First World War Centennial

This is a war against war—the liberty-loving democra­cies of the world in a death struggle with the imperialistic militarists of Berlin. It is not a war of militarism against militarism. It is a war of the aroused populations of the democracies of the world fighting militarism. It is a war waged by the enraged civilian populations of the allied countries—uniformed, if you please—for the purpose of maintaining democracy, whose battle flags, adorned with wreaths of victory, shall be furled when that glorious jubilee shall be held to commemorate the return to earth of peace and good-will toward all mankind.

Luncheon and reception tendered to the American Federa­tion of Labor Mission by the American Luncheon Club—Café Du Cardinal, Paris, France, September 26th, 1918.

X FIND considerable difficulty in expressing myself ■■■ after so flattering an introduction.

It is indeed not only a matter of pleasure but of pride and satisfaction to find that wherever we go Americans, Frenchmen, Britishers, and Italians, and all who love freedom and justice and democracy are willing to say that the time has come in the world's affairs to acknowledge the important part which Labor is playing not only in the war but in the civilization for which we are striving.

May I say this to you men, Americans in France, that I appreciate more than I can tell you the fact that under the auspices of your club, the American club in Paris, you have helped to keep alive the embers and the flame of the unity of feeling between the people of France and the people of our own country. Is it necessary at this time and under these auspices to dwell upon the glorious history of France, her wonder­ful contributions to civilization, to science and art of the world, her valor, and the tremendous effort given by the people of France in the early days of our struggle to establish an independent nation at home? To you, and through you, I would say to the people of France: In this momentous and crucial hour we are now working to pay back the great debt of obligation we owe to you for what you did to make it possible for the Republic of the United States to be founded upon a strong basis and upon an idealism that will match your own.

To us Americans, the name America, the term America, is not merely a name; it is not merely a land; nor is it merely a country. The name of America to us is a symbolism, an idealism, the apotheosis of all that is good and great and righteous.

We, the people and the government of the Republic of the United States, are in this war to pay this debt of obligation. In addition we are in it to render to the world help in the struggle (or I might say better, the crusade) of this period, a period unparalleled in the history of the whole world; for now it is up for decision, finally and for all time, whether this world shall be governed by the principles and policies of autocracy, imperialism and militarism, or whether it shall continue under governments (of peoples, for peoples, and by peoples, to live their own lives and to work out their own salvation as their best judgment and aspirations direct.

We have not less than twelve millions of people who are either of German birth or extraction, and there is a great number of other nationalities repre­sented in our population. It was no easy matter to hold or concentrate the conscience and the activity and the willingness to sacrifice of all these peoples into one common great mass. I confess that many of us Americans were impatient at the hesitancy and the unwillingness to enter into the war earlier; but I am free to admit that our impatience and our impetuosity were nothing as compared to the good judgment of the President of the United States. His great mind and conscience and understanding fully realized the psy­chology of the situation. When the time came, he proved himself to be not only a statesman but a tribune of the hard thinking people of the world; and now, to use an American localism, we are in it "up to the hilt."

There is somehow an idea among the representa­tives of autocracy that there is nothing efficient except an autocratic form of government; that democracies are impotent and inefficient, and that in our country we go along in our own way, everybody for himself and his satanic majesty taking the hindmost. We went along in our own way, blundering along, if you please, and yet maintaining the blessings of freedom and democracy where an individual had the chance to assert himself and live his own life and even to aspire and struggle for something yet better. It was not difficult for the Kaiser and his advisers to look with contempt upon the power, or the possibility of the exercise of power, of a democratic people such as we find in France, in England, and in the United States; and so he counted first with disregard as to France, with contempt for Great Britain and with ridicule for the United States.

Well, there is one thing with which autocracy never counts. We are told that somehow even those en­gaged in expert criminality always leave some foot prints, some slight evidence behind which generally leads to identification and conviction. And so with the Imperial German government. That autocracy failed to reckon with the human side of democracy. It failed to acknowledge or to understand when the conscience and the heart of a people are aroused; that when a democracy is aroused to a point of resentment, of righteous indignation, there is no power on earth which can withstand its mighty march forward and onward.

American labor, despite the fact that there is represented within its ranks men of all nationalities, met in solemn conference on March 12, 1917, and there was conceived the position which the workers of America should take—whether we would be per­mitted to enjoy the priceless privilege of peace or whether we would be thrust or dragged into the mael­strom of war. By unanimous vote we made a declara­tion.^{* *} Mr. Gompers then read the four closing paragraphs of the declaration of March 12, 1917. See appendix, page 294.

