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Caption: Convocation - 1921 (Armistice Day)
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ti nevei sottcMi. \ man who mal s a su . of farm ins 01 ccring r m licine 01 leaching 01 the law 01 bankin oi n iu onstantly call I on I r COUra and decision; md thougl wo had been ve.u t pence when u c entered ihe L I wai in M \ l°l' newhowitne l a .ingle eng.i ement, single skirmish in which our youiu: men eilj i in 1917 01 l9lcS could doul a m on! the quality t then i >ura 01 the vigor of their deli anything the) were too courageous—they border* I on t eckl s; uo deeisn —thev vei d wholly on the impulsn . Vet th e qualities had re ulted wholl) from the e perience 01 peace. No, peace is wholly d< irable; war is wholly undesirable from every C mt o\ view. But desirable or undesirable, how are \ e to keep out oi it: By a blind belief that if we do not approve it we may avoid it? B\ a trust that the horrors of the last great co: lict were so apparent that no nation is ever going to risk them another time; \Y tnd today, economically speaking, the strongest nation le world. We are so outstandingly the creditor nation that the world's business can hardlv adjust itself to the situation. What does it me n that the pound sterling, the franc, the lira, the crown, the Japanese yen, the German mark, all are below par value: Simply that evervbody except ourselves owes more than he can pay. Moreover, in resources we excite world envy. Iron, coal, oil, wheat, cotton.—every staple, everv basic raw material, we possess and can produce in quantities that no other single nation can hope to rival. Do the other nations love us for this reason? About as much as the average mine worker loves the mine owner; about as much as the average farmer loves the man who holds a chattel mortgage on his cattle and his machinery. Do they believe in our idealism? About as much as thev did before the war:' about as much as we J believe in theirs; about as much as England does in Ireland's, or c the Irish believe in the idealism of England. Thev know that we are not a militaristic nation. They know that we are not aggressive, that we have never yet struck unless we have been struck first; therefore they are confident thev need not b': fearful of our arms. But of our trade, of our resources, of the possibility of our development, they are fearful. In that respect. we are rapidly finding ourselves forced into the position, in their regard, which \ is formerly held by Germany. We ay with perfect honest) that all we desire is liberty to develop a we choose. But in the assertion of that liberty it is certain we do annoy. In protecting the development of our agriculture in ( alii rnia, we annoy Japan. In asserting our rights over the Panama ( anal, we annoy England. In refusing to entangle ourselves the confusion of Central Europe, we annoy France and Italy, 7
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