Show PRESIDENT OPENS makes eloquent plea to all classes to give freely to aid in war work chief executive tn opening red cross drive declares that german peace terms are insincere and will not be accepted by ew lork to win the war the united states Is determined to feet no restrictions on the number of men to be sent to I 1 ranee president mison declared here saturday night in a reaffirming the purpose of america to et no limit on its effort As many men will go overseas as ship can be found to carry them the said after referring to state ments that have been made that should go the united states he said will not be diverted b insincere talk of peace from the teutonic powers their proposals he declared spring from a desire to have a free hand tn the east the crowd arose when he said 1 I am here to stand by russia as well as t ranee the president said he had tested the teutonic nations and found them in sincere the presidents speech in full fol lows mr chairman and fellow countrymen I 1 be very sorry to think that mr in any degree cur tailed his exceedingly interesting speech for fear that he was postponing mine because I 1 am sure sou listened with the same intent and intimate in terest with which I 1 listened to the ex vivid account he gave of the things which he had realized because he had come in contact with them on the other side of the water lists two duties e compass them with our cimagl nation he compassed them in his per bonal experience and pain not here tonight to review for you the work of the cited cross I 1 am not competent to do so because I 1 have not had the time or the opportunity to follow in its detail I 1 have come here simply to say a few words to sou as to what it all seems to me to paean and it means a great deal there are two duties with winch we are face to face the first duty Is to win the war and the second duty that goes hand in hand with it Is to win it greata and worthily showing the real quality of our pow cr not only but the real quality of our purpose and ourselves of course alie first duty the duty that we must keep in the foreground of our thought until it Is accomplished Is to win the war I 1 have bieard gentlemen recently pay that we mufit get men ready why limit it to puta no limit 1 I have asked the congress of the united states to name no limit because the congress intends I 1 am sure as we all intend thai every ship that can carry men or supplies go laden upon ever colage with every man and every she can carri and we are not to be diverted from the grim purpose of winning the war by any insincere approaches upon the subject of peace I 1 can say with a clear conscience that I 1 have tested shohe intimations and have found them insincere I 1 now recognize them for aliat they are an opportunity to have a tree hand particularly in alie east to carry out the purposes of con quest and exploitation stand by russia every proposal with regard to ac commod atlon in the west involves a reservation with regard to the east isow so far as I 1 am concerned I 1 in tend to stand by russia as well as I 1 ranee the helpless and friendless are the ver ones that need friends and sue cor and it any man in germany thinks we are going to sacrifice any body for our own sake I 1 tell them now they are mistaken for the glory of this war my fellows citizens so far as we are concerned Is that it Is perhaps for the first time in history an war I 1 could not be proud to tor a selfish purpose lut I 1 can be proud to fight for mankind if they wish peace let them come for ward through accredited re presenta alves and lay their terms on the table we have laid ours and they know what they are but behind all this grim purpose my friends lies the opportunity to demonstrate not only force which will be demonstrated to the utmost but the opportunity to demonstrate character and its the opportunity that we have most completely in the work of the lied cross not that our anen do not represent sent our character for they do and it Is a character which those who see and realize appreciate and admire but their duty Is the duty of force the duty of the red cross Is the duty of mercy and succor and friendship world to be better have you formed a picture in oui imagination of aliat tills war la doing for us and for the world in my own mind I 1 am convinced that not a hun i dred years of peace could have knitted this nation together as this single year of war has knitted it together and better even than that it possible it Is knitting the world together look at the picture in the center of alie scene four nations engaged against the world and at every point of van tage showing that they are seeking selfish aggrandizement and against them twenty three governments representing the greater part of the population of the world drawn together into a new sense of community in terest a new sense of purpose ahe secretary of war told me an interesting incident the other dav he said when lie was in etab a member of the italian government was eipl aln ing to him the many reasons etab felt near to the united states he said if you want to tr an inter estling experiment go up to adv one of these troop trains and ask in I 1 n how many of them have been in america and aee what happens he tried the experiment he went up to a troop train and said how many of sou bivs hive been in america and he said it seemed to him as if bialt of them sprang up me from san fran cisco ine from ew lork all over love america there was part of the heart of america in the italian army people that had been knitted to us by asso elation who knew us who had lived amongst us who had worked shoulder to shoulder with us and now friends of america w ere fighting for their na alve italy I 1 Is the only cement that w ever hold the w orld together and this intimate contact of the great red cross with the peoples who are suf fering the terrors and deprivations of this war Is going to be one of the greatest instrumentalities of friend ship that the