and to create with your energy much more than he can destroy. [Applause.] This great and terrible trial can only make us better men. They who know how to oft'er to the fatherland their wealth and their lives; they who give themselves unto death and, more than themselves, that which is sweetest and most sacred, their children; they who are ready to suffer and to die; they will know when the morrow dawns how to contribute to civilization new elements of moral nobility and of strength. [Applause.] We must not grieve over our sorrows. When we fight for the rights of humanity we are conscious that we are elevating ourselves morally. When America proclaimed herself one with us a great joy ran through every city and every little village of Italy. We knew the full value of your cooperation, and at the same time we appreciated the nobility of your sentiments. The families of 3,000,000 Italians who dwell in the United States under the protection of your hospitable and just laws felt a deep sense of joy. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, the words which His Majesty the King of Italy, first among our 54 Visiting War Missions to the United States. soldiers, wrote to your President expressed his feelings and those of all his people. To-morrow when the news reaches Italy that this Congress, which represents the will of the American Nation, has desired to give to our Mission the supreme honor of welcoming it in its midst your friendly words will reach the farthermost points where men are fighting and suffering. And in the trenches, at the foot of the majestic Alps, there where the struggle is bitterest and where death is ever present, a thrill of joy and of hope will be felt — the joy of a sincere union, the hope of certain victory. [Prolonged applause and cheers.] The Speaker. I am certain that every Member of the House of Representatives will be delighted to see and hear the man who invented wireless telegraphy, Signor Marconi. [Prolonged applause.] ADDRESS BY SIGNOR MARCONI. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House: I appre- ciate very highly the honor and the privilege of being allowed to say a word to you in this assembly. Up to two minutes ago I did not know that I would have the honor of being called upon to say a few words here, and I sincerely thank the Speaker for the privilege. I have had the pleasure of listening to the words spoken by the chief of oxrr Mission, His Royal Highness, the Prince of Udine, and there is very little that I could add to his ex- pressions or to his feelings, which are the feelings of the whole of Italy, which are feelings of friendship for this country and of appreciation for the great step which it has taken in joining us and our allies in Europe in this great war. [Applause.] There is one thing that I can add, however. It is that it was my privilege to live for many years in America [applause], and I think I know America and Americans fairly well. I flatter myself that I know them very well. No one more than myself rejoices in the fact that we in Italy have America with us. I have The Italian War Mission. 55 worked in America and America has always been, in a large way, in my plans, for without America my work could not have succeeded. I have learned to appreciate in America two things that I can express in two words — justice and fair play. [Ap- plause.] You are ready to back anything that you think may be of good to the world, and you are ready to encour- age any honest endeavor to advance science or the applica- tions of science; and although you are the greatest industrial nation in the world, although there is healthy com.petition — and it is only by that healthy competition there can be such progress — what you do here is always fair. I can say that with absolute conviction from the bottom of my heart. Mr. Speaker and gentlemen of the House, I thank you very much for the way in which you have received this Mission, for the way in which you have received the utter- ances of His Royal Highness, the President of our Mission, and for the way in which you have received the very few remarks I have been able to improvise. [Prolonged ap- plause and cheers.] The members of the Italian Mission then took their places at the right of the Speaker's rostrum and the Members of the House of Representatives were presented to them. The distinguished visitors were then escorted from the Hall of the House. (Cong. Record, pp. 3478, 3479. 3480.) THE RUSSIAN WAR MISSION 57 THE RUSSIAN WAR MISSION. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. Tuesday, June 26, 1917. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. Mr. Martin. Mr. President, in order that Senators may have an opportunity to be presented to the distinguished Russians who are now the guests of the Nation I move that the Senate take a recess for 30 minutes. The motion was agreed to. The Vice President. The Chair appoints Mr. Martin, Mr. Gallinger, Mr. Saulsbury, Mr. Brady, Mr. Stone, and Mr. Lodge as a committee to present our distinguished guests to the Senate. The Senate thereupon took a recess for 30 minutes. At 12 o'clock and 15 minutes p. m. the members of the Russian Mission to the Government of the United States were escorted by the committee appointed by the Vice President into the Senate Chamber, the members of the Mission being the Russian Extraordinary Ambassador Boris A. Bakhmetiejff; Lieut. Gen. Roop, representing the Russian General Staff; Captain of the Guard Dubassoff, aid-de-camp; Prof. Lomonossoff, member of the Council of Engineers, representative of the Ministry of Ways and Communications and head of the Railroad Mission; A. Nikolaieff, colonel of the General Staff, Military Attach^; M. Novitsky, representative of the Minister of Finance; Capt. Shutt, from the Ministry of War; M. Soukine, diplomatic representative; and Alexander Smirnoff, lieu- tenant, Russian Army, Russian Embassy. Maj. N. K, Averill, United States Army; Hon. Breck- inridge Long, Assistant Secretary of State; and Mr. Jef- 59 6o Visiting War Missions to the United States. ferson Caffery, United States Diplomatic Service, Depart- ment of State, aid to the Mission, accompanied the Mis- sion into the Senate Chamber. Ambassador Bakhmetieff was seated on the right of the Vice President and I^ieut. Gen. Roop upon liis left. ADDRESS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT. The Vice President. Senators, the kaleidoscope of cur- rent history is being turned so rapidly that to the normal eye the combinations of yesterday are forgotten, of to-day are uncertain, and of to-morrow are unknown. And yet as from time to time there are unfolded in this most sacred and historic spot portions of the panorama of the greatest tragedy that has been enacted since Calvary there stands out one clear-cut central figure, the figure of the dauntless and undaunted man who dares to draw his sword either to preserve or to obtain for himself and for his fellows the right of self-government, the heritage of life, of liberty, and of the pursuit of happiness. [Ap- plause.] It matters but little to us the feature and the form of that man, his lineage or his language, if he speak in the full and confident tones of a manhood, or in the lisping tongue of infantile, possession of those rights. But if we hear from his lips the golden rule of statecraft then he is our brother. [Applause.] He has a right to be, and he has a right to be here. We are honored this day by the representatives of a peo- ple who have been oiur long-time and unvarying friends. [Applause.] It is not possible for me to think in the terms of countries and continents and governments. My mind thinks only in the terms of men; and perhaps this is as it should be, for the Goddess of Liberty is not always a strong and virile woman. In the hours of peace she becomes pale and anemic, and it is oftentimes necessary to keep her alive by transfusing into her veins the blood of patriotic and self-sacrificing men, I can not think of France, of England, of Italy, of America; I think only of Viviani and Joffre, of Balfour The Russian War Mission. 6i and Haig, of Udine and Cadorni, of Wilson and Pershing. [Loud applause.] On this day as I look into the eyes, the storm-tossed eyes, of these our guests, I can not think of Russia as the land of Alexander and Nicholas. She seems to me to be only the home of Krapotkin and of Tolstoi. Travelers tell us that there is a point in Iceland where the rays of the setting and of the rising sun mingle. Already upon the far-flu^.g eastern battle line of Europe the rays of the setting sun of autocracy ha,ve mingled with the rays of the rising sun of democracy. [Applause.] May that sun grow in light and warmth, and may it be undimmed by the clouds of internal dissension. May democracy everywhere understand that its first duty is to make a democrat a free man everywhere on earth. [Applause.] Last week w^e went with little Belgium sadly to her Gethsemane; to-day let us go gladly, with mighty Russia, to her Mount of Transfiguration. [Applause.] I present to you the chairman of this commission, Mr. B. A. Bakhmetieff. ADDRESS BY AMBASSADOR BORIS BAKHMETIEFF. Ambassador Bakhmetieff. Mr. President and gentle- men of the Senate, at the outset permit me to express to you sincere thanks and keen appreciation for the warm reception you have so graciously given to the members of the Mission and to myself. Great is the honor you have bestowed by permitting me to address your distin- guished body, abrogating thus a custom which has been upheld for more than a centtuy, but still more gratifying is the expression of cordial sympathy and friendly feeling which have been so manifestly exhibited by your reception. From the moment of our arrival in this country we have been deeply affected by the extraordinary greeting accorded us and by the constant expression of hearty wel- come and sincere sympathy with which we have been hailed on all sides. 