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 opy 1 
 
 ADDRESSES 
 
 OF 
 
 PRESIDENT WILSON 
 
 ON 
 
 FIRST TRIP TO EUROPE 
 
 DECEMBER 3, 1918 
 
 TO 
 
 FEBRUARY 24, 1919 
 
 
 ?6 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 1919 
 

 1*7 of *• 
 
 JUL 30 1919 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 ''aris, December 21, 1918 — University of Paris 5 
 
 Humes. December 25, 1918 — To United States soldiers 6 
 
 Chaumont, December 25, 1918— Hotel de Ville 8 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 Dover, December 26, 1918 10 
 
 London: 
 
 December 27, 1918 — Buckingham Palace 10 
 
 December 28, 1918 — Committee of council of the Evangelical Free Churches. 12 
 
 To League of Nations Union, at the American Embassy . 12 
 
 Guild Hall 12 
 
 Mansion House 15 
 
 Carlisle, England, December 29, 1918 16 
 
 Manchester, December 30, 1918: 
 
 Luncheon, Midland Hotel 17 
 
 Free Trade Hall 18 
 
 ITALY 
 Rome: 
 
 January 3, 1919: 
 
 The Quirinal 23 
 
 The Capitol 24 
 
 The Italian Parliament 25 
 
 January 4. 1919: 
 
 The Academy of the Lencei 27 
 
 To the press representatives 28 
 
 noa, January 5, 1919 ,. . !. 29 
 
 Ian, January 5, 1919: 
 
 At station 30 
 
 At the Palazzio 31 
 
 To the League of Mothers and Widows 31 
 
 The Municipalite 32 
 
 The La Scala 33 
 
 irin, January 6, 1919: 
 
 Municipalite 34 
 
 The Philharmonic Club 35 
 
 University of Turin 37 
 
 FRANCE. 
 Paris : 
 
 Opening of Peace Conference, January 18, 1919 39 
 
 To the French Senate. January 20. 1919 40 
 
 Peace Conference, January 25, 1919 41 
 
 To delegation of working women of France, January 25, 1919 45 
 
 To the league for the rights of man. January 28, 1919 47 
 
 To delegation from French Society of Nations, February 12, 1919 47 
 
 Peace Conference, February 14, 1919 49 
 
 (3) 
 
ADDRESSES OF PRESIDENT WILSON ON FIRST 
 TRIP TO EUROPE. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 University of Paris, December 21, 1918. 
 
 Mr. President, Mr. Recteur: 
 
 I feel very keenly the distinguished honor which has been con- 
 ferred upon me by the great University of Paris, and it is very 
 delightful to me also to have the honor of being inducted into the 
 great company of scholars whose life and fame have made the history 
 of the University of Paris a thing admired among men of cultivation 
 in all parts of the world. 
 
 By what you have said, sir, of the theory of education which has 
 been followed in France, and which I have tried to promote in the 
 United States, I am tempted to venture upon a favorite theme. 
 I have always thought, sir, that the chief object of education was to 
 awaken the spirit, and that inasmuch as literature whenever it 
 touched its great and higher notes was an expression of the spirit of 
 mankind, the best induction into education was to feel the pulses of 
 humanity which had beaten from age to age through the utterances 
 of men who had penetrated to the secrets of the human spirit. And 
 I agree with the intimation which has been conveyed to-day that 
 the terrible war through which we have just passed has not been 
 only a war between nations, but that it has been also a war between 
 systems of culture — the one system, the aggressive system, using 
 science without conscience, stripping learning of its moral restraints, 
 and using every faculty of the human mind to do wrong to the whole 
 race; the other system reminiscent of the high traditions of men, 
 reminiscent of all those struggles, some of them obscure but others 
 clearly revealed to the historian, of men of indomitable spirit every- 
 where struggling toward the right and seeking above all things else 
 to be free. The triumph of freedom in this war means that spirits 
 of that sort now dominate the world. ) There is a great wind of 
 moral force moving through the world, and every man who opposes 
 himself to that wind will go down in disgrace. The task of those 
 who are gathered here, or will presently be gathered here, to make 
 the settlements of this peace is greatly simplified by the fact that 
 they are masters of no one; they are the servants of mankind, and 
 
 (5) 
 
6 
 
 it we do not heed the mandates of mankind we shall make ourselves 
 the most conspicuous and deserved failures in the history of the 
 world. 
 
 My conception of the league of nations is just this, that it shall 
 operate as the organized moral force of men throughout the world, 
 and that whenever or wherever wrong and aggression are planned or 
 contemplated, this searching light of conscience will be turned upon 
 them and men everywhere will ask, "What are the purposes that you 
 hold in your heart against the fortunes of the world?" Just a little 
 exposure will settle most questions. If the central powers had dared 
 to discuss the purposes of this war for a single fortnight, it never would 
 have happened, and if, as. should be, they were forced to discuss it 
 for a year, war would have been inconceivable. 
 
 So I feel that this war is, as has been said more than once to-day, 
 intimately related with the university spirit. The university spirit 
 is intolerant of all the things that put the human mind under restraint. 
 It is intolerant of everything that seeks to retard the advancement 
 of ideals, the acceptance of the truth, the purification of life; and 
 every university man can ally himself with the forces of the present 
 time with the feeling that now at last the spirit of truth, the spirit 
 to which universities have devoted themselves, has prevailed and is 
 triumphant. If there is one point of pride that I venture to enter- 
 tain, it is that it has been my privilege in some measure to interpret 
 the university spirit in the public life of a great Nation, and I feel 
 that in honoring me to-day in this unusual and conspicuous manner 
 you have first of all honored the people whom I represent. The 
 spirit that I try to express I know to be their spirit, and in proportion 
 as I serve them I believe that I advance the cause of freedom. 
 
 I, therefore, wish to thank you, sir, from the bottom of my heart 
 for a distinction which has in a singular way crowned my academic 
 career. 
 
 To United States Soldiers at Humes, December 25, 1918. 
 
 Gen. Pershixg and Fellow Countrymen : 
 
 I wish that I could give to each one of you the message that I 
 know you are longing to receive from those at home who love you. 
 I can not do that, but I can tell you how everybody at home is proud 
 of you; how everybody at home has followed every movement of 
 this great Army with confidence and affection; and how the whole 
 people of the United States are now waiting to welcome you home 
 with an acclaim which probably has never greeted any other army. 
 Because this is a war into which our country, like these countries 
 we have been so proud to stand by, has put its whole heart, and the 
 reason that we are proud of you is that you have put your heart 
 
into it; you have done your duty, and something more, you have 
 done your duty and done it with a spirit which gave it distinction 
 and glory. 
 
 And now we are to have the fruits of victory. You knew when 
 you came over what you came over for, and you have done what it 
 was appointed you to do. I know what you expect of nie. Some 
 time ago a gentleman from one of the countries with which we are 
 associated was discussing with me the moral aspects of this war, and 
 I said that if we did not insist upon the high purposes for which 
 this war was entered by the United States I could never look those 
 gallant .fellows across the seas in the face again. You knew what 
 we expected of you and you did it. I know what you and the people 
 at home expect of me; and I am happy to say, my fellow country- 
 men, that I do not find in the hearts of the great leaders with whom 
 it is my privilege now to cooperate any difference of principle or of 
 fundamental purpose. It happened that it was the privilege of Amer- 
 ica to present the chart for peace, and now the process of settlement 
 has been rendered comparatively simple by the fact that all the na- 
 tions concerned have accepted that chart and that the application 
 of those principles laid down there will be their explication. The 
 world will now know that the nations that fought this war, as well 
 as the soldiers who represented them, are ready to make good — 
 make good not merely in the assertion of their own interests, but 
 make good in the establishment of peace upon the permanent founda- 
 tions of right and of justice. Because this is not a war in which the 
 soldiers of the free nations have obeyed masters. You have com- 
 manders, but you have no masters. Your very commanders repre- 
 sent you in representing the Nation of which you constitute so dis- 
 tinguished a part, and this being a people's war, everybody concerned 
 in the settlement knows that it must be a people's peace, that noth- 
 ing must be done in the settlement of the issues of the war which is 
 not as handsome as the great achievements of the armies of the 
 United States and the allies. 
 
 It is difficult, very difficult, men, in a formal speech like this to 
 show you my real heart. You men probably do not realize with 
 what anxious attention and care we have followed every step you 
 have advanced, and how proud we are that every step was in advance 
 and not in retreat; that every time you set your faces in any direc- 
 tion, you kept your faces in that direction. A thrill has gone through 
 my heart, as it has gone through the heart of every American, with 
 almost every gun that was fired and every stroke that was struck in 
 the gallant fighting that you have done; and there has been only 
 one regret in America, and that was the regret that every man there 
 felt that he was not here in France, too. It has been a hard thing. 
 
8 
 
 to perform civil tasks in the United States. It has been a hard thing 
 to take part in directing what you did without coming over and 
 helping you do it. It has taken a lot of moral courage to stay at 
 home, but we were proud to back you up in every way that was 
 possible to back you up, and now I am happy to find what splendid 
 names you have made for yourselves among the civilian population 
 of France as well as among your comrades in arms of the French 
 Army. It is a fine testimony to you men that these people like you 
 and love you and trust you, and the finest part of it all is that you 
 deserve their trust. 
 
 I feel a comradeship with you to-day which is delightful as I look 
 about upon these undisturbed fields and think of the terrible scenes 
 through which you have gone and realize now that the quiet peace, 
 the tranquillity of settled hope, has descended upon us all; and while 
 it is hard so far away from home confidently to bid you a Merry 
 'Christmas, I can, I think, confidently promise you a Happy New 
 Year, and I can from the bottom of my heart say, God bless you. 
 
 Gen. Pershing, at Humes, December 25, 1918. 
 
 Mi*. President and Fellow Soldiers: 
 
 We are gathered here to-day to do honor to the Commander in 
 Chief of our Armies and Navies. For the first time an American 
 President will review an American army on foreign soil — the soil of a 
 sister Republic, beside whose gallant troops we have fought to restore 
 peace to the world. Speaking for you and your comrades, I am 
 proud to declare to the President that no army has ever more loyally 
 or more effectively served its country, and none has ever fought in 
 a nobler cause. You, Mr. President, by your confidence and by your 
 support, have made the success of our armies possible, and to you, 
 as our Commander in Chief, may I now present the Nation's vic- 
 torious Army ? 
 
 Hotel de Ville, Chaumont, December 25, 1918. 
 
 M. le General, M. — - — , etc.: 
 
 I feel that I have been peculiaily honored in the generous reception 
 you have given me, and it is the more delightful because it so obvi- 
 ously comes from the heart; and I can not but believe that it is an 
 instinctive response to the feeling that is in my own breast. Because 
 I think that even you, after contact with our soldiers, can not realize 
 the depth and sincerity of the feeling of the United States for France. 
 It is an ancient friendship, but it has been renewed and has taken on 
 
9 
 
 a new youth. It is a friendship which is not only one of sentiment, 
 but one based upon a communion of principle. 
 
 You have spoken very generously and very beautifully of the rela- 
 tions which have sprung up between yourselves and our soldiers. 
 That is because they came not only to associate themselves with you 
 as the champions of libert} 7 , but they came with personal affection 
 in their hearts for the people of France, and it must have been that 
 which you realized. They did not come as strangers in their thoughts. 
 They brought with them something that made them feel at home 
 the moment they were at Ha vie or Brest in France. 
 
 So I am very much moved by being thus drawn , as they have been , 
 into your midst and into your confidence, and wish to thank you 
 very warmly for them and for the people of the United States. I, 
 like them, shall carry away with me the most delightful recollections, 
 and my heart will always say, as I now say, "Vive la France." 
 128518—19 2 
 
ENGLAND. 
 
 Dover, December 26, 1918. 
 
 Mr. Mayor: 
 
 You have certainly extended to me and to those who are accom- 
 panying me a very cordial and gracious hand of welcome. Even the 
 sea was kind to us this morning and gave us a very pleasant passage, 
 so that it tallied perfectly with our expectations of the pleasure we 
 should have in landing in England. 
 
 We have gone through many serious times together, and therefore 
 we can regard each other in a new light as comrades and associates, 
 because nothing brings men together like a common understanding 
 and a common purpose. I think that in spite of all the terrible 
 sufferings and sacrifices of this war we shall some day in looking back 
 upon them realize that they were worth while, not only because of 
 the security they gave the world against unjust aggression, but also 
 because of the understanding they established between great nations 
 which ought to act with each other in the parmanent maintenance 
 of justice and of right. It is, therefore, with emotions of peculiar 
 gratification that I find myself here. It affords the opportunity to 
 match my mind with the minds of those who with a like intention 
 are purposing to do the best that can be done in the great settlements 
 of the struggle. 
 
 I thank you very warmly, gentlemen, for your greeting and beg 
 to extend to you in the name of my own countrymen the most 
 cordial greetings. 
 
 Buckingham Palace, London, December 27, 1918. 
 
 Your Majesty: 
 
 I am deeply complimented by the gracious words which you have 
 uttered. The welcome which you have given me and Mrs. Wilson 
 has been so warm, so natural, so evidently from the heart that we 
 have been more than pleased; we have been touched by it, and I 
 believe that I correctly interpret that welcome as embodying not 
 only your own generous spirit toward us personally, but also as 
 expressing for yourself and the great nation over which you preside 
 that same feeling for my people, for the people of the United States. 
 For you and I, sir — I temporarily — embody the spirit of two great 
 nations; and whatever strength I have, and whatever authority. I 
 possess only so long and so far as I express the spirit and purpose of 
 the American people. 
 
 (10) 
 
11 
 
 Any influence that the American people have over the affairs of 
 the world is measured by their sympathy with the aspirations of free 
 men everywhere. America does love freedom, and I believe that 
 she loves freedom unselfishly. But if she does not, she will not and 
 can not help the influence to which she justly aspires. I have had 
 the privilege, sir, of conferring with the leaders of your own Govern- 
 ment and with the spokesmen of the Governments of France and of 
 Italy, and I am glad to say that I have the same conceptions that 
 they have of the significance and scope of the duty upon which we 
 have met. We have used great words, all of us, we have used the 
 great words "right" and "justice," and now we are to prove whether 
 or not we understand those words and how they are to be applied to 
 the particular settlements which must conclude this war. And we 
 must not only understand them, but we must have the courage to 
 act upon our understanding. 
 
 Yet, after I have uttered the word "courage," it comes into my 
 mind that it would take more courage to resist the great moral tide 
 now running in the world than to yield to it, than to obey it. There 
 is a great tide running in the hearts of men. The hearts of men have 
 never beaten so singularly in unison before. Men have never before 
 been so conscious of their brotherhood. Men have never before real- 
 ized how little difference there was between right and justice in one 
 latitude and in another, under one sovereignty and under another; 
 and it will be our high privilege, I believe, sir, not only to apply the 
 moral judgments of the world to the particular settlements which we 
 shall attempt, but also to organize the moral force of the world to 
 preserve those settlements, to steady the forces of mankind and to 
 make the right and the justice to which great nations like our own 
 have devoted themselves the predominant and controlling force of 
 the world. 
 
