| . |- . U.S. yº. *5, O. H A D C (O } L I B . ** --~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~======--~~~~：：~~ ••••••• • • • ••••• • • • The Wisdom of Woodrow Wilson The Wisdom of Woodrow Wilson BEING SELECTIONS FROM HIS THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ON POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND MORAL QUESTIONS COMPILED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION By CHARLES J. HEROLD NEW YORK BRENTANO's MCMXIX U Q 72°4.1% | 2 - HATVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Copyright, 1919, by Brentano's CONTENTS PRefAce, xy PATRIOTISM, 1 National reconciliation, 3 Practical patriotism, 3 Keeping a promise, 6 Physical and moral courage, 7 Turn to the future, 9 Social JUSTIce, 11 - Shield women and children, 13 Restore, not destroy, 14 Ideals lost, 14 Ease the burden, 15 Unfair competition, 16 Eight-hour day, 16 Railroads declined, 18 PoliticAL PHILOSOPHY, 21 Our standards, 23 Very few rise, 24 Lift it up, 24 A new age, 25 A revolution, 26 Changes needed, 26 PITHY SAYINGs, 29 Spirit of age, 31 Life and logic, 31 CONTENTS PITHY SAYINGS-Continued Genuine speech, 32 Liars and truth, 33 The Constitution, 34 Gossips, 35 WomAN SUFFRAGE, 37 Rapid growth, 38 Technical difficulties, 40 Will prevail, 40 Be patient, 42 THoughts on LITERATURE, 43 Prose and poetry, 45 Books and friends, 46 Praise of your own day, 46 Individuality, 47 Gibbon, 48 REMARKS of THE EDUCATOR, 49 Motives in life, 51 A pathfinder, 52 A rebirth, 53 Gover NMENTAL MAXIMs, 55 Armed force, 57 Minority and majority, 57 Public opinion, 59 Degeneracy, 60 CONTENTS vii Gover NMENTAL MAXIMS—Continued Illegitimate means, 61 President as spokesman, 61 Leader of his party, 62 Personal force, 63 No mere domestic figure, 63 Kaiser's powers, 64 State no evil, 65 Socialists and society, 65 Government an instrument, 66 The wisest thing, 67 Practical reforms, 67 The states, 68 The presidency, 69 Guide of the nation, 69 The unifying force, 70 PROGRESSIVE TENDENcies, 71 Radicalism, 73 Open processes, 73 The inventor, 74 The referendum, 74 Protective policy, 75 Owned by corporations, 75 Controlling class, 76 Abolish privilege, 76 Adjustment, 77 Crushing the weak, 77 viii CONTENTS PROGRESSIVE TENDENCIES-Continued Tariff revised, 78 Merchant marine recreated, 79 Played big brother, 81 No more provincialism, 81 AMERICANISM, 83 America's vitality, 85 No guardian, 86 Is a person, 87 Our affair, 87 Fundamental things, 88 Nothing for herself, 89 Two theories, 91 Not a great American, 91 Providing prosperity, 92 Rejects trustee theory, 92 No wards wanted, 94 No groups, 94 Oath of allegiance, 96 Founded for humanity, 97 Praise for Lincoln, 99 Assisted by experts, 99 True Americans, 100 Vicious discrimination, 101 Declaration of Independence, 103 Looking from the White House, 105 The world admired, 107 CONTENTS AMERICANISM-Continued Irresistible competition, 108 The spirit of freedom, 108 In the wilderness, 111 Typical, 111 For HUMANITY, 113 Bring liberty to mankind, 115 Spirit of unselfishness, 116 A war of service, 117 Sample Americans, 118 Serving a people, 119 Lift his brother, 120 Surging up of new strength, 122 EconoMic PROBLEMs, 125 New banking system, 127 Must mobilize reserves, 128 Changes in fiscal laws, 129 Our merchant marine stunted, 130 Embodies convincing experience, 130 The world and American commerce, 132 INTERNATIONAL Politics, 135 Mexico and the future, 137 - Policy of impartiality, 137 The Latin-American states, 139 Settled peace and good will, 141 CONTENTS INTERNATIONAL Politics—Continued The only standard, 142 No war with Mexico, 143 Must be neutral in fact, 144 Camps of hostile opinion, 145 Opinion of the world, 146 The fourteen points, 148 Questions affecting Russia, 151 The Balkan peoples, 153 Poland to be free, 154 Fight until achieved, 156 Who are the spokesmen? 157 ToUCHING THE WAR, 159 America first, 161 - The colors of the flag, 162 We have been patient, 163 Expresses keen regret, 164 Definite concert of power, 166 No organized rivalries, 167 No peace without sacrifice, 168 Overt acts, 170 Principles we stand for, 172 Warfare against mankind, 174 For the rights of nations, 176 Sincere friends of the German people, 177 They are not our enemies, 178 A Berlin dream, 179 Touc For Mu CONTENTS ToUcHING THE WAR–Continued Full, impartial justice, 181 We intend no wrong, 182 Ruthless master of the German people, 184 Force, force to the utmost, 186 Concisely stated, 187 The ends fought for, 189 Some of the particulars, 191 No special alliances, 193 Answer to the Germans, 193 Must speak harsh words, 195 i PREFACE l PREFACE XV HAT are the strange powers that have made of a one- time teacher of youth a supreme lead- er of men, a universally acclaimed champion of freedom for all the world? A well-stored mind, a pitiless logic, a retentive memory, a felicitous turn of phrase, a wisdom serene yet vibrant, a happy gift of coining aphorisms containing multum in parvo, a states- manlike grasp of affairs, an eloquent tongue that never fails, an interpreta- tion of advanced thought in an era fermenting with new ideas, a tireless energy and enormous driving force,— when one speaks of these excellent and choice qualities, one has but scratched the surface. The core of his being, his inmost soul, has not been touched upon. In Woodrow Wilson is met that xvi THE wisDOM OF wooDRow WILSON. rarest of human combinations—con- sistency coupled with lucid vision, high ideals and crystal-pure sincerity. That furnishes the key to his singular char- aCter. - When his record is searched, when the four decades that have gone since he first drank knowledge at the bosom of his alma mater are scanned closely, the astounding discovery is made that the convictions, the longings of his early days are his convictions of to-day; that his ideals then are his ideals now; that the Americanism of his youth is also the Americanism of his manhood; that his love of country and of hu- manity has unvariedly remained the same in intensity, in kind, in loftiness of conception, in purity of purpose and in grandeur of aim. With increasing maturity his faith in the vision of his youth increased. Truly, the boy PREFACE xvii dreamer, dreamed profoundly, for he awakened and found his dream world real. - The germ of his gospel of world- peace and world-righteousness as it found final and finished expression in those fourteen points that are at this very hour the text for a body of this earth's most powerful statesmen to wrestle with, to ponder, and in the main to accede to, is to be seen in his earliest, still somewhat callow writ- ings, in his book on Congressional Government. The germ gradually de- velops and grows in size, but its essence remains the same. Like a scarlet thread it runs through the woof of all his subsequent political reflections, his essays, his political speeches, his lectures, his commentaries on international affairs, on the mission of America. Many years later, in his xviii THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON book dealing with Constitutional Gov- ernment in the United States, the idea expands, shows deeper insight and more vigorous roots, and in The State, an admirable exposé of governmental science and imbued with an enlightened humanitarianism, it has attained a further growth. Finally, in his ora- tions and addresses delivered since the outbreak of the war in the summer of 1914, the last fruition of it is seen in his “League of Nations,” and in the principles laid down by him for a durable, just peace. True, the scope of his survey has widened; his eye now discerns in clearer outline what at first was beheld but dimly. His diction has gained in pith, in strength, in authority, and his images in color and variety. He has a firmer grasp of his subject, betraying the ceaseless thought given to it, and his PREFACE xix eye ranges a larger horizon. But his ideal is still the same. He proves true to his early loves: enlightened democ- racy, freedom for a shackled world, fraternal help to the purblind, strug- gling nations, whether near or far, the rule of the law throughout the two hemispheres. It is the dogma of America, of America at her best. It embraces jus- tice, justice even to the vanquished foe, justice tempered with mercy. It is a broadening of Lincoln's doctrine, an elaboration including all the peoples of the universe. No wonder that Abraham Lincoln dwells so firmly in Woodrow Wilson's heart, that he finds such high praise for him in his speech and in his writings: that he holds him, next to Washington, the greatest American. For he himself is bone of Lincoln's bone, and flesh of his flesh. NOTE Acknowledgment is hereby made to the following publishers for permission to quote from books published by them: Doubleday, Page & Co. (“The New Freedom”); D. C. Heath & Co. (“The State”); T. Y. Crowell Co. (“The Free Life”); Houghton, Mifflin Co. (“Mere Litera- ture”); Harper & Bros. (“On Being Human,” “When a Man Comes to Himself”); and Columbia University Press (“Constitutional Government”). PATRIOTISM ** … ---- PATRIOTISM 3 E have found one another again as brothers and comrades in arms, enemies no longer, generous friends rather, our battles long past, the quarrel forgotten—except that we shall not forget the splendid valor, the manly devotion of the men then arrayed against one another, now grasping hands and smiling into each other's eyes. How complete the union has become and how dear to all of us, how unquestioned, how benign and majestic, as State after State has been added to this our great family of free men Delivered in the presence of Union and Con- federate veterans, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Gettys- burg, July 4, 1913. IBERTY does not consist, my fellow-citizens, in mere general declarations of the rights of man. It National recon- ciliation Practical patriotism THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON consists in the translation of those declarations into definite action. We must reduce it to what the lawyers call a bill of particulars. It contains a bill of particulars, but the bill of particu- lars of 1776. If we would keep it alive, we must fill it with a bill of particulars of the year 1914. Patriot- ism consists in some very practical things—practical in that they belong to the life of every day, that they wear no extraordinary distinction about them, that they are connected with common- place duty. The way to be patriotic in America is not only to love America but to love the duty that lies nearest to our hand and know that in perform- ing it we are serving our country. It is patriotic, also, to learn what the facts of our national life are and to face them with candor. It is not patriotic to concert meas- PATRIOTISM ures against one another; it is patriotic to concert measures for one another. In one sense the Declaration of Independence has lost its significance. It has lost its significance as a declara- tion of national independence. Nobody outside of America believed when it was uttered that we could make good our independence; now nobody any- where would dare to doubt that we are independent and can maintain our in- dependence. As a declaration of inde- pendence, therefore, it is a mere historic document. Our independence is a fact so stupendous that it can be measured only by the size and energy and variety and wealth and power of one of the greatest nations in the world. I would be ashamed of this flag if it ever did anything outside America that we would not permit it to do inside of America. THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Keeping a promise And so I say that it is patriotic sometimes to prefer the honor of the country to its material interest. Would you rather be deemed by all the nations of the world incapable of keeping your treaty obligations in order that you might have free tolls for American ships? The treaty under which we gave up that right may have been a mistaken treaty, but there was no mis- take about its meaning. When I have made a promise as a man I try to keep it, and I know of no other rule permissible to a nation. The most distinguished nation in the world is the nation that can and will keep its promises even to its own hurt. A patriotic American is a man who is not niggardly and selfish in the things that he enjoys that make for human liberty and the rights of man. He wants to share them with the whole PATRIOTISM world, and he is never so proud of the great flag under which he lives as when it comes to mean to other people as well as to himself a symbol of hope. “The Meaning of Liberty,” an address delivered at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, July 4, 1914. OBILITY exists in America with- out patent. We have no House of Lords, but we have a house of fame to which we elevate those who are the noble men of our race, who, forgetful of themselves, study and serve the public interest, who have the courage to face any number and any kind of adversary, to speak what in their hearts they believe to be the truth. We admire physical courage, but we admire above all things else moral courage. I believe that soldiers will Physical and moral courage PATRIOTISM 9 Y privilege is this, ladies and #7%. gentlemen: To declare this chap- ter in the history of the United States closed and ended, and I bid you turn with me with your faces to the future, quickened by the memories of the past, but with nothing to do with the contests of the past, knowing, as we have shed our blood upon opposite sides, we now face and admire one another. Address on accepting the monument in Memory of the Confederate Dead, June 4, 1914. SOCIAL JUSTICE SOCIAL JUSTICE 13 E have studied, as perhaps no |}. - - zºo ºne?!, other nation has, the most and - children effective means