It has brought tears to my eyes, because I know it comes from their hearts. I can see in their faces the same things I feel toward them, and I know that it is an impulse of their friendship toward the nation I represent as well as a gracious welcome to myself. I want to re-echo the hope that we may all work together for a great peace as distinguished from a mean peace. May I suggest that this is a great deal in my thoughts. The world is not going to consist now of great empires. It is going to consist for the most part of small nations apparently, and the only thing that can bind small na TRIBUTE TO CAVOUR Responding to an address by the Mayor of Turin at a luncheon in his honor, January 6, President Wilson said, in part: As I passed through your streets I had this sensation, a sensation which I have often had in my own dear country at home, a sensation of friendship and of close sympathetic contact. I could have believed myself in an American city. I felt more than that. I felt what I have also felt at home, that the real blood of the republic flowed in the veins of these plain people who, more than some of the rest of us, have borne the stress and burden of war. Think of the price at which you and at which I have purchased the victory which we have won. Think of the price of blood and treasure not only, but the price of tears and the price of hunger on the part of little children, of the hopes delayed or the dismayed prospects that bore heavy upon the homes. Those of us who plan battles and those of us who conceive political movements do not bear the burden of them. We direct and the others execute. We plan and the others perform, and the conquest of spirit is greater than the conquest of arms. These are the people that never let go. They say nothing. They live merely from day to day, determined that the glory of Italy, or that the glory of the United States, shall not depart from her. tions together is the knowledge that each wants to treat the others fairly. That is the only thing. The world has already shown that its progress is industrial. You cannot trade with people whom you do not trust and who do not trust you. Confidence is the basis of every thing that we must do, and it is a delightful feeling that these ideals are sustained by the people of Italy and by a wonderful body of people such as you have in the great city of Milan. It is with a sense of added encouragement and strength that I return to Paris to take part in the council that will determine the items of the peace. I thank you with all my heart. AND ITALIAN GENIUS I have been thinking as I passed through your streets and stood here that this was the place of the labors of the great Cavour, and I thought how impossible would have been many of the things which have happened in Italy since his day and how impossible the great achievements of Italy in the last three years would have been without the work of Cavour. Ever since I was a boy one of my favorite portraits has been a portrait of Cavour, because I have read of him and of the way in which his mind took in the nations, and of the national scope of his strong, determined, and patriotic endeavor that never allowed obstacles to dismay and always stood at the side of the King and planned the great things which the King was enabled to accomplish. And I had another thought. This is a great industrial city. Perhaps you gentlemen think of the members of your Government and the members of other Governments who are going to confer in the city of Paris as the real makers of war and peace. But we are not. You are the makers of war and of peace. The pulse of the modern world beats on the farms, and in the mines and in the factories. The plans of the modern world are made in the counting-house. The men that do the business of the world now shape the destinies of the world, and peace or war is now in a large measure in the hands of those who conduct the commerce of the world. That is one reason why, unless we establish friendships, unless we establish sympathies, we clog all the processes of modern life. I have several times said that you cannot trade with a man who does not trust you. And you will not trade with a man whom you do not trust. Trust is the very vital life and breath of business, and suspicion and unjust national rivalries stand in the way of trade and stand in the way of industry. A country is owned and dominated by the capital that is invested in it. I do not need to instruct you gentlemen in that fundamental idea. In proportion as foreign capital comes in among you and takes its hold, in that proportion does foreign influence come in and takes its hold, and, therefore, the processes of capital are in an actual sense the processes of conquest. I have only this suggestion before we go to Paris to conclude a peace. You stay here to continue it. We can start the peace, but it is your duty to continue it. We can only make the large conclusions. You constantly transact the detail which constitutes the processes or the life of a nation. And so it is very delightful to me to stand in this company and feel that we are not foreigners to each other. We think the same thoughts, we entertain the same purposes, we have the same ideals, and this war has done this inestimable service-it has brought the nations into close and vital contact so that they feel the pulses that are in each other and so that they know the purposes by which each is animated. We know in America a great deal about Italy because we have so many Italians. Fellow citizens, when Baron Sonnino (the Italian Foreign Minister) was arguing the other day for the extension of the sovereignty of Italy over the Italian populations, I said to him that I was sorry we could not let you have New York which, I understand, is the greatest Italian