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Show WJLSON TALKS TO CHEERING CROWD St. Louis Coliseum Crowded and 30,000 Overflow on Outside City Employes Given Half Holiday. SCHOOLS ARE DISMISSED Declares United States Navy Should Be Unconquerable, the Greatest Navy in the World. St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 3. President Wilson today told an audience of 15,-000 15,-000 cheering tumultously at his feet that the United States should have the greatest navy in the world. "I advise, the navy of the United States should be unconquerable," he said, "the greatest in the world." The president declared that submarine subma-rine commanders abroad have instructions instruc-tions which for the most part conform with International law, but that the act of one commander might set the world afire, including America. "Upon the ocean there are hundreds hun-dreds of cargoes of American goods" he said, "cotton, grain and all tho bountiful supplies America is sending out to the Avorld and any one of those cargoes, any one of those ships may be the point of contact that will bring America Jnto the war." United States Really Neutral. For the first time during the tour tho president told of how one set of belligerents was cut off from the world. He said this kept the United States from helping them as It would like. Ho made the statement in trying try-ing to show that the United Stales was really neutral. There was an overflow of 30,000 persons on the outside while the president pres-ident spoke in the coliseum. ,.S. Louis. Mo.,iFeb.-.3i-;-An-hour-be--fore the time set for the president to speak here today, the Coliseum was crowded and the streets outside were full. City employes had a half holiday. holi-day. All schools were dismissed for the day. A school chorus of 1.500 tucked away in a corner of he hall, sang national airs. As the president entered the crowd cheered wildly. The whole gathering, with countless small flags fluttering! stood up and sang "The Star Spangled Span-gled Banner," the president joining in. The president opened with the statement that he had "come seeking something in the middle west and found it." lie said he had been told the middle west was against preparedness pre-paredness but did not believe It. "I did not come out to learn how 3'ou thought but to tell you what was going on. I came out that there may be absolute clarification of the issues we are now confronting. America Friend of World. "America is at peace with all the world because she is the friend of all tho world. The friendship is genuine. gen-uine. We are the friends of all the world because we are made up of all the world and understand all the world. "We believe we can show our friendship for the world better by keeping out of this struggle than by getting into It. I do not misread the spirits of America. "I have no Indictment of any form of government. "No man can lead America any whither that her people do not desire de-sire to be led. I believe it to be my duty to subordinate my individual feelings to the conscientious attempt to Interpret and express in these International In-ternational affairs the .genuine spirit of my fellow citizens. Americans Disciples of Peace. "So far as America is concerned, no man need go among6t us preaching preach-ing peace. Wo are disciples of peace already and no man need preach that gospel to us. "Suppose my neighbor's house is on fire nnd the roof is of combustible material, ma-terial, it is not my fault If the fire spreads. The danger is not from within, but from without. Submarine Commanders. "Tho commanders of submarines for the most part are in accord with the law of nations, but the act of one commander may set tho world on fire. "There are cargoes of whoat and cotton and manufactured articles on the sea and everyone of them may cause trouble because they go Into the zone of fire. "America has drawn no fine points, no now issues in her international relations; re-lations; she has merely asserted tho rights of mankind when the life of mankind is threatened in a world aflame with war. She has rested upon what is already written plain on the documents of international law." Nations Will See American Justice. The president said that some day statesmen of the older countries would have to admit that it was America that kept burning the flame of international law upon its altar, when every other altar in the world was swept by tho winds of passion. "I am ready to make every patient allowance," he continued, "for those whoso tempers are upset by war. "I am not in a critical frame of mind, I am ready to yield everything but tho vital points. Makes Allowances for Both Slde3. "I am ready to make allowances for both sides. Tou know hawr one. set -of bollig-l orents is shut off from the rest of the world. Therefore, the United States is not able to express Itself toward them as they would like. I believo the United States is really neutral. "My fellow citizens, while we know our own purpose, it does not follow that other nations understand. "Men press forward with a sort of blind recklessness.1 Peace of the World. "Tho peace of the world, including America, rests with the remainder ot the world and not with America. "Here is the alternative: "Either we shall sit still and wait for the necessity for Immediate national na-tional defense to come and then call for volunteers who would be, for the that few months, impotent as against a trained and experienced enemy; "Or, we shall adopt the ancient American principle that the men ot the country shall be ready to take care of their own government" Crowd Cheers President. The crowd roared approval. "You have either got to get the men of this nation ready to withstand the first onslaught, or you have got to be ready to suffer from the first disaster." When the president said he was only asking for a trained citizenship, he was cheered. He said he did not want to command a great army, but to command the support of confidence of his fellow citizens. "The plans now before congress are merely plans to save the lives of American youths," he said. "All those plans will go through. "The modern fighting ship, submarine subma-rine every instrument of modern warfare must be handled by experts. All we are asking for now is a sufficient suffi-cient number of experts and a sufficient suffi-cient number of vessels. There Is no better service in the world than the service of the United States navy But the navy must have more ships and we are going to give tho navj- the ships it needs. We must have a program pro-gram and then stick to it The navy has a great task. No other navy has such a task. "We ought to have the greatest navy In the world," ho declared amid great applause. He explained that tho coast line of the United States was so long that many ships were needed. |