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Show WASHINGTON, July 4. American : principles of democracy, freedom and equal rights of all men, formulated 142 years ago in the Declaration of Independence Inde-pendence were presented today to the world as never before in celebrations of American independence day held in lands, where in previous years the day had no special significance. In England, France, Italy and in South and Central American countries, the birthday of the American nation was observed, as well as in every hamlet, ham-let, town and city in the United States, but those participating in all the cele-Ibrations cele-Ibrations looked toward Mt. Vernon, the home and tomb of America's first president, where President Wilson was the principal speaker. Peoples of the European nations ranged against Germany in the war for the preservation of the principles outlined out-lined In the American, declaration of independence looked to President Wilson Wil-son in his address at Mount Vernon for encouragement in the struggle. The American people, after a year of war, .loked to the president for .advice and renewed pledges of devotion to the cause in which they had enlisted. President Wilson, visiting America's shrine as the honor guest of a committee com-mittee composed of thirty nationalities, nationalit-ies, had prepared an address calculated calculat-ed to give renewed hope to the.war-vcarv the.war-vcarv allies of America and to give to the American peoplo renewed assurance assur-ance of the prosecution of the war to a successful conclusion. Through their representatives, persons per-sons of thirty different nationalities pledged their allegiance to the country of their adoption at Mount Vernon. The president was accompanied to Mount Vernon on the presidential yacht, Mayflower, by all the members of the cabinet now in Washington, and high officials of the army and navy by a number of foreign ambassadors and ministers. WASHINGTON", July 4. President WiJ'on today answered all feelers for a compromise peace, with a new and1 unqualified consecration of America to the struggle of cleaning military autocracy au-tocracy from the earth. At an Independence Inde-pendence day gathering on the gentle slopes of Mount Vernon, homo aud tomb of George Washington, and surrounded sur-rounded by scenes which looked upon the creation of this nation, the president pres-ident addressed a small gathering of officials and of diplomats of the allied nations. But he spoke to the world and he spoke the logical sequel to his "force without stint or limit" declaration of several weeks ago. Unreservedly, the president declared declar-ed that there could bo no thought of a peace which did not mean the destruction de-struction of military autocracy or its reduction to virtual Impotence. "A reign of law, based on the consent con-sent of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of mankind," was the way he summarized in a single sentence the objects of humanity in the world war. Whether the president was addressing address-ing his remarks directly to the recent re-cent speech of Gorman Foreign Secretary Sec-retary von Kuehlman; or to the foro-shadows foro-shadows of a renewed German peace offensive, or whether he merely took the occasion of the celebration of American independence to emphasize to the world the war aims of tho nat ion can only be divined. He did not deal with the progress of the war or any particular phaso of it, but he spoke eloquently of America's attitude toward to-ward Germany's so-called peace treaties treat-ies in the east by grouping the people of Russia "for the moment unorganized unorgan-ized and helpless" among the peoples of tho world standing against the enemies ene-mies of liberty. "The past and the present are in deadly grapple and the peoples of the ; world are being done to death between them," said President Wilson. "Thero can .be but one issue. The settlement must be final. There can be no compromise. No half-way decision de-cision would be tolerable.. No halfway half-way decision is conceivable. These are the ends for which the associated peoples of tho world are fighting and which must be conceded them before there can be peace: "1. The destruction of every arbitrary arbi-trary power anywhere that can separately, sep-arately, secretly and of its single choice, disturb the peace of the world, or, if it cannot be presently destroyed, at the least Its reduction to virtual Impotence. "2. The settlement of every question, ques-tion, whether of territory, of sovereignty, sover-eignty, of economic arrangement, or of political relationship, upon tho basis ba-sis of tho froo acceptance of that settlement set-tlement by the people immediately concorned, and not upon tho basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation or peoples which may desire a different settlement for the sake of its own exterior influence or ifH mastery. "3'. The consent of all nations to 'H bo governed in their conduct towards each other by the same principles of ;H honor and of respect for the common ''H law of civilized society that govern iH the individual citizens of all modern states in their relations with one an- jH other; to the end that all covenants may be sacredly observed, no private H plots or conspiracies hatched, no sel-fish sel-fish injuries wrought with impunity, and a mutual trust established upon the handsome foundation of a mutual respect for right jH "4 The establishment of an organ!