world ever knew and the center of the heart of it all it we sustain it will be land that we so dearly love ii friends a great day of duty has come and duty finds a roan s soul as no kind of work can ever find it raps profiteers mav I 1 say this the duty that faces us all now Is to serve one an other and no man can afford to make a fortune out of this w ar there are men amongst us who have forgotten that it they ever saw it some of vou are old enough I 1 am alu enough to remember men who made fortunes out of the civil war and you know how they were regarded by their fellow citizens that was a war to save one country this Is a war to save the world and your relation to the red cross Is one of the relations which will relieve you of the stigma you can t give anything to aher gov eminent of the united states it won t accept it there Is a law of congress against accepting even services without pay the only thing that the government will accept Is a loan and duties per formed but it Is a great deal better to give than to lend or pay and bour great channel for giving Is the amerl can red cross down in sour hearts you can t take v ery much satisfaction in the last analysis in lending money to alie government of the united states because the interest which you draw will burn your pockets it Is a commercial transaction and gome men have even dared to cavil at the rate of interest not knowing the incleden tal commentary that that constitutes upon their attitude giving a pleasure but when vou give something of your heart something of your soul of yourself goes with the gift particularly when it Is given la such form that st never can come back by way of direct benefit to yourself lou know there Is the old cynical netlon of gratitude as the alv ely ex of dav ors to come ell there Is no expectation of favors to come in this kind of giving these things are bestowed in order the world mav be a fitter place to live in that men may be succored that homes may be restored that suffering may be relieved that the face of the earth may have the blight of destruction taken away from it and that wherever force goes there shall go mere and helpfulness until it hurts and vou give give naso cutely all that you can spare and don t consider hourselt liberal in the giving it ou give with self adult atlon vou are not giving at all you are giving to your own vanity but it you give until it hurts then bour heart blood goes into it and think what we have here e call it the american red cross but it Is merely a branch of a great international organization which Is not only recognized by alie statutes of each of the civilized governments of the world but it Is recognized and accepted instrumentality 0 mercy and succor and one of the deepest stains that upon the reputation of the german army Is that they have not respected the red cross that goes to the root of the mat ter they have not respected the instrumentality they themselves par in setting up ns the thing which no man was to touch because it was the expression of common humanity e are members by being members of the american red cross of a greit fraternity and corn which extends all over the world and athla cross which these ladles bore today is an emblem of christianity itself workers praised it fills my imagination ladles and gentlemen to think of the women all over this country alio are busa to night and anre busy every night and every day doing the work of the lied cross busy with a great to find out the most serviceable thing to do busy with a forgetfulness of all the old frivolities of their social relationships ready to curtail the duties of alie household in order that they may keep to this common work that all their hearts are engaged in and in doing which their hearts become acquainted with each other hen ou think of this you realize how the people of the united states are being daiv n together into a great faill whose feirt Is being used for the service of the soldiers not but for the of where the suffer and kte lost in a hinline inline of distresses and distractions and you have then this noble picture of justice and mercy as the two servants of alberti tor only where men anre free do they think the thoughts of comradeship only eliere chev are free do they think the thoughts of sympathy only where aliey are free are they mutually help ful only where they are free do the realize their dependence dpn one another and their comradeship in a common interest and common necessity tells story 1 I heard a story told the other day that was ridiculous but it Is worth repeating because it contains the germ of truth an indian was enlisted in the army lie returned to alie reservation on a furlough lie was asked what he thought of it lie said 10 much good too much salute not much shoot then he was asked are you going back les ell do sou know what you are fighting for es me know fight nto make whole damn world democratic part he had evidently misunderstood some innocent sen tence of mi ov n but after all although there Is no party purpose in it he got it right as far as the word party to make the whole world democratic in the sense of community of interest and of interest of purpose and it you ladles and gentlemen could read some of the touching dispatches which come through official chan nels for even through those channels there come voices of humanity that are infinitely pathetic it you could catch some of voices that the utter longing of oppressed and helpless peoples all over the world to hear something like the battle hymn of the republic to hear tho feet of the great hosts of liberty going to set them free to set their minds free set their lives tree set their children free you would know what comes into the heart of those who are trying to contribute all the brains and power they have to this great enterprise of liberty I 1 summon vou t othe I 1 summon you in this next week to say liovvi much and how sincerely and how unanimously you sustain the heart of the world |