of production, but we have not studied cost or economy as we should, either as organizers of in- dustry, as statesmen, or as individuals. Nor have we studied and perfected the means by which government may be put at the service of humanity, in safeguarding the health of the Nation, the health of its men and its women and its children, as well as their rights in the struggle for existence. This is no sentimental duty. The firm basis of government is justice, not pity. These are matters of justice. There can be no equality of opportunity, the first essential of justice in the body politic, if men and women and children be not shielded in their lives, their very vital- ity, from the consequences of great industrial and social processes which I4. THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Restore, not destroy they cannot alter, control, or singly cope with. Society must see to it that it does not itself crush or weaken or damage its own constituent parts. The first duty of law is to keep sound the society it serves. E shall restore, not destroy. We shall deal with our economic system as it is and as it may be modi- fied, not as it might be if we had a clean sheet of paper to write upon; and step by step we shall make it what it should be, in the spirit of those who question their own wisdom and seek counsel and knowledge, not shallow self- satisfaction or the excitement of excur- sions whither they cannot tell. Justice, and only justice, shall always be our motto. The Nation has been deeply stirred, stirred by a solemn passion, stirred by the knowledge of wrong, of Ideals lost shi and are 0) SOCIAL JUSTICE I 5 ideals lost, of government too often debauched and made an instrument of evil. The feelings with which we face this new age of right and opportunity sweep across our heartstrings like some air out of God's own presence, where justice and mercy are reconciled and the judge and the brother are one. This is not a day of triumph; it is a day of dedication. First Inaugural Address, 1913. IT is part of our philosophy—it should be part of our statesman- ship, to ease the burden as we can, and enfranchise those who spend and are spent for the sustenance of the race. On Being Human. Ease the burden I6 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Unfair competi- tion Eight- hour day HE modern industrial organiza- T tion has so distorted competition as sometimes to put it into the power of some to tyrannize over many, as to enable the rich and the strong to com- bine against the poor and the weak. UT the socialist mistakes: it is not competition that kills, but unfair competition, the pretense and form of it where the substance and real- ity of it cannot exist. The State, 1903. T seemed to me, in considering the subject-matter of the controversy, that the whole spirit of the time and the preponderant evidence of recent . economic experience spoke for the eight-hour day. It has been adjudged by the thought and experience of recent years a thing upon which society is JuS a Th per its tior Seri rail just Out the Suff inci exp and did the ther SOCIAL JUSTICE 17 justified in insisting as in the interest of health, efficiency, contentment, and a general increase of economic vigor. The whole presumption of modern ex- perience would, it seemed to me, be in its favor, whether there was arbitra- tion or not. I unhesitatingly offered the friendly services of the administration to the railway managers to see to it that justice was done the railroads in the outcome. I felt warranted in assuring them that no obstacle of law would be suffered to stand in the way of their increasing their revenues to meet the expenses resulting from the change so far as the development of their business and of their administrative efficiency did not prove adequate to meet them. The public and the representatives of the public, I felt justified in assuring them, were disposed to nothing but jus- I 8 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Railroads declined tice in such cases and were willing to serve those who served them. The representatives of the brother- hoods accepted the plan; but the rep- resentatives of the railroads declined to accept it. In the face of what I can- not but regard as the practical cer- tainty that they will be ultimately obliged to accept the eight-hour day by the concerted action of organized la- bor, backed by the favorable judgment of society, the representatives of the railway management have felt justified in declining a peaceful settlement which would engage all the forces of justice, public and private, on their side to take care of the event. There is one other thing we should do if we are true champions of arbi- tration. We should make all arbitral awards judgments by record of a court of law in order that their interpretation POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 23 E have come now to the sober second thought. The scales of heedlessness have fallen from our eyes. We have made up our minds to square every process of our national life again with the standards we so proudly set up at the beginning and have always carried at our hearts. Our work is a work of restoration. THE great Government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish purposes, and those who used it had forgotten the people. THERE has been something crude and heartless and unfeeling in our haste to succeed and be great. First Inaugural Address, 1913. Our standards 24 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Very few rise Lift it up OST of us are average men; very few of us rise, except by fortunate accident, above the general level of the community about us; there- fore the man who thinks common thoughts, the man who has had com- mon experiences, is almost always the man who interprets America aright. THE nations are renewed from the bottom, not from the top. THE real wisdom of human life is compounded out of the experiences of ordinary men. PUBLICITY is one of the purifying elements of politics. THE best thing that you can do with anything that is crooked is to lift it up where people can see that it is crooked, POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 25 and then it will either straighten itself out or disappear. LEGISLATION as we nowadays con- duct it, is not conducted in the open. A new E have come upon a very dif- ferent age from any that pre- ceded us. We have come upon an age when we do not do business in the way we used to do business—when we do not carry on any of the operations of manufacture, sale, transportation, or communication as men used to carry them on. There is a sense in which in our day the individual has been sub- merged. ONE of the most significant signs of the new social era is the degree to which government has become asso- ciated with big business. age 26 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON A revo- lution Changes needed E stand in the presence of a revolution,-not a bloody revolution: America is not given to the spilling of blood, but a silent revolution, whereby America will insist upon recovering in practice those ideals which she has always professed, upon securing a government devoted to the general interest and not to special interests. OME radical changes we must make in our law and practice. Some reconstructions we must push forward, which a new age and new circumstances impose upon us. But we can do it all in calm and sober fashion like statesmen and patriots. ONE of the worst features of the business system is this fact, that it works secretly. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 27 POLITICAL bosses are men who have worked their way by secret methods to the power they occupy. We Americans have been too long satisfied with merely going through the motions of government. The New Freedom. e PITHY SAYINGS PITHY SAYINGS 3 I VERY man must, of course, wheth- er he will or not, feel the spirit of the age in which he lives and thinks and does his work; and the mere con- tact will direct and form him more or less. THERE is a greater thing than the spirit of the age, and that is the spirit of the ages. An Author's Choice of Company. LIFE quite overturns logic. Thinking and erudition alone will not equip for the great tasks and triumphs of life . . . DEFEAT lies in self-surrender. The Author Himself. TRUE friendship is of a royal lineage. OUR true wisdom is in our ideals. Spirit of age Life and logic 32 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Genuine speech AND so the fountain of learning be- came the fountain of perpetual youth. The Free Life. THE age changes, and with it must change our ideas of human quality. WE need wholesome, experiencing natures, I dare affirm, much more than we need sound reasoning. SPEECH is genuine which is without silliness, affectation, or pretense. That character is genuine which seems built by nature rather than by convention. No age will take hysterical reform. As bad times as these, or any we shall see, have been reformed, but not by protests. PITHY SAYINGS 33 IT is certainly human to mind your neighbor's business as well as your OWn. On Being Human, 1906. HARACTER is a by-product, and any man who devotes him- self to its cultivation in his own case will become a selfish prig. . . . Life, gentlemen—the life of society, the life of the world—has constantly to be fed from the bottom. . . . For, gentle- men, this is an age in which the prin- ciples of men who utter public opinion dominate the world. The Power of Christian Young Men, being an address at the Anniversary Celebration of the Y. M. C. A. WOULD guarantee that if enough liars talked to you, you would get the truth; because the parts that they Liars and truth 34 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON The Con- titution did not invent would match one an- other, and the parts that they did in- vent would not match one another. Address before the United States Chamber of Commerce, February 3, 1915. SOMETIMEs the country believes in a party, but more often it believes in a IIlan. THE President is becoming more and more a political and less and less an executive officer. THE Constitution of the United States is not a mere lawyer's document: it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of the age. THERE have been periods of our history when presidential messages were utterly without practical significance. Constitutional Government in the U. S. THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON CERTAINLY modern individualism has much about it that is hateful, too hateful to live. It should be the end of government to assist in accomplishing the objects of organized society. The State. WOMAN SUFFRAGE 39 HE astonishing thing about the ºt. growth movement which you represent is, not that it has grown so slowly, but that it has grown so rapidly. No doubt for those who have been a long time in the struggle, like your honored president, it seems a long and arduous path that has been trodden, but when you think of the cumulating force of this movement in recent decades, you must agree with me that it is one of the most astonishing tides in modern history. Two generations ago, no doubt Madam President will agree with me in saying, it was a handful of wom- en who were fighting this cause. Now it is a great multitude of women who are fighting it. HE whole conception of govern- ment when the United States be- came a Nation was a mechanical con- 4O THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Technical difficulties Will prevail ception of government, and the me- chanical conception of government which underlay it was the Newtonian theory of the universe. HERE was a time when nobody but a lawyer could know enough to run the Government of the United States, and a distinguished English publicist once remarked, speaking of the complexity of the American Gov- ernment, that it was no proof of the excellence of the American Constitution that it had been successfully operated, because the Americans could run any constitution. But there have been a great many technical difficulties in run- ning it. T is going to prevail, and that is a very superficial and ignorant view of it which attributes it to mere wOMAN SUFFRAGE 4 I social unrest. It is not merely be- cause the women are discontented. It is because the women have seen visions of duty, and that is something which we not only cannot resist, but, if we be true Americans, we do not wish to resist. America took its origin in vis- ions of the human spirit, in aspirations for the deepest sort of liberty of the mind and of the heart, and as visions of that sort come up to the sight of those who are spiritually minded in America, America comes more and more into her birthright and into the perfection of her development. UR political questions have ceased to be legal questions. They have more and more become social questions, questions with regard to the relations of human beings to one an- other—not merely their legal relations, 42 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Be patient but their moral and spiritual relations to one another. So that what we have to realize in dealing with forces of this sort is that we are dealing with the substance of life itself. HAVE not come to ask you to be patient, because you have been, but I have come to congratulate you that there was a force behind you that will beyond peradventure be triumph- ant, and for which you can afford a little while to wait. Address at the National Women's Suffrage Con- vention in 1916. THE whole art and practice of gov- ernment consists not in moving indi- viduals, but in moving masses. Address at Atlantic City, September 8, 1916. THOUGHTS ON LITERA- TURE THOUGHTS ON, LITERATURE 45 OME books live; many die; where- ſººn e in is the secret