city in the world. I am told that there are more Italians in New York City than in any city in Italy, and I am proud to be President of a nation which contains so large an element of the Italian race, because as a student of literature I know the genius that has originated in this great nation, the genius of thought and of poetry and philosophy and of music. I am happy to be a part of the nation which is enriched and made better by the introduction of such elements of genius and of inspiration. May I not again thank the representatives of this great city and the representatives of the Government for the welcome they have given me and say again, for I cannot say it too often, "Viva Italia." DUTY TO REDEEM SCIENCE FROM WAR'S At the University of Turin, January 6, President Wilson said: Mr. Rector, Gentlemen of the Faculties of the University, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is with a feeling of being in very familiar scenes that I come here to-day. As soon as I entered the quadrangle and heard the voices of the students, it seemed to me as if the greater part of my life had come back to me, and I am particularly honored that this distinguished university should have received me among its sons. It will always be a matter of pride with me to remember this association and the very generous words in which these honors have been conferred upon me. When I think seriously of the significance of a ceremony like this, some very interesting reflections come to my mind, because after all, the comradeship of letters, the inter-communications of thought, are among the permanent things of the world. There was a time when scholars, speaking in the beautiful language in which the last address was made, were the only international characters of the world; the time was when there was only one international community, the community of scholars. As ability to read and write was extended, international inter-communication was extended. But one permanent common possession has remained and that is the validity of sound thinking. When men have thought along the lines of philosophy, have had revealed to them the visions of poetry, have worked out in their studies the permanent lines of law, have realized the great impulses of humanity, they then begin to advance the human web which no power can permanently tear and destroy. And so, in being taken into the comradeship of this university, I feel that I am being taken into one of these things which will always bind the nations together. After all, when we are seeking peace we are seeking nothing else than this, that men shall think the same thoughts, govern their conduct by the same impulse, entertain the same purposes, love their own people, but also love humanity and, above all else, love that great and indestructible thing which we call justice and right. These things are greater than we are. These are our real masters, for they dominate our spirits, and the universities will have forgotten their duty when they cease to weave this immortal web. It is one of the chief griefs of this great war that the universities of the Central Empires used the thoughts of science to destroy mankind. It is the duty of the great universities of Italy and of the rest of the world to redeem science from this disgrace, to show that the pulse of humanity also beats in the classroom, that the pulse of humanity also beats in the laboratory, and that there are sought out, not the secrets of death, but the secrets of life. "It is a poor compliment to Washington to say that he would not have been in favor of something new. He and his co-workers were the greatest innovators of their day. They established thirteen nations and welded them into one. To argue that, because Washington never said anything about the league of nations, and therefore would have opposed it, is the same as holding that, since he said nothing about the regulation of the traffic in New York, it is a bad thing. John Quincy Adams said that the Constitution was wrung out of the grinding necessities of the people. If there had been no dangers to be met there would have been no necessity for the Constitution, and there would have been no Constitution. Thus it is with the league of nations."President A. Lawrence Lowell of Harvard. "Too many half-baked opinions coming from myself and others in public life may cause mental and moral indigestion. "That some league or understanding among civilized peoples for the prevention of certain future wars (as I prefer to put it, rather than for the enforcement of peace) is desirable all right-thinking men agree. It has been the dream of all ages. Thus far this dream of universal peace has each succeeding time turned into a night mare. "This appears to me to be the real situation: If mankind the world over is the mankind of a hundred years ago, or if there is the possibility that either England, France, Italy or the United States contains the growing germ of military or commercial supremacy, then, though attempt may be made to preserve the peace of the world, the attempt would be another failure. If, however, the masses of mankind in these four great nations and in the lesser nations, for whom jointly the fight has been made, have seen a new light and are convinced of the uselessness and folly of war, and if more and more education and enlightenment as the days go by and the generations come and go, shall add to the number of those who thus think, then the experiment will succeed. Until all men are of good will wars will not cease entirely unless nations want peace at any price. Prevention as far as possible I desire; at any price I do not. "I have, of course, no means of knowing what the representatives of the allied govcrnments may be willing to take up with the American people at the peace