62 Visiting War Missions to the United States. That bonds of friendship and sympathy united the people of the two nations we knew before we departed from Russia. They were amply manifested during the early days of the revolution. The act of prompt recogni- tion of our new Government has been of incalculable value. For the brotherly encouragement which you gave us, and for the noble manner in which you so generously stretched forth a helping hand, we are here, in behalf of the new Russia, to express to you our deepest and most heartfelt gratitude. [Applause.] We have come here as well to make clear the spirit and meaning of the great events taking place in our country. A thorough understanding is indispensable to enable our Mission to accomplish the important task of establishing a close and effective cooperation between the two countries for common action and common cause. With the greatest hope do I look forward to the results of such cooperation so vital to our mutual desire to form a league of honor among free nations on the smoking ruins of autocratic militarism. At this moment all eyes are turned on Russia. Many hopes and many doubts are raised by the tide of events in the greatest of revolutions at an epoch in the world's greatest war. Justifiable is the attention, lawful the hopes, and naturally conceivable the anxiety. The fate of nations, the fate of the world is at stake, all dependent on the fate of Russia. Freedom and peace will be the blessings of the future if Russia happily emerges from the struggle a powerful democracy, sparkling with the gal- lantry of her army returning from fields won in common strife with her allies. [Great applause.] An unprecedented epoch of spiritual depression, a new period of strenuous and anxious military depression would follow, should Russia fail to accomplish her task of political regeneration or should she collapse for economi- cal reasons or the insufficiency of her arms. In all frank- ness and sincerity do I expose my cause, confident in your good will and paying tribute to the manifest feelings of sympathy, may I say affection? The Russian War Mission. 63 I am not going to conceal the gravity of the situation that confronts the Russian Provisional Government. The revolution called for the reconstruction of the very founda- tions of our national life. It is not easy to comprehend what it means to reorganize all of Russia on democratic lines. Such work involves the whole of our social, econ- omic, and political relations. The entire State structure is affected by the changes, involving village, district, county ; in fact, every part from the smallest to the central State. The creation anew of a country of boundless expanse on distinctly new principles will, of course, take time, and impatience should not be shown in the consum- mation of so grand an event as Russia's entry into the ranks of free nations. We should not forget that in this immense transforma- tion various interests will seek to assert themselves, and until the work of settlement is completed a struggle among opposing currents is inevitable and exaggerations can not be avoided. Attempts on the part of disorganiz- ing elements to take advantage of this moment of transition must be expected and met with calmness and confidence. [Applause.] In exposing to you a true picture of the situation I feel that it is my duty to present to you two considerations which make me feel that Russia has passed the stage of the world when the future appears vague and uncertain. In the first place, it is the firm conviction of the necessity of equality, which is widely developing and firmly estab- lishing itself throughout the country. In the eyes of the Russian people this principle of equality is based on the fertile democratic doctrine that governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed [prolonged applause], and hence that a strong government must be created by the will of the people. [Renewed applause.] Three days ago in the House of Representatives I stated that a strong majority of the Russian people had united around the coalition cabinet on a national program. I 64 Visiting War Missions to the United States. mentioned the confidence and powerful support which the Government is at present enjoying, and which from day to day gives it more strength and determination, not only to suppress acts of lawlessness on the part of disorganizing forces but also to carry out the constructive work of national reorganization. Since then my latest advices give joyful confirmation of the establishment of a firm power, strong in its democratic precepts and activity, strong in the trust reposed in it by the people in its ability to enforce law and order. [Pro- longed applause.] In the second place, and no less important, is the growing conviction that the issues of the revolution and the future of Russia's freedom are closely connected with the fighting might of the country. It is such power, it is the force of arms, which alone can defend and make certain the achievements of the revolution against autocratic aggres- sion. [Applause.] There has been a period, closely following the revolution, of almost total suspension of all military activity, a period of what appeared to be disintegration of the army, a period which gave rise to serious doubts and to gloomy forebod- ings. At the same time there ensued unlimited freedom of speech and of the press, which afforded opportunities for expression of the most extreme and antinational views, from all of which resulted widespread rumors throughout the world that Russia would abandon the war and conclude a separate peace with the central powers. With all emphasis and with the deepest conviction, may I reiterate the statement that such rumors were wholly without foundation in fact. [Great applause.] Rr.ssia rejects with indignation any idea of separate peace. [Prolonged applause.] What my country is striving for is the establishment of a firm and lasting peace between democratic nations. Russia is firmly convinced that a separate peace would mean the triumph of German autoc- racy, would render lasting peace impossible, create the greatest danger for democracy and liberty, and ever be a The Russian War Mission. 65 threatening menace to the new-bom freedom of Russia. [Applause.] These rumors were due to misapprehension of the signif- icance and eventful processes of reorganization which the army was to undergo as a result of the emancipation of the country. Like the nation, the army, an offspring of the people, had to be built on democratic lines. Such work takes time, and friction and partial disorganization must be overcome. To adapt new principles to a body so huge, so very mani- fold, and so self-dependent as is a modem army, is no sim- ple task. Patience is required to mold it in accordance with forms of democracy and personal liberty, preserving at the same time discipline so essential for success on the field of battle. One must also realize that the time has passed when the fates of nations can be decided by an irresponsible govern- ment or by a few individuals and that the people must shed their blood for issues to them unknown. We live in a democratic epoch where people who sacrifice their lives should fully realize the reason therefor and the principles for which they are fighting. [Applause.] Just as the Russian people had to undergo a process of reorganization and political revolution, so also did the Russian Army. It was necessary for it to live out illu- sions and deceptions and to rally about a program of historical necessity and national truth. The national program of the Government calls for effective organization and consolidation of the army's fighting power for offensive as well as defensive purposes. [Applause.] This has been the outcome of the crystalli- zation of the will of the people. That is the program as to warfare which has rallied around the Government, Russia's democracy, giving its leaders vigor and strength. Conscious of the enormous task, the Provisional Gov- ernment is taking measures promptly to restore through- out the country conditions of life so deeply disorganized 16720—8. Doc. 87, 65-1 5 66 Visiting War Missions to the United States. by the inefficiency of the previous rulers and to provide for whatever is necessary for military success. In this respect exceptional and grave conditions provide for exceptional means. In close touch with the panpeas- ant congress, the Government has taken control of stores of food supplies and is providing for effective transpor- tation and just distribution. Following the example of other countries at war, the Government has undertaken the regulation of the production of main products vital for the country and the army. The Government at the same time is making all endeavors to settle labor diffi- culties, taking measures for the welfare of workmen con- sistent with active production necessitated by the national welfare. As to the army, the process of crystallization of the national will is expressing itself in a growing sentiment of general and common appreciation of events and a thorough understanding of the situation. Peaceful in its intentions, striving for a lasting peace based on democratic principles and established by demo- cratic will, the Russian people and its army are rallying their forces around the banners of freedom, strengthening their ranks in cheerful self -consciousness; to die, but not to be slaves. [Great applause.] Russia wants the world to be safe for democracy. To make it safe means to have democracy rule the world. [Prolonged a,pplause.] The Vice President. The chairman and members of the Russian Mission will be delighted to have presented to them the Members of the Senate. The members of the Russian Mission took their places at the left of the Vice President's desk, and the Members of the Senate were presented them by the committee appointed by the Vice President. The distinguished visitors were escorted from the Cham- ber, and (at 12 o'clock and 45 minutes p. m.) the Senate reassembled upon the expiration of the recess. (Cong. Record, pp. 4665, 4666.) The Russian War Mission. 