of immortality? Not in beauty of form, nor even in force of passion. We might say of literature what Wordsworth said of poetry. . . . Poetry has the easier immortality because it has the easier accent when it speaks, because its phrases linger in our ears to delight them, because its truths are also melo- dies. Prose has much to overcome, its plainness of visage, its less musical accents, its homelier turns of phrase. But it also may maintain the immortal essence of truth and seriousness and high thought. Mere Literature, 1913. MUCH the most pathetic thought about books is that excellence will not save them. Their fates will be as whimsical as those of the humankind 46 THE WISDOM OF. wOODROW wilson Books and friends Praise of your own day which produces them. Knaves find it as easy to get remembered as good In en. THE world is attracted by books as each man is attracted by his several friends. The Author Himself. REAT authors are not often men of fashion. Fashion is always a harness and restraint, whether it be fashion in dress or fashion in vice or fashion in literary art; and a man who is bound by it is caught and formed in a fleeting mode. The great writers are always innovators. THE praise of your own day is no absolute disqualification; but it may be if it be given for qualities which your THOUGHTS ON LITERATURE 47 friends are the first to admire, for 'tis likely they will also be the last No man who has anything to say need stop and bethink himself whom he may please or displease in the say- ing of it. An Author's Choice of Company. INDIVIDUALITY does not consist in the use of the very personal pronoun, I: it consists in tone, in method, in attitude, in point of view. IT is best for the author to be born away from literary centres, or to be excluded from their ruling set if he be born in them. IF you have a candid and well- informed friend among city lawyers, ask him where the best masters of his Individu- ality REMARKS OF THE EDUCATOR REMARKS OF THE EDUCATOR 5 I PITY the man who cannot look back to those delicious sequestered places from which we first saw the world, that dear covert made by mothers' and fathers' love and kept in- violable by all the gentle arts of guar- dian care. PRACTICAL judgments shift from age to age, but principles abide; and more stable even than principles are the motives which simplify and en- noble life. The Free Life. IT is again a day for Shakespeare's spirit—a day more various, more ar- dent, more provoking to valor and every large design, even than “the spacious times of great Elizabeth,” when all the world seemed new . . . Motives in life 52 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON A path- finder LET us remind ourselves that to be human is, for one thing, to speak and act with a certain note of genuineness, a quality mixed of spontaneity and intelligence. No man is genuine who is forever trying to pattern his life after the lives of other people. MAN is much more than a “rational being,” and lives more by sympathies and impressions than by conclusions. KEEP but your eyes alert and your ears quick, as you move among men, and among books, and you shall find yourself possessed at last of a new sense, the sense of the pathfinder. THE art of being human begins with the practice of being genuine, and REMARKS OF THE EDUCATOR 53 following standards of conduct which the world has tested. - E shall need a new Renaissance, |A rebirth ushered in by a new “human- istic” movement, in which we shall add to our present minute, introspec- tive study of ourselves, our jails, our slums, our nerve-centres, our shifts to live, almost as morbid as mediaeval religion, a rediscovery of the round world, and of man's place in it, now that its face has changed. On Being Human. GOVERNMENTAL MAXIMS GOVERNMENTAL MAXIMS 57 GOVERNMENT, in its last analysis, is organized force. Not necessarily or invariably armed force. . . . It is, however, organized to rule, to domi- nate. N the case of any particular govern- ment, the force upon which the authority of its officers rests may never once for generations together take the shape of armed force. Happily there are in our own day many governments, and those among the most prominent, which seldom coerce their subjects, seeming in their tranquil, noiseless operations to run of themselves But there is force behind them none the less because it never shows itself. HE better governments of our day—those which rest, not upon the armed strength of governors, but Armed force Minority and majority 58 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON upon the free consent of the governed are founded upon constitutions and laws whose source and sanction are the habit of communities. The force which they embody is not the force of a dominant dynasty or of a prevalent minority, but the force of an agreeing majority. And the overwhelming na- ture of this force is evidently the fact that the minority very seldom chal- lenges its exercise. It is latent just because it is understood to be omnipo- tent. HERE is force behind the au- thority of the elected magistrate, no less than behind that of the usurp- ing despot, a much greater force behind the President of the United States than behind the Czar of Russia. The difference lies in the display of coercive power. Physical force is the GOVERNMENTAL MAXIMS 59 prop of both, though in the one it is the last, while in the other it is the first, resort. ^ T is common nowadays when re- |Public ferring to the affairs of the most progressive nations to speak of “gov- ernment by public opinion.” . . . But no one intends such expressions to con- ceal the fact that the majority . does not prevail because the minority are convinced, but because they out- numbered and have against them not the “popular voice” only, but the “popular power” as well,—that it is the potential might rather than the wisdom of the majority which gives it its right to rule. SOCIETY is compounded of the com- mon habit and is an evolution of ex- perience, an interlaced growth of tena- opinion 6O THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Degen- eracy cious relationships, a compact, living, organic whole, structural, not me- chanical. OLIGARCHY is even more hateful to civil liberty, is even a greater hind- rance to healthful civil life than tyranny. EMOCRACY, too, has its old age of degeneracy—an old age in which it loses its early respect for law, its first “amiability” of mutual con- cession. It breaks out into license and anarchy, and none but a Caesar can bring it back to reason and order. SOCIETY is not the organism it once was, its members are given freer play, fuller opportunity for origination; but its organic character is again promi- nent. The State. GOVERNMENTAL MAXIMS 61 HERE are illegitimate means by which the President may influ- ence the action of Congress. . . . He may overbear Congress by arbitrary acts which ignore the laws or virtually override them. . . . Such things are not only deeply immoral, they are de- structive of the fundamental under- standings of constitutional govern- ment. . . . They are sure, more- over, in a country of free public opin- ion, to bring their own punishment, to destroy both the fame and the power of the man who dares to practice them. HE nation as a whole has chosen the President, and is conscious that it has no other political spokes- man. His is the only national voice in affairs. Let him once win the ad- miration and confidence of the coun- Illegiti- mate 771 earts The President as spokes- pil ult GOVERNMENTAL MAXIMS as likely to find outside the ranks of our public men as within them. F the President has personal force and cares to exercise it there is this tremendous difference between his messages and the views of any other citizen, either outside Congress or with- in it: that the whole country reads them and feels that the writer speaks with an authority and a responsibility which the people themselves have given him. HE President can never again be the mere domestic figure he has been throughout so large a part of our history . . . Our President must always henceforth be one of the great powers of the world, whether he act greatly and wisely or not, and the best Personal force No mere domestic figure 64 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Kaiser’s powers statesmen we can produce will be needed to fill the office of secretary of state. Constitutional Government in the United States. HE constitutional prerogatives of the German Emperor are of the most eminent kind. Unlike other presidents, he is irresponsible: he can- not be removed. . . . He has, in brief, to the fullest extent, both the executive and the representative func- tions now characteristic of the head of a powerful constitutional state. Adding, as he does, to his powers as hereditary president of the Empire his commanding privileges as king of Prus- sia . . . he possesses no slight claim to be regarded as the most powerful ruler of our time. GOVERNMENTAL MAXIMS 65 HE State is no more an evil than is society itself. It is the organic body of society: without it society would be hardly more than a mere abstraction. If the name had not been restricted to a single, nar- row, extreme, and radically mistaken class of thinkers, we ought all to re- gard ourselves and to act as socialists, believers in the wholesomeness and beneficence of the body politic. HE schemes which Socialists have proposed society cannot accept and live, and no scheme which involves the complete control of the individual by government can be devised which differs from theirs very much for the better. State no evil Socialists and society 66 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Govern- ment an instrument HE case for society stands thus: the individual must be assured the best means, the best and fullest opportunities, for complete self-devel- opment. In no other way can society itself gain variety and strength. OCIETY, it must always be re- membered, is vastly bigger and more important than its instrument, government. Government should serve society, by no means rule or dominate it. Government should not be made an end in itself; it is a means only,– a means to be freely adapted to ad- vance the best interests of the social organism. The state exists for the sake of society, not society for the sake of the state. The State. GOVERNMENTAL MAXIMS E have learnt that it is pent- up feelings that are danger- ous, whispered purposes that are revo- lutionary, covert follies that warp and poison the mind; that the wisest thing to do with a fool is to encourage him to hire a hall and discourse to his fellow-citizens. Nothing chills non- sense like exposure to the air. CTION is very sobering to opin- ion. It is one thing to advocate reforms: it is quite another to formu- late them. Many an ardent and burdensome reformer would be silenced and put to better thinking if he were obliged to express his reform in the exact words of a workable statute; and many a statute which amateurs may think eminently workable turns out im- possible of execution. The wisest thing Practical reforms 68. THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON The States RE the United States a commun- ity? In some things, yes; in many things, no. . . . It would be hard to frame any single generalization which would be true of the whole United States, whether it were social, economic or political. E have multiplied our consti- tutional governments by the number of our states, and have set up in each commonwealth of a vast union of states a separate constitutional gov- ernment to which is intrusted the regu- lation of all the ordinary relations of citizens to each other. . . . THE Government of the United States has had a vital and normal or- ganic growth and has proved itself eminently adapted to express the chang- |- ; GOVERNMENTAL MAXIMS ing temper and purposes of the Ameri- can people from age to age. THE presidency has been one thing at one time, another at another, varying with the man who occupied the office and with the circumstances that sur- rounded him. OUR new place in the affairs of the world has since that year of transfor- mation (1898) kept the President at the front of our Government. We are in these latter days apt to be very impatient of literal and dog- matic interpretations of constitutional principle. Constitutional Government in the United States. S a matter of fact the President has become very much more. He has become the leader of his party The presidency Guide of the nation 7o THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON The unify- ing force and the guide of the nation in political purpose, and therefore in legal action. The constitutional structure of the Gov- ernment has hampered and limited his action in these significant rôles, but it has not prevented it. REATLY as the practice and in- fluence of Presidents have va- ried, there can be no mistaking the fact that we have grown more and more inclined . . . to look to the Presi- dent as the unifying force in our complex system, the leader both of his party and of the nation. To do so is not inconsistent with the actual pro- visions of the Constitution. Constitutional Government in the United States —Edition of 1908. PROGRESSIVE TENDENCIES |-**~*~**************， ********~~~~ ~~~~） • w： *** ~ ~~~~************** ************************w* * * *， ** * · · - PROGRESSIVE TENDENCIES 73 I TELL you, the so-called radicalism of our times is simply the effort of na- ture to release the generous energies of our people. This great American people is at bottom just, virtuous, and hopeful. T is necessary to open up all the processes of our politics. They have been too secret, too complicated, too roundabout; they have consisted too much of private