 There is something inspiriting in knowing that this is the errand that 
 we have come on. Nothing less than this would have justified me in 
 leaving the important tasks which fall upon me upon the other side of 
 the sea, nothing but the consciousness that nothing else compares with 
 this in dignity and importance. Therefore it is the more delightful to 
 find myself in. the company of a body of men united in ideal and in 
 purpose, to feel that I am privileged to unite my thought with yours 
 in carrying forward those standards which we are so proud to hold 
 high and to defend. 
 
 May I not, sir, with a feeling of profound sincerity and friendship 
 and sympathy propose your own health and the health of the Queen, 
 and the prosperity of Great Britain ? 
 
12 
 
 To Committee of National Council of the Evangelical Free Churches, 
 London, December 28, 1918. 
 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 I am very much honored, and might say, touched, by this beautiful 
 address that you have just read, and it is very delightful to feel the 
 comradeship of spirit which is indicated by a gathering like this. 
 
 You are quite right, sir, in saying that I do recognize the sanctions 
 of religion in these times of perplexity with matters so large to settle 
 that no man can feel that his mind can compass them. I think one 
 would go crazy if he did not believe in Providence. It would be a 
 maze without a clue. Unless there were some supreme guidance we 
 would despair of the results of human counsel. So that it is with 
 genuine sympathy that I acknowledge the spirit and thank you for 
 the generosity of your address. 
 
 To League of Nations Union, American Embassy, London, December 
 
 28, 1918. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I am very much complimented that you should come in person to 
 present this address, and I have been delighted and stimulated to 
 find the growing and prevailing interest in the subject of the league 
 of nations, not only a growing interest merely, but a growing purpose 
 which I am sure will prevail. And it is very delightful that members 
 of the Government which brought this nation into the war because 
 of the moral obligations based upon treaty should be among those 
 who have brought me this paper, because on the other side of the 
 water we have greatly admired the motives and subscribed to the 
 principles which actuated the Government of Great Britain. In 
 obeying that moral dictate you have shown what we must organize, 
 namely, that same force and sense of obligation, and unless we organ- 
 ize it the thing that we do now will not stand. I feel that so strongly 
 that it is particularly cheering to know just how strong and imperative 
 the idea has become. 
 
 I thank you very much indeed. It has been a privilege to see you 
 personally. 
 
 I was just saying to Lord Grey that we had indirect knowledge of 
 each other and that I am glad to identify him. I feel as if I met him 
 long ago ; and I had the pleasure of matching minds with Mr. Asquith 
 vesterdav. 
 
 Guild Hall, London, December 28, 1918. 
 
 Mr. Lord Mayor: 
 
 We have come upon times when ceremonies like this have a new 
 significance, and it is that significance which most impresses me as 
 I stand here. The address which I have just heard is most gener- 
 
13 
 
 ously and graciously conceived and the delightfuL accent of sincerity 
 in it seems like a part of that voice of counsel which is now every- 
 where to be heard. 
 
 I feel that a distinguished honor has been conferred upon me by 
 this reception, and I beg to assure you, sir, and your associates of 
 my very profound appreciation, but I know that I am only part of 
 what I may call a great body of circumstances. I do not believe that 
 it was fancy on my part that I heard in the voice of welcome 
 uttered in the streets of this great city and in the streets 
 of Paris something more than a personal welcome. It seemed to 
 me that I heard the voice of one people speaking to another 
 people, and it was a voice in which one could distinguish a sin- 
 gular combination of emotions. There was surely there the deep 
 gratefulness that the fighting was over. There was the pride that 
 the fighting had had such a culmination. There was that sort of 
 gratitude that the nations engaged had produced such men as the 
 soldiers of Great Britain and of the United States and of France 
 and of Italy — men whose prowess and achievements they had wit- 
 nessed with rising admiration as they moved from culmination to 
 culmination. But there was something more in it, the conscious- 
 ness that the business is not yet done, the consciousness that it now 
 rests upon others to see that those lives were not lost in vain. 
 
 I have not yet been to the actual battlefields, but I have been 
 with many of the men who have fought the battles, and the other 
 day I had the pleasure of being present at a session of the French 
 Academy when they admitted Marshal Joffre to their membership. 
 That sturdy, serene soldier stood and uttered, not the words of triumph, 
 but the simple words of affection for his soldiers, and the conviction 
 which he summed up, in a sentence which I will not try accurately 
 to quote but reproduce in its spirit, was that France must always 
 remember that the small and the weak could never live free in the 
 world unless the strong and the great always put their power and 
 strength in the service of right. That is the afterthought — the 
 thought that something must be done now not only to make the 
 just settlements, that of course, but to see that the settlements 
 remained and were observed and that honor and justice prevailed 
 in the world. And as I have conversed with the soldiers, I have 
 been more and more aware that they fought for something that not 
 all of them had defined, but which all of them recognized the moment 
 you stated it to them. They fought to do away with an old order 
 and to establish a new one, and the center and characteristic of the 
 old order was that unstable thing which we used to call the ' ' balance 
 of power" — a thing in which the balance was. determined by the 
 sword which was thrown in the one side or the other; a balance 
 which was determined by the unstable equilibrium of competitive 
 
14 
 
 interests; a balance which was maintained by jealous watchfulness 
 and an antagonism of interests which, though it was generally latent, 
 was always deep-seated. The men who have fought in this war 
 have been the men from free nations who were determined that that 
 sort of thing should end now and forever. 
 
 It is very interesting to me to observe how from every quarter, 
 from every sort of mind, from every concert of counsel, there comes 
 the suggestion that there must now be, not a balance of power, not 
 one powerful group of nations set off against another, but a single 
 overwhelming, powerful group of nations who shall be the trustee 
 of the peace of the world. It lias been delightful in my conferences 
 with the leaders of your Government to find how our minds moved 
 along exactly the same line, and how our thought was always that 
 the key to the peace was the guaranty of the peace, not the items 
 of it; that the items would be worthless unless there stood back of 
 them a permanent concert of power for their maintenance. That 
 is the most reassuring thing that has ever happened in the world. 
 When this war began the thought of a league of nations was indul- 
 gently considered as the interesting thought of closeted students. 
 It was thought of as one of those things that it was right to char- 
 acterize by a name which as a university man I have always resented ; 
 it was said to be academic, as if that in itself were a condemnation, 
 something that men could think about but never get. Now we find 
 the practical leading minds of the world determined to get it. No 
 such sudden and potent union of purpose has ever been witnessed 
 in the world before. Do you wonder, therefore, gentlemen, that in 
 common with those who represent you I am eager to get at the 
 business and write the sentences down; and that I am particularly 
 happy that the ground is cleared and the foundations laid — for we 
 have already accepted the same body of principles ? Those prin- 
 ciples are clearly and definitely enough stated to make their appli- 
 cation a matter which should afford no fundamental difficulty. 
 And back of us is that imperative yearning of the world to have 
 all disturbing questions quieted, to have all threats against peace 
 silenced, to have just men eveiwwhere come together for a common 
 object. The peoples of the world want peace and they want it 
 now, not merely by conquest of arms but by agreement of mind. 
 
 It was this incomparably great object that brought me overseas. 
 It has never before been deemed excusable for a President of the 
 United States to leave the territory of the United States; but I 
 know that I have the support of the judgment of my colleagues in 
 the Government of the United States in saying that it was my 
 paramount duty to turn away even from the imperative tasks at 
 home to lend such counsel and aid as I could to this great, may I 
 not say, final enterprise of humanity. 
 
15 
 Mansion House, London, December 28, 1918. 
 
 Mr. Lord Mayor. Your Royal Highness, Your Grace, Ladies 
 
 and Gentlemen: 
 
 You have again made me feel, sir, the very wonderful and generous 
 welcome of this great city, and you have reminded me of what has 
 perhaps become one of the habits of my life. You have said that I 
 have broken all precedents in coming across the ocean to join in the 
 counsels of the peace conference, but I think those who have been 
 associated with me in Washington wiT testify that that is nothing 
 surprising. I said to members of the press in Washington one 
 evening that one of the things that had interested me most since I 
 lived in Washington was that every time T did anything perfectly 
 natural it was said to be unprecedented. It was perfectly natural 
 to break this precedent, natural because the demand for intimate 
 conference took precedence over every other duty. And, after all, 
 breaking of precedents, though this may sound strange doctrine in 
 England, is the most sensible thing to do. The harness of precedent 
 is sometimes a very sad and harassing trammel. In this case the 
 breaking of precedent is sensible for a reason that is very prettily 
 illustrated in a remark attributed to Charles Lamb. One evening in 
 a company of his friends they were discussing a person who was not 
 present, and Lamb said, in his hesitating manner, "I h-hate that 
 fellow." "Why, Charles," one of his friends said, "I didn't know 
 that you knew him." " Oh," he said, " I-I-I d-don't; I c-can't h-hate 
 a man I-I-I know." And perhaps that simple and attractive remark 
 may furnish a secret for cordial international relationship. When we 
 know one another we can not hate one another. 
 
 I have been very much interested before coming here to see what 
 sort of person I was expected to be. So far as I can make it out, I 
 was expected to be a perfectly bloodless thinking machine; whereas, 
 I am perfectly aware that I have in me all the insurgent elements of 
 the human race. I am sometimes by reason of long Scotch tradition 
 able to keep those instincts in restraint. The stern covenanter 
 tradition that is behind me sends many an echo down the years. 
 
 It is not only diligently to pursue business but also to seek this 
 sort of comradeship that I feel it a privilege to have come across the 
 seas, and in the welcome that you have accorded Mrs. Wilson and 
 me you have made us feel that that companionship was accessible 
 to us in the most delightful and enjoyable form. I thank you sin- 
 cerely for this welcome, sir, and am very happy to join in a love feast 
 which is all the more enjoyable because there is behind it a back- 
 ground of tragical suffering. Our spirits are released from the dark- 
 ness of clouds that at one time seemed to have settled upon the 
 world in a way that could not be dispersed; the suffering of your 
 
16 
 
 own people, the suffering of the people of France, the infinite suffering 
 of the people of Belgium. The whisper of grief that has blown all 
 through the world is now silent, and the sun of hope seems to spread 
 its rays and to change the earth with a new prospect of happiness. 
 So our joy is all the more elevated because we know that our spirits 
 are lifted out of that valley. 
 
 Carlisle, England, Sunday, December 29, 1918. 
 
 " It is with unaffected reluctance that I project myself into this 
 solemn service. I remember my grandfather very well, and, remem- 
 bering him as I do, I am confident that he would not approve of it. 
 I remember how much he required. I remember the stern lessons of 
 duty he gave me. I remember also, painfully, the things which he 
 expected me to know which I did not know. I know there has come 
 a change of times when a layman like myself is permitted to speak 
 in a congregation. But I was reluctant because the feelings that 
 have been excited in me are too intimate and too deep to permit of 
 public expression. The memories that have come to me to-day of 
 the mother who was born here are very affecting, and her quiet char- 
 acter, her sense of duty and dislike of ostentation, have come back 
 to me with increasing force as those years of duty have accumulated. 
 
 " Yet perhaps it is appropriate that in a place of worship I should 
 acknowledge my indebtedness to her and her remarkable father, 
 because, after all. what the world is now seeking to do is to return to 
 the paths of duty, to turn away from the savagery of interest to the 
 dignity of the performance of right. And I believe that as this war 
 has drawn the nations temporarily together in a combination of 
 physical force we shall now be drawn together in a combination of 
 moral force that will be irresistible. 
 
 " It is moral force that is irresistible. It is moral force as much 
 as physical that has defeated the effort to subdue the world. Words 
 have cut as deep as the sword. The knowledge that wrong was being 
 attempted has aroused the nations. They have gone out like men 
 upon a crusade. No other cause could have drawn so many nations 
 together. They knew that an outlaw was abroad who purposed un- 
 speakable things. It is from quiet places like this all over the world 
 that the forces accumulate which presently will overbear any attempt 
 to accomplish evil on a large scale. Like the rivulets gathering into 
 the river and the river into the sea, there come from communities like 
 this streams that fertilize the consciences of men, and it is the con- 
 science of the world that we are trying to place upon the throne which 
 others would usurp." 
 
17 
 Luncheon, Midland Hotel, Manchester, December 30, 1918. 
 
 My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 You have again made me feel the cordiality of your friendship, 
 and I want to tell you how much I appreciate it, not only on my own 
 behalf but on behalf of my partner. 
 
 It is very interesting that the Lord Mayor should have referred in 
 his address to a vital circumstance in our friendship. He referred 
 to the fact that our men and your men had fought side by side in the 
 great battles in France, but there was more than that in it. For the 
 first time, upon such a scale at any rate, they fought under a common 
 commander. That is the advance which we have made over previous 
 times, and what I have been particularly interested in has been the 
 generosity of spirit with which that unity of command has been 
 assented to. I not only had the pleasure of meeting Marshal Foch, 
 who confirmed my admiration of him by the direct and simple man- 
 ner in which he dealt with every subject that we talked about, but 
 I have also had the pleasure of meeting your own commanders, and 
 I understand how they cooperated, because I saw that they were real 
 men. It takes a real man to subordinate himself. It takes a real 
 soldier to know that unity of command is the secret of success, and 
 that unity of command did swing the power of the nations into a 
 mighty force. I think we all must have felt the new momentum 
 which got into all the armies so soon as they became a single army, 
 and we felt that we had overcome one of the most serious obstacles 
 in the strength of the enemy, that he had unity of command and could 
 strike where he would with a common plan and we could not. 
 
 And with that unity of command there rose the unity of spirit. 
 The minute we consented to cooperate our hearts were drawn together 
 in the cooperation. So, from the military side we have given our- 
 selves an example for the years to come; not that in the years to come 
 we must submit to a unity of command, but it does seem to me that 
 in the years to come we must plan a unity of purpose, and in that 
 unity of purpose we shall find that great recompense, the strengthen- 
 ing of our spirits in everything that we do. There is nothing so 
 hampering and nothing so demeaning as jealousy. It is a canker. 
 It is a canker in the heart not only, but it is a canker in the counting 
 room; it is a canker throughout all the processes of civilization. 
 Having now seen that we can fight shoulder to shoulder, we will con- 
 tinue to advance shoulder to shoulder, and I think that you will find 
 that the people of the United States are the least eager of the parties. 
 
 I remember hearing a story of a warning which one of your Aus- 
 tralian soldiers gave to one of ours. Our soldiers were considered 
 by the older men a bit rash when they went in. I understand that 
 even the Australians said that our men were a "bit rough," and on 
 128518—19 3 
 
18 
 
 one occasion a friendly Australian said to one of our men, "Man, a 
 barrage is not a thing meant to lean up against." They were a little 
 bit inclined to lean up against the barrage, and yet I must confide to 
 you that I was a bit proud of them for it. They had come over to get 
 at the enemy, and they did not know why they should delay. 
 
 And now that there is no common enemy except distrust and 
 marring of plans, we can all feel the same eagerness in the new com- 
 radeship, and can feel that there is a common enterprise for it. For, 
 after all, though we boast of the material sides of our civilization, they 
 are merely meant to support the spiritual side. We are not men 
 because we have skill of hand, but we are men because we have eleva- 
 tion of spirit. It is in the spirit that we live and not in the task of 
 the day. If it is not, why is it that you hang the lad's musket or his 
 sword up above the mantlepiece and never hang his yardstick up ? 
 There is nothing discreditable in the yardstick. It is altogether 
 honorable, but he is using it for his own sake. When he takes the 
 musket or the sword, he is giving everything he has and getting noth- 
 ing. It is honorable, not as an instrument of force, but as a symbol 
 of self-sacrifice. A friend of mine said very truly that when peace 
 is conducted in the spirit of war, there will be no war; when business 
 is done with the point of view of the soldier, that he is serving his 
 country, then business will be as histrionic as war. And I believe 
 that from generation to generation conceptions of that sort are 
 getting more and more currency and that men are beginning to see, 
 not perhaps a golden age, but at any rate an age which is brightening 
 from decade to decade and may lead us some time to an elevation 
 from which we can see the things for which the heart of mankind has 
 longed. 
 