67 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- TIVES. Thursday, June 21, 1917. INVITATION. Mr. SiEGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Speaker be authorized to extend an invitation to the Russian Mission to visit the House upon Saturday next, and that the House take a recess at that time for 30 minutes. The Speaker. The gentleman from New York asks unanimous consent that the Speaker be authorized to invite the Russian Mission to visit the House on Satur- day next, and that the House stand in recess for 30 min- utes at that time. Is there objection ? There was no objection. (Cong. Record, p. 4315') Mr. Clark of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, I ask for a min- ute. It has nothing to do with this debate. The House this morning authorized the Speaker to make arrangements with the Commissioners from Russia as to what hour they would be here on Saturday. They came up to my room a while ago and called on me, and they agreed to be here at 12 o'clock. I make this an- nouncement so that everybody can know the time. (Cong. Record, p. 434a.) Saturday, June 23, 1917. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. The Speaker. The Chair appoints the following com- mittee to wait upon our Russian visitors and conduct them into the Hall. The Clerk read as follows : Messrs. Flood, Harrison of Mississippi, Stedraan, Sabath, Cooper of Wisconsin, Rogers, London, and Siegel. 68 Visiting War Missions to the United States. The Speaker. The House will stand in recess under its previous order for 30 minutes. Thereupon (at 11 o'clock and 56 minutes) the House stood in recess. At 12 o'clock and 4 minutes p. m. the Commissioners of the Russian Republic to the Government of the United States, Prof. Boris Bakhmetieff, Chief of the Mission; Lieut. Gen. Roop, representing the Russian General Staff; Prof. Lomonossoff, chief of the delegation to study rail- ways and communications; Prof. Borodine, representing the Ministry of Agriculture; Col. Oranovsky, representing the Ministry of War to study munitions and supplies ; Mr. Novitsky, chief of the financial section; Mr. Soukine, diplomatic secretary of the Mission; Capt. Dubassoff, aid- de-camp to Ambassador Bakhmetieff; and Capt. Shutt, escorted by Mr. Flood, Mr. Stedman, Mr. Harrison of Mississippi, Mr. Sabath, Mr. Cooper of Wisconsin, Mr. Rogers, Mr. London, and Mr. Siegel, accompanied by Mr. C. Onou, charge d'affaires of the Russian Embassy, and Mr. Breckenridge Long, Third Assistant Secretary of State, entered the Hall of the House. The distinguished visitors were escorted to the Speaker's rostrum amid prolonged applause and cheers. ADDRESSED BY THE SPEAKER. The Speaker. The peculiar circumstances under which the Russian Commission comes to us justify a few pre- liminary words. When our fathers proclaimed this Republic at Philadel- phia, July 4, 1776, there was only one other republic on earth — Switzerland — and the fathers were not certain that this one would live till Christmas. It was an even break whether it would or not. [Laughter and applause.] Now, thanks be to Almighty God, there are 27 republics in this world. [Applause.] In a large sense we made them, every one [applause] — not by conquering armies, not by the mailed hand, but by the wholesomeness of our The Russian War Amission. 69 example [applause]; by teaching all creation the gloiious fact that men can govern themselves, [Applause.] Until then the theory was that political power descended from on high and lighted upon a few tall heads and a little of it trickled down upon men below. We reversed all that and made it begin at the bottom and go up like the sap in the trees in the springtime, and it will go up forever. [Ap- plause.] Of these 27 republics Russia is the newest and the big- gest. [Applause.] It dazzles the imagination to think what she may be under free institutions, possessing as she does 180,000,000 of people and one-sixth of the land on the globe. The Russian revolution is the most momentous political movement since the French Revolution, I present to you the first Russian Ambassador to the United States of America from the Republic of Russia. [Applause.] ADDRESSED BY PROF. BORIS BAKHMETlEFF. Prof. Boris Bakhmetieff. Mr. Speaker and gentlemen of the House [applause], I am deeply conscious how great an honor has been conferred on me and the members of my Mission by this gracious reception, I understand how unusual it is for this House to accord to foreigners the privilege of the floor. I realize that if you were moved to make such an exception it was due to the great and most extraordinary historic events which have been and are now taking place in the world. Great indeed is the honor and the privilege to speak here, in this House, exemplifying as it does the Constitu- tion of the United States — that wonderful document which embodies so clearly and yet so tersely the principles of free government and democracy. [Applause.] Gentlemen of the House, when addressing you on behalf of the Government and the people of new Russia, when conveying to you the greetings of the new-bom Russian 70 Visiting War Missions to the United States. democracy, you will conceive how impressed I am by the historical significance of this moment; you will understand why my emotions do overwhelm me. During the last few months Russia has really lived through events of world-wide importance. With a single impulse the nation has thrown down the old fetters of slavery. Free, she is entering now the dawn of new life, joining the ranks of democracy, striving for the happiness and the freedom of the world. [Applause.] Does not one feel occasionally that the very greatness and significance of events are not fully appreciated, due to the facility and spontaneity with which the great change has been completed ? Does not one always realize and conceive what it really means to humanity that a nation of 180,000,000, a country boundless in expanse, has been suddenly set free from the worst of oppression, has been given the joy and happiness of a free, self-conscious existence ? [Applause.] With what emotions are we inspired who have come to you as messengers of these great events, as bearers of the new principles proclaimed by the Russian revolution. May I be permitted to reiterate the expression of the feelings that stir our hearts and, impressed as I am by the might and grandeur of the wonderful events, welcome and g^eet you on behalf of free Russia? [Applause.] Here at the very cradle of representative government I feel it proper to recall the very moments of birth of con- stitutional life in Russia which presented itself some 12 years ago at the time of the first Russian revolution. It was then that the Duma came into being. From the very inception of this assembly the old authority endeav- ored to curtail the powers that had been conferred on it. Its sole existence was an uninterrupted struggle; but in spite thereof, notwithstanding the limitations and nar- rowness of election laws, the Duma was bound to play a most important part in the national life of Russia. It was the very fact of the being of a representative body which proved to be so fruitful and powerful. The Russian War Mission. 7 1 It was that mysterious force of representations, force which draws everything into the whirlpool of legislative power, force the existence of which your American framers of the Constitution so deeply recognized and understood. It was that force which led the Duma, however limited, to express the feelings of Russia and frame her hopes dur- ing the world's great crisis, and made the Duma ulti- mately the center and the hope of national life. It was the Duma who at the epoch when the old author- ity by vicious and inefficient management had disorgan- ized the supplies of the country and brought the military operations to unprecedented reverse; it was the Duma who with energy and devotion called the people to organ- ize national defense and appealed to the vital forces of the country to meet the German attack and save the nation from definite subjugation. Again, when it appeared that the shortsighted Government, who never took advantage of the patriotic enthusiam and national sacrifice, was not only incapable of leading the war to a successful end, but would inevitably bring Russia to military collapse and economic and social ruin, it was the Duma again who at that terrible hour proclaimed the nation in danger [ap- plause]; it was at the feet of the Duma that the soldiers of the revolution deposited their banners and, giving alle- giance, brought the revolution to a successful issue. It was then that from the ruins of the old regime emerged a new order embodied in the provisional government, a youthful offspring of the old Duma procreated by the forces of the revolution. [Applause.] Instead of the old forms there are now being firmly estab- lished and deeply embedded in the minds of the nation principles that power is reposed and springs from and only from the people. [Applause.] To effectuate these prin- ciples and to enact appropriate fundamental laws — that is going to be the main