conferences, of secret understandings, of the control of legis- lation by men who were not legislators, but who stood outside and dictated, controlling oftentimes by very question- able means. WE are in the presence of a new organization of society. Radicalism Open processes 74. THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON The inventor The refer- endum WE have changed our economic con- ditions, absolutely, from top to bot- tom; and, with our economic society, the organization of our life. F course I am not saying that all invention has been stopped by the growth of trusts, but I think it is perfectly clear that invention in many fields has been discouraged, that in- ventors have been prevented from reaping the full fruits of their ingenuity and industry, and that mankind has been deprived of many comforts and conveniences, as well as of the oppor- tunity of buying at lower prices. MET a man the other day who thought that the referendum was some kind of animal because it had a Latin name. But most of us know and are deeply interested. Why? Be- PROGRESSIVE TENDENCIES 75 cause we have felt that in too many instances our Government did not repre- sent us, and we have said: “We have to have a key to the door of our own house.” The initiative and referen- dum and the recall afford such a key to our own premises. T is part of the indictment against the protective policy of the United States that it has weakened and not enhanced the vigor of our people. Think of it: a nation full of genius and yet paralyzed by timidity HAVE lived in a state that was owned by a series of corpora- tions. They handed it about. It was at one time owned by the Pennsyl- vania Railroad. Then it was owned by the Public Service Corporation. It was owned by the Public Service Cor- Protective policy Owned by cor- porations 76 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Control- ling class Abolish privilege poration when I was admitted, and that corporation has been resentful ever since that I interfered with its tend- ency. But I really did not see any reason why the people should give up their own residence to so small a body of men to monopolize. No country can afford to have its prosperity originated by a small con- trolling class. The treasure of America does not lie in the brains of the small body of men now in control of the great enterprises. The New Freedom. E must abolish everything that bears even the semblance of privilege or of any kind of artificial advantage, and put our business men and producers under the stimulation of a constant necessity to be efficient, eco- PROGRESSIVE TENDENCIES 77 nomical, and enterprising, masters of competitive supremacy, better workers and merchants than any in the world. First Address to Congress. NEW economic society has sprung up, and we must effect a new set of adjustments. We must not pit power against weakness. The employer is generally . . . a power- ful group; and yet the workingman when dealing with his employer is still, under our existing law, an indi- vidual. MERICAN industry is not free, as once it was free; American enterprise is not free; the man with only a little capital is finding it harder to get into the field, more and more impossible to compete with the big fellow. Why? Because the laws of Adjust- ment Crushing the weak THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Tariff revised this country do not prevent the strong from crushing the weak. The New Freedom. O things stood when the Demo- cratic Party came into power. How do they stand now? Alike in the domestic field and in the wide field of the commerce of the world, American business and life and industry have been set free to move as they never moved before. The tariff has been revised, not on the principle of repelling foreign trade, but upon the principle of encouraging it. . . . American energies are now directed towards the markets of the world. - The laws against trusts have been clarified by definition, with a view to making it plain that they were not directed against big business but only PROGRESSIVE TENDENCIES 79 against unfair business and the pre- tense of competition where there was none; and a Trade Commission has been created with powers of guidance and accommodation which have re- lieved business men of unfounded fears and set them upon the road of hope- ful and confident enterprise. By the Federal Reserve Act the sup- ply of currency at the disposal of active business has been rendered elastic. Effective measures have been taken for the re-creation of an American mer- chant marine and the revival of the American carrying trade indispensable to our emancipation from the control which foreigners have so long exercised over the opportunities, the routes, and the methods of our commerce with other countries. For the farmers of the country we have virtually created commercial Merchant marine recreated PROGRESSIVE TENDENCIES 8 I years to play big brother to the repub- lics of this hemisphere. This is the day of our test whether we mean, or have ever meant, to play that part for our own benefit wholly or also for theirs. Upon the outcome of that test (its out- come in their minds, not in ours) de- pends every relationship of the United States with Latin America, whether in politics or in commerce and enterprise. . The nations of the world must unite in joint guarantees that whatever is done to disturb the whole world's life must first be tested in the court of the whole world's opinion before it is at- tempted. We can no longer indulge our tra- ditional provincialism. We are to play a leading part in the world drama whether we wish it or not. We shall lend, not borrow; act for ourselves, not imitate or follow; organize and Played big brother No more provin- cialism 82 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON initiate, not peep about merely to see where we may get in. We have put all kinds of unfair com- petition under the ban and penalty of the law. We have barred monopoly. . . . . . The day of Little American- ism, with its narrow horizons, when methods of “protection” and industrial nursing were the chief study of our provincial statesmen, are past and gone and that a day of enterprise has at last dawned for the United States whose field is the wide world. Speech of Acceptance on being offered the nomi- nation for President by the Democratic Party, September 2, 1916. AMERICANISM 88 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Funda- mental things world has made poignantly clear is, that the peace of the world must hence- forth depend upon a new and more wholesome diplomacy. Only when the great nations of the world have reached some sort of agreement as to what they hold to be fundamental to their com- mon interest, and as to some feasible method of acting in concert when any nation or group of nations seeks to dis- turb those fundamental things, can we feel that civilization is at last in a way of justifying its existence and claiming to be finally established. It is clear that nations must in the future be gov- erned by the same high code of honor that we demand of individuals. We believe these fundamental things: First, that every people has a right to choose the sovereignty under which they shall live. Like other nations, we have ourselves no doubt once and again AMERICANISM 89 offended against that principle when for a little while controlled by selfish passion, as our franker historians have been honorable enough to admit; but it has become more and more our rule of life and action. Sécond, that the small states of the world have a right to en- joy the same respect for their sov- ereignty and for their territorial integ- rity that great and powerful nations expect and insist upon. And, third, that the world has a right to be free from every disturbance of its peace that has its origin in aggression and dis- regard of the rights of peoples and nations. - There is nothing that the United States wants for itself that any other nation has. We are willing, on the contrary, to limit ourselves along with them to a prescribed course of duty and respect for the rights of others Nothing for herself 92 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Providing prosperity THE masters of the Government of the United States are the combined capitalists and manufacturers of the United States. THE Government of the United States at present is a foster-child of the “special interests.” OTHING could be a greater de- parture from original Ameri- canism, from faith in the ability of a confident, resourceful, and independent people, than the discouraging doctrine that somebody has got to provide pros- perity for the rest of us. AM one of those who absolutely reject the trustee theory, the guardianship theory. . . . I suspect that the people of the United States understand their own interests better 96 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Oath of allegiance need to convince others by force that it is right. Address to Newly Naturalized Citizens. OU have just taken an oath of allegiance to the United States. Of allegiance to whom P Of alle- giance to no one, unless it be God— certainly not of allegiance to those who temporarily represent this great Gov- ernment. You have taken an oath of allegiance to a great ideal, to a great body of principles, to a great hope of the human race. You have said, “We are going to America not only to earn a living, not only to seek the things which it was more difficult to obtain where we were born, but to help for- ward the great enterprises of the human spirit—to let men know that every- where in the world there are men who will cross strange oceans and go where AMERICANISM 97 a speech is spoken which is alien to them if they can but satisfy their quest for what their spirits crave; knowing that whatever the speech there is but one longing and utterance of the human heart, and that is for liberty and jus- tice.” And while you bring all coun- tries with you, you come with a pur- pose of leaving all other countries be- hind you. HIS is the only country in the world which experiences this constant and repeated rebirth. Other countries depend upon the multiplication of their own native people. This coun- try is constantly drinking strength out of new sources by the voluntary asso- ciation with it of great bodies of strong men and forward-looking women out of other lands. And so by the gift of the free will of independent people it Founded for humanity 98 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON is being constantly renewed from gen- eration to generation by the same process by which it was originally created. It is as if humanity had deter- mined to see to it that this great nation, founded for the benefit of hu- manity, should not lack for the alle- giance of the people of the world. No man that does not see visions will ever realize any high hope or undertake any high enterprise. T was but an historical accident no doubt that this great country was called the “United States”; yet I am very thankful that it has that word “United” in its title, and the man who seeks to divide man from man, group from group, interest from interest in this great Union is striking at its very heart. AMERICANISM 99 IF I have in any degree forgotten what America was intended for, I will thank God if you will remind me. Address, Philadelphia, May 19, 1915. I WANT to belong to a nation, and I am proud to belong to a nation that knows how to take care of itself. THE whole stability of a democratic polity rests upon the fact that every interest is every man's interest. THEN there arose that interesting figure, the immortal figure of the great Lincoln, who stood up declaring that the politicians, the men who had gov- erned this country, did not see from the point of view of the people. As a university president I learned that the men who dominate our manu- Praise for Lincoln Assisted by erperts IOO THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON True Americans facturing processes could not conduct their business for twenty-four hours without the assistance of the experts with whom the universities were supply- ing him. The New Freedom. LISTENED again to this list of the dead with a profound interest because of the mixture of the names, for the names bear the marks of the several national stocks from which these men came. But they are not Irishmen or Germans or Frenchmen or Hebrews or Italians any more. They were not when they went to Vera Cruz; they were Americans, every one of them, and with no difference in their Americanism because of the stock from which they came. They were in a peculiar sense of our blood, and they proved it by showing that they were AMERICANISM IOI of our spirit—that no matter what their derivation, no matter where their peo- ple came from, they thought and wished and did the things that were American; and the flag under which they served was a flag in which all the blood of mankind is united to make a free nation. Address delivered at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, May 11, 1914. - N two particulars of vital conse- quence this bill embodies a radi- cal departure from the traditional and long-established policy of this country, a policy in which our people have con- ceived the very character of their Gov- ernment to be expressed, the very mis- sion and spirit of the nation in respect of its relations to the peoples of the world outside their borders. It seeks to all but close entirely the gates of asy- Vicious discrimi nation AMERICANISM IO3 own less fortunate land, and who has yet become an ornament to our citi- zenship and to our public councils. Message to Congress disapproving of a restric- tive immigration bill. OLITICS, ladies and gentlemen, is made up in