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Show UlfflETTEIl IK BUTTLE DAY JBSEHVED Representatives of America and Other Allied Nations Honor Son of France. First Great Action of War When Entente Imposed Will on Hun Celebrated. N'KW YORK, Sept. 6. Ambassador j .f iissor.'unl of France wan the priuci- ji.'tl spmikor at Franco-American exer-? exer-? ciscs held here today in New York's r historic city hall in commemoration of : tho 1 (j L! n 1 1 anniversary of the birth of i; Lafayette and the fifth anniversary I. of tho first battle of tho Marne. Amid i; the impressive services, messages of iViicitiition and congratulation upon the i ic(ory ol' allied arms, which had been ; brought to pass since tho last celebra- tiou of the Lafayette day national i'. committee were read from President Foincare of France, General Pershing, Major General Wood and Secretary of 1 .State Lansing. j, Kepre6entatives of a number of for- J '. t'ign governments were present at the ; ceremonies, which were held in the al-;' al-;' dermanie chamber. Other speakers were Myron T. Hcrrick, former governor of I Ohio and former United States am-.' am-.' bassador to France, and Dr. John H. ; Finicky, state commissioner of education. educa-tion. Tho governments represented in- cludod, besides Franco and the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Italy, j .lapan, Belgium, Russia, Poland and . (Jreece. in the afternoon services were j held at the Lalayctto monument in i Union Square, whi'ch were participated , in by the Societv of the Cincinnati, Sons of the Revolution, Grand Army of ; the Republic, Society of tho Colonial ; Wars and the Society of Founders and ' , Patriots of America, i Similar exercises were held at the f ame time in San Francisco, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Fayettcvillo, N. C, and Louisville, Ky., the same messages being be-ing read to the assemblages in those cities. In Philadelphia, in addition, a cable message also was read from the president presi-dent of the Paris municipal council. Wales Sends Message. ; "I am proud to be asked to associate ' myself with your celebration," wired j the Prince of Wales. "The British empire em-pire can never forget its debt to France ! for tho immortal victory of the Marne, the first great action of the war,in i, which the French and British armies, . side by side, imposed their will upon " the enemy." i ; Field Marshal Haig, Admiral Beatty, Premier Clemeuceau of France, Andre ; Tardieu and A. J. Balfour also sent characteristic greetings. Other messages mes-sages were as follows: j From the president of the French re- public : " Tn the hours of trial and of the needed common efforts, the American people and the French people united their thoughts in order to commemorate , at once the lirth of Lafayette and the i battle, of the Marne. How could our I two nations not seize, in this year of ! peace, tho occasion to celebrate to-j to-j gether the same anniversaries? !l "The brotherhood of America and France was born in the war of independence. inde-pendence. It has never been obscured ! since. It has found its final consecra-:j consecra-:j tion in the great fight we have just fought shoulder to shoulder for the liberty lib-erty of the world. It will keep all its ! i strength in the future and contribute 1 to consolidate, in the interest of hu-! hu-! manity. the peace which has been es-; es-; twblished at the cost of so many sacrifices sacri-fices by the defenders of right. Pershing Pays Tribute. ' ;"To the people of the United States t send tho greetings of the French republic, re-public, to the American soldiers the cordial remembrance of their brothers iii aims, to the American mothers who have lost their sons on the battlefields of F.urope the homage of my profound svmpathv. j ';' "RAYMOND POIXCARE." : 'From General Pershing (Paris) : "1 sincerely regret that I shall not courage and indomitable will in the following fol-lowing wrords: "In spite of mistakes and imperfections, imperfec-tions, future France is being built. Do not think that those sturdy men who, in company with you, .stopped the onrush on-rush of the Germans, now stand aghast and disheartened at the sight of their ruins and the undeserved hardships in store for them, peace or no peace. They are busy clearing the wreckage, filling the sheilholes and trenches and removing remov-ing the barbed wire and the unexploded shells (several millions at Lens alone), preparing future crops." Touching upon Lafayette's devotion to the American cause and America's later response, he said: "When Lafayette heard of American independence his heart enlisted. When you heard of the danger to France your hearts enlisted, with the severest claims on you; the widening of the limits of the military age for your population and the increase of war taxes passed by a unanimous vote in the two houses. Your descendants to the end of time will be proud of those ancestors of theirs who acted thus and fought so well in the great crisis." be present in New Y'ork for the exercises exer-cises in the city hall celebrating the Lafayette-Marne anniversary. The first celebration of this joint anniversary since the signing of peace should be fraught with new significance to all Americans. Lafayette's services directly direct-ly influenced our course of action in the war. The first battle of the Marne saved the world from an overwhelming disaster. The memory of Lafayette and of the Marne must be kept fresh in the minds of every generation of our people. "PERSHING." From Major General Wood (Chicago): (Chi-cago): 'Had it been possible to be present, I should have been glad to be with you to pay my tribute of respect and affection affec-tion to France and express my hope for the continuance of the warmest friendship friend-ship and relations between the two countries, each of which has responded to the call of the other at a moment of great national peril. "LEONARD WOOD." Lansing Lauds French. From Secretary Lansing (Washington): (Washing-ton): "I deeply regret that my engagements engage-ments prevent my presence at the celebration cele-bration of two anniversaries which are so worthy of commemoration as those of Lafayette and the first battle of the Marne. Both stir our minds with the thought of the struggle and triumph of liberty and sacrifice and glorious achievement. High among the heroes of America's war for independence is inscribed the name of Lafayette; and no name will find a higher place in the annals of the great war for democracy than that of Joffre, the victor of the Marne. Both fought that men might be free from autocracy. Both saw the cause of humanity triumphant. To these two great sons of France the new world and the old owe a debt of gratitude which can never be forgotten while patriotism burns in the hearts of men. ' ' ROBERT LANSING. ' ' Ambassador Jusserand in his address said that "the war has now ended as it should," and that the peace which has been signed was not a peace of "vengeance," but a. peace of reparation repara-tion and safety. He paid a touching tribute to the memory of Theodore Roosevelt, saying both nations mourned the absence of one man and "hearing no more a voice which, on momentous occasions, reached from one end of the world to the other, teaching men how to attain better days through courage, sense of duty and good citizenship cit-izenship a voice now hushed forever." France Rebuilding. Referring to the horrors of German warfare and the devastation wrought throughout northern France, Mr. Jusserand Jus-serand painted a picture of French I |