function of the constitutional assem- bly which is to be convoked as promptly as possible. This assembly, elected on a democratic basis, is to repre- sent the will and constructive power of the nation. It will 72 Visiting War Missions to the United States. inaugurate the forms of future political existence as well as establish the fundamental basis of economic structure of future Russia. Eventually all main questions of na- tional being will be brought before and will be decided by the constitutional assembly — constitution, civil and crimi- nal law, administration, nationalities, religion, reorganiza- tion of finance, land problem, conditionment of labor, an- nihilation of all restrictive legislation, encouragement of intense and fruitful development of the country. These are the tasks of the assembly, the aspirations and hopes of the nation. Gentlemen of the House, do not you really feel that the assembly is expected to bring into life once more the grand principle which your illustrious President so aptly ex- pressed in sublime words " government by consent of the governed ' ' ? [Applause . ] It is the provisional government that is governing Rus- sia at present. It is the task of the provisional gov- ernment to conduct Russia safely to the constitutional assembly. Guided by democratic precepts, the provisional govern- ment meanwhile is reorganizing the country on the basis of freedom, equality, and self-government; is rebuilding its economic and financial structure. The outstanding feature of the present government is its recognition as fundamental and all important of the prin- ciples of legality. It is manifestly understood in Russia that the law, having its origin in the people's will, is the substance of the very existence of state. [Applause.] Reposing confidence in such rule, the Russian people are rendering to the new authorities their support. The peo- ple are realizing more and more that to the very sake of fm-ther freedom law must be maintained and manifesta- tion of anarchy suppressed. In this respect local life has exemplified wonderful exertion of spontaneous public, spirit which has con- tributed to the most effective process of self-organization of the nation. On many occasions, following the removal The Russian War Mission. 73 of the old authorities, a newly elected administration has naturally arisen, conscious of national interest and often developing in its spontaneity amazing examples of prac- tical statesmanship. It is these conditions which provide that the Provi- sional Government is gaining every day importance and power — is gaining capacity to check elements of disorder arising either from attempts of reaction or extremism. At the present time the Provisional Government has started to make most decisive measures in that respect, employing force when necessary, although always striving for a peaceful solution. The last resolutions which have been framed by the Council of Workingmen, the Congress of Peasants, and other democratic organizations render the best proof of the general understanding of the necessity of creating strong power. The coalitionary character of the new cabinet, which includes eminent socialist leaders and represents all the vital elements of the nation, therefore enjoying its full support, is most effectively securing the unity and power of the Central Government, the lack of which was so keenly felt during the first two months after the revolution. Realizing the grandeur and complexity of the present events and conscious of the danger which is threatening the very achievements of the revolution, the Russian people are gathering around the new Government, united on a "national program." [Applause.] It is this program of "national salvation" which has united the middle classes as well as the populists, the labor elements, and socialists. Deep political wisdom has been exhibited by subordinating various class interests and differences to national welfare. In this way this Govern- ment is supported by an immense majority of the nation, and, outside of reactionaries only, is being opposed by comparatively small groups of extremists and interna- tionalists. 74 Visiting War Missions to the United States. As to foreign policy, Russia's national program has been clearly set forth in the statement of the Provisional Government of March 27 and more explicitly in the dec- laration of the new Government of May 18. With all emphasis may I state that Russia rejects any idea of a separate peace? [Applause.] I am aware that rumors were circulated in this country that a separate peace seemed probable. I am happy to affirm that such rumors were wholly without foundation in fact. [Applause.] What Russia is aiming for is the establishment of a firm and lasting peace between democratic nations. [Applause.] The triumph of German autocracy would render such peace impossible. [Applause.] It would be the source of the greatest misery, and, besides that, be a threatening menace to Russia's freedom. The Provisional Government is laying all endeavor to reorganize and fortify the army for action in common with its allies. [Applause.] Gentlemen of the House, I will close my address by saying Russia will not fail to be a worthy partner in the "league of honor." [Applause.] The members of the Russian Commission then took their places at the right of the Speaker's rostrum, and the Members of the House were presented to them. The distinguished visitors were then escorted from the Hall of the House. (Cong. Record, pp. 4478, 4479') THE BELGIAN WAR MISSION 75 THE BELGIAN WAR MISSION. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. Friday, June 22, 1917. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. Mr. Martin. Mr. President, in order that Senators may have an opportunity to be presented to the distinguished representatives of Belgium who are now in the city as the guests of the Nation, I move that the Senate take a recess for 30 minutes. The motion was agreed to. The Vice President. The Chair appoints Mr. Martin, Mr. GaUinger, Mr. Hitchcock, Mr. Saulsbury, Mr. Pom- erene, Mr. Smith of Michigan, Mr. McCumber, and Mr. Borah as a committee to introduce our distinguished guests to the Senate. The Senate thereupon took a recess for 30 minutes. At 12 o'clock and 15 minutes p. m. the members of the Belgian Mission to the Government of the United States were escorted by the committee appointed by the Vice President into the Senate Chamber, the members of the Mission being Baron Moncheur, chief of the political bureau of the Belgian Foreign Office at Havre; Gen. Leclercq, cavalry officer of the Second Regiment of Guides, and at one time commander of the First Division of Cavalry; M. Hector Carlier, counselor of the Mission; Maj. Osterrieth, an officer of the First Regiment of Guides; Count Louis d'Ursel; and Mr. Jean Mertens, secretary of the Mission. 77 78 Visiting War Missions to the United States. Monsieur E. de Cartier de Marchienne, the Belgian Minister; Hon. Breckinridge Long, Assistant Secretary of State; Mr. Hugh Gibson, of the State Department; and Capt. T. C. Cook, United States Army, accompanied the Mission into the Senate Chamber. Baron Moncheur was seated on the right of the Vice President and Minister Marchienne upon his left. ADDRESS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT. The Vice President. Senators, since that far off, un- recorded hour when om- ancestors began their slow west- ward movement, unnumbered and unremembered thou- sands have died upon the field of battle for love, for hate, for liberty, for conquest, as freemen or as slaves. Every note in the gamut of human passion has been written in the anvil chorus of war. Many have struck the redeeming blow for their own country, but few have unsheathed their swords without the hope of self-aggrandizement. It re- mained for little Belgium to write a new page in the blood of her martyred sons and daughters in the annals of diplomacy [applause], to inscribe thereon that the dishonor of a people is the aggregate of the selfishness of its citizens; that the honor of a people is the aggregate of the self- sacrifice of its citizens; that treaties are made to be kept, not broken; that a people may dare to walk through " the valley of the shadow of death " touching elbows with their convictions, but that they dare not climb to the mountain tops of safety if thereby they walk over the dead bodies of their high ideals [applause]; that a people may safely die if thereby they can compel an unwilling world to toss upon their new-made graves the white lily of a blameless life. Here, Senators, ends all I know, and here begins what I believe: Belgium shall arise. [Prolonged applause,] The long night of her weeping shall end ; the morning of a day of joy shall break over her desolated homes, her devastated fields, and her profaned altars. When it breaks, humanity will learn that when mankind gambles The Belgian War Mission. 