just about equal parts of comprehension and sympathy. No man ought to go into politics who does not comprehend the task that he is going to attack. . . . After he has comprehended it, there should come into his mind those profound im- pulses of sympathy which connect him with the rest of mankind, for politics is a business of interpretation, and no men are fit for it who do not see and seek more than their own advantage and interest. . The Declaration of Independ- ence was, indeed, the first audible Declara- tion of Independ- en Ce IO4 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON breath of liberty, but the substance of liberty is written in such documents as the declaration of rights attached, for example, to the first constitution of Virginia, which was a model for the similar documents read elsewhere into our great fundamental charters. That document speaks in very plain terms. The men of that generation did not hesitate to say that every people has a right to choose its own forms of gov- ernment—not once, but as often as it pleases—and to accommodate those forms of government to its existing in- terests and circumstances. Not only to establish but to alter is the funda- mental principle of self-government. No man can boast that he under- stands America. No man can boast that he has lived the life of America, as almost every man who sat in this AMERICANISM IO 5 hall in those days could boast. No man can pretend that except by com- mon counsel he can gather into his consciousness what the varied life of this people is. The duty that we have to keep open eyes and open hearts and accessible understandings is a very much more difficult duty to perform than it was in their day. . . . I count it a fortunate circumstance that almost all the windows of the White House and its offices open upon unoccupied spaces that stretch to the banks of the Potomac and then out into Virginia and on to the heavens themselves, and that as I sit there I can constantly forget Washington and remember the United States. Not that I would intimate that all of the United States lies south of Washington, but there is a serious thing back of my thought. If you think too much about being reëlected, Looking from the White House I off THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON it is very difficult to be worth reëlect- ing. It is constantly necessary to come away from Washington and renew one's contact with the people who do not swarm there, who do not ask for any- thing, but who do trust you without their personal counsel to do your duty. Unless a man gets these contacts he grows weaker and weaker. He needs them as Hercules needed the touch of mother earth. “Understanding America.” Delivered at Phila- delphia, Pa., on the occasion of the rededica- tion of Congress Hall, October 25, 1913. HE war was started by Germany. Her authorities deny that they started it, but I am willing to let the statement I have just made await the verdict of history. And the thing that needs to be explained is why Germany a AMERICANISM IOS) can get into the hearts of Germans and find as fine a welcome there as it can find in any other hearts, but the spirit of freedom does not suit the plans of the Pan-Germans. Power cannot be used with concentrated force against free peoples if it is used by free peo- ple. While we are fighting for freedom we must see, among other things, that labor is free; and that means a number of interesting things. It means not only that we must do what we have declared our purpose to do, see that the con- ditions of labor are not rendered more onerous by the war, but also that we shall see to it that the instrumentalities by which the conditions of labor are im- proved are not blocked or checked. I believe I am speaking from my own experience not only, but from the experi- ence of others when I say that you are THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON reasonable in a larger number of cases than the capitalists. We claim to be the greatest democratic people in the world, and democracy means first of all that we can govern ourselves. If our men have not self-control, then they are not capable of that great thing which we call democratic government. Address to the American Federation of Labor Convention, Buffalo, New York, November 12, 1917. HIS little hut was the cradle of one of the great sons of men, a man of singular, delightful, vital genius who presently emerged upon the great stage of the nation's history, gaunt, shy, ungainly, but dominant and majestic, a natural ruler of men, himself inevitably the central figure of the great plot. No man can explain this, but every man can see how it demonstrates the vigor * AMERICANISM of democracy, where every door is open, in every hamlet and countryside, in city and wilderness alike, for the ruler to emerge when he will and claim his lead- ership in the free life. Such are the au- thentic proofs of the validity and vital- ity of democracy. We would like to think of men like Lincoln and Washington as typical Americans, but no man can be typical who is so unusual as these great men were. It was typical of American life that it should produce such men with supreme indifference as to the manner in which it produced them, and as read- ily here in this hut as amidst the little circle of cultivated gentlemen to whom Virginia owed so much in leadership and example. And Lincoln and Wash- ington were typical Americans in the use they made of their genius. But there will be few such men at best, and In the wilderness Typical THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON we will not look into the mystery of how and why they come. We will only keep the door open for them always, and a hearty welcome, after we have recognized them. Passages in an address on “Lincoln's Begin- nings,” delivered September 4, 1916. i FOR HUMANITY II 5 WHAT was in the minds of the men |Éring - liberty to who founded America, to serve the selfish interests of America? Do you find that in their writings? No; to serve the cause of humanity, to bring liberty to mankind. - The New Freedom. HUMANITY can be welded together only by love, by sympathy, by justice, not by jealousy and hatred. I am sorry for the man who seeks to make personal capital out of the passions of his fel- low men. Address to Newly Naturalized Citizens, Phila- delphia, May 10, 1916. We seek to maintain the dignity and authority of the United States only be- cause we wish always to keep our great influence unimpaired for the uses of liberty, both in the United States and mankind I 16 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Spirit of unselfish- 11 ess wherever else it may be employed for the benefit of mankind. Address on the Tampico Incident, made before the two Houses of Congress, April 20, 1914. MERICA will come into the full light of the day when all shall know that she puts human rights above all other rights and that her flag is the flag not only of America but of human- 1ty. What other great people has de- voted itself to this exalted ideal? To what other nation in the world can all eyes look for an instant sympathy that thrills the whole body politic when men anywhere are fighting for their rights? I do not know that there will ever be a declaration of independence and of grievances for mankind, but I believe that if any such document is ever drawn it will be drawn in the spirit of the American Declaration of Independence, FOR HUMANITY I 17 and that America has lifted high the light which will shine unto all genera- tions and guide the feet of mankind to the goal of justice and liberty and peace. “Meaning of Liberty,” address at Independence Hall, July 4, 1914. E have gone down to Mexico to serve mankind if we can find out the way. We do not want to fight the Mexicans. We want to serve the Mexicans if we can, because we know how we would like to be free, and how we would like to be served if there were friends standing by in such case ready to serve us. A war of ag- gression is not a war in which it is a proud thing to die, but a war of ser- vice is a thing in which it is a proud thing to die. * Address delivered in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, May 11, 1914. A war of service II 8 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Sample Americans T ought to be one of your thoughts all the time that you are sample Americans—not merely sample Navy men, not merely sample soldiers, but sample Americans—and that you have the point of view of America with re- gard to her Navy and her Army; that she is using them as the instruments of civilization, not as the instruments of aggression. The idea of America is to serve humanity, and every time you let the Stars and Stripes free to the wind you ought to realize that that is in itself a message that you are on an errand which other navies have some- times forgotten; not an errand of con- quest, but an errand of service. I al- ways have the same thought when I look at the flag of the United States, for I know something of the history of the struggle of mankind for liberty. When I look at that flag it seems to FOR HUMANITY II 9 me as if the white stripes were strips of parchment upon which are written the rights of man, and the red stripes the streams of blood by which those rights have been made good. Then in the little blue firmament in the corner have swung out the stars of the States of the American Union. So it is, as it were, a sort of floating charter that has come down to us from Runnymede, when men said, “We will not have masters; we will be a people, and we will seek our own liberty.” You are not serving a government, gentlemen; you are serving a people. For we who for the time being consti- tute the Government are merely instru- ments for a little while in the hands of a great Nation. . . . For that is the only distinction that America has. Other nations have been strong, other nations have piled wealth as high as Serving a people I 2 O THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Lift his brother the sky, but they have come into dis- grace because they used their force and their wealth for the oppression of man- kind and their own aggrandizement; and America will not bring glory to herself, but disgrace, by following the beaten paths of history. We must strike out upon new paths, and we must count upon you gentlemen to be the explorers who will carry this spirit and spread this message all over the seas and in every port of the civilized world. Annapolis Commencement Address, June 5, 1914. HAVE often said that the use of a university is to make young gentlemen as unlike their fathers as possible. No man is a true Christian who does not think constantly of how he can lift his brother, how he can assist his friend, FOR HUMANITY I 2 I how he can enlighten mankind, how he can make virtue the rule of conduct in the circle in which he lives. And, then, I am glad that it is an association. Every word of its title means an element of strength. Young men are strong. Christian young men are the strongest kind of young men, and when they associate themselves to- gether they have the incomparable strength of organization. I remember hearing a very wise man say once, a man grown old in the ser- vice of a great church, that he had never taught his son religion dogmatic- ally at any time; that he and the boy's mother had agreed that if the at- mosphere of that home did not make a Christian of the boy, nothing that they could say would make a Christian of him. They knew that Christianity was catching, and if they did not have it, it I 2.2 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Surging up of new strength would not be communicated. If they did have it, it would penetrate while the boy slept, almost. - The humblest hovel, therefore, may produce you your greatest man. A very humble hovel did produce you one of your greatest men. That is the pro- cess of life, this constant surging up of the new strength of unnamed, unrecog- nized, uncatalogued men who are just getting into the running, who are just coming up from the masses of the un- recognized multitude. You do not know when you will see above the level masses of the crowd some great stature lifted head and shoulders above the rest, shouldering its way, not violently but gently, to the front and saying, “Here am I; follow me.” And his voice will be your voice, his thought will be your thought, and you will FOR HUMANITY I 23 follow him as if you were following the best things in yourselves. That means that eternal vigilance is the price, not only of liberty, but of a great many other things. It is the price of everything that is good. It is the price of one's own soul. “The Power of Christian Young Men,” being an address at the Anniversary Celebration of the Y.M.C.A. ECONOMIC PROBLEMS I 27 - - - New T is absolutely imperative that we ..., should give the business men of this country a banking and currency sys- tem by means of which they can make use of the freedom of enterprise and of individual initiative which we are about to bestow upon them. We are about to set them free; we must not leave them without the tools of action when they are free. We are about to set them free by removing the trammels of the protective tariff. Ever since the Civil War they have waited for this emancipation and for the free opportunities it will bring with it. . Some fell in love, indeed, with the slothful security of their dependence upon the Government; some took ad- vantage of the shelter of the nursery to set up a mimic mastery of their own within its walls. Now both the tonic system, I3O THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Our merchant marine stunted Embodies convincing erperience O speak plainly, we have grossly erred in the way