 Free Trade Hall, Manchester, December 30, 1918. 
 
 My Lord Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen— perhaps I may be per- 
 mitted to add Fellow Citizens: 
 
 You have made me feel in a way that is deeply delightful the 
 generous welcome which you have accorded me. Back of it I know 
 there lies the same sort of feeling for the great people whom I have 
 the privilege of representing. There is a feeling of cordial fraternity 
 and friendship between these two great nations, and as I have gone 
 from place to place and been made everywhere to feel the pulse of 
 sympathy that is now beating between us, I have been led to some 
 very serious thoughts as to what the basis of it all is. For I think you 
 will agree with me that friendship is not a mere sentiment. Pa- 
 triotism is not a mere sentiment. It is based upon a principle — - 
 upon a principle that leads a man to give more than he demands. 
 And, similarly, friendship is based not merely upon affection, but 
 upon common service. A man is not your friend who is not willing 
 
19 
 
 to serve you, and you are not his friend unless you are willing to 
 serve him, and out of that impulse of common interest and a desire 
 of common service rises that noble feeling which we have consecrated 
 as friendship. 
 
 So it has seemed to me that the theme that we must have in our 
 minds now in this great day of settlement is the theme of common 
 interest and the determination of what it is that is our common 
 interest. You know that heretofore the world has been governed, 
 or at any rate an attempt has been made to govern it, by partnerships 
 of interest, and they have broken down. Interest does not bind 
 men together. Interest separates men, for the moment there is the 
 slightest departure from the nice adjustment of interests jealousies 
 begin to spring up. There is only one thing that can bind peoples 
 together and that is a common devotion to right. Ever since the 
 history of liberty began men have talked about their rights, and it 
 has taken several hundred years to make them perceive that the 
 principal part of right is duty, and that unless a man performs his 
 full duty he is entitled to no right. This fine correlation of the two 
 things of duty and of right is the equipoise and balance of society. 
 So when we analyze the present situation and the future that we 
 now have to mold and control, it seems to me that there is no other 
 thought than that that can guide us. 
 
 You know that the United States has always felt from the very 
 beginning of her history that she must keep herself separate from any 
 kind of connection with European politics, and I want to say very 
 frankly to you that she is not now interested in European politics. 
 But she is interested in the partnership of right between America 
 and Europe. If the future had nothing for us but a new attempt 
 to keep the world at a right poise by a balance of power, the United 
 States would take no interest, because she will join no combination 
 of power which is not the combination of all of us. She is not 
 interested merely in the peace of Europe, but in the peace of the 
 world. Therefore it seems to me that in the settlement that is just 
 ahead of us something more delicate and difficult than was ever 
 attempted before is to be accomplished, a genuine concert of mind 
 and of purpose. But while it is difficult there is an element present 
 that makes it easy. Never before in the history of the world, I 
 believe, has there been such a keen international consciousness as 
 there is now. Men all over the world know that they have been 
 embarrassed by national antagonisms and that the interest of each 
 is the interest of all, and that men as men are the objects of govern- 
 ment and international arrangements. There is a great voice of 
 humanity abroad in the world just now which he who can not hear 
 is deaf. There is a great compulsion of the common conscience 
 now in existence which if any statesman resist he has gained the 
 most unenviable eminence in history. We are not obeying the 
 
20 
 
 mandates of parties or of politics. We are obeying the mandates 
 of humanity. That is the reason why it seems to me that the things 
 that are most often in our minds are the least significant. I am not 
 hopeful that the individual items of the settlements which we are 
 about to attempt will be altogether satisfactory. One has but to 
 apply his mind to any one of the questions of boundary and of altered 
 sovereignty and of racial aspiration to do something more than 
 conjecture that there is no man and no body of men who know 
 just how it ought to be settled. Yet if we are to make unsatisfac- 
 tory settlements, we must see to it that they are rendered more and 
 more satisfactory by the subsequent adjustments which are made 
 possible. 
 
 So that we must provide a machinery of readjustment in order 
 that we may have a machinery of good will and of friendship. Friend- 
 ship must have a machinery. If I can not correspond with you, if 
 I can not learn your mind, if I can not cooperate with you, I can not 
 be your friend, and if the world is to remain a body of friends it 
 must have the means of friendship, the means of constant friendly 
 intercourse, the means of constant watchfulness over the common in- 
 terest — not making it necessary to make a great effort upon some 
 great occasion and confer with one another, but have an easy and 
 constant method of conference, so that troubles may be taken when 
 they are little and not allowed to grow until they are big. I never 
 thought that I had a big difference with a man that I did not find 
 when I came into conference with him that, after all, it was rather a 
 little difference and that if we were frank with one another, and did 
 not too much stand upon that great enemy of mankind which is 
 called pride, we could come together. It is the wish to come together 
 that is more than half of the process. This is a doctrine which 
 ought to be easy of comprehension in a great commercial center like 
 this. You can not trade with men who suspect you. You can not 
 establish commercial and industrial relations with those who do not 
 trust you. Good will is the forerunner of trade, and trade is the 
 great amicable instrument of the world on that account. 
 
 I feel — I felt before I came here — at home in Manchester, because 
 Manchester has so many of the characteristics of our great American 
 cities. I was reminded of the anecdote of a humorous fellow coun- 
 tryman who was sitting at lunch in his club one day and a man 
 whom he did not like particularly came by and slapped him on the 
 shoulder. "Hello, Ollie, old fellow, how are you?" he said. Ollie 
 looked at him coldly and said, "I don't know your face; I don't 
 know your name; but your manners are very familiar." I don't 
 know your names, but your manners are very familiar. They are 
 very delightfully familiar. So that I feel that in the commu- 
 nity of interest and of understanding which is established in great 
 
21 
 
 currents of trade, we are enabled to see international processes per- 
 haps better than they can be seen by others. I take it that I am 
 not far from right in supposing that that is the reason why Man- 
 chester has been a center of the great forward-looking sentiments of 
 men who had the instinct of large planning, not merely for the city 
 itself, but for the Kingdom and the Empire and the world, and with 
 that outlook we can be sure that we can go shoulder and shoulder 
 together. 
 
 I wish that it were possible for us to do something like some of my 
 very stern ancestors did, for among my ancestors are those very 
 determined persons who were known as the Covenanters. I wish 
 we could, not only for Great Britain and the United States, but for 
 France and Italy and the world, enter into a great league and 
 covenant, declaring ourselves, first of all, friends of mankind and 
 uniting ourselves together for the maintenance and the triumph of 
 right. 
 
ITALY. 
 The Quirinal, Rome, January 3, 1919. 
 
 Your Majesty: 
 
 I have been very much touched by the generous terms of the ad- 
 dress which you have just read. I feel it would be difficult for me 
 to make a worthy reply, and yet if I could speak simply the things 
 that are in my heart I am sure they would constitute an adequate 
 reply. 
 
 I had occasion at the Parliament this afternoon to speak of the 
 strong sympathy that had sprung up between the United States and 
 Italy during the terrible years of the war, but perhaps here I could 
 speak more intimately and say how sincerely the people of the United 
 States have admired your own course and your own constant asso- 
 ciation with the armies of Italy, and the gracious and generous and 
 serving association of Her Majesty the Queen. 
 
 It has been a matter of pride with us that so many men of Italian 
 origin were in our own armies and associated with their brethren of 
 Italy itself in the great enterprise of freedom. These are no small 
 matters, and they complete that process of welding together of the 
 sympathies of nations which has been going on so long between our 
 peoples. The Italians in the United States have excited a particular 
 degree of admiration. They, I believe, are the only people of a 
 given nationality who have been careful to organize themselves to 
 see that their compatriots coming to America were from month to 
 month and year to year guided to the places of the industries most 
 suitable to their previous habits. No other nationality has taken 
 such pains as that, and in serving their fellow countrymen they haver 
 served the United States, because these people have found places- 
 where they would be most useful and would most immediately earn 
 their own living, and they have thereby added to the prosperity of 
 the country itself. In every way we have been happy in our asso- 
 ciation at home and abroad with the people of this great State. 
 
 I was saying playfully to Mr. Orlando and Baron Sonnino this- 
 afternoon that in trying to put the peoples of the world under their 
 proper sovereignties we would not be willing to part with the Italians 
 in the United States. We would not be willing, unless they desired 
 it, that you should resume possession of them, because we too much 
 value the contribution that they have made, not only to the industry 
 of the United States but to its thought and to many elements of its- 
 life. This is, therefore, a very welcome occasion upon which to ex- 
 
 (23) 
 
24 
 
 press a feeling that goes very deep. I was touched the other day to 
 have an Italian, a very plain man, say to me that we had helped to 
 feed Italy during the war, and it went to my heart, because we had 
 been able to do so little. It was necessary for us to use our tonnage 
 so exclusively for the handling of troops and of the supplies that had 
 to follow them from the United States that we could not do half as 
 much as it was our desire to do, to supply grain to this country, or 
 coal, or any of the supplies which it so much needed during the prog- 
 ress of the war. And knowing as we did in this indirect way the 
 needs of the country, you will not wonder that we were moved by 
 its steadfastness. My heart goes out to the little poor families all 
 over this great kingdom who stood the brunt and the strain of the 
 war and gave their men gladly to make other men free and other 
 women and children free. Those are the people, and many like them, 
 to whom after all we owe the glory of this great achievement, and I 
 want to join with you, for I am sure I am joining with you, hi ex- 
 pressing my profound sympathy not only, but my very profound 
 admiration as well. 
 
 It is my privilege and honor to propose the health of His Majesty 
 the King and of Her Majesty the Queen, and long prosperity to Italy. 
 
 The Capitol, Rome, January 3, 1919. 
 
 You have done me a very great honor. Perhaps you can imagine 
 what a feeling it is for a citizen of one of the newest of the great 
 nations to be made a citizen of this ancient city. It is a distinction 
 which I am sure you are conferring upon me as the representative 
 of the great people for whom I speak. One who has been a student 
 of history can not accept an honor of this sort without having his 
 memory run back to the extraordinary series of events which have 
 centered in this place. But as I have thought to-day, I have been 
 impressed by the contrast between the temporary and the permanent 
 things. Many political changes have centered about Rome, from 
 the time when from a little city she grew to be the mistress of an 
 empire, and change after change has swept away many things, 
 altering the very form of her affairs, but the thing that has remained 
 permanent has been the spirit of Rome and of the Italian people. 
 That spirit seems to have caught with each age the characteristic 
 purpose of the age. This imperial people now gladly represents the 
 freedom of nations. This people which at one time seemed to con- 
 ceive the purpose of governing the world now takes part in the 
 liberal enterprise of offering the world its own government. Can 
 there be a finer or more impressive illustration of the indestructible 
 human spirit, and of the unconquerable spirit of liberty? 
 
25 
 
 I have been reflecting in these recent days about a colossal blunder 
 that has just been made — the blunder of force by the Central Em- 
 pires. If Germany had waited a single generation, she would have 
 had a commercial empire of the world. She was not willing to 
 conquer by skill, by enterprise, by commercial success. She must 
 needs attempt to conquer by arms, and the world will always 
 acclaim the fact that it is impossible to conquer it by arms; that 
 the only thing that conquers it is the sort of service which can be 
 rendered in trade, in intercourse, in friendship, and that there is 
 no conquering power which can suppress the freedom of the human 
 spirit. 
 
 I have rejoiced personally in the partnership of the Italian and 
 the American people, because it was a new partnership in an old 
 enterprise, an enterprise predestined to succeed wherever it is under- 
 taken — the enterprise that has always borne that handsome 
 name which we call "Liberty." Men have pursued it sometimes 
 like a mirage that seemed to elude them, that seemed to run before 
 them as they advanced, but never have they flagged in their pur- 
 pose to achieve it, and I believe that I am not deceived in supposing 
 that in this age of ours they are nearer to it than they ever were 
 before. The light that shined upon the summit now seems almost 
 to shine at our feet, and if we lose it, it will be only because we have 
 lost faith and courage, for we have the power to attain it. 
 
 So it seems to me that there never was a time when a greater 
 breath of hope and of confidence had come into the minds and the. 
 hearts of men like the present. I would not have felt at liberty 
 to come away from America if I had not felt that the time had 
 arrived when, forgetting local interests and local ties and local pur- 
 poses, men should unite in this great enterprise which will ever tie 
 free men together as a body of brethren and a body of free spirits. 
 I am honored, sir, to be taken into this ancient comradeship of 
 the citizenship of Rome. 
 
 Italian Parliament, Rome, January 3, 1919. 
 
 Your Majesty, Mr. President, Mr. President of the Chamber: 
 You are bestowing upon me an unprecedented honor, which I ac- 
 cept because I believe that it is extended to me as the representative 
 of the great people for whom I speak, and I am going to take this 
 opportunity to say how entirely the heart of the American people 
 has been with the great people of Italy. We have seemed no doubt 
 indifferent at times, to look on from a great distance, but our hearts 
 have never been far away. All sorts of ties have long bound the 
 people of America to the people of Italy, and when the people of the 
 United States, knowing this people, have witnessed its sufferings, its 
 128518—19 4 
 
26 
 
 sacrifices, its heroic action upon the battle field and its heroic endur- 
 ance at home — its steadfast endurance at home touching us more 
 nearly to the quick even than its heroic action on the battle field — 
 we have been bound by a new tie of profound admiration. Then, 
 back of it all and through it all, running like the golden thread that 
 wove it together, was our knowledge that the people of Italy had 
 gone into this war for the same exalted principles of right and jus- 
 tice that moved our own people. And so I welcome this oppor- 
 tunity of conveying to you the heartfelt greetings of the people of 
 the United States. 
 
 But we can not stand in the shadow of this war without knowing 
 that there are things awaiting us which are in some senses more 
 difficult than those we have undertaken. While it is easy to speak 
 of right and justice, it is sometimes difficult to work them out in 
 practice, and there will require a purity of motive and disinterested- 
 ness of object which the world has never witnessed before in the 
 councils of nations. It is for that reason that it seems to me that 
 you will forgive me if I lay some of the elements of the new situa- 
 tion before you for a moment. The distinguishing fact of this war is 
 that great empires have gone to pieces, and the characteristic of 
 those empires was that they held different peoples reluctantly to- 
 gether under the coercion of force and the guidance of intrigue. The 
 great difficulty among such States as those of the Balkans has been 
 that they were always accessible to secret influence; that they were 
 always being penetrated by intrigue of one sort and another; and 
 that north of them lay disturbed populations which were held to- 
 gether, not by sympathy and friendship, but by the coercive force 
 of a military power. Now the intrigue is checked and the bands are 
 broken, and what are we going to do to provide a new cement to 
 hold these people together ? They have not been accustomed to be- 
 ing independent. They must now be independent. I am sure that 
 you recognize the principle as I do that it is not our privilege to say 
 what sort of government they shall set up, but we are friends of these 
 people and it is our duty as their friends to see to it that some kind 
 of protection is thrown around them, something supplied which will 
 hold them together. There is only one thing that holds nations to- 
 gether, if you exclude force, and that is friendship and good will. 
 The only thing that binds men together is friendship and by the same 
 token the only thing that binds nations together is friendship. 
 