79 with truth and honor and humanity the dice of the gods are always loaded. [Applause.] To me, in all profane history, there is no sadder, sweeter, sublimer character than Sidney Carton. Dreamer of dreams, he walked his lonely, only way. In all the history of nations there is no sadder, sweeter, sublimer story than the story of Belgium. [Applause.] Doer of deeds, she, too, has walked her lonely, only way — the via doloroso that leads to duty, death, and glory. [Great applause.] Out of the depths and across the deeps the representatives of the remnant of her people and the guardians of her honor have come to us tliis day. I present to you the chairman of that Mission, Baron Moncheur. [Applause.] ADDRSS BY BARON MONCHEUR. Baron Moncheur. Mr. President and gentlemen of the Senate, when some years ago I had the honor of repre- senting the Government of my King in the United States, I often came to the Senate, where I listened with deep interest to the debates of your distinguished body. In those times I never thought that some day it would be my privilege to speak from this historic tribune. When the Vice President was kind enough to ask me to address the Senate, I admit that at first I hesitated to accept his gracious invitation. How should I dare to speak in this Chamber, which has resounded to the eloquence and wisdom of so many dis- tinguished statesmen whose utterances from this tribune have changed the history of the world ? How should I venture to address this body to which the distinction, the talent, and the wisdom of its Members have given a unique place among the legislative assemblies of the world ? If, gentlemen, I have finally succeeded in overcoming this natural hesitation, it is only because of my great desire to express, as well as my words will permit, the gratitude and admiration which the whole Belgian nation 8o Visiting War Missions to the United States. feels^ toward the American people and toward their Gov- ernment. You all know the unspeakable evils which have be- fallen my unfortimate country — the unprovoked invasion accompanied by a deHberate system of terror, the burn- ing of many of our thriving cities and of innumerable villages, the massacre of thousands of our peaceful citi- zens, the pillage and devastation of our country. Then followed the iron hand of foreign domination, enormous war contributions exacted from all the nine Provinces of Belgium, ruinous requisitions of all sorts from our people, the seizure of the raw material of in- dustry, and even the theft of our machinery, which was sent into the country of our enemy for his own use, so that now the silence of death reigns in our industrial centers which before had been the most active in Europe. You also know, gentlemen, the way in which this regime of oppression has been carried out — 80,000 Bel- gians condemned, in the space of one year, to various penalties for having displeased the invader; as, for example, the noble burgomaster of Brussels, who has been in imprisonment for the past two .years for trying to up- hold the principle of civic liberty which for centuries has been so dear to all Belgians. You have learned also of the deportation of our work- men into Germany — a crime the horrors of which, accord- ing to the opinion of one of your countrymen, should cause more indignation throughout the entire world than all the previous outrages against the sacred principles of justice and of humanity. But Belgium, even in the midst of the terrible mis- fortunes which have been brought upon her by her fidelity to treaties and by respect for her plighted word, does not regret her decision, and there is not a single Belgian worthy of the name who does not now, as on the first day of war, approve the judgment of our Govern- ment that it is better to die, if need be, rather than to live without honor. [Prolonged applause.] Like Patrick The Belgian War Mission. 8 1 Henry, all Belgians say, "Give me liberty or give me death. " [Applause.] This sentiment will be shared by all the citizens of the great American Nation, who responded with such en- thusiasm and with such unanimity to the noble words of your President when, in terms which held the world spellbound, he proclaimed the imprescriptible right of justice over force. The courage of my fellow countrymen has been strength- ened also by the sympathy for our misfortunes which has been manifested throughout your great land. American initiative has bestowed most generous help upon our starving population, and, in offering from this tribune the expression of gratitude of every Belgian heart, I wish also to render special homage to that admirable organization, the commission for relief in Belgium, which has done so much to save our people from starvation. [Applause.] Yes, gentlemen, the sympathy of America gives us new courage; and while King Albert [applause], who since the fateful day when our territory was violated, has remained steadfastly at the front, continues the struggle with in- domitable energy at the head of our army intrenched upon the last strip of our soil that remains to us, while the Queen [applause], that worthy companion of a great sov- ereign, expends her unceasing efforts to comfort and re- lieve the victims of battle, exciting enthusiasm by her contempt for the danger to which she exposes herself day by day, on the other side of the enemy's line of steel stand the Belgian people, bowed beneath the yoke but never conquered, maintaining their unshaken patriotism in spite of the seductions of the enemy as well as in spite of his iron rule, the Belgian population, a martyr whose courage is upheld by our great Cardinal Mercier, awaits silently in the sacred union of all parties the final hour of deliverance. [Great applause.] That hour, gentlemen, will, I am convinced, be materi- ally hastened by the powerful aid of the United States, and the time approaches when Belgium, restored to full 16720— S. Deo. 87, 6&-1 6 82 Visiting War Missions to the United States. and complete independence, both politically and econom- ically, will be able to thank in a fitting manner all those who have aided her to emerge from the darkness of the tomb into the glorious light of a new life. [Prolonged applause.] The Vice President. Baron Moncheur and the mem- bers of the Mission will take pleasure in meeting the Senators and their guests. The members of the Belgian Mission took their places at the left of the Vice President's desk, and the Members of the Senate were presented to them by the committee appointed by the Vice President. The distinguished visitors were escorted from the Chamber; and at 12 o'clock and 45 minutes p. m., upon the expiration of the recess, the Senate reassembled. (Cong. Record, pp. 4370, 4371) PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- TIVES. Saturday, June 23, 1917. INVITATION. Mr. SiEGEi/. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Speaker be authorized to invite the Belgian Mission to visit the House on Wednesday next, at such time as is convenient to them, and that at that time the House take a recess for one-half hour. The Speaker. The gentleman from New York [Mr. Siegel] asks unanimous consent that the Speaker be authorized to invite the Belgian Commission to be with us next Wednesday, at such hour as they may select, and that at that time the House take a recess for 30 minutes. Is there objection? There was no objection. (ConK. Record, p. 4533.) The Belgian War Mission. 83 Tuesday, June 26, 1917. SPECIAIv BELGIAN MISSION. The Speaker. Under the order of the House the Chair communicated with the Belgian Commissioners, and they have set i o'clock to-morrow as their time to be here. The Chair will ask that the letter of Baron Moncheur, the chief of the special Belgian Mission, be inserted in the Record. The letter is as follows : 21 18 Massachusetts Avenue. The Honorable Champ Clark, Speaker House of Representatives. Dear Sir : I thank you for your very kind invitation, and it will give me and the other members of the Belgian Mission much pleasure to come to the House on Wednesday, June 27, at i o'clock. Most respectfully, Bn. Moncheur, Chief of the Special Belgian Mission. (Cong. Record, p. 4670.) Wednesday, June 27, 1917. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. The Speaker. Under the previous order, the House will stand in recess for 30 minutes. Accordingly (at i o'clock p. m.) the House took a recess until I o'clock and 30 minutes p. m. At I o'clock and 4 minutes p. m. the Sergeant at Arms announced the Belgian Mission, and the members of the Mission, Baron Ludovic Moncheur, Mr. de Cartier, Gen. Leclercq, Maj. Osterreith, and Count d'Ursell, accompa- nied by Mr. Warren Robbins, secretary of embassy , attached 84 Visiting War Missions to the United States. by the Department of State as aid to the Mission, and Capt. Cook, military aid, entered the Hall of the House. The distinguished visitors were escorted to the Speaker's rostrum, amid prolonged applause and cheers. ADDRESS BY THE SPEAKER. The Speaker. Gentlemen of the House of Representa- tives, from time out of mind Belgium has been known as the cockpit of Europe. [Applause.] There have been more great battles fought in Belgium than on the same acreage of land anywhere else in the civilized world. Those of you who remember when you were wrestling with Latin in the days of your youth recall that Caesar, in the opening words of his Commentaries, said that among the Gallic tribes the Belgians were the bravest. [Ap- plause.] Most assuredly he was a good judge of fighting men. Within the last three years the present generation of Belgians have demonstrated beyond all controversy that they are worthy of the high encomium pronounced on their ancestors by the great Roman Imperator. [Ap- plause.] I now present to you Baron Moncheur, the head of the Belgian mission to this country. [Applause.] ADDRESS BY BARON MONCHEUR. Baron Moncheur. Mr. Speaker and gentlemen of the House of Representatives, I am deeply grateful for this cordial reception by your distinguished assembly. Your sympathy and friendship will warm the hearts of all my countrymen and will give them renewed confidence for the future. We know that in the great conflict before us we have the powerful aid of the American Nation. During my long residence in the United States some years ago I watched with interest and admiration the eco- nomic development of your country, which had been fa- vored by the advantages of many yeais of peace. During that period my own country learned from you many lessons in regard to industry and commerce and by The Belgian War Mission. 