in which we have stunted and hindered the develop- ment of our merchant marine. And now, when we need ships, we have not got them. . . . Hence the pending shipping bill, dis- cussed at the last session but as yet passed by neither House. In my judg- ment such legislation is imperatively needed and cannot wisely be postponed. Annual Address to Congress, December 8, 1914. O N S T R U C T IV E legisla- tion, when successful, is always the embodiment of convincing experi- ence, and of the mature public opinion which finally springs out of that experi- ence. Legislation is a business of inter- pretation, not of origination; and it is now plain what the opinion is to which we must give effect in this matter. It ECONOMIC PROBLEMS I3 I is not recent or hasty opinion. It springs out of the experience of a whole generation. It has clarified itself by long contest, and those who for a long time battled with it and sought to change it are now frankly and honor- ably yielding to it and seeking to con- form their actions to it. We are now about to give expres- sion to the best business judgment of America, to what we know to be the business conscience and honor of the land. The Government and business men are ready to meet each other half- Way. . . . We are all agreed that “private monopoly is indefensible and intoler- able,” and our program is founded upon that conviction. Address on “Trusts and Monopolies,” delivered at a joint session of Congress, January 20, 1914. I 32 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON | The world and American commerce HE advantage about a Chamber of Commerce of the United States is that there is only one way to boost the United States, and that is by seeing to it that the conditions under which business is done throughout the whole country are the best possible conditions. There cannot be any dis- proportion about that. . The minute this association falls into the hands, if it ever should, of men from a single section or men with a single set of interests most at heart, it will go to seed and die. . . We are just beginning to do, systematically and scientifically, what we ought long ago to have done, to employ the Government of the United States to survey the world in order that American commerce might be guided. Many minds are necessary to com- ECONOMIC PROBLEMS I33 pound a workable method of life in a various and populous country; and as I think about the whole thing and pic- ture the purposes, the infinitely diffi- cult and complex purposes which we must conceive and carry out, not only does it minister to my own modesty, I hope, of opinion, but it also fills me with a very great enthusiasm. It is a splendid thing to be part of a great wide-awake nation. It is a splendid thing to know that your own strength is infinitely multiplied by the strength of other men who love the country as you do. Address before the United States Chamber of Commerce, February 3, 1915. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I37 HE future has much in store for Mexico, as for all the States of Central America; but the best gifts can come to her only if she be ready and free to receive them and to enjoy them honorably. America in particular —America north and south and upon both continents—waits upon the devel- opment of Mexico; and that develop- ment can be sound and lasting only if it be the product of a genuine freedom, a just and ordered government founded upon law. Only so can it be peaceful or fruitful of the benefits of peace. Mexico has a great and enviable future before her, if only she choose and at- tain the paths of honest constitutional government. For the rest, I deem it my duty to exercise the authority conferred upon Merico and the future Policy of impar- tiality THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON me by the law of March 14, 1912, to see to it that neither side to the strug- gle now going on in Mexico receive any assistance from this side the border. I shall follow the best practice of nations in the matter of neutrality by forbid- ding the exportation of arms or muni- tions of war of any kind from the United States to any part of the Repub- lic of Mexico—a policy suggested by several interesting precedents and cer- tainly dictated by many manifest con- siderations of practical expediency. We cannot in the circumstances be the par- tisans of either party to the contest that now distracts Mexico, or consti- tute ourselves the virtual umpire be- tween them. . . All the world expects us in such circumstances to act as Mexico's nearest friend and intimate adviser. I42 THE WISDOM OF wooDRow WILSON The only standard of no less than thirty-one nations, rep- resenting four-fifths of the population of the world, to the negotiation of treaties by which it shall be agreed that whenever differences of interest or of policy arise which cannot be resolved by the ordinary processes of di- plomacy they shall be publicly analyzed. discussed, and reported upon by a tribunal chosen by the parties before either nation determines its course of action. There is only one possible standard by which to determine controversies be- tween the United States and other na- tions, and that is compounded of these two elements: Our own honor and our obligations to the peace of the world. A test so compounded ought easily to be made to govern both the establish- ment of new treaty obligations and INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I 45 exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of self-control, the efficiency of dispassionate action; a nation that neither sits in judgment upon others nor is disturbed in her own counsels and which keeps herself fit and free to do what is honest and dis- interested and truly serviceable for the peace of the world. It will be easy to excite passion and difficult to allay it. Those responsible for exciting it will assume a heavy re- sponsibility, responsibility for no less a thing than that the people of the United States, whose love of their country and whose loyalty to its Gov- ernment should unite them as Ameri- cans all, bound in honor and affection to think first of her and her interests, may be divided in camps of hostile opinion, hot against each other, in- Camps of hostile opinion THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Opinion of the world volved in the war itself in impulse and opinion if not in action. Such divisions among us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might seriously stand in the way of the proper performance of our duty as the one great nation at peace, the one peo- ple holding itself ready to play a part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a friend. “American Neutrality,” an appeal to the citizens of the Republic, August 20, 1914. HE opinion of the world is the mistress of the world; and the processes of international law are the slow processes by which opinion works its will. What impresses me is the constant thought that that is the tribu- nal at the bar of which we all sit. . The disinterested course is always the INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I47 biggest course to pursue not only, but it is in the long run the most profitable course to pursue. - I once said to a lawyer with whom I was discussing some question of prece- dent, and in whose presence I was ven- turing to doubt the rational validity, at any rate, of the particular prece- dents he cited, “After all, isn't our object justice?” And he said, “God forbid! We should be very much confused if we made that our stan- dard. Our standard is to find out what the rule has been and how the rule that has been applies to the case that is.” My hope is that, being stirred to the depths by the extraordinary cir- cumstances of the time in which we live, we may recover from those depths something of a renewal of that vision of the law with which men may be INTERNATIONAL POLITICS INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I37 HE future has much in store for Mexico, as for all the States of Central America; but the best gifts can come to her only if she be ready and free to receive them and to enjoy them honorably. America in particular —America north and south and upon both continents—waits upon the devel- opment of Mexico; and that develop- ment can be sound and lasting only if it be the product of a genuine freedom, a just and ordered government founded upon law. Only so can it be peaceful or fruitful of the benefits of peace. Mexico has a great and enviable future before her, if only she choose and at- tain the paths of honest constitutional government. For the rest, I deem it my duty to exercise the authority conferred upon Merico and the future Policy of impar- tiality INTERNATIONAL POLITICs I39 This is our immemorial relation towards her. Address on Mexican Affairs, delivered at a joint session of the two Houses of Congress, Au, gust 27, 1913. e The Latin- O you not see now what is about |!. to happen? These great tides which have been running aiong paral- lels of latitude will now swing south- ward athwart parallels of latitude, and that opening gate at the Isthmus of Panama will open the world to a com- merce that she has not known before, a commerce of intelligence, of thought, and sympathy between North and South. The Latin-American States which, to their disadvantage, have been off the main lines will now be on the main lines. I want to take this occasion to say that the United States will never again seek one additional foot of territory by states I4O THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON conquest. She will devote herself to showing that she knows how to make honorable and fruitful use of the terri- tory she has, and she must regard it as one of the duties of friendship to see that from no quarter are material inter- ests made superior to human liberty and national opportunity. I say this, not with a single thought that anyone will gainsay it, but merely to fix in our con- sciousness what our real relationship with the rest of America is. It is the relationship of a family of mankind devoted to the development of true constitutional liberty. We know that that is the soil out of which the best enterprise springs. We know that this is a cause which we are making in com- mon with our neighbors, because we have had to make it for ourselves. . Address delivered at Mobile, Alabama, before the Southern Commercial Congress, on Octo- ber 27, 1913. I42 THE WISDOM OF woodRow WILSON The only standard of no less than thirty-one nations, rep- resenting four-fifths of the population of the world, to the negotiation of treaties by which it shall be agreed that whenever differences of interest or of policy arise which cannot be resolved by the ordinary processes of di- plomacy they shall be publicly analyzed. discussed, and reported upon by a tribunal chosen by the parties before either nation determines its course of action. There is only one possible standard by which to determine controversies be- tween the United States and other na- tions, and that is compounded of these two elements: Our own honor and our obligations to the peace of the world. A test so compounded ought easily to be made to govern both the establish- ment of new treaty obligations and INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I43 the interpretation of those already assumed. Address on the State of the Union, delivered before the two Houses of Congress, Decem- ber 2, 1913. HIS Government can, I earnestly |..." Merico hope, in no circumstances be forced into war with the people of Mexico. Mexico is torn by civil strife. If we are to accept the tests of its own constitution, it has no government. . I believe that I speak for the American people when I say that we do not desire to control in any degree the affairs of our sister Republic. Our feeling for the people of Mexico is one of deep and genuine friendship, and everything that we have so far done or refrained from doing has proceeded from our desire to help them, not to hinder or embarrass them. We would not wish even to I44 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON exercise the good offices of friendship without their welcome and consent. Address on the Tampico Incident, made before the two Houses of Congress, April 20, 1914. M - ºn HE United States must be neu- fact tral in fact as well as in name during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be impartial in thought as well as in action, must put a curb upon our sentiments as well as upon every transaction that might be con- strued as a preference of one party to the struggle before another. My thought is of America. I am speaking, I feel sure, the earnest wish and purpose of every thoughtful American that this great country of ours, which is, of course, the first in our thoughts and in our hearts, should show herself in this time of peculiar trial a nation fit beyond others to INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 45 exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of self-control, the efficiency of dispassionate action; a nation that neither sits in judgment upon others nor is disturbed in her own counsels and which keeps herself fit and free to do what is honest and dis- interested and truly serviceable for the peace of the world. It will be easy to excite passion and difficult to allay it. Those responsible for exciting it will assume a heavy re- sponsibility, responsibility for no less a thing than that the people of the United States, whose love of their country and whose loyalty to its Gov- ernment should unite them as Ameri- cans all, bound in honor and affection to think first of her and her interests, may be divided in camps of hostile opinion, hot against each other, in- nell- ſame