 Therefore, our task at Paris is to organize the friendship of the 
 world, to see to it that all the moral forces that make for right and 
 justice and liberty are united and are given a vital organization to 
 which the peoples of the world will readily and gladly respond. 
 In other words, our task is no less colossal than this, to set up a new 
 international psychology, to have a new atmosphere. I am happy 
 
L'Y 
 
 to say that in my dealings with the distinguished gentlemen who 
 lead your nation and these who lead France and England, I feel that 
 atmosphere gathering, that desire to do justice, that desire to establish 
 friendliness, that desire to make peace rest upon right; and with 
 this common purpose no obstacle need be formidable. The only 
 use of an obstacle is to be overcome. All that an obstacle does with 
 brave men is, not to frighten them, but to challenge them. So 
 that it ought to be our pride to overcome everything that stands in 
 the way. 
 
 We know that there can not be another balance of power. That 
 has been tried and found wanting, for the best of all reasons that 
 it does not stay balanced inside itself, and a weight which does not 
 hold together can not constitute a makeweight in the affairs of men. 
 Therefore, there must be something substituted for the balance of 
 power, and I am happy to find everywhere in the air of these great 
 nations the conception that that thing must be a thoroughly united 
 league of nations. What men once considered theoretical and 
 idealistic turns out to be practical and necessary. We stand at the 
 opening of a new age in which a new statesmanship will, I am con- 
 fident, lift mankind to new levels of endeavor and achievement. 
 
 The Academy of the Lencei, Rome, January 4, 1919. 
 
 Your Majesty, Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Academy: 
 
 I have listened, sir, with the profoundest appreciation to the beauti- 
 ful address which you have been kind enough to deliver, and I want 
 to say how deeply I appreciate the honor you conferred upon me in 
 permitting me to become a member of this great Academy, because 
 there is a sense in which the continuity of human thought is in the 
 care of bodies like this. There is a serenity, a long view on the part 
 of science which seems to be of no age, but to carry human thought 
 along from generation to generation, freed from the elements of pas- 
 sion. Therefore, it is, I dare say, with all men of science a matter of 
 profound regret and shame that science should in a nation which had 
 made science its boast have been put to such dishonorable uses in the 
 recent war. Every just mind must condemn those who so debased 
 the studies of men of science as to use them against humanity, and 
 therefore, it is part of your task and of ours to reclaim science from 
 this disgrace, to show that she is devoted to the advancement and 
 interest of humanity and not to its embarrassment and destruction. 
 
 I wish very much, sir, that I could believe that I was in some sense 
 a worthy representative of the men of science of the United States. 
 I can not claim to be in any proper sense a man of science. My studies 
 have been in the field of politics all my life and, while politics may by 
 
28 
 
 courtesy be called a science, it is a science which is often practiced 
 without rule and is very hard to set up standards for, so that one can 
 be sure that one is steering the right course. At the same time, while 
 perhaps there is no science of government, there ought to be I dare 
 say in government itself the spirit of science, that is to say, the spirit 
 of disinterestedness, the spirit of seeking after the truth so far as the 
 truth is ready to be applied to human circumstances. Because, after 
 all, the problem of politics is to satisfy men in the arrangements of 
 their lives, is to realize for them so far as possible the objects which 
 they have entertained generation after generation and have seen so 
 often postponed. Therefore, I have often thought that the university 
 and the academy of science have their part in simplifying the prob- 
 lems of politics and therefore assisting to advance human life along 
 the lines of political structure and political action. 
 
 It is very delightful to draw apart for a little while into this quiet 
 place and feel again that familiar touch of thought and of knowledge 
 which it has been my privilege to know familiarly through so great 
 a part of my life. If I have come out upon a more adventurous and 
 disordered stage, I hope that I have not lost the recollection and may 
 in some sense be assisted by counsels such as yours. 
 
 The Press Representatives at Rome. 
 
 Let me thank you, gentlemen, very warmly, lor this stirring ad- 
 dress, because it goes straight to my heart as well as to my under- 
 standing. If I had known that this important delegation was coming 
 to see me, I would have tried to say something worthy of the occasion. 
 As it is, speaking without preparation, I can only say that my purpose 
 is certainly expressed in that paper, and I believe that the purpose of 
 those associated at Paris is a common purpose. Justice and right and 
 big things, and in these circumstances they are big with difficulty. 
 I am not foolish enough to suppose that our decisions will be easy to 
 arrive at, but the principles upon which they are to be arrived at 
 ought to be indisputable, and I have the conviction that if we do not 
 rise to the expectation of the world and satisfy the souls of great 
 peoples like the people of Italy, we shall have the most unenviable 
 distinction in history. Because what is happening now is that the 
 soul of one people is crying to the soul of another, and no people in 
 the world with whose sentiments I am acquainted wishes a bargain- 
 ing settlement. They all want settlements based upon what is right, 
 or as nearly right as human judgment can arrive at, and with this 
 atmosphere of the opinion of mankind to work in, it ought to be 
 impossible to go very far astray. So that so long as the thought of 
 the people keeps clear, the conclusions of their representatives ought 
 
29 
 
 to keep clear. We need the guidance of the people; we need the 
 constant expression of the purposes and ideals of the people. 
 
 I have been associated with so many of your fellow countrymen in 
 America, and I am proud to call so many of them my own fellow- 
 countrymen, that I would be ashamed if I did not feel the pulse of 
 this great people beating in these affairs. I believe there are almost 
 as many Italians in New York City as in almost any city in Italy, and 
 I was saying to-day that in redistributing sovereignty we could hardly 
 let Italy have these valued lellow-citizens. They are men who have 
 done some things that the men of no other nationality have done. 
 They have looked after the people coming from Italy to the United 
 States in a systematic way, to see that they were guided to the places 
 and occupations for which they were best prepared, and they have 
 won our admiration by this thoughtfulness for us. It is with a feeling 
 •of being half at home that I find myself in this capital of Italy. 
 
 Genoa, January 5, 1919. 
 
 AT MONUMENT OF MAZZINI. 
 
 I am very much moved, sir, to be in the presence of this monu- 
 ment. On the other side of the water we have studied the life of 
 Mazzini with almost as much pride as if we shared in the glory of his 
 history, and I am very glad to acknowledge that his spirit has been 
 handed down to us of a later generation on both sides of the water. 
 It is delightful to me to feel that I am taking some small part in 
 accomplishing the realization of the ideals to which his life and thought 
 were devoted. It is with a spirit of veneration, sir, and with a spirit 
 I hope of emulation, that I stand in the presence of this monument 
 and bring my greetings and the greetings of America with our homage 
 to the great Mazzini. 
 
 AT THE MUNICIPALITE. 
 
 Mr. Mayor : 
 
 It is with many feelings of a very deep sort, perhaps too deep for 
 adequate expression, that I find myself in Genoa. Genoa is a natural 
 shrine for Americans. The connections of America with Genoa are 
 so many and so significant that there are some senses in which it may 
 be said that we drew our life and beginnings from this city. You 
 can realize, therefore, sir, with what emotion I receive the honor 
 which you have so generously conferred upon me of the citizenship 
 of this great city. In a way it seems natural for an American to be 
 a citizen of Genoa, and I shall always count it among the most de- 
 lightful associations of my life that you should have conferred this 
 honor upon me, and in taking away this beautiful edition of the 
 works of Mazzini I hope that I shall derive inspiration from these 
 volumes, as I have already derived guidance from the principles 
 
30 
 
 which Mazzini so eloquently expressed. It is very inspiring, sir, to feel 
 how the human spirit is refreshed again and again from its original 
 sources. It is delightful to feel how the voice of one people speaks 
 to another through the mouth of men who have by some gift of God 
 been lifted above the common level and seen the light of humanity, 
 and therefore these words of your prophet and leader will, I hope, be 
 deeply planted in the hearts of my fellow countrymen. There is 
 already planted in those hearts, sir, a very deep and genuine affection 
 for the great Italian people, and the thoughts of my own Nation turn 
 constantly as we read our own history to this beautiful and distin- 
 guished city. 
 
 May I not thank you, sir, for myself and for Mrs. Wilson and for 
 my daughter, for the very gracious welcome you have accorded us 
 and again express my pride and pleasure ? 
 
 AT MONUMENT OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 In standing in front of this monument, sir, I fully recognize the 
 significance of what you have said. Columbus did do a service to 
 mankind in discovering America, and it is America's pleasure and 
 America's pride that she has been able to show that it was a service 
 to mankind to open that great continent to settlement, the settlement 
 of a free people, of a people, because free, desiring to see other peoples 
 free and to share their liberty with the people of the world. It is for 
 this reason no doubt, besides his fine spirit of adventure, that Colum- 
 bus will always be remembered and honored not only here in the land 
 of his birth, but throughout the world as the man who led the way 
 to those fields of freedom which, planted with a great seed, have now 
 sprung up to the fructification of the world. 
 
 Milan, January 5, 1919. 
 
 AT STATION. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : You make my heart very warm indeed 
 by a welcome like this, and I know the significance of this sort of 
 welcome in Milan, because I know how the heart of Italy and of the 
 Italian people beats strong here. It is delightful to feel how your 
 thoughts have turned towards us, because our thoughts first turned 
 towards you, and they turn toward you from not a new but an 
 ancient friendship, because the American people have long felt the 
 pulse of Italy beat with their pulse in the desire for freedom. We 
 have been students of your history, sir. We know the vicissitudes 
 and struggles through which you have passed. We know that no 
 nation has more steadfastly held to a single course of freedom in its 
 desires and its efforts than have the people of Italy, and therefore 
 I come to this place, where the life of Italy seems to beat so strong, 
 
31 
 
 with a peculiar gratification. I feel that I am privileged to come 
 into contact with you, and I want you to know how the words that 
 I am uttering of sympathy and of friendship are not my own alone, 
 but they are the words of the great people whom I represent. I was 
 saying a little while ago at the monument to Columbus that he did a 
 great thing, greater even than was realized at the time it was done. 
 He discovered a new continent not only, but he opened it to children 
 of freedom, and those children are now privileged to come back to 
 their mother and to assist her in the high enterprise upon which her 
 heart had always been set. 
 
 It is therefore with the deepest gratification that I find myself 
 here and thank you for your generous welcome. 
 
 AT THE PALAZZIO. 
 
 I can not tell you how much complimented I am by your coming 
 in person to give me this greeting. I have never known such a 
 greeting as the people of Milan have given me on the streets. It has 
 brought tears to my eyes, because I know that it comes from their 
 hearts. I can see in their faces the same things that I feel towards 
 them, and I know that it is an impulse of their friendship towards 
 the Nation that I represent as well as a gracious welcome to myself. 
 I want to reecho the hope that we may all work together for a great 
 peace as distinguished from a mean peace. And may I suggest this, 
 that is a great deal in my thoughts: The world is not going to consist 
 now of great empires. It is going to consist for the most part of 
 small nations apparently, and the only thing that can bind small 
 nations together is the knowledge that each wants to treat the others 
 fairly. That is the only thing. The world has already shown that 
 its progress is industrial. You can not trade with people whom you 
 do not trust, and who do not trust you. Confidence is the basis of 
 everything that we must do, and it is a delightful feeling that those 
 ideals are sustained by the people of Italy and by a wonderful body 
 of people such as you have in this great city of Milan. It is with a 
 sense of added encouragement and strength that I return to Paris to 
 take part in the counsels that will determine the items of the peace. 
 I thank you with all my heart. 
 
 TO THE LEAGUE OF MOTHERS AND WIDOWS. 
 
 I am very much touched by this evidence of your confidence, and 
 I would like to express to you if I could the very deep sympathy I 
 have for those who have suffered irreparable losses in Italy. Our 
 hearts have been touched. And you have used the right word. 
 Our men have come with the spirit of the crusades against that which 
 was wrong and in order to see to it, if it is possible, that such terrible 
 things never happen again. I am very grateful to you for your 
 kindness. 
 
32 
 
 The Municipalite, Milan, January 5, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Mayor: 
 
 May I not say to you as the representative of this great city that 
 it is impossible for me to put into words the impressions I have 
 received to-day? The overwhelming welcome, the spontaneous 
 welcome, the welcome that so evidently came from the heart, has 
 been profoundly moving to me, sir, and I have not failed to see the 
 significance of that welcome. You have yourself referred to it. I 
 am as keenly aware, I believe, sir, as anybody can be that the social 
 structure rests upon the great working classes of the world, and that 
 those working classes in the several countries of the world have by 
 their consciousness of community of interest, by their consciousness 
 of community of spirit, done perhaps more than any other influence 
 has to establish a world opinion, an opinion which is not of a nation, 
 which is not of a continent, but is the opinion, one might say, of 
 mankind. And I am aware, sir, that those of us who are now 
 charged with the very great and serious responsibility of concluding 
 the peace must think and act and confer in the presence of this 
 opinion; that we are not masters of the fortunes of any nation, but 
 that we are the servants of mankind; that it is not our privilege to 
 follow special interests, but that it is our manifest duty to study only 
 the general interest. 
 
 This is a solemn thing, sir, and here in Milan, where I know so 
 much of the pulse of international sympathy beats, I am glad to 
 stand up and say that I believe that that pulse beats also in my own 
 veins, and that I am not thinking of particular settlements so much 
 as I am of the general settlement. I was very much touched to-day, 
 sir, to receive at the hands of wounded soldiers a memorial in favor 
 of a league of nations, and to be told by them that that was what 
 they had fought for; not merely to win this war, but to secure 
 something beyond, some guarantee of justice, some equilibrium for 
 the world as a whole which would make it certain that they would 
 never have to fight a war like this again. This is the added obliga- 
 tion that is upon us who make peace. We can not merely sign a 
 treaty of peace and go home with clear consciences. We must do 
 something more. We must add, so far as we can, the securities 
 which suffering men everywhere demand ; and when I speak of suffer- 
 ing men I think also of suffering women. I know that splendid as 
 have been the achievements of your armies, and tremendous as 
 have been the sacrifices which they have made, and great the glory 
 which they have achieved, the real, hard pressure of the burden came 
 upon the women at home, whose men had gone to the front and who 
 were willing to have them stay there until the battle was fought out; 
 and as I have heard from your Minister of Food the story how for 
 
33 
 
 days together there would be no bread, and then know that when 
 there was no bread the spirit of the people did not flag, I take off 
 my hat to the great people of Italy and tell them that my admiration 
 is merged into friendship and affection. It is in this spirit that I 
 receive your courtes} T , sir, and thank you from the bottom of my 
 heart for this unprecedented reception which I have received at the 
 hands of your generous people. 
 
