TO THE COUNTRY
[President Wilson's Address to his Fellow-Countrymen, April 16, 1917.]
MY FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN:
The entrance of our own beloved country into the grim and terrible war
for democracy and human rights which has shaken the world creates so
many problems of national life and action which call for immediate
consideration and settlement that I hope you will permit me to address
to you a few words of earnest counsel and appeal with regard to them.
We are rapidly putting our navy upon an effective war footing and are
about to create and equip a great army, but these are the simplest parts
of the great task to which we have addressed ourselves. There is not a
single selfish element, so far as I can see, in the cause we are
fighting for. We are fighting for what we believe and wish to be the
rights of mankind and for the future peace and security of the world. To
do this great thing worthily and successfully we must devote ourselves
to the service without regard to profit or material advantage and with
an energy and intelligence that will rise to the level of the enterprise
itself. We must realize to the full how great the task is and how many
things, how many kinds and elements of capacity and service and
self-sacrifice, it involves.
Pages:
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367