len's ught curb pon COn- to wish tful of Ollſ uld liar t() Camps of hostile opinion THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Opinion of the world volved in the war itself in impulse and opinion if not in action. Such divisions among us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might seriously stand in the way of the proper performance of our duty as the one great nation at peace, the one peo- ple holding itself ready to play a part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a friend. “American Neutrality,” an appeal to the citizens of the Republic, August 20, 1914. HE opinion of the world is the mistress of the world; and the processes of international law are the slow processes by which opinion works its will. What impresses me is the constant thought that that is the tribu- nal at the bar of which we all sit. . The disinterested course is always the INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I47 biggest course to pursue not only, but it is in the long run the most profitable course to pursue. I once said to a lawyer with whom I was discussing some question of prece- dent, and in whose presence I was ven- turing to doubt the rational validity, at any rate, of the particular prece- dents he cited, “After all, isn't our object justice?” And he said, “God forbid! We should be very much confused if we made that our stan- dard. Our standard is to find out what the rule has been and how the rule that has been applies to the case that is.” My hope is that, being stirred to the depths by the extraordinary cir- cumstances of the time in which we live, we may recover from those depths something of a renewal of that vision of the law with which men may be I 50 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants. III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the estab- lishment of an equality of trade condi- tions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. - IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. V. A free, open-minded, and abso- lutely impartial adjustment of all colo- nial claims, based upon a strict observ- ance of the principle that in determin- ing all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I 5 I must have equal weight with the equita- ble claims of the Government whose title is to be determined. VI. The evacuation of all Russian §: territory, and such a settlement of all Russia questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest coöperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembar- rassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political de- velopment and national policy, and as- sure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institu- tions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may her- self desire. The treatment accorded Rus- sia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of I 52 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy. VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored without any attempt to limit the sover- eignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to re. store confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired. VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions re- stored; and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I 53 Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all. IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development. XI. Roumania, Serbia, and Monte- negro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly The Balkan peoples I 54 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Poland to be free counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and terri- torial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into. XII. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an un- doubted security of life and an abso- lutely unmolested opportunity of au- tonomous development, and the Dar- danelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and com: merce of all nations under international guaranties. XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 157 lants tinue but pre- YeaCC ving which ye n0 and that lieve- r of made invia. 2 her imate wish with she is is and f the d law and fair dealing. We wish her only to accept a place of equality among the peoples of the world,—the new world in which we now live, instead of a place of mastery. Neither do we presume to suggest to her any alteration or modification of her institutions. But it is necessary, we must frankly say, and necessary as a preliminary to any intelligent dealings with her on our part, that we should know whom her spokesmen speak for when they speak to us, whether for the Reichstag majority or for the mili- tary party and the men whose creed is imperial domination. We have spoken now, surely, in terms too concrete to admit of any further doubt or question. An evident principle runs through the whole program I have outlined. It is the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and Who are the spokes- men f TOUCHING THE WAR TOUCHING THE WAR I6 I HE people of this country are both intelligent and profoundly pa- triotic. They are ready to meet the present conditions in the right way and to support the Government with gen- erous self-denial. They know and un- derstand, and will be intolerant only of those who dodge responsibility or are not frank with them. Address before Congress, September 4, 1914. KNOW that whenever the test comes every man's heart will be first for America. It was principle and affec- tion and ambition and hope that drew men to these shores, and they are not going to forget the errand upon which they came and allow America, the home of their refuge and hope, to suffer by any forgetfulness on their part. . There is no precedent in American history for any action of ag- America first -- wºrspox of wooDROW WILSON The cºurs ºf the ºug son on the part of the United sºs or for any action which might ºn that America is seeking to con- tº herself with the controversies on nº sher side of the water. Men who sº to provoke us to such action have ºtten the traditions of the United views, but it behooves those with whom yºu have entrusted office to remember the traditions of the United States and tº see to it that the actions of the Gov- ºnent are made to square with those traditions. . . . In the first place, I know that you are depending upon me to keep this Nation out of the war. So far I have done so, and I pledge you my word that, God helping me, I will if it is possible. Do not deceive yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, as to where the colors of - came from. Those lines of THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON The fourteen points supposed to have started out in the old days of the oracles, who com- muned with the intimations of divinity. . . . . We are custodians of the spirit of righteousness, of the spirit of equal-handed justice, of the spirit of hope which believes in the perfectibility of the law with the perfectibility of hu- man life itself. “The Opinion of the World,” an address before the American Bar Association, October 20, 1914. T will be our wish and purpose that the processes of peace, when they are begun, shall be absolutely open and that they shall involve and permit henceforth no secret understandings of any kind. The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret covenants entered into in the interest of particular gov- er fo WC eff Ou un nC W si INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I49 ernments and likely at some unlooked- for moment to upset the peace of the world. All the peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest, and for our own part we see very clearly that unless justice be done to others it will not be done to us. The program of the world's peace, therefore, is our pro- gram; and that program, the only pos- sible program, as we see it, is this: I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind, but diplomacy shall pro- ceed always frankly and in the pub- lic view. II. Absolute freedom of naviga- tion upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except I 50 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants. III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the estab- lishment of an equality of trade condi- tions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. - IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. V. A free, open-minded, and abso- lutely impartial adjustment of all colo- nial claims, based upon a strict observ- ance of the principle that in determin- ing all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I 5 I must have equal weight with the equita- ble claims of the Government whose title is to be determined. VI. The evacuation of all Russian gº territory, and such a settlement of all Russia questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest coöperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembar- rassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political de- velopment and national policy, and as- sure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institu- tions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may her- self desire. The treatment accorded Rus- sia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of I 52 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy. VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored without any attempt to limit the sover- eignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to re. store confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired. VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions re- stored; and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of SON their ligent | will tored Over- with ingle 0 ré. is in elves ment ther. hole onal 3 be re- inct of i INTERNATIONAL POLITICS I 53 Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all. IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development. XI. Roumania, Serbia, and Monte- negro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly The Balkan peoples I 54 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Poland to be free counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and terri- torial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into. XII. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an un- doubted security of life and an abso- lutely unmolested opportunity of au- tonomous development, and the Dar- danelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and com: merce of all nations under international guaranties. XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include I 56 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Fight until achieved For such arrangements and covenants we are willing to fight and to continue to fight until they are achieved; but only because we wish the right to pre- vail and desire a just and stable peace such as can be secured only by removing the chief provocations to war, which this program does remove. We have no jealousy of German greatness, and there is nothing in this program that impairs it. We grudge her no achieve- ment or distinction of learning or of pacific enterprise such as have made her record very bright and very envia- ble. We do not wish to injure her or to block in any way her legitimate influence or power. We do not wish to fight her either with arms or with hostile arrangements of trade if she is willing to associate herself with us and the other peace-loving nations of the world in covenants of justice and law INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 157 and fair dealing. We wish her only to accept a place of equality among the peoples of the world,—the new world in which we now live, instead of a place of mastery. Neither do we presume to suggest to her any alteration or modification of her institutions. But it is necessary, we must frankly say, and necessary as a preliminary to any intelligent dealings with her on our part, that we should know whom her spokesmen speak for when they speak to us, whether for the Reichstag majority or for the mili- tary party and the men whose creed is imperial domination. We have spoken now, surely, in terms too concrete to admit of any further doubt or question. An evident principle runs through the whole program I have outlined. It is the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and Who are the spokes- men f TOUCHING THE WAR I6 I HE people of this country are both intelligent and profoundly pa- triotic. They are ready to meet the present conditions in the right way and to support the Government with gen- erous self-denial. They know and un- derstand, and will be intolerant only of those who dodge responsibility or are not frank with them. Address before Congress, September 4, 1914. KNOW that whenever the test comes every man's heart will be first for America. It was principle and affec- tion and ambition and hope that drew men to these shores, and they are not going to forget the errand upon which they came and allow America, the home of their refuge and hope, to suffer by any forgetfulness on their part. . There is no precedent in American history for any action of ag- America first TOUCHING THE WAR red are lines of blood, nobly and un- selfishly shed by men who loved the liberty of their fellow men more than they loved their own lives and fortunes. God forbid that we should have to use the blood of America to freshen the color of that flag; but if it should ever be necessary again to assert the majesty and integrity of those ancient and hon- orable principles, that flag will be colored once more, and in being colored will be glorified and purified. Address made in Milwaukee, February 1, 1916. HE Government of the United