85 following your example had become, although small in size and population, one of the foremost nations of the earth in the realms of commerce and industry. But if years ago I admired your country in the fullness of prosperity and wondered at your industrial genius and the marvelous activity of your citizens it is with even greater admiration that I now see your entire Nation rise as one man to answer the voice of your President calling upon you to put forth all your efforts and devotion for the defense of freedom and the rights of mankind. [Ap- plause.] All the sons of America, without distinction of race or of party, have rallied to your flag. They think only of their duty to their country. They are ever ready to sacrifice their private and personal interests, and leav- ing behind them their dear ones, who will be plunged into grief and tears on account of their absence, they rally to the Star-Spangled Banner, which for the first time in your history has crossed the ocean to float over the battle fields of the Old World. [Applause.] As in the Middle Ages, the knights were accustomed to hold a vigil, watching their armor in the chapel, so you to-day are making that same holy and prayerful prepa- ration for the battle to come. Everywhere you are car- rying on work which day b}'^ day brings nearer the mo- ment of supreme victory. [Applause.] While the flower of American youth is preparing itself in your splendid training camps, your shipyards, your factories, and your munition plants resound with the hum of feverish work providing your soldiers with the implements of war. American aviation, that marvelous product of the New World, is making ready to lend its powerful aid, also to support our armies. Is it not natural, indeed, that the American eagle should from the skies strike the death- blow to the enemy ? [Applause.] After your great stroke for liberty in 1776 you formed a society which you called the Order of the Cincinnati, to indicate that when war was finished you knew how to beat your swords into plowshares; and now, when war 86 Visiting War Missions to the United States. has been forced upon you, you have given proof that you know equally well how to turn your plowshares into swords. [Applause.] Some 20 years ago Prince Albert of Belgium, heir to a throne which seemed to be safely sheltered from the blast of war, came to America, where he studied with the deepest interest your marvelous country and the wonderful works of industry and com- merce which you had developed in the quietude of peace; and now how can I express the sentiments which fill his heroic soul when, fighting at the head of his troops in the last trench on Belgian soil, he sees the sons of thait same industrious America land upon the coast of Europe, brave champions of the most noble principles and ready to lay down their lives in defense of right and justice. [Applause.] On a certain occasion a mighty sovereign declared "the Pyrenees exist no more," and to-day we can say with even more truth "There is no longer any ocean" — for endless friendship cemented by gratitude and joint effort and triumph in the cause of justice and liberty will forever obliterate the barrier of the seas and unite the children of old Belgium to the sons of the young and powerful Republic of the New World. [Applause.] The members of the Mission then took their places at the right of the Speaker's rostrum, and the Members of the House were presented to them. The distinguished visitors were then escorted from the Hall of the House. (Cong. Record, pp. 4764. 4765.) THE JAPANESE WAR MISSION 87 THE JAPANESE WAR MISSION. PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. Thursday, August 30, 1917. PRELIMINARY RROCEEDINGS. Mr. Martin. Mr. President, we all know that we have in the city as the guests of the Nation a number of distin- guished statesmen representing the Government and people of Japan. I am sure it wili be a pleasure to all the Members of the Senate to have an opportunity to be pre- sented to the distinguished visitors, and for that purpose I move that the Senate now take a recess for 30 minutes. The President pro tempore. In anticipation of the adoption of that motion the Chair will appoint the Senator from Virginia [Mr. Martin], the Senator from ?;Iassachu- setts [Mr. Lodge], the Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Overman], the Senator from Utah [Mr. Smoot], and the Senator from Nebraska [Mr. Hitchcock] to meet the dis- tinguished guests and escort them into the Chamber. The Chair will request that at i o'clock, when the Senate recon- venes, the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Robinson] will take the chair. The question now is on the motion of the Senator from Virginia that the Senate take a recess for 30 minutes. The motion was agreed to. At 12 o'clock and 35 minutes the members of the Japanese Mission, escorted by the committee appointed by the President pro tempore and headed by the Sergeant at Arms, appeared at the main door of the Chamber and were announced to the Senate by the Sergeant at Arms. The members of the Mission were Viscount Ishii, Ambas- sador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary; Vice Admiral Takeshita, Imperial Japanese Navy; Maj. Gen. Sugano, 90 Visiting War Missions to the United States. Imperial Japanese Army; Mr. Masanao Haiiihara, consul general at San Francisco; Mr. Matsuzo Nagai, Secretary of the Foreign Office; Commander Ando, Imperial Jap- anese Navy; Lieut. Col. Tanikawa, Imperial Japanese Army; Mr. Tadanao Imai, vice consul; and Mr. Owaku. Mr. Aimari Sato, Ambassador from Japan to the Gov- ernm-ent of the United States; Mr. Tokichi Tanaka, counselor of the embassy; Capt. Nomura, naval attach^; and Lieut. Col. Mizumachi, military attache, accompa- nied the Mission into the Senate Chamber, together with with Mr. Breckinridge Long, Assistant Secretary of State; Brig. Gen. James A. Irons, United States Army; Capt. C. C. March, United States Navy; Mr. Ransford S. Mil- ler, American consul general; and Mr. A. B. Ruddock, of the State Department, personally attached to Viscount Ishii. Viscount Ishii was seated on the right of the President pro tempore and Ambassador Sato upon his left. ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE. The President pro tempore (Mr. Saulsbury) said: Senators, we are highly honored to-day by the pres- ence of these distinguished guests, who come to us rep- resenting the most ancient and powerful Empire of the world. We have met here before and welcomed the dis- tinguished miissions from other great nations. Heroic Belgium, historic Italy, great Russia, beloved France, and dem^ocratic Britain have sent to us of their best, but to none have we extended a more cordial welcome than to-day we give to the representatives of great Nippon, that beautiful land of ancient tradition and passionate patri- otism. [Applause.] A mighty nation is the ancient Empire of Japan. Its youth renewed, it joins our great young nation in pledg- ing anew a continuance of our old friendships, which the trouble maker of the earth has tried so hard to interrupt. We now know how industriously insidious attempts have been made by the Prussian masters of the German people The Japanese War Mission. 91 to bring about distrust and hatred in the world. We know what evil attempts they have made to breed hatred and distrust of us among our friends, and we welcome this opportunity to heartily congratulate our old friends who honor us to-day that by the capture of Tsing Tau and the German islands of the Pacific Japan has com- pletely removed from the Far Eastern world the only threat, as we believe, to peace and prosperity, the only threat to lasting peace in eastern Asia. [Applause.] Within the memory of living man Prussians have provoked four wars for conquest and in three succeeded. Their fourth attempt has roused the world to unified, concerted action. The yellow peril was made in Germany, and Shangtung was seized; the Slav peril was made in Germany, and Serbia was overwhelmed and Russia was invaded; but the thick-witted, smug, self -centered supermen of Germany entering their last attempt at conquest have roused a real peril — a real peril to themselves — and the free nations that believe in international honor, in the binding force of treaties, and in the pledged word, are grimly, though so sorrowfully, engaged in creating, perfecting, and bringing to successful issue an alliance for the benefit of all earth's people, which will protect the rights of nations, small and great, and enable them to lead their lives in peace, and lead them unafraid. This alliance we and the other free nations of the earth are creating to control the disturbers of the peace of the world, and it is now succeeding. The alliance we create is based on the brotherhood of man, the equal rights of men and nations. It is based on the universal kindly instincts of the human heart, no matter whether that heart beats in an eastern or a western breast, no matter where free men live, in America or Asia, in South Africa, in Europe, or in South America. The alliance we create is directed against and threatens only wrong, inhumanity, and injustice. It threatens only rapacity, greed, hypocrisy, and nationalized brutality. It threatens only military 92 Visiting War Missions to the United States. autocracy and the violators of treaties who disregard the pledged honor of nations. Our alliance is indeed a peril, but only to the new pirates of the seas, to the assassins of the air; to those who violate international decency and fair dealing, who misuse the forces of developed science and distort the teachings of philosophy, who would