-zation organ!-zation of peace which shall make it certain that the combined power of free nations will check every invasion of right and serve to make peace and justice the more secure by affording a definite tribunal of opinion to which all must submit and by -which every international readjustment that can-not can-not be amicably agreed upon by the peoples directly concerned shall be sanctioned. "These great objects can be put into a single sentence. What we seek is the reign of law, based upon the con-sent con-sent of the governed and sustained by ( Continued on Page 4 ) " oo PRESIDENT WILSON CONSECRATES U. S. TO LIBERTY FIGHT (Continued from Pago 1) the organized opinion of mankind. "These great ends cannot be achieved by debating and seeking to ' reconcile and accommodate what what statesman may wi3h, with their projects for balances of power and of national opportunity. They can be realized real-ized only by the determination of what tho thinking peoples of the world desire, de-sire, with their longing hope for justice jus-tice and for social freedom and opportunity." oppor-tunity." Speech In Full. Tho president's speech in full was as follows: "Gentlemen of the diplomatic corps and my fellow citizens: "1 am happy to draw apart with you to this quiet place of old counsel in order or-der to speak a littlo of the meaning of this day of our nation's Independence. The place seems very still and remote. j It is as serene and untouched by the i I hurry of the world as It was in tlrose I great days long ago when General ' Washington was here and held leisurely leisure-ly conference with the men who wore to bo associated with him In the creation crea-tion of a nation. From these gentle slopes they looked out upon a world, j and saw it whole, saw it with the light i of tho future upon It, saw it with mod-! ern eyes that turned away from a past j which men of liberated spirits could no longer endure. It is for that rca- son that wo cannot feel, even here in the immediate presence of this sa- cred tomb, that this is a place of death. It was a place of achievement A I great promise that was meant for all mankind was here given plan and reality. real-ity. The associations by which we are here surrounded are the inspiriting associations as-sociations of that noble death which Is j only a glorious consummation. From this green hillside we also ought to be able to see with comprehending eyes the world that lies about us and should conceive anew the purposes that must set men free. "It is significant significant of their own character and purpose and of the influences they were setting afoot that Washington and his associates, asso-ciates, like the barons at RUnnymede, j spoke and acted, not for a class but for a people. It has been left for us to see to It that it shall be understand that they spoke and acted not for a single sin-gle people only, but for all mankind. They wer6 thinking, not df themselves; and of the material interests which ' centered in the liltle groups of landholders land-holders and merchants and men of affairs af-fairs with whom they were accustomed accus-tomed to act, In Virginia and the colonies colo-nies to the north and south of her, but of a people which wished to be done , with classes and special interests and tho authority of men whom they had not themselves chosen to rule over them. They entertained no private purposej desired no peculiar privilege. They were consciously planning that men of every class should be free; and America a place to which men out of every nation might resort who wlshgd to share with them the rights and prlv-lieges prlv-lieges of freo men. And we take our cue from them do wo not? We intend in-tend what they intended. Wo In America bellovo our participation in this present war to be only the fruitage fruit-age of what they planted. Our case differs from theirs only in this, that it Is our inestimable privilege to condert with men out of every nation what shall make not only the liberties of America secure but the liberties of every ev-ery other people aa well. We are happy hap-py in the thought that wo are permitted permit-ted to do what, they would have done had they been in our place. There must now bo Bettled once for all what was aettled for America in the great age upon whose inspiration we draw today. This Is surely a fitting place from which calmly to