 The La Scala, Milan, January 5, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: 
 
 Again you have been very gracious, and again you have filled my 
 heart with gratitude because of your references to my own country, 
 which is so dear to me. I have been very much interested to be told, 
 Sir, that you are the chairman of a committee of entertainment which 
 includes all parties, without distinction. I am glad to interpret that 
 to mean that there is no division recognized in the friendship which is 
 entertained for America, and I am sure, sir, that I can assure you that 
 in America there would be a similar union of all parties to express 
 friendship and sympathy with Italy. Because, after all, parties are 
 founded upon differences of program and not often upon differences 
 of national sympathy. The thing that makes parties workable and 
 tolerable is that all parties love their own country and therefore 
 participate in the general sentiments of that country. 
 
 And so it is with us, sir. We have many parties, but we have a 
 single sentiment in this war and a single sentiment in the peace; and 
 at the heart of that sentiment lies our feeling towards those with 
 whom we have been associated in the great struggle. At first the 
 struggle seemed the mere natural resistance to aggressive force, but as 
 the consciousness of the nations grew it became more and more evi- 
 dent to them that they were fighting something that was more than 
 the aggression of the Central Empires. It was the spirit of militarism, 
 the spirit of autocracy, the spirit of force; and against that spirit 
 rose, as always in the past, the spirit of liberty and of justice. Force 
 can always be conquered, but the spirit of liberty never can be, and 
 the beautiful circumstance about the history of liberty is that its 
 champions have always shown the power of self-sacrifice, have always 
 been willing to subordinate their personal interests to the common 
 good, have not wished to dominate their fellow men, but have wished 
 to serve them. This is what gives dignity; this is what gives im- 
 perishable victory. And with that victory has come about things 
 that are exemplified by a scene like this— the coming together of the 
 hearts of nations, the sympathy of great bodies of people who do not 
 speak the same vocabulary but do speak the same ideas. I am 
 
34 
 
 heartened by this delightful experience and hope that you will accept, 
 not only my thanks for myself and for those who are with me but also 
 my thanks on behalf of the American people. 
 
 ON THE BALCONY OF LA SCALA. 
 
 I wish I could take you all to some place where a similar body of my 
 fellow countrymen could show you their heart toward you as you have 
 shown me your heart toward them, because the heart of America has 
 gone out to the heart of Italy. We have been watchful of your 
 heroic struggle and of your heroic suffering. And it has been our 
 joy in these recent days to be associated with you in the victory 
 which has liberated Italy and liberated the world. Viva 1' Italia! 
 
 The Municipalite, Turin, January 6, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Mayor: 
 
 Both on the streets of this interesting city and here you have made 
 me feel at home. I feel almost as if it were the greeting of a people- 
 of whom I was indeed a fellow citizen. I am very much honored that 
 this great city, playing so important a role in the life and in the 
 industrial endeavor of Italy, should have conferred this high dis- 
 tinction upon me, and I take the liberty of interpreting your action, 
 sir, not merely as a personal compliment to myself, to whom you 
 ascribe virtues and powers which I feel I do not possess, but as a 
 tribute to the people whom I represent. 
 
 The people of the United States were reluctant to take part in the 
 war, not because they doubted the justice of the cause, but because 
 it was the tradition of the American Republic to play no part in the 
 politics of other continents, but as the struggle grew from stage to 
 stage they were more and more moved by the conviction that it was 
 not a European struggle; that it was a struggle for the freedom of the 
 world and the liberation of humanity, and with that conviction it was 
 impossible that they should withhold their hand. Their hearts had 
 been with you from the first, and then when the time of their convic- 
 tion came they threw every resource of men and money and enthu- 
 siasm into the struggle. It has been a very happy circumstance 
 that America should be thus associated with Italy. Our ties had 
 been many and intimate before the war, and now they constitute a 
 pledge of friendship and of permanent association of purpose which 
 must delight both people. 
 
 May I not, therefore, again thank you for the honor } 7 ou have con- 
 ferred upon me, and take the privilege of greeting you affectionately 
 as my fellow citizens ? 
 
35 
 
 ON THE BALCONY OF THE MUNICIPALITE. 
 
 My friends of Turin, I now have the privilege of addressing you as 
 my fellow citizens. It is impossible at this distance that my voice 
 should reach all of you, but I want you to know that I bring the 
 greetings, and affectionate greetings, of the people of the United 
 States to the people of Italy and the people of the great city of Turin. 
 My sentiment, coming from the heart, is the sentiment of the Amer- 
 ican people. Viva, 1' Italia! 
 
 The Philharmonic Club, Turin, January 6, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Mayor, Your Excellency, Fellow Citizens: 
 
 You show your welcome in many delightful ways and in no more 
 delightful way than that in which you have shown it in this room. 
 The words which the mayor has uttered have touched me very much 
 and I have been most touched and stimulated by the words which 
 Senor Postorelli has so kindly uttered in behalf of the Government 
 of this great kingdom. It is very delightful to feel my association 
 with that government and with this city. I know how much of the 
 vitality of Italian effort comes out of this great center of industry 
 and of thought. As I passed through your streets I had this sensa- 
 tion, a sensation which I have often had in my own dear country 
 at home — a sensation of friendship and close sympathetic contact. 
 I could have believed myself in an American city. And I felt more 
 than that. I felt, as I have also felt at home, that the real blood 
 of the country flowed there in the street, in the veins of those plain 
 people who more than some of the rest of us have borne the stress 
 and burden of the war. 
 
 Because think of the price at which you and at which we have 
 purchased the victory which we have won. Think of the price of 
 blood and treasure not only, but the price of tears, the price of hunger 
 on the part of little children, the hopes delayed, the dismay of the 
 prospects, that bore heavy upon the homes of simple people every- 
 where. That is the price of liberty. Those of us who plan battles, 
 those of us who conceive policies, do not bear the burden of it. 
 We direct and others execute. We plan and others suffer, and the 
 conquest of spirit is greater than the conquest of arms. These are 
 the people that hold tight. These are the people that never let go 
 and say nothing. They merely live from day to day, determined 
 that the glory of Italy or the glory of the United States shall not 
 depart from her. I have been thinking as I have passed through 
 your streets and sat here that this was the place of the labors of the 
 great Cavour, and I have thought how impossible many of the 
 tilings that have happened in Italy since, how impossible the great 
 achievements of Italy in the last three years, would have been with- 
 
36 
 
 out the work of Cavour. Ever since I was a boy one of my treasured 
 portraits has been a portrait of Cavour; because I had read about 
 him, of the way in which his mind took in the nation, the national 
 scope of it, of the strong determined patriotic endeavor that never 
 allowed obstacles to dismay him, and of the way he always stood 
 at the side of the King and planned the great things which the King 
 was enabled to accomplish. 
 
 And I have another thought. This is a great industrial center. 
 Perhaps you gentlemen think of the members of your Government 
 and the members of the other governments who are going to confer 
 now at Paris as the real makers of war and of peace. We are not. 
 You are the makers of war and of peace. The pulse of the modern 
 world beats on the farm and in the mine and in the factory. The 
 plans of the modern world are made in the counting house. The men 
 who do the business of the world now shape the destinies of the 
 world, and peace or war is in large measure in the hands of those who 
 conduct the commerce of the world. That is one reason why unless 
 we establish friendships, unless we establish sympathies, we clog all 
 the processes of modern life. As I have several times said, you can 
 not trade with a man who does not trust you, and you will not trade 
 with a man whom you do not trust. Trust is the very life and 
 breadth of business; and suspicion, unjust national rivalry stands in 
 the way of trade, stands in the way of industry. A country is owned 
 and dominated by the capital that is invested in it. I do not need 
 to instruct you gentlemen in that fundamental idea. In proportion 
 as foreign capital comes in among you and takes its hold, in that 
 proportion does foreign influence come in and take its hold. And 
 therefore the processes of capital are in a certain sense the processes 
 of conquest. 
 
 I have only this to suggest, therefore. We go to Paris to conclude 
 a peace. You stay here to continue it. We start the peace. It is 
 your duty to continue it. We can only make the large conclusions. 
 You constantly transact the details which constitute the processes 
 of the life of nations. 
 
 And so it is very delightful to me to stand in this company and 
 feel that we are not foreigners to each other. We think the same 
 thoughts. We entertain the same purposes. We have the same 
 ideals; and this war has done this inestimable service: It has brought 
 nations into close vital contact, so that they feel the pulses that are 
 in each other, so that they know the purposes by which each is ani- 
 mated. We know in America a great deal about Italy, because we 
 have so many Italian fellow citizens. When Baron Soninno was 
 arguing the other day for the extension of the sovereignty of Italy 
 over Italian populations, I said, "I am sorry we can not let you have 
 New York, which, I understand, is the greatest Italian city in the 
 
37 
 
 world." I am told that there are more Italians in New York City 
 than in any city in Italy, and I am proud to be President of a Nation 
 which contains so large an element of the Italian race, because, as a 
 student of literature, I know the genius that has originated in this 
 great nation, the genius of thought and of poetry and of philosophy 
 and of music, and I am happy to be a part of a Nation which is en- 
 riched and made better by the introduction of such elements of genius 
 and of inspiration. 
 
 May I not again thank the representative of this great city and the 
 representative of the Government for the welcome they have given 
 me, and say again, for I can not say it too often, Viva l'ltalia ? 
 
 ON THE BALCONY AT THE PHILHARMONIC CLUB. 
 
 It is very delightful to feel your friendship given so cordially and 
 so graciously, and I hope with all my heart that in the peace that is 
 now about to be concluded Italy may find her happiness and her 
 prosperity. I am sure that I am only speaking the sentiments that 
 come from the heart of the American people when I say, Viva l'ltalia. 
 
 University, Turin, January 6, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Rector, Gentlemen of the Faculties of the University, 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 It is with a feeling of being in very familiar scenes that I come here 
 to-day. So soon as I entered the quadrangle and heard the voices 
 of the students it seemed to me as if the greater part of my life had 
 come back to me, and I am particularly honored that this distin- 
 guished university should have received me among its sons. It will 
 always be a matter of pride with me to remember this association 
 and the very generous words in which these honors have been con- 
 ferred upon me. 
 
 When I think seriously of the significance of a ceremony like this, 
 some very interesting reflections come to my mind, because, after all, 
 the comradeships of letters, the intercommunications of thought, are 
 among the permanent things of the world. There was a time when 
 scholars, speaking in the beautiful language in which the last address 
 was made, were the only international characters of the world; when 
 there was only one international community; the community of 
 scholars. As ability to read and write has extended, international 
 intercommunication has extended. But one permanent common 
 possession has remained, and that is the validity of sound thinking. 
 When men have thought along the lines of philosophy, have had 
 revealed to them the visions of poetry, have worked out in their 
 studies the permanent lines of law, have realized the great impulses 
 
38 
 
 of humanity, and then begun to advance human life materially by 
 the instrumentalities of science, they have been weaving a human 
 web which no power can permanently tear and destroy. And so in 
 being taken into the comradeship of this university I feel that I am 
 being taken into one of those things which will always bind the nations 
 together. After all, when we are seeking peace, we are seeking 
 nothing else than this, that men shall think the same thoughts, govern 
 their conduct by the same ideals, entertain the same purposes, love 
 their own people, but also love humanity, and above all else, love 
 that great and indestructible thing which we call justice and right. 
 These things are greater than we are. These are our real masters, 
 for they dominate our spirits, and the universities will have forgotten 
 their duty when they cease to weave this immortal web. It is one 
 of the chief griefs of this great war that the universities of the Central 
 Empires used the thoughts of science to destroy mankind. It is the 
 duty of the great universities of Italy and of the rest of the world to 
 redeem science from this disgrace, to show that the pulse of humanity 
 beats in the classroom, that the pulse of humanity also beats in the 
 laboratory, and that there are sought out, not the secrets of death 
 but the secrets of life. 
 
FRANCE. 
 Opening of the Peace Conference, Paris, January 18, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to propose as permanent chairman of 
 the' conference M. Clemenceau, the president of the council. I 
 would do this as a matter of custom. I would do it as a tribute to 
 the French Republic. But I wish to do it as something more than 
 that. I wish to do it as a tribute to the man. France deserves the 
 precedence not only because we are meeting in her capital and 
 because she has undergone some of the most tragical sufferings of 
 the war, but also because her capital, her ancient and beautiful 
 capital, has so often been the center of conferences of this sort upon 
 which the fortunes of large parts of the world turned. It is a very 
 delightful thought that the history of the world, which has so often 
 centered here, will now be crowned by the achievements of this 
 conference. Because there is a sense in which this is the supreme 
 conference of the history of mankind. More nations are represented 
 here than were ever represented in such a conference before. The 
 fortunes of all peoples are involved. A great war is ended which 
 seemed about to bring a universal cataclysm. The danger is passed. 
 A victory has been won for mankind, and it is delightful that we 
 should be able to record these great results in this place. 
 
 But it is the more delightful to honor France because we can 
 honor her in the person of so distinguished a servant. We have all 
 felt in our participation in the struggles of this war the fine stead- 
 fastness which characterized the leadership of the French people in 
 the hands of M. Clemenceau. We have learned to admire him, and 
 those of us who have been associated with him have acquired a 
 genuine affection for him. Moreover, those of us who have been in 
 these recent days in constant consultation with him know how 
 warmly his purpose is set toward the goal of achievement to which 
 all our faces are turned. He feels as we feel, as I have no doubt 
 everybody in this room feels, that we are trusted to do a great thing, 
 to do it in the highest spirit of friendship and accommodation, and 
 to do it as promptly as possible, in order that the hearts of men 
 may have fear lifted from them and that they may return to those 
 pursuits of life which will bring them happiness and contentment 
 and prosperity. Knowing his brotherhood of heart in these great 
 matters, it affords me a personal pleasure to propose not only that 
 the president of the council of ministers, but M. Clemenceau, shall 
 be the permanent chairman of this conference. 
 
 (39) 
 
4U 
 
 To the French Senate, Paris, January 20, 1919. 
 
 Mr. President of the Senate, Mr. President of the Republic: 
 You have made me feel your welcome in words as generous as they 
 are delightful, and I feel that you have paid me to-day a very unusual 
 and distinguished honor. You have graciously called me your friend. 
 May not I in tuin call this company a company of my friends ? For 
 everything that you have so finely said to-day, sir, has been corrobo- 
 rated in every circumstance of our visit to this country. Every- 
 where we have been welcomed not only, but welcomed in the same 
 spirit and with the same thought, until it has seemed as if the spirits 
 of the two countries came together in an unusual and beautiful 
 accord. 
 
 We know the long breeding of peril through which France has 
 gone. France thought us remote in comprehension and sympathy, 
 and I dare say there weie times when we did not comprehend as you 
 compiehended the danger in the presence of which the world stood. 
 There was no time when we did not know of its existence, but there 
 were times when we did not know how near it was. And I fully 
 understand, sir, that throughout these trying years, when mankind 
 has waited for the catastrophe, the anxiety of France must have 
 been the deepest and most constant of all. For she did stand at the 
 frontier of freedom. She had carved out her own fortunes through 
 a long period of eager struggle. She had done great things in build- 
 ing up a great new France; and just across the border, separated 
 from her only by a few fortifications and a little country whose neu- 
 trality it has turned out the enemy did not respect, lay the shadow 
 cast by the cloud which enveloped Germany, the cloud of intrigue, 
 the cloud of dark purpose, the cloud of sinister design. This shadow 
 lay at the very borders of France. And yet it is fine to remember, 
 sir, that for France this was not only a peril but a challenge. France 
 did not tremble. France waited and got ready, and it is a fine thing 
 that though France quietly and in her own way prepared her sons 
 for the struggle that was coming, she never took the initiative or 
 did a single thing that was aggressive. She had prepared herself for 
 defense, not in order to impose her will upon other peoples. She 
 had prepared herself that no other people might impose its will upon 
 her. 
 