States has been very patient. At every stage of this distressing ex- perience of tragedy after tragedy in which its own citizens were involved it has sought to be restrained from any extreme course of action or of protest by a thoughtful consideration of the ex- We have been patient THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Erpresses keen regret traordinary circumstances of this unpre- cedented war, and actuated in all that it said or did by the sentiments of genuine friendship which the people of the United States have always enter- tained and continue to entertain towards the German nation. The Government of the United States is at last forced to the conclusion that there is but one course it can pur- sue; and that unless the Imperial Ger- man Government should now imme- diately declare and effect an abandon- ment of its present methods of warfare against passenger- and freight-carrying vessels this Government can have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the Government of the German Empire altogether. This decision I have arrived at with the keenest regret; the possibility of the action contemplated I am sure all TOUCHING THE WAR thoughtful Americans will look forward to with unaffected reluctance. But we cannot forget that we are in some sort and by the force of circumstances the responsible spokesmen of the rights of humanity, and that we cannot remain silent while those rights seem in process of being swept utterly away in the maelstrom of this terrible war. We owe it to a due regard for our own rights as a nation, to our sense of duty as a representative of the rights of neutrals the world over, and to a just conception of the rights of mankind to take this stand now with the utmost solemnity and firmness. Address delivered before Congress on the Sub- marine Question, April 19, 1916. INCE it has unhappily proved im- possible to safeguard our neutral rights by diplomatic means against the I66 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Definite concert of power unwarranted infringements they are suf- fering at the hands of Germany, there may be no recourse but to armed neutral- ity, which we shall know how to main- tain and for which there is abundant American precedent. Address delivered at a joint session of Congress, February 26, 1917. N every discussion of the peace that must end this war it is taken for granted that that peace must be fol- lowed by some definite concert of power which will make it virtually impossible that any such catastrophe should ever overwhelm us again. Every lover of mankind, every sane and thoughtful man must take that for granted. I do not mean to say that any Ameri- can government would throw any obstacle in the way of any terms of peace the governments now at war TOUCHING THE WAR might agree upon, or seek to upset them when made, whatever they might be. I only take it for granted that mere terms of peace between the belligerents will not satisfy even the belligerents themselves. Mere agreements may not make peace secure. It will be abso- lutely necessary that a force be created as a guarantor of the permanency of the settlement so much greater than the force of any nation now engaged or any alliance hitherto formed or projected that no nation, no probable combina- tion of nations, could face or withstand it. If the peace presently to be made is to endure, it must be a peace made secure by the organized major force of mankind. There must be, not a balance of power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries, but an organized common peace. No organized rivalries I68 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON No peace without sacrifice The right state of mind, the right feeling between nations, is as necessary for a lasting peace as is the just settle- ment of vexed questions of territory or of racial and national allegiance. And the paths of the sea must alike in law and in fact be free. The free- dom of the seas is the sine qua non of peace, equality, and coöperation. The free, constant, unthreatened intercourse of nations is an essential part of the process of peace and of development. It need not be difficult either to define or to secure the freedom of the seas if the governments of the world sincerely desire to come to an agreement con- cerning it. Peace cannot be had without conces- sion and sacrifice. I am proposing, as it were, that the nations should with one accord adopt the doctrine of President Monroe as TOUCHING THE WAR 169 the doctrine of the world: that no nation should seek to extend its polity over any other nation or people, but that every people should be left free to determine its own polity, its own way of development, unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, the little along with the great and powerful. I am proposing government by the consent of the governed; that freedom of the seas which in international con- ference after conference representatives of the United States have urged with the eloquence of those who are the con- vinced disciples of liberty; and that moderation of armaments which makes of armies and navies a power for order merely, not an instrument of aggression or of selfish violence. These are American principles, Amer- ican policies. We could stand for no others. And they are also the principles 17o THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Overt acts and policies of forward-looking men and women everywhere, of every mod- ern nation, of every enlightened com- munity. They are the principles of mankind and must prevail. Address to the United States Senate, January 22, 1917. REFUSE to believe that it is the intention of the German authorities to do in fact what they have warned us they will feel at liberty to do. I can- not bring myself to believe that they will indeed pay no regard to the ancient friendship between their people and our own or to the solemn obligations which have been exchanged between them, and destroy American ships and take the lives of American citizens in the willful prosecution of the ruthless naval pro- gram they have announced their inten- tion to adopt. Only actual overt acts TOUCHING THE WAR I 73 is the actual equality of nations in all matters of right or privilege; That peace cannot securely or justly rest upon an armed balance of power; That governments derive all their just powers from the consent of the governed and that no other powers should be supported by the common thought, purpose, or power of the family of nations. That the seas should be equally free and safe for the use of all peoples, un- der rules set up by common agreement and consent, and that, so far as prac- ticable, they should be accessible to all upon equal terms; That national armaments should be limited to the necessities of national order and domestic safety; That the community of interest and TOUCHING THE WAR 177 We are, let me say again, the sincere ź. friends of the German people, and shall |of the - e German desire nothing so much as the early |people reëstablishment of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us, how- ever hard it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is spoken from our hearts. We have borne with their present government through all these bitter months because of that friendship, exercising a patience and forbearance which would otherwise have been impossible. We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friendship in our daily attitude and actions towards the millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live amongst us and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it towards all who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the Gov- ernment in the hour of test. They are, TOUCHING THE WAR 2. Punitive damages, the dismemberment of empire, the establishment of selfish and exclusive economic leagues, we deem inexpedient and in the end worse than futile, no proper basis for a peace of any kind, least of all for an enduring peace. That must be based upon justice and fairness and the common rights of mankind. Reply to the Pope's Peace Message. E have ourselves proposed no injustice, no aggression. We are ready, whenever the final reckoning is made, to be just to the German peo- ple, deal fairly with the German power, as with all others. There can be no difference between peoples in the final judgment, if it is indeed to be a right- eous judgment. To propose anything but justice, even-handed and dispas- sionate justice, to Germany at any time, 186 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON Force, force to the utmost whatever the outcome of the war, would be to renounce and dishonor our own cause, for we ask nothing that we are not willing to accord. Germany has once more said that force, and force alone, shall decide. whether justice and peace shall reign in the affairs of men, whether right as America conceives it or dominion as she conceives it shall determine the destinies of mankind. There is, therefore, but one response possible from us: Force, force to the utmost, force without stint or limit, the righteous and triumphant force which shall make right the law of the world and cast every selfish dominion down in the dust. Speech at the opening of the Third Liberty Loan, Baltimore, April 6, 1918. I 88 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON any mere adjustment or compromise of claims amongst rival states; and— Fourth, that all well-defined national aspirations shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be accorded them without introducing new or perpetuating old elements of discord and antagonism that would be likely in time to break the peace of Europe and consequently of the world. A general peace erected upon such foundations can be discussed. Address delivered before the joint Houses of Congress, February 11, 1918. HERE can be but one issue. The settlement must be final. There can be no compromise. No halfway de- cision would be tolerable. No halfway decision is conceivable. These are the ends for which the associated peoples of the world are fighting and which must WILSON TOUCHING THE WAR The here de- Way the of ust be conceded them before there can be peace: 1 The destruction of every arbitrary power anywhere that can separately, secretly, and of its single choice disturb the peace of the world; or, if it can- not be presently destroyed, at the least its reduction to virtual impotence. 2 The settlement of every question, whether of territory, of sovereignty, of economic arrangement, or of political relationship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned, and not upon the basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation or people which may desire a different set- tlement for the sake of its own exterior influence or mastery. 3 The consent of all nations to be governed in their conduct toward each other by the same principles of honor The ends fought for I90 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON and of respect for the common law of civilized society that govern the indi- vidual citizens of all modern states in their relations with one another; to the end that all promises and covenants may be sacredly observed, no private plots or conspiracies hatched, no selfish injuries wrought with impunity, and a mutual trust established upon the hand- some foundation of a mutual respect for right. 4 The establishment of an organiza- tion of peace which shall make it cer- tain that the combined power of free nations will check every invasion of right and serve to make peace and jus- tice the more secure by affording a definite tribunal of opinion to which all must submit and by which every inter- national readjustment that cannot be amicably agreed upon by the peoples directly concerned shall be sanctioned. a I 92 THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON est of any single nation or any group of nations can be made the basis of any part of the settlement which is not consistent with the common interest of all; Third, there can be no leagues or alliances of special covenants and under- standings within the general and com- mon family of the League of Nations; Fourth, and more specifically, there can be no special, selfish economic com- binations within the League and no em- ployment of any form of economic boy- cott or exclusion except as the power of economic penalty by exclusion from the markets of the world may be vested in the League of Nations itself as a means of discipline and control; Fifth, all international agreements and treaties of every kind must be made known in their entirety to the rest of the world. TOUCHING THE WAR I 95 | NEELING that the whole peace of ; the world depends now on plain |harsh words speaking and straightforward action, the President deems it his duty to say, without any attempt to soften what may seem harsh words, that the nations of the world do not and cannot trust the word of those who have hitherto been the masters of German policy, and to point out once more that in con- cluding peace and attempting to undo the infinite injuries and injustices of this war the Government of the United States cannot deal with any but veri- table representatives of the German peo- ple who have been assured of a genu- ine constitutional standing as the real rulers of Germany. If it must deal with the military masters and the mon- archical autocrats of Germany now, or if it is likely to have to deal with them later in regard to the international THE WISDOM OF WOODROW WILSON obligations of the German Empire, it must demand, not peace negotiations, but surrender. Nothing can be gained by leaving this essential thing unsaid. From the reply to the German note of October 20, 1918. ----- - - - - ----_…-… ---------------- ~~- -