look out upon our task, that we may fortify our ppir-Its ppir-Its for its accomplishment. And this is tho appropriate place from which to avow alike to the friends who look on and to the friends with whom we have the happiness to bo associated In action, ac-tion, the faith and purpose with which we acL "This, then, is our conception of the great struggle in which we aro engaged. en-gaged. The plot is written plain upon every scene and every act of the supreme su-preme tragedy. On the ono hand stand the peoples of the world not only the peoples actually engaged, but many others also who suffer undor mastery but cannot act; peoples of many races and in every part of tho world tho people of stricken Russia still, among tho rest, though they are for the moment unorganized and helpless. Opposed to them, mas ters of many armies, stand an isolated, friendless group of governments who speak no common purpose but only selfish ambition of their own by which none can profit but themselvos, and whoso people are fuel in their hands; governments which fear their people and yet are for the time their sovereign sover-eign lords, making every choice for them and disposing of their lives and fortunes as they will, as well as of the lives and fortunes of overy people who fall under their power governments clothed with the strango trappings and tno primitive authority of an ago that is altogether alien and hostile to our own. The past and the present are in deadly grapple and the peoples of the world are being done to death between be-tween them. "There can be but one Issue. The settlement must be final. There can bo no compromise. No halfway decision de-cision would bo tolerable. No halfway half-way decision is conceivable. Theso 1 arc the ends for which the associated j peoples of the world are fighting and I which must be conceded them before there can be peace. ! "I The destruction of every arbi-I arbi-I trary power anywhere that can separately, sep-arately, secretly, and of its single choice disturb the peace of the world; or, if it can not be presently destroyed, at tho least its reduction to virtual Impotence. "II The settlement of every question, ques-tion, whether of territory, of sovereignty, sover-eignty, of economic arrangement, or of political relationship, upon the basis ba-sis of the material interest or advantage advan-tage of any other nation or people which may desire a different settlement settle-ment for the sake of its own exterior influences or mastery. "Ill The consent of all nations to bo governed in their conduct towards each other by the same principles of honor and of respect for the common law of civilized society that govern the individual citizens of all modern states In their relations with one another; an-other; to the end that all promises and coveuauts may be sacredly observed, ob-served, no private plots of conspiracies hatched, no selfish injuries wrought with impunity and a mutual trust established es-tablished Upon the handsome founda-1 tion of a mutual respect for right. ''IV The establishment of an organization or-ganization of peace which shall make It certain that the combined power of free nations will check every invasion invas-ion of right and serve to make peace and Justice the more sdcuh by affording afford-ing a definite tribunal of opinion to which all must submit and by which every international readjustment that cannot be amicably agreed upon by the peoples directly concerned shall bo" sanctioned. "These great objects can be put Into a single sentence. What we seek is the reign of law, based upon tho consent con-sent of the governed and sustained by the. organized opinion of mankind. "Those great endB cannot bo achieved achiev-ed by debating and seeking to recon-cllo recon-cllo and accommodate what statesmen may wish, with their projedtd for balances bal-ances of power and of national opportunity. op-portunity. They can be realized only by the determination of what the thinking peoples of the world deBlre with thoir longing hope for jtistlco and for Bocial freedom and opportunity. "I can fancy that the air of this place carries tho accents of such principles prin-ciples with a peculiar kindness. Hero started forces which tlfo great nation against which they were primarily directed di-rected at first regarded as a revolt againBt its rightful authority bat which It has long since seen to have been a step in the liberation of its own ped pie as well as of the people of the United States and I stand here now to speak speak proudly and with confident con-fident hope of the spread of this revolt, re-volt, this liberation, to the great stage of the world itself. The blinded rulers rul-ers of Prussia have roused forces they know little of forces which, onco I roused, can never be crushed to ear.j again; for they havo at thoir heart an M inspiration and a purpose which are jfl deathloss and of the very stuff of tri- M umph." jfl |