 As I stand with you and as I mix with the delightful people of 
 this country I see this in their thoughts: " America always was our 
 friend. Now she understands. Now she comprehends; and now she 
 has come to bring us this message, that understanding she will always 
 be ready to help." And, while, as you say, sii . this danger may prove 
 to be a continuing danger, while it is true that France will always 
 be nearest this threat, if we can not turn it from a threat into a 
 
41 
 
 promise, there are many elements that ought to reassure Franee. 
 There is a new world, not ahead of us, but around us. The whole 
 world is awake, and it is awake to its community of interest. It 
 knows that its dearest interests are involved in its standing together 
 for a common purpose. It knows that the peril of France, if it con- 
 tinues, will be the peril of the world. It knows that not only France 
 must organize against this peril, but that the world must organize 
 against it. 
 
 So I see in these welcomes not only hospitality, not only kindness, 
 not only hope, but purpose, a definite, clearly defined purpose that 
 men, understanding one another, must now support one another, 
 and that all the sons of freedom are under a common oath to see that 
 freedom never suffers this danger again. That to my mind is the 
 impressive element of this welcome. I know how much of it. sir, 
 and I know how little of it, to appropriate to myself. I know that 
 I have the very distinguished honor to represent a nation whose 
 heart is in this business, and I am proud to speak for the people 
 whom I represent. But I know that you honor me in a representa- 
 tive capacity, and that my words have validity only in proportion 
 as they are the words of the people of the United States. I delight 
 in this welcome, therefore, as if 1 had brought the people of the 
 United States with me and they could see in your faces what I see — 
 the tokens of welcome and affection. 
 
 The sum of the whole matter is that France has earned and has 
 won the brotherhood of the world. She has stood at the chief post 
 of danger, and the thoughts of mankind and her brothers everywhere, 
 her brothers in freedom, turn to her and center upon her. If this be 
 true, as I believe it to be, Fiance is fortunate to have suffered. She 
 is fortunate to have proved her mettle as one of the champions of 
 liberty, and she has tied to herself once and for all all those who 
 love freedom and truly believe in the progress and rights of man. 
 
 Peace Conference; Paris, January 25, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: 
 
 I consider it a distinguished privilege to be permitted to open the 
 discussion in this conference on the league of nations. We have 
 assembled for two purposes, to make the present settlements which 
 have been rendered necessary by this war, and also to secure the 
 peace of the world, not only by the present settlements but by the 
 arrangements we shall make at this conference for its maintenance. 
 The league of nations seems to me to be necessary for both of these 
 purposes. There are many complicated questions connected with 
 the present settlements which perhaps can not be successfully worked 
 
42 
 
 out to an ultimate issue by the decisions we shall arrive at here. I 
 can easily conceive that many of these settlements will need subse- 
 quent reconsideration, that many of the decisions we make shall 
 need subsequent alteration in some degree; for, if I may judge by 
 my own study of some of these questions, they are not susceptible 
 of confident judgments at present. 
 
 It is, therefore, necessary that we should set up some, machinery 
 by which the work of this conference should be rendered complete. 
 We have assembled here for the purpose of doing very much more 
 than making the present settlements. We are assembled under very 
 peculiar conditions of world opinion. I may say without straining 
 the point that we are not representatives of Governments, but rep- 
 resentatives of peoples. It will not suffice to satisfy governmental 
 circles anywhere. It is necessary that we should satisfy the opinion 
 of mankind. The burdens of this war have fallen in an unusual 
 degree upon the whole population of the countries involved. I do 
 not need to draw for you the picture of how the burden has been 
 thrown back from the front upon the older men, upon the women, 
 upon the children, upon the homes of the civilized world, and how 
 the real strain of the war has come where the eye of government 
 could not reach, but where the heart of humanity beats. We are 
 bidden by these people to make a peace which will make them se- 
 cure. We are bidden by these people to see to it that this strain 
 does not come upon them again, and I venture to say that it has 
 been possible for them to bear this strain because they hoped that 
 those who represented them could get together after this war and 
 make such another sacrifice unnecessary. 
 
 It is a solemn obligation on our part, therefore, to make permanent 
 arrangements that justice shall be rendered and peace maintained. 
 This is the central object of our meeting. Settlements may be tem- 
 porary, but the action of the nations in the interest of peace and 
 justice must be permanent. We can set up permanent processes. 
 We may not be able to set up permanent decisions. Therefore, it 
 seems to me that we must take, so far as we can, a picture of the world 
 into our minds. Is it not a startling circumstance, for one thing, 
 that the great discoveries of science, that the quiet studies of men in 
 laboratories, that the thoughtful developments which have taken 
 place in quiet lecture rooms, have now been turned to the destruction 
 of civilization ? The powers of destruction have not so much multi- 
 plied as gained facility. The enemy whom we have just overcome 
 had at his seats of learning some of the principal centers of scientific 
 study and discovery, and he used them in order to make destruction 
 sudden and complete; and only the watchful, continuous cooperation, 
 of men can see to it that science as well as armed men is kept within 
 the harness of civilization. 
 
43 
 
 In a sense the United States is less interested in this subject than 
 the other nations here assembled. With her great territory and her 
 extensive sea borders, it is less likely that the United States should 
 suffer from the attack of enemies than that many of the other 
 nations here should suffer; and the ardor of the United States — for it 
 is a very deep and genuine ardor — for the society of nations is not an 
 ardor springing out of fear or apprehension, but an ardor springing 
 out of the ideals which have come to consciousness in this war. In 
 coming into this war the United States never for a moment thought 
 that she was intervening in the politics of Europe or the politics of 
 Asia or the politics of any part of the world. Her thought was that 
 all the world had now become conscious that there was a single cause 
 which turned upon the issues of this war. That was the cause of 
 justice and of liberty for men of every kind and place. Therefore, 
 the United States should feel that its part in this war had been played 
 in vain if there ensued upon it merely a body of European settlements. 
 It would feel that it could not take part in guaranteeing those Euro- 
 pean settlements unless that guaranty involved the continuous 
 superintendence of the peace of the world by the associated nations 
 of the world. 
 
 Therefore, it seems to me that we must concert our best judgment 
 in order to make this league of nations a vital thing — not merely a 
 formal thing, not an occasional thing, not a thing sometimes called 
 into life to meet an exigency, but always functioning in watchful 
 attendance upon the interests of the nations — and that its continuity 
 should be a vital continuity; that it should have functions that are 
 continuing functions and that do not permit an intermission of its 
 watchfulness and of its labor; that it should be the eye of the nations 
 to keep watch upon the common interest, an eye that does not 
 slumber, an eye that is everywhere watchful and attentive. 
 
 And if we do not make it vital, what shall we do? We shall 
 disappoint the expectations of the peoples. This is what their 
 thought centers upon. I have had the very delightful experience 
 of visiting several nations since I came to this side of the water, and 
 every time the voice of the body of the people reache me through 
 any representative, at the front of its plea stood the hope for the 
 league of nations. Gentlemen, the select classes of mankind are no 
 longer the governors of mankind. The fortunes of mankind are 
 now in the hands of the plain people of the whole world. Satisfy 
 them, and you have justified their confidence not only but estab- 
 lished peace. Fail to satisfy them, and no arrangement that you 
 can make will either set up or steady the peace of the world. 
 
 You can imagine, gentlemen, I dare say, the sentiments and the 
 purpose with which representatives of the United States support 
 this great project for a league of nations. We regard it as the key- 
 
44 
 
 stone of the whole program which expressed our purposes and ideals 
 in this war and which the associated nations have accepted as the 
 basis of the settlement. If we returned to the United States without 
 having made every effort in our power to realize this program, we 
 should return to meet the merited scorn of our fellow citizens. For 
 they are a body that constitutes a great democracy. They expect 
 their leaders to speak their thoughts and no private purpose of their 
 own. They expect their representatives to be their servants. We 
 have no choice but to obey their mandate. But it is with the greatest 
 enthusiasm and pleasure that we accept that mandate; and because 
 this is the keystone of the whole fabric, we have pledged our every 
 purpose to it, as we have to every item of the fabric. We would 
 not dare abate a single part of the program which constitutes our 
 instruction. We would not dare compromise upon any matter as 
 the champion of this thing — this peace of the world, this attitude of 
 justice, this principle that we are the masters of no people but are 
 here to see that every people in the world shall choose its own mas- 
 ters and govern its own destinies, not as we wish but as it wishes. 
 We are here to see, in short, that the very foundations of this war 
 are swept away. Those foundations were the private choice of small 
 coteries of civil rulers and. military staffs. Those foundations were 
 the aggression of great powers upon the small. Those foundations 
 were the holding together of empires of unwilling subjects by the 
 duress of arms. Those foundations were the power of small bodies 
 of men to work their will upon mankind and use them as pawns in a 
 game. And nothing less than the emancipation of the world from 
 these things will accomplish peace. You can see that the represen- 
 tatives of the United States are, therefore, never put to the embar- 
 rassment of choosing a way of expediency, because they have laid 
 down for them the unalterable lines of principle. And, thank 
 God, those lines have been accepted as the lines of settlement by all 
 the high-minded men who have had to do with the beginnings of 
 this great business. 
 
 I hope, Mr. Chairman, that when it is known, as I feel confident 
 it will be known, that we have adopted the principle of the league of 
 nations and mean to work out that principle in effective action, we 
 shall by that single thing have lifted a great part of the load of 
 anxiety from the hearts of men everywhere. We stand in a peculiar 
 case. As I go about the streets here I see everywhere the American 
 uniform. Those men came into the war after we had uttered our 
 purposes. They came as crusaders, not merely to win a war, but to 
 win a cause; and I am responsible to them, for it fell to me to formu- 
 late the purposes for which I asked them to fight, and I, like them, 
 must be a crusader for these things, whatever it costs and whatever 
 it mav be necessary to do, in honor, to accomplish the object for 
 
45 
 
 which they fought. I have been glad to find from day to day that 
 there is no question of our standing alone in this matter, for there are 
 champions of this cause upon every hand. I am merely avowing 
 this in order that you may understand why, perhaps, it fell to us, 
 who are disengaged from the politics of this great Continent and of 
 the Orient, to suggest that this was the keystone of the arch and 
 why it occurred to the generous mind of our president to call upon 
 me to open this debate. It is not because we alone represent this 
 idea, but because it is our privilege to associate ourselves with you 
 in representing it. 
 
 I have only tried in what I have said to give you the fountains of 
 the enthusiasm which is within us for this thing, for those fountains 
 spring, it seems to me, from all the ancient wrongs and sympathies of 
 mankind, and the very pulse of the world seems to beat to the surface 
 in this enterprise. 
 
 To Delegation of Working Women of France, Paris, January 25, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Thompson and Ladies: 
 
 You have not only done me a great honor, but you have touched 
 me very much by this unexpected tribute; and may I add that you 
 have frightened me ? Because, realizing the great confidence you 
 place in me, I am led to question my own ability to justify that 
 confidence. You have not placed your confidence wrongly in my 
 hopes and purposes, but perhaps not all of those hopes and purposes 
 can be realized in the great matter that you have so much at heart, 
 the right of women to take their full share in the political life of the 
 nations to which they belong. That is necessarily a domestic ques- 
 tion for the several nations. A conference of peace, settling the 
 relations of nations with each other, would be regarded as going 
 very much outside its province if it undertook to dictate to the several 
 States what their internal policy should be. 
 
 At the same time, those considerations apply also to conditions of 
 labor, and it does seem to be likely that the conference will take some 
 action by way of expressing its sentiments at any rate with regard to 
 the international aspects at least of labor, and I should hope that 
 some occasion might be offered for the case not only of the women 
 of France but of their sisters all over the world to be presented to 
 the consideration of the conference. The conference is turning out 
 to be a rather unwieldy body, a very large body, representing a 
 great many nations, large and small, old and new, and the method 
 of organizing its work successfully, I am afraid, will have to be 
 worked out stage by stage. Therefore, I have no confident predic- 
 tion to make as to the way in which it can take up questions of 
 this sort. 
 
46 
 
 But what I ha\u most at heart to-day is to avail myself of this 
 opportunity to express my admiration for the women of France, 
 and my admiration for the women of all the nations that have been 
 engaged in the war. By the fortunes of this war the chief burden 
 has fallen upon the women of France, and they have borne it with 
 a spirit and a devotion which has commanded the admiration of the 
 world. I do not think that the people of France fully realize, per- 
 haps, the intensity of sympathy that other nations have felt for them. 
 They think of us in America, for example, as a long way off, and we 
 are in space, but we are not in thought. You must remember that 
 the United States is made up of the nations of Europe; that French 
 sympathies run straight across the seas, not merely by historic 
 association but by blood connection; and that these nerves of sym- 
 pathy are quick to transmit the impulses of the one nation to the 
 other. We have followed your sufferings with a feeling that we were 
 witnessing one of the most heroic and, may I add at the same time, 
 satisfactory things in the world — satisfactory because it showed the 
 strength of the human spirit, the indomitable power of women and 
 men alike to sustain any burden if the cause was great enough. In 
 an ordinary war there might have been some shrinking, some sinking 
 of effort, but this was not an ordinary war. This was a war not only 
 to redeem France from an enemy but to redeem the world from an 
 enemy, and France, therefore, and the women of France, strained 
 their heart to sustain the world. 
 
 I hope that the strain has not been in vain. I know that it has not 
 been in vain. This war has been peculiar and unlike other wars, in 
 that it seemed sometimes as if the chief strain was behind the lines 
 and not at the lines. It took so many men to conduct the war that 
 the older men and the women at home had to carry the nation. 
 Not only so, but the industries of the nation were almost as much 
 part of the fighting as what actually took place at the fronts. So 
 it is for that reason that I have said to those with whom I am at 
 present associated that this must be a people's peace, because this 
 was a people's war. The people won this war, not the governments, 
 and the people must reap the benefits of the war. At every turn we 
 must see to it that it is not an adjustment between governments 
 merely, but an arrangement for the peace and security of men and 
 women everywhere. The little, obscure sufferings and the daily 
 unknown privations, the unspoken sufferings of the heart, are the 
 tragical things of his war. They have been borne at home, and the 
 center of the home is the woman. My heart goes out to you, therefore, 
 ladies, in a very unusual degree, and I welcome this opportunity to 
 bring you this message, not from myself merely, but from the great 
 people whom I represent. 
 
47 
 
 To the League for the Rights of Man, Paris, January 28, 1919. 
 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 I particularly appreciate your courtesy in coming hi person to 
 convey these admirable sentiments to me. The phrase "the rights 
 of man" is somehow associated more intimately with the history of 
 France than with the history of any other country, and I think that 
 the whole world has regarded France as a sort of pioneer in the ideal 
 interpretation of that phrase. It was not an accident which drew 
 France and the United States into close association. The Marquis 
 Lafayette did not come to the United States because he alone enter- 
 tained the sentiment of sympathy. He came, and we recognized 
 that he came as a representative — shall I say, knight errant? — of 
 the sympathy of France; and when this opportunity came, not to 
 repay our debt to France, for such debts are not repaid, but to show 
 the similar sentiment that moved us and the equal willingness on 
 our part to help France in her time of need, it was with genuine 
 satisfaction that we came to help. It is true, sir, I believe, that our 
 coining prevented a catastrophe that might ha^e overwhelmed the 
 world. That adds to our delight; that adds to our gratification that 
 we could have served France in so exigent an hour. 
 