table, but I venture the assertion that the good will which now exists between the allied governments and our own will not last five years unless reciprocal trade relations, fixed in justice, are arranged between us." -Vice-President Thomas Marshall at Carlisle, Pa. Persia at the Peace Conference By EDWARD L. CONN Special Correspondent of THE WORLD COURT MAGAZINE at Washington, D. C. Μ' IRZA ALI KULI KHAN, Counselor and Charge d'Affaires of the Persian Legation, who sailed early in January for France, where he will join Persia's delegation at the peace conference, outlined to the correspondent the claims his country will urge upon the Powers. They are eight in number, and in the instructions cabled by his Government to the Khan, they were stated as follows: making all future arrangements in accordance with the principle of Persia's economic independence; 8. The rectification of the Persian frontiers and the restoration to Persia of the territories wrongfully taken from her. Persia has won the sympathetic support of the United States in her demand for representation at the peace congress when questions affecting her interests are considered. 1. Admission of a Persian delega- Great Britain has assented to the tion to the peace congress; 2. Cancellation of all treaties, conventions and agreements which contravene the sovereignty and independence of Persia and international guarantees that in the future the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Persia shall be safeguarded; 3. Indemnification of Persia for the losses inflicted upon her by the belligerent Powers; principle that Persia ought to be consulted upon matters affecting her. With the two greatest Powers practically concurring, it is improbable that Persia will be denied either a hearing or the right of participating in the deliberations when they concern her. The Persian Charge here was instructed by the Teheran Foreign Office to appeal to the American 4. Economic, as well as political Government for its aid in obtaining independence of Persia; 5. Revision of such treaties as have not already been declared null and void and which are still in force to the detriment of Persia, and the cancellation of all capitulations; 6. Negotiations of new commercial treaties, and the revision of the customs duties on the basis of Persia's complete independence; 7. The Powers to cooperate with Persia in revising concessions which have not been rendered void and the consent of the nations for Persia to have representation at the peace congress, and the support of this Government in bringing about the realization of Persia's aspirations. One of these instructions reads: "A note has been received from the British Minister to the effect that the British Government on its own part is ready to receive the empowered representative of Persia at the place where the peace conference will be held so that he may give information on the occasion when matters pertaining to Persia may be discussed. include the question of the cancellation of treaties which are by no means in conformity with the present-day situation of Persia. . . . "It is evident that because of the great losses which, contrary to the other neutral Governments, the Government of Persia has suffered during the war, it cannot imagine itself in the same position as the other neutral Powers. Moreover, at the peace conference it is possible that questions will be brought up in which the Persian Government will be deeply concerned, and the Persian delegates must defend the interests of Persia. Due to these considerations, it is necessary that the Persian delegate be a member of the conference with power to vote." Another note from Teheran to the tions, sent the following in reply: Charge states: "The Imperial Government, having confidence in the friendship of the American Government, expects that, upon this occasion, they will be helpful toward the objects of the Persian Government, which are based upon the solid foundation of perfect justness." "You will continue your demarches in order that, now that British Government has promised to be agreeable, the objects of the Imperial Government of Persia as to the evacuation of Persian territory by foreign forces, Persian representation at the peace conference, as well as other matters pertaining to the safeguarding of Persian sovereignty and independence may be achieved through the assistance of the American Government. · .. "And you of course know that whereas during the war they converted the territory of neutral Persia into a theater of war, they inflicted losses upon Persia, to indemnify which will be in keeping with the love of justice of America to insist upon. "Other matters which must of necessity be taken under consideration Secretary of State Lansing, to whom was sent the Persian Government's communications to its Legation here, and to whom Ali-Kuli Khan made a spirited appeal on the basis of President Wilson's declara "The Government of the United States regards with sympathy the request that Persian delegates be admitted to the peace congress with power to take part in the discussion and determination of all questions in which Persia is interested or concerned." Persia herself has taken the initiative in regard to the carrying out of the second point in her program. On July 30, last, the Teheran Government decreed the nullification of all treaties with Russia prejudicial to the sovereignty of Persia, and notification was given to all the powers. The decree, a copy of which was obtained from the Persian Legation in Washington, follows: "The Council of Ministers, at their session of Saturday, the fourth of Assad (Persian Solar month)), which corresponds to the 18th day of the month of Shawal, 1886 (Lunar month, corresponding to July 30, 1918), decreed as follows: |