destroy civilization itself in the effort to accomplish world domination. This peril our alliance has created is the peril to the central European pov/ers, but it bears no color label. It is and will be in the future the common glory of all true men of all free nations everywhere to have joined in its creation and success. It is an Anglo-French-Slav-Italian- Japanese-American peril to the misdemeanant of the world. [Applause.] Allies in East and West are joined together to bring back lasting peace to a disordered and war-sick world. Let us renew our time-honored friend- ship with clasped hands and good wishes for the peaceful, friendly development of both our Nations and assure poor, stricken Europe that this western Republic and eastern Empire, together in friendly accord, will work for the good of all humanity. [Applause.] This Congress has pledged all the resources of om* great country to our common cause, the curbing of international rapacity and hate and barbarism. Senators, I have never believed there was more than a jingling rhyme in the phrase that East is East and West is West and never the two shall meet, and we are happy to-day, while honoring our distinguished guests, to demonstrate to the world that there is no East and there is no West when strong men come together as friends, though they come from the ends of the earth, determined in friendly alliance to work out right and justice for themselves and all earth's peoples. [Applause.] lyet us never permit hereafter that evil tongues or wicked propaganda shall cause even the simplest minded among our people to forget the ancient friendship of our Nations or weaken the ties of mutual respect and regard in which we hold each other. This meeting to-day sym- The Japanese War Mission. 93 bolizes complete international fraternity which common consciousness of international honor has brought about. Let it be eternal ! I have the honor of presenting to the Senators of the United States the most distinguished of our visitors, his excellency Viscount Ishii, chief of the Mission from Imperial Japan. [Great applause.] address by viscount ishii. Mr. President and Gentlemen op the Senate of THE United States: No words at my command can give adequate expression to the profound appreciation I have of this honor you confer upon us. We know full well the exalted dignity and the proud traditions of this illustrious branch of the great Legislature of the United States; and in the name of my country, my mission, and myself, I thank you most sincerely. To accept your courteous invitation and to occupy even the smallest fraction of the time allowed for the momentous delibera- tions of this august body is a great responsibility — a responsibility I do not underestimate, but from which I may not shrink. I shall not, however, abuse this rare privilege by attempting to address at length, in a language of which I have but little command, trained leaders of thought and masters of argument and oratory. But I grasp this occasion to say to you that the whole people of Japan heartily welcome and profoundly appreciate the entrance of this mighty Nation of yours into the struggle against the insane despoiler of our civilization. [Applause.] We all know that you did not undertake this solemn task on the impulse of the moment, but that you threw your mighty weight into the struggle only after exercising a most admirable patience, with a firm determination that this world shall be made free from the threat of aggression from the black shadow of a military despotism wielded by a nation taught with the mother's milk that human 94 Visiting War Missions to the United States. right must yield to brutal might. [Applause.] To us the fact that you are now on the side of the allies in this titanic struggle constitutes already a great moral victory for our common cause, which we believe to be the cause of right and justice, for the strong as for the weak, for the great as for the small. We of Japan believe we understand something of the American ideal of life, and we pay our most profoimd respects to it. Jefferson, your great democratic Presi- dent, conceived the ideal of an American Commonwealth to be not a rule imposed on the people by force of arms but as a free expression of the individual sentiments of that people. Jefferson saw Americans not as a set of people huddled together under the muzzles of machine guns, but he saw them as a myriad of independent and free men, as individuals only relying on a combined military force for protection against aggression from abroad or treachery from within. He saw a commimity of people guided by a community of good thought and pure patriotism, using their own special talents in their own special way under their own sacred roof trees; not a machine-made Nation, but a living, growing organism, animated by one passion — the passion of liberty. [Ap- plause.] I asstue you, gentlemen, that the Japanese ideal of national life is, in its final analysis, not so very far removed from yours. We conceive of otw nation as a vast family, held together not by the arbitrary force of armed men but by the force of a natural development. We shall call the common force that animates us a passion of loyalty to our Emperor and to our homes, as we shall call that of Americans a passion for liberty and of loyalty to their flag. [Applause.] Blind loyalty without rational consciousness of the responsibility of self is but another name for slavery, while a right of liberty ill conceived, ignoring the mutual human affection and respect for the rights of every man, The Japanese War Mission. 95 which forms the essence of true loyalty, must be tanta- mount to anarchy. These two passions — passion of loyalty and passion for liberty — are they not really one? Is not the same control working in both cases — the intense desire to be true to our innermost selves and to the highest and best that has been revealed to us ? You must be free to be Americans, and we must be free to be Japanese. But our common enemy is not content with this freedom for the nation or for the individual ; he must force all the world to be German, too! You had hoped against hope that this was not so ; but that noble hope fled and your admirable patience was exhausted. You did not then hesitate to face the issue and the foe, as you are facing it, with that great American spirit which has loved and still loves liberty, which loves the right more than peace and honor, more than life. [Applause.] We of Japan took up arms against Germany because a solemn treaty was not to us " a scrap of paper." [Great applause.] We did not enter into this war because we had any selfish interest to promote or any ill-conceived ambition to gratify. We are in the war, we insist on being in it, and we shall stay in it, because earnestly, as a nation and as individuals, we believe in the righteousness of the cause for which we stand; because we believe that only by a complete victory for that cause can there be made a righteous, honorable, and permanent peace, so that this world may be made safe for all men to live in and so that all nations may work out their destinies untrammeled by fear. [Applause.] Mr. President and gentlemen, whatever the critic half informed or the hired slanderer may say against us, in forming your judgment of Japan we ask you only to use those splendid abilities that guide this great Nation, The criminal plotter against our good neighborhood takes advantage of the fact that at this time of the world's crisis many things must of necessity remain untold and unrecorded in the daily newspapers; but we are satisfied 96 Visiting War Missions to the United States. that we are doing our best. In this tremendous work, as we move together shoulder to shoulder, to a certain victory, America and Japan must have many things in which the one can help the other. We have much in common and much to do in concert. That is the reason I have been sent, and that is the reason you have received me here to-day. I have an earnest and abiding faith that this association of ours, this proving of ourselves in the highest, most sacred, and most trying of human activities — the armed vindication of right and justice — must bring us to a still closer concord and a deeper confidence one in the other, sealing for all time the bonds of cordial friendship between our two nations. Again I thank you. [Great applause,] The President pro tempore. The Special Ambassador from Japan and the Japanese Ambassador to Washington will be glad to receive the Senators and their guests upon the floor as they desire to be presented. The members of the Japanese Mission took their places at the left of the Vice President's desk, and the Members of the Senate were presented to them by the committee appointed by the President pro tempore. The distinguished visitors were escorted from the Chamber, and (at i o'clock p. m.) the Senate reassembled upon the expiration of the recess. Mr. Smoot. I ask unanimous consent that the address delivered in the Senate Chamber to-day by the President pro tempore of the Senate [Mr. Saulsbury] and by Viscount Ishii, Special Ambassador from Japan, be printed in the Record of to-day's proceedings. The Presiding Officer (Mr. Robinson in the chair). Is there objection? The Chair hears none, and it is so ordered. ♦ (Cong. Record, pp. 7044. 7o4S-) The Japanese War Mission. 97 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- TIVES. Saturday, September 1, 1917. INVITATION. Mr, FivOOD. Mr. Speaker The Speaker. For what purpose does the gentleman from Virginia arise ? Mr. Flood. I ask unanimous consent of the House that the Speaker be requested to invite the Japanese Mission, now in this country, to visit the House at 12.30 p. m. next Wednesday, and that, if these gentlemen honor us with that visit, the House take a recess of 30 minutes at the time they come. The Speaker. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Virginia? [After a pause.] The Chair hears none. (Cong. Record, p. 71 18.) Wednesday, September 5, 1917, PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. The Speaker. The Chair announces the following com- mittee to wait on the Japanese Commissioners and conduct them into the Hall: Mr. Flood, Mr. Linthicum, Mr. Good- win of Arkansas, Mr. Stedman, Mr. Cooper of Wisconsin, Mr. Temple, and Mr. Foss. Under the order of the House, the House will stand in recess 30 minutes. Theieupon (at 12 o'clock and 25 minutes p. m.) the House stood in recess. At 12 o'clock and 35 minutes p. m. the members of the Japanese Mission, escorted by the committee appointed by the Speaker, entered the Chamber and were announced to the House by the Sergeant at Arms. The members of 16720-8. Doc. 87, 65-1—17 7 98 Visiting War Missions to the United States. the Mission were: Viscount Ishii, Ambassador Extraor- dinary and Plenipotentiary; Vice Admiral Takeshita, Imperial Japanese Navy; Maj. Gen. Sugano, Imperial Japanese Army; Mr. Masanao Hanihara, consul general at San Francisco; Mr. Matsuzo Nagai, Secretary of the Foreign Office; Commander Ando, Imperial Japanese Navy; Lieut. Col. Tanikawa, Imperial Japanese Army; Mr. Tadanao Imai, vice consul; and Mr. Owaku. Mr. Ainiari Sato, Ambassador from Japan to the Gov- ernment of the United States; Mr. Tokichi Tanaka, coun- selor of the embassy; Capt, Nomura, naval attach^; and Lieut. Col. Mizumachi, military attache, accompanied the Mission into the House, together with Mr. Breckinridge Longj Third Assistant Secretary of State; Brig, Gen. James A. Irons, United States Army; Capt. C. C. March, United States Navy; and Mr. A. B. Ruddock, of the State Department, personally attached to Viscount Ishii. Viscoimt Ishii was seated on the right of the Speaker and Ambassador Sato upon his left. ADDRESS BY THE SPEAKER. The Speaker. Gentlemen of the House of Representa- tives, Japan is one of the oldest countries in the world, and yet it is the very newest of the great powers of the world. [Applause.] The history of Japan extends back into the twilight of fable. In ancient times there were seven things selected that were denominated the wonders of the world. Nearly all of them have gone. The historian of the times in which we live will rank the remarkable and astounding progress of the Empire of Japan as one of the seven won- ders of these times. [Applause.] The Empire of Japan is our nearest western neighbor. She holds one side of the Pacific and we hold the other, and every right-thinking man in the Empire of Japan and in the Republic of the United States hopes that peace, amity, and friendly relations will always prevail between these two great powers. [Applause.] . The Japanese War Mission. 99 Within the last few months we have had visiting com- missions from France, Great Britain, Belgium, Russia, and Italy, and now we have the Japanese Mission. I present to this magnificent audience Viscount Ishii, the head of the Mission from Japan. [Applause.] ADDRESS BY VISCOUNT ISHII. Viscount Ishii. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives, I thank you most sincerely for this gracious reception. The rare opportunity thus afforded to me is deeply appreciated throughout the nation I have the honor to represent. [Applause.] I bring a message, borne by us across an ocean and a continent, from the Emperor and the people of our beloved island, set in the far eastern Pacific, to the President of the United States and to you, the representatives of the greatest Republic on earth to- day, a potent factor in the most stupendous and, we must believe, the final struggle for liberty throughout the world. [Applause.] Our message reiterates an assurance of unchanged sincerity of friendship well understood by the people of the United States, but it is a message which has never found opportunity such as this for delivery. [Applause.] Your courteous permission for us to occupy a place on this historic rostrum and to speak within the hearing, in fact, of the hundred millions of people of the United States of America carries with it a forceful manifestation of the sentiment which we believe the United States entertain toward my country. [Applause.] We would not have traveled 10,000 miles merely ta repeat what must have sufficiently impressed itself upon you, but that within the last few months a new day has dawned [applause] — a day welcomed indeed by us. It follows upon another when you, with magnificent for- bearance, endured great wrongs and outrages in the hope that recourse to the sword might be avoided. It was a day in which you bore the pitiless cruelty of the willful lOO Visiting War Missions to the United States. aggressor of all human rights — bore it bravely and with fortitude until the star of hope vanished and toleration ceased to be a virtue. Then, in the dawning of this day, you arose and threw your mighty forces into the balance against the wrong in favor of the right. [Ap- plause.] In this dawning the Stars and Stripes flung across the skies were entwined with the emblem of the Rising Sun, and so commenced the brighter day. [Applause.] That is why we are here. We come to bring to you the message of our Emperor, which gives you assurance of the comradeship and the cooperation of Japan throughout this day. We are here to say that, with the other allies, we heartily welcome the advent of the United States in the fields of France and elsewhere. We recognize the great uplift given to humanity and the promise of a physical victory doubly insured by the most momentous decision you have taken. [Applause.] We bring to you assurance of support, unselfish, with- out a motiye other than the common force that drives us all to-day. [Applause.] We of Japan face the task seriously and with determination. We recognize the grim and unrelenting order we all must obey. We know that the desperate foe of civilization must be met by self- sacrifice, counsel) and unsleeping watchfulness. We are here to say that Japan has done and will do what may be demanded of her to the utmost of her resources and to the best of her ability. [Applause.] Yoiu-s are vast resources ; ours may be small, but we can say to you that the spirit of Japan bums as ardently and will last as long as may be demanded in this war. [Ap- plause.] We are eager for counsel with you. We come to find out how these two nations can best coordinate their energies and their resources; how best they can cooperate in the conduct and the winning of this war. [Applause.] We come to say to you that we are proud on this day to stand shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers of America. In the field and in the household, in the mine and in the shop, the men and the women of Japan are working and The Japanese War Mission. loi will work with a greater confidence and a higher sense of moral obligation. Japan has exerted herself with the spirit of loyalty to her allies, her Emperor, and to her homes, following the ideals of our national life, to which I alluded when I had the honor of addressing your Senate a few days ago. Japan will continue to add her quota to the sacrifice which alone can insure a victory. [Applause.] Like the people of America, those of Japan have remained permanently independent because of a real patriotism which, when the occasion demands, never fails. We, like you, protect our- selves against aggression from without and treachery from within. We, Hke you, know nothing of tyranny and despotism; and we, like you, stand determined that malignance and oppression from the conqueror, imposed upon the conquered, shall not become the lot of our people. [Applause.] Neither shall our families and our homes be violated and desecrated by the licentious and brutal forces of evil now trampling upon the helpless women and children of the countries they have overrun. [Applause.] Treachery from within, indeed, at this hour, calls for otu: attention. While your soldiers leave their families and their homes to fight on the blood-stained fields of France, we must guard our landmarks, as you will guard yours, against treachery that has found hiding places in our midst and which for the last lo years has sown the seeds of discord between us. Let it be a part of our cooperation and coordination to protect each other from these forces of evil which lack even the poorest courage of an open enemy. [Applause.] Mr. Speaker and gentlemen of the House of Repre- sentatives, we have been climbing a mountain toward the stars by different antl sometimes devious pathways, but near the summit our roads shall join, and together we shall win into the full sunlight above the clouds. [Applause.] We shall pass safely through the dangerous places. Our blood shall not have been shed and our I02 Visiting War Missions to the United States. sacrifice shall not have been made in vain, for we shall be among the nations of a world living in a brotherhood of peace. [Applause.] Will it not then be a source of intense national pride to each of us to remember this day which must insure a permanent maintenance of these, renewed pledges of comradeship and of cooperation? I again wish to express my sincere appreciation of the honor you have done us, [Applause.] The members of the Mission then took their places on the right of the Speaker's rostrum, and the Members of the House of Representatives were presented to them. The distinguished visitors were then escorted from the Hall of the House. The recess having expired, the House (at i o'clock and 3 minutes p. m.) resumed its session.