 Therefore, when you, who have through many difficulties repre- 
 sented an ideal principle, bring me these assurances of your friend- 
 ship, it causes me an unusual emotion. I am grateful to you. I 
 appreciate your homage and feel that it brings a message not only of 
 friendly feeling but a message of comprehension and sympathy 
 which is peculiarly delightful and acceptable. 
 
 To Delegation from French Society of Nations, Paris, February 12, 1919. 
 
 I appreciate very deeply what Mr. M has said, and I take it 
 
 that his kind suggestion is that some time after my return we should 
 arrange a public meeting at which I am quite confident, as I think 
 he is, we may celebrate the completion of the work, at any rate up 
 to a certain very far advanced stage, the consummation of which 
 we have been hoping for and working for for a long time. It would 
 be a very happy thing if that could be arranged. I can only say for 
 myself that I sincerely hope it can be. I should wish to lend any 
 assistance possible to so happy a consummation. 
 
 I can not help thinking of how many miracles this war has already 
 wrought — miracles of comprehension as to our interdependence as 
 nations and as human beings; miracles as to the removal of the 
 obstacles which seemed big and now have grown small, in the way 
 of the active and organized cooperation of nations in regard to the 
 establishment and maintenance of justice. And the thoughts of 
 
48 
 
 the people having been drawn together, there has already been 
 created a force which is not only very great but very formidable, a 
 force which can be rapidly mobilized, a force which is very effective 
 when mobilized, namely, the moral force of the world. One advan- 
 tage in seeing one another and talking with one another is to find that, 
 after all, we all think the same way. We may try to put the result 
 of the thing into different forms, but we start with the same principles. 
 
 I have often been thought of as a man more interested in principles 
 than in practice, whereas, as a matter of fact, I can say that in one 
 sense principles have never interested me. Because principles prove 
 themselves when stated. They do not need any debate. The 
 thing that is difficult and interesting is how to put them into practice. 
 Large discourse is not possible on the principles, but large discourse 
 is necessary on the matter of realizing them. So that, after all, 
 principles until translated into practice are very thin and abstract 
 and, I may add, uninteresting things. It is not interesting to have 
 far-away visions, but it is interesting to have near-by visions, of what 
 it is possible to accomplish; and in a meeting such as you are pro- 
 jecting perhaps we can record the success that we shall then have 
 achieved, of putting a great principle into practice and demonstrated 
 that it can be put into practice, though only, let us say five years ago, 
 it was considered an impracticable dream. 
 
 I will cooperate with great happiness in the plans that you may 
 form after my return, and I thank you very warmly for the com- 
 pliment of this personal visit. 
 
THIRD PLENARY SESSION OF PEACE CONFERENCE 
 
 Foreign Office, Quai d'Orsay, Friday, February 14, 1918, 3 P. M. 
 
 M. Clemanceau introduced President Wilson. 
 
 The President at the Peace Conference, Paris, February 14, 1919. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: 
 
 I have the honor and as I esteem it the very great privilege of 
 reporting in the name of the commission constituted by this con- 
 ference on the formulation of a plan for the league of nations. I am 
 happy to say that it is a unanimous report, a unanimous report fiom 
 the representatives of 14 nations — the United States, Great Britain, 
 France, Italy, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, China, Czecho-Slovak, Greece 
 Poland, Portugal, Roumania, and Serbia. I think it will be service- 
 able and interesting if I, with your permission read the document as 
 the only report we have to make. 
 
 COVENANT 
 
 PREAMBLE 
 
 In order to promote international co-operation and to secure international peace and 
 security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war, by the prescription of 
 open, just and honorable relations between nations, by the firm establishment of the 
 understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among governments, 
 and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations 
 in the dealings of organized peoples with one another, the Powers signatory to this 
 Covenant adopt this constitution of the League of Nations. 
 
 Article I. 
 
 The action of the High Contracting Parties under the terms of this Covenant shall 
 be effected through the instrumentality of meetings of a Body of Delegates represent- 
 ing the High Contracting Parties, of meetings at more frequent intervals of an Execu- 
 tive Council, and of a permanent international Secretariat to be established at the 
 Seat of the League. 
 
 Article II. 
 
 Meetings of the Body of Delegates shall be held at stated intervals and from time 
 to time as occasion may require for the purpose of dealing with matters within the 
 sphere of action of the League. Meetings of the Body of Delegates shall be held at 
 the Seat of the League or at such other place as may be found convenient and shall 
 consist of representatives of the High Contracting Parties. Each of the High Contract- 
 ing Parties shall have one vote but may have not more than three represenatives. 
 
 Article III. 
 
 The Executive Council shall consist of representatives of the United States of 
 America, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan, together with representatives 
 of four other States, members of the League. The selection of these four States shall 
 
 (49) 
 
50 
 
 be made by the Body of Delegates on such principles and in such manner as they 
 think fit. Pending the appointment of these representatives of the other States, 
 representatives of shall be members of the Executive Council. 
 
 Meetings of the Council shall be held from time to time as occasion may require and 
 at least once a year at whatever place may be decided on, or failing any such decision, 
 at the Seat of the League, and any matter within the sphere of action of the League or 
 affecting the peace of the world may be dealt with at such meetings. 
 
 Invitations shall be sent to any Power to attend a meeting of the Council at which 
 matters directly affecting its interests are to be discussed and no decision taken at 
 any meeting will be binding on such Power unless so invited. 
 
 Article IV. 
 
 All matters of procedure at meetings of the Body of Delegates or the Executive 
 Council including the appointment of Committees to investigate particular matters 
 shall be regulated by the Body of Delegates or the Executive Council and may be 
 decided by a majority of the States represented at the meeting. 
 
 The first meeting of the Body of Delegates and of the Executive Council shall be 
 summoned by the President of the United States of America. 
 
 Article V. 
 
 The permanent Secretariat of the League shall be established at 
 which shall constitute the Seat of the League. The Secretariat shall comprise such 
 secretaries and staff as may be required, under the general direction and control of a 
 Secretary-General of the League, who shall be chosen by the Executive Council; the 
 Secretariat shall be appointed by the Secretary-General subject to confirmation by 
 the Executive Council. 
 
 The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity at all meetings of the Body of 
 Delegates or of the Executive Council. 
 
 The expenses of the Secretariat shall be borne by the States members of the League 
 in accordance with the apportionment of the expenses of the International Bureau 
 of the Universal Postal Union. 
 
 Article VI. 
 
 Representatives of the High Contracting Parties and officials of the League 
 when engaged on the business of the League shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and 
 1 mmunities, and the buildings occupied by the League or its officials or by representa- 
 tives attending its meetings shall enjoy the benefits of extraterritoriality. 
 
 Article VII. 
 
 Admission to the League of States not signatories to the Covenant and not named 
 in the Protocol hereto as States to be invited to adhere to the Covenant requires the 
 assent of not less than two-thirds of the States represented in the Body of Delegates, 
 and shall be limited to fully self-governing countries including Dominions and 
 Colonies. 
 
 No State shall be admitted to the League unless it is able to give effective guarantees 
 of its sincere intention to observe its international obligations, and unless it shall 
 conform to such principles as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its naval 
 and military forces and armaments. 
 
 Article VIII. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties recognize the principle that the maintenance of peace 
 will require the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with 
 national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations, 
 having special regard to the geographical situation and circumstances of each State; 
 
51 
 
 and the Executive Council shall formulate plans for effecting such reduction. The 
 Executive Council shall also determine for the consideration and action of the several 
 governments what military equipment and armament is fair and reasonable in pro- 
 portion to the scale of forces laid down in the programme of disarmament; and these 
 limits, when adopted, shall not be exceeded without the permission of the Executive 
 Council. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties agree that the manufacture by private enterprise of 
 munitions and implements of war lends itself to grave objections, and direct the 
 Executive Council to advise how the evil effects attendant upon such manufacture 
 can be prevented, due regard being had to the necessities of those countries which 
 are not able to manufacture for themselves the munitions and implements of war 
 necessary for their safety. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties undertake in no way to conceal from each other the 
 condition of such of their industries as are capable of being adapted to war-like pur- 
 poses or the scale of their armaments, and agree that there shall be full and frank 
 interchange of information as to their military and naval programmes. 
 
 Article IX. 
 
 A permanent Commission shall b( constituted to advise the League on the execu- 
 tion of the provisions of Article VIII and on military and naval questions generally. 
 
 Article X. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and preserve as against external 
 aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all States 
 members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or 
 danger of such aggression the Executive Council shall advise upon the means by 
 which this obligation shall be fulfilled. 
 
 Article XI. 
 
 Any war or threat of war, whether immediately affecting any of the High Contract- 
 ing Parties or not, is hereby declared a matter of concern to the League, and the High 
 Contracting Parties reserve the right to take any action that may be deemed wise and 
 effectual to safeguard the peace of nations. 
 
 It is hereby also declared and agreed to be the friendly right of each of the High Con- 
 tracting Parties to draw the attention of the Body of Delegates or of the Executive 
 Council to any circumstances affecting international intercourse which threaten t o 
 disturb international peace or the good understanding between nations upon which 
 peace depends. 
 
 Article XII. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties agree that should disputes arise between them which 
 cannot be adjusted by the ordinary processes of diplomacy, they will in no case resort 
 to war without previously submitting the questions and matters involved either to 
 arbitration or to inquiry by the Executive Council and until three months after the 
 award by the arbitrators or a recommendation by the Executive Council; and that 
 they will not even then resort to war as against a member of the League which com- 
 plies with the award of the arbitrators or the recommendations of the Executive 
 Council. 
 
 In any case under this Article, the award of the arbitrators shall be made within a 
 reasonable time, and the recommendation of the Executive Council shall be made 
 within six months after the submission of the dispute. 
 
52 
 
 Article XIII. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties agree that whenever any dispute or difficulty shal 
 arise between them which they recognize to be suitable for submission to arbitration 
 and which cannot be satisfactorily settled by diplomacy, they will submit the whole 
 subject matter to arbitration. For this purpose the Court of arbitration to which the 
 case is referred shall be the court agreed on by the parties or stipulated in any Conven- 
 tion existing between them. The High Contracting Parties agree that they will carry 
 out in full good faith any award that may be rendered. In the event of any failure 
 to carry out the award, the Executive Council shall propose what steps can best be 
 taken to give effect thereto. 
 
 Article XIV. 
 
 The Executive Council shall formulate plans for the establishment of a Permanent 
 Court of International Justice and this Court shall, when established, be competent 
 to hear and determine any matter which the parties recognize as suitable for submission 
 to it for arbitration under the foregoing Article. 
 
 Article XV. 
 
 If there should arise between States members of the League any dispute likely to 
 lead to a rupture, which is not submitted to arbitration as above, the High Contracting 
 Parties agree that they will refer the matter to the Executive Council; either party to 
 the dispute may give notice of the existence of the dispute to the Secretary-General, 
 who will make all necessary arrangements for a full investigation and consideration 
 thereof. For this purpose the parties agree to communicate to the Secretary-General, 
 as promptly as possible, statements of their case with all the relevant facts and papers, 
 and the Executive Council may forthwith direct the publication thereof. 
 
 Where the efforts of the Council lead to the settlement of the dispute, a statement 
 shall be published indicating the nature of the dispute and the terms of settlement, 
 together with such explanations as may be appropriate. If the dispute has not been 
 settled, a report by the Council shall be published, setting forth with all necessary 
 facts and explanations the recommendation which the Council think just and proper 
 for the settlement of the dispute. If the report is unanimously agreed to by the 
 members of the Council other than the parties to the dispute, the High Contracting 
 Parties agree that they will not go to war with any party which complies with the 
 recommendation and that, if any party shall refuse so to comply, the Council shall 
 propose the measures necessary to give effect to the recommendation. If no such 
 unanimous report can be made, it shall be the duty of the majority and the privilege 
 of the minority to issue statements indicating what they believe to be the facts and 
 containing the recommendations which they consider to be just and proper. 
 
 I pause to point out that a misconception might arise in connec- 
 tion with one of the sentences I have just read — "If any party shall 
 refuse so to comply, the council shall propose the measures neces- 
 sary to give effect to the recommendation." A case in point, a purely 
 hypothetical case, is this: Suppose that there is in the possession of 
 a particular power a piece of territory or some other substantial 
 thing in dispute to which it is claimed that it is not entitled. Sup- 
 pose that the matter is submitted to the executive council for a recom- 
 mendation as to the settlement of the dispute, diplomacy having 
 failed; and suppose that the decision is in favor of the party which 
 claims the subject matter of dispute as against the party which has 
 the subject matter in dispute. Then, if the party in possession of 
 the subject matter in dispute merely sits still and does nothing, it 
 
53 
 
 has accepted the decision of the council, in the sense that it makes 
 no resistance; but something must be done to see that it surrenders 
 the subject matter in dispute. In such a case, the only case con- 
 templated, it is provided that the executive council may then con- 
 sider what steps may be necessary to oblige the party against whom 
 judgment has gone to comply with the decisions of the council. 
 
 The Executive Council may in any case under this Article refer the dispute to the 
 Body of Delegates. The dispute shall be so referred at the request of either party to 
 the dispute, provided that such request must be made within fourteen days after the 
 submission of the dispute. In any case referred to the Body of Delegates all the pro- 
 visions of this Article and of Article XII relating to the action and powers of the Exec, 
 utive Council shall apply to the action and powers of the Body of Delegates. 
 
 Article XVI. 
 
 Should any of the High < 'ontracting Parties break or disregard its covenants under 
 Article XII. it shall thereby ipso facto be deemed to have committed an act of war 
 against all the other members of the League, which hereby undertake immediately 
 to subject it to the severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibition of all 
 intercourse between their nationals and the nationals of the covenant-breaking State , 
 and the prevention of all financial, commercial, or personal intercourse between the 
 nationals of the covenant-breaking State and the nationals of any other State, whether 
 a member of the League or not. 
 
 It shall be the duty of the Executive Council in such case to recommend what 
 effective military or naval force the members of the League shall severally contribute 
 to the armed forces to be used to protect the covenants of the League. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties agree, further, that they will mutually support one 
 another in the financial and economic measures which are taken under this Article, 
 in order to minimize the loss and inconvenience resulting from the above measures, 
 and that they will mutually support one another in resisting any special measures 
 aimed at one of their number by the covenant-breaking State, and that they will 
 afford passage through their territory to the forces of any of the High Contracting 
 Parties who are co-operating to protect the covenants of the League. 
 
 Article XVII. 
 
 In the event of disputes between one State member of the League and another 
 State which is not a member of the League, or between States not members of the 
 League, the High Contracting Parties agree that the State or States not members of 
 the League shall be invited to accept the obligations of membership in the League 
 for the purposes of such dispute, upon such conditions as the Executive Council may 
 deem just, and upon acceptance of any such invitation, the above provisions shall 
 be applied with such modifications as may be deemed necessary by the League. 
 
 Upon such invitation being given the Executive Council shall immediately institute 
 an inquiry into the circumstances and merits of the dispute and recommend such 
 action as may seem best and most effectual in the circumstances. 
 
 In the event of a Power so invited refusing to accept the obligations of membership 
 in the League for the purposes of such dispute, and taking any action against a State 
 member of the League which in the case of a State member of the League would con- 
 stitute a breach of Article XII, the provisions of Article XVI shall be applicable as 
 against the State taking such action. 
 
 If both parties to the dispute when so invited refuse to accept the obligations of 
 membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, the Executive Council 
 may take such action and make such recommendations as will prevent hostilities and 
 will result in the settlement of the dispute. 
 
54 
 
 Article XVIII. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties agree that the League shall be entrusted with the 
 general supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with the countries in which 
 the control of this traffic is necessary in the common interest. 
 
 Let me say before reading article 19, that before being embodied 
 in this document it was the subject matter of a very careful discussion 
 by representatives of the five greater parties, and that their unanimous 
 conclusion in the matter is embodied in this article. 
 
 Article XIX. 
 
 To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased 
 to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which 
 are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous 
 conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the well- 
 b?ing and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization and that 
 securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in the constitution 
 of the League. 
 
 The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of 
 such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, 
 their experience or their geographical position, can best undertake this responsi- 
 bility, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as mandataries on behalf 
 of the League. 
 
 The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development 
 of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions and 
 other similar circumstances. 
 
 Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a 
 stage pf development where their existence as independent nations can be provision- 
 ally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a 
 mandatory power until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these 
 communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the mandatory 
 power. 
 
 Other peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage that the manda- 
 tary must be responsible for the administration of the territory subject to conditions 
 which will guarantee freedom of conscience or religion, subject only to the maintenance 
 of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms 
 traffic and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the establishment of fortifications 
 or military and naval bases and of military training of the natives for other than 
 police purposes and the defense of territory, and will also secure equal opportunitie 
 for the trade and commerce of other members of the League. 
 
 There are territories, such as South-west Africa and certain of the South Pacific 
 Islands, which, owing to the sparseness of their population, or their small size, or their 
 remoteness from the centers of civilization, or their geographical contiguity to the man- 
 datory state, and other circumstances, can be best administered under the laws of 
 the mandatory state, as integral portions thereof, subject to the safeguards above- 
 mentioned in the interests of the indigenous population. 
 
 In every case of mandate, the mandatory state shall render to the League an annual 
 report in reference to the territory committed to its charge. 
 
 The degree of authority, control, or administration to be exercised by the mandatory 
 State shall if not previously agreed upon by the High Contracting Parties in each 
 case be explicitly defined by the Executive Council in a special Act or Charter. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties further agree to establish at the seat of the League a 
 Mandatory Commission to receive and examine the annual reports of the Mandatory 
 Powers, and to assist the League in ensuring the observance of the terms of all Mandates. 
 
55 
 
 Article XX. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties will endeavor to secure and maintain fair and 
 humane conditions of labor for men, women and children both in their own countries 
 and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend; and 
 to that end agree to establish as part of the organization of the League a permanent 
 Bureau of Labor. 
 
 Article XXI. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties agree that provision shall be made through the 
 instrumentality of the League to secure and maintain freedom of transit and equitable 
 treatment for the commerce of all States members of the League, having in mind, 
 among other things, special arrangements with regard to the necessities of the regions 
 devastated during the war of 1914-1918. 
 
 Article XXII. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties agree to place under the control of the League all 
 international bureaux already established by general treaties if the parties to such 
 treaties consent^ Furthermore, they agree that all such international bureaux to 
 be constituted in future shall be placed under the control of the League. 
 
 Article XXIII. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties agree that every treaty or international engagement 
 entered into hereafter by any State member of the League, shall be forthwith registered 
 with the Secretary-General and as soon as possible published by him, and that no 
 such treaty or international engagement shall be binding until so registered. 
 
 Article XXIV. 
 
 It shall be the right of the Body of Delegates from time to time to advise the recon- 
 sideration by States members of the League, of treaties which have become inappli- 
 cable, and of international conditions, of which the continuance may endanger the 
 peace of the world. 
 
 Article XXV. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties severally agree that the present Covenant is accepted 
 as abrogating all obligations inter se which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, 
 and solemnly engage that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements incon- 
 sistent with the terms thereof. 
 
 In case of the Powers signatory hereto or subsequently admitted to the League shall, 
 before becoming a party to this Covenant, have undertaken any obligations which 
 are inconsistent with the terms of this Covenant, it shall be the duty of such Power 
 to take immediate steps to procure its release from such obligations. 
 
 Article XXVI. 
 
 Amendments to this Covenant will take effect when ratified by the States whose 
 representatives compose the Executive Council and by three-fourths of the States 
 whose representatives compose the Body of Delegates. 
 
 It gives me pleasure to add to this formal reading of the result of 
 our labors that the character of the discussion which occurred at the 
 sittings of the commission was not only of the most constructive but 
 of the most encouraging sort. It was obvious throughout our dis- 
 cussions that, although there were subjects upon which there were 
 individual differences of judgment, with regard to the method by 
 
56 
 
 which our objects should be obtained, there was practically at no 
 point any serious difference of opinion or motive as to the objects 
 which we were seeking. Indeed, while these debates were not made 
 the opportunity for the expression of enthusiasms and sentiments, 
 I think the other members of the commission will agree with me 
 that there was an undertone of high resolve and of enthusiasm 
 for the thing we were trying to do, which was heartening throughout 
 every meeting; because we felt that in a way this conference had 
 entrusted to us the expression of one of its highest and most important 
 purposes, to see to it that the concord of the world in the future with 
 regard to the objects of justice should not be subject to doubt or 
 uncertainty ; that the cooperation of the great body of nations should 
 be assured from the first in the maintenance of peace upon the 'terms 
 of honor and of the strict regard for international obligation. The 
 compulsion of that task was constantly upon us, and at no point was 
 there shown the slightest desire to do anything but suggest the best 
 means to accomplish that great object. There is very great signifi- 
 cance, therefore, in the fact that the result was reached unanimously. 
 Fourteen nations were represented, among them all of those powers 
 which for convenience we have called the great powers, and among 
 the rest a representation of the greatest variety of circumstance and 
 interest. So that I think we are justified in saying that it was a 
 representative group of the members of this great conference. The 
 significance of the result, therefore, has that deepest of all meanings, 
 the union of wills in a common purpose, a union of wills which can not 
 be resisted, and which I dare say no nation will run the risk of 
 attempting to resist. 
 
 Now, as to the character of the document. While it has consumed 
 some time to read this document, I think you will see at once that it 
 is, after all, very simple, and in nothing so simple as in the structure 
 which it suggests for the league of nations — a body of delegates, an 
 executive council, and a permanent secretariat. When it came to 
 the question of determining the character of the representation in 
 the body of delegates, we were all aware of a feeling which is current 
 throughout the world. Inasmuch as I am stating it in the presence 
 of official representatives of the various Governments here present, 
 including myself, I may say that there is a universal feeling 
 that the world can not rest satisfied with merely official guid- 
 ance. There reached us through many channels the feeling that 
 if the deliberative body of the league was merely to be a body of 
 officials representing the various Governments, the peoples of the 
 world would not be sure that some of the mistakes which pre- 
 occupied officials had admittedly made might not be repeated. 
 It was impossible to conceive a method or an assembly so large 
 and various as to be really representative of the great body of the 
 
57 
 
 peoples of the world, because, as I roughly reckon it, we represent 
 as we sit around this table more than twelve hundred million 
 people. You can not have a representative assembly of twelve 
 hundred million people, but if you leave it to each Government to 
 have, if it pleases, one or two or three representatives, though only a 
 single vote, it may vary its representation from time to time, not only 
 but it may originate the choice of its several representatives, if it 
 should have several, in different ways. Therefore, we thought that 
 this was a proper and a very prudent concession to the practically 
 universal opinion of plain men everywhere that they wanted the door 
 left open to a variety of representation instead of being confined to a 
 single official body with which they might or might not find them- 
 selves in sympathy. 
 
 And you will notice that this body has unlimited rights of discus- 
 sion — I mean of discussion of anything that falls within the field of 
 international relationship — and that it is specially agreed that war 
 or international misunderstandings or anything that may lead to 
 friction and trouble is everybody's business, because it may affect 
 the peace of the world. And in order to safeguard the popular power 
 so far as we could of this representative body it is provided, you will 
 notice, that when a subject is submitted, not to arbitration, but to 
 discussion by the executive council, it can upon the initiative of 
 either one of the parties to the dispute be drawn out of the executive 
 council onto the larger forum of the general body of delegates, 
 because throughout this instrument we are depending primarily and 
 chiefly upon one great force, and that is the moral force of the public 
 opinion of the world — the cleansing and clarifying and compelling 
 influences of publicity — so that intrigues can no longer have their 
 coverts, so that designs that are sinister can at any time be drawn 
 into the open, so that those things that are destroyed by the light 
 may be properly destroyed by the overwhelming light of the uni- 
 versal expression of the condemnation of the world. 
 
 Armed force is in the background in this program, but it is in the 
 background, and if the moral force of the world will not suffice, the 
 physical force of the world shall. But that is the last resort, because 
 this is intended as a constitution of peace, not as a league of war. 
 
 The simplicity of the document seems to me to be one of its chief 
 virtues, because, speaking for myself, I was unable to foresee the 
 variety of circumstances with which this league would have to deal. 
 I was unable, therefore, to plan all the machinery that might be neces- 
 sary to meet differing and unexpected contingencies. Therefore, I 
 should say of this document that it is not a straitjacket, but a vehicle 
 of life. A living thing is born, and we must see to it that the clothes 
 we put upon it do not hamper it — a vehicle of power, but a vehicle 
 in which power may be varied at the discretion of those who exercise 
 
58 
 
 it and in accordance with the changing circumstances of the time. 
 And yet, while it is elastic, while it is general in its terms, it is definite 
 in the one thing that we were called upon to make definite. It is & 
 definite guarantee of peace. It is a definite guarantee by word 
 against aggression. It is a definite guarantee against the things 
 which have just come near bringing the whole structure of civilization 
 into ruin. Its purposes do not for a moment lie vague. Its purposes 
 are declared and its powers made unmistakable.. 
 
 It is not in contemplation that this should be merely a league to 
 secure the peace of the world. It is a league which can be used for 
 cooperation in any international matter. That is the significance 
 of the provision introduced concerning labor. There are many 
 ameliorations of labor conditions which can be affected by conference 
 and discussion. I anticipate that there will be a very great usefulness 
 in the bureau of labor which it is contemplated shall be set up by the 
 league. While men and women and children who work have been 
 in the background through long ages, and sometimes seemed to be 
 forgotten, while Governments have had their watchful and suspicious 
 eyes upon the maneuvers of one another, while the thought of states- 
 men has been about structural action and the large transactions of 
 commerce and of finance, now, if I may believe the picture which I 
 see, there comes into the foreground the great body of the laboring 
 people of the world, the men and women and children upon whom the 
 great burden of sustaining the world must from day to day fall, 
 whether we wish it to do so or not; people who go to bed tired and 
 wake up without the stimulation of lively hope. These people will be 
 drawn into the field of international consultation and help, and will 
 be among the wards of the combined Governments of the world. 
 There is, I take leave to say, a very great step in advance in the mere 
 conception of that. 
 
 Then, as you will notice, there is an imperative article concerning 
 the publicity of all international agreements. Henceforth no member 
 of the league can claim any agreement valid which it has not regis- 
 tered with the secretary general, in whose office, of course, it will be 
 subject to the examination of anybody representing a member of 
 the league. And the duty is laid upon the secretary general to 
 publish every document of that sort at the earliest possible time. 
 I suppose most persons who have not been conversant with the 
 business of foreign offices do not realize how many hundreds of 
 these agreements are made in a single year, and how difficult it 
 might be to publish the more unimportant of them immediately— 
 how uninteresting it would be to most of the world to publish them 
 immediately — but even they must be published just so soon as it 
 is possible for the secretary general to publish them. 
 
59 
 
 Then there is a feature about this covenant which to my mind 
 is one of the greatest and most satisfactory advances that have 
 been made. We are done with annexations of helpless people, 
 meant in some instances by some powers to be used merely for 
 exploitation. We recognize in the most solemn manner that the 
 helpless and undeveloped peoples of the world, being in that con- 
 dition, put an obligation upon us to look after their interests pri- 
 marily before we use them for our interest; and that in all cases 
 of this sort hereafter it shall be the duty of the league to see that 
 the nations who are assigned as the tutors and advisers and directors 
 of those peoples shall look to their interest and to their development 
 before they look to the interests and material desires of the man- 
 datory nation itself. There has been no greater advance than this, 
 gentlemen. If you look back upon the history of the world you 
 will see how helpless peoples have too often been a prey to powers 
 that had no conscience in the matter. It has been one of the many 
 distressing revelations of recent years that the great power which 
 has just been happily defeated put intolerable burdens and injustices 
 upon the helpless people of some of the colonies which it annexed 
 to itself; that its interest was rather their extermination than their 
 development ; that the desire was to possess their land for European 
 purposes, and not to enjoy their confidence in order that mankind 
 might be lifted in those places to the next higher level. Now, the 
 world, expressing its conscience in law, says there is an end of that. 
 Our consciences shall be applied to this thing. States will be picked 
 out which have already shown that they can exercise a conscience 
 in this matter, and under their tutelage the helpless peoples of the 
 world will come into a new light and into a new hope. 
 
 So I think I can say of this document that it is at one and the 
 same time a practical document and a humane document. There 
 is a pulse of sympathy in it. There is a compulsion of conscience 
 throughout it. It is practical, and yet it is intended to purify, to 
 rectify, to elevate. And I want to say that, so far as my observation 
 instructs me, this is in one sense a belated document. I believe that 
 the conscience of the world has long been prepared to express itself 
 in some such way. We are not just now discovering our sympathy 
 for these people and our interest in them. We are simply expressing 
 it, for it has long been felt, and in the administration of the affairs of 
 more than one of the great States represented here — so far as I know, 
 of all the great States that are represented here — that humane 
 impulse has already expressed itself in their dealings with their 
 colonies whose peoples were yet at a low stage of civilization. We 
 have had many instances of colonies lifted into the sphere of com- 
 plete self-government. This is not the discovery of a principle. It 
 is the universal application of a principle. It is the agreement of 
 
60 
 
 the great nations which have tried to live by these standards in their 
 separate administrations to unite in seeing that their common force 
 and their common thought and intelligence are lent to this great 
 and humane enterprise. I think it is an occasion, therefore, for the 
 most profound satisfaction that this humane decision should have 
 been reached in a matter for which the world has long been waiting 
 and until a very recent period thought that it was still too early to 
 hope. 
 
 Many terrible things have come out of this war, gentlemen, but 
 some very beautiful things have come out of it. Wrong has been 
 defeated, but the rest of the world has been more conscious than it 
 ever was before of the majesty of right. People that were suspicious 
 of one another can now live as friends and comrades in a single 
 family, and desire to do so. The miasma of distrust, of intrigue, 
 is cleared away. Men are looking eye to eye and saying, "We are 
 brothers and have a common purpose. We did not realize it before, 
 but now we do realize it, and this is our covenant of fraternity and 
 of friendship." 
 
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