That declaration was unanimously adopted on March 12, 1917. On April 2, the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, appeared before the Congress of the United States and presented that scathing indictment against the Imperial Government of Germany. I am not going to attempt to connect the two, but I think you must know that the President must have had some misgivings as to the situation at home, whether behind him and the government would stand the united support of Labor of America. At any rate, whether there be any cause or effect, the President did present the case against Germany through our Congress on April 2, three weeks after our declaration, and four days afterwards the Con­gress of the United States declared that a state of war existed between the United States of America and the Imperial Government of Germany. I may say this, that at the convention of the American Federation of Labor succeeding this declaration the endorsement was given by unanimous vote. The convention of the American Federation of Labor held in June last emphasized that declaration and declared that until the German people shall have crushed autocracy for them­selves, or we shall have crushed autocracy for them, we will not meet with the representatives of the enemy countries.

I saw in the English edition of a Paris publication that a statement was made yesterday by a representa­tive of the Imperial Government of Germany that the American people and the American government are the most bellicose in this war. Well—I see there are no ladies here—what in hell did we get into the war for! We did not enter into the war to arrange for a nice tea party with a country which will author­ize and permit, or order murder and pillage, a country whose people permit its spokesmen and representatives to direct the overrunning and ravaging of a neutral nation, who countenance savagery and brutality, the outrage of innocent women and children, and sending to untimely graves men, women and children on peace­ful ships engaged in lawful pursuits.

I have been informed while sitting at this table that a proclamation has been issued by the German mili­tary authorities declaring that it is useless and will avail nothing even should the allied armies drive the German armies farther and farther back; that there will be found nothing but waste land and every living or standing thing destroyed. How can they think that we consider this a tea party? Those who have lived by the sword must perish by the sword.

This is a war against war—the liberty-loving democracies of the world in a death struggle with the imperialistic militarists of Berlin. It is not a war of militarism against militarism. It is a war of the aroused populations of the democracies of the world fighting militarism. It is a war waged by the enraged civilian populations of the allied countries—uni­formed, if you please—for the purpose of maintain­ing democracy, whose battle flags, adorned with wreaths of victory, shall be furled when that glorious jubilee shall be held to commemorate the return to earth of peace and good-will toward all mankind.

We are in this war, we are in this crusade, and I want you men of affairs, you men of America now in France, to bear in mind that there is not only up for decision the destruction of autocracy and the relations between nation and nation, but that there must come new relations between man and man. We have come to understand what manhood means—the willingness to sacrifice, the willingness to give, the willingness to do and to dare and to die for a common ideal, and out of it will come a new life. When this war began I never in my life felt so depressed and heart-sore for my ideal for international peace was destroyed and I regretted it so, so sorely was I hurt; but there is some power which will shape our destinies, rough-hew them as we will. Probably, it might not have come about in any other way. An autocracy, an imperialism, was endeavoring to impose itself upon the world; and the conscience and the heart of the peoples of the demo­cratic countries responded nobly and eagerly to make the sacrifice, whatever it might be, willing to pay the price, whatever it might be. Now that we are in the war, and I am speaking candidly and honestly from the innermost recess of my soul, I do not regret that the war has come, for I believe that never in the history of the world at any other time could the peoples of the democratic countries have become thor­oughly united in this common cause as they now are. And so the fight is on and the Hun is on the run, with the strength of body and mind and materials we will keep them running until at least they are driven out of the countries they have invaded and ravaged. When they are back in their own country if they talk peace, real peace, we will take our time to consider it. The principles involved in this war must be definitely determined, and while I should hate to have one life to be lost unnecessarily, and the war prolonged one minute longer than is essential, yet I say that it is better that the war should go on, that all the sacrifices that may be necessary be borne to determine, finally and for all time, the great causes and principles in­volved, than that a premature peace be negotiated, thereby transferring to the shoulders of our children or the coming generations another war of probably greater dimensions and horrors within five, ten, twenty, thirty or forty years.

I may say that our men and women at home are working, are bending their backs to the task before them; they are producing materials. You heard a few weeks ago of a ship having been launched within twenty-seven working days from the time the keel was laid; just a brief time thereafter a twelve thou­sand ton steel ship was launched within twenty-four working days from the time that her keel was laid. That is simply a type of the character of the work that our men and our women are doing.

To help bring about a better feeling between the working people of France and their employers, and the working people of France and the American em­ployers here, I want to say this to you, American business men and employers and publicists: It is only within recent years that the working people of France have secured the right of free association. They are human, like you and me, and likely to err, just like you and me, but I want you to help to give these men and women of labor of France the opportunity of understanding their employers and the American em­ployers in France. I want you to recognize the right of the workers to organize and to come to you and to sit down with whatever may be a disagreement be­tween you, and then to reach an agreement upon the. basis of common sense and common right. I know of nothing that would more greatly assist in bringing about a better, a more democratic and a more com­mon sense patriotic labor movement in France than such a course pursued by the American employers in France. It would set a worthy example for the French employers in France who still live in the men­tal surroundings of the fifteenth century when they were working with their vassals and their slaves. I appeal to you, my fellow countrymen, that it will help our employers and labor men in working out our com­mon cause at home for you to set an example in France of the spirit of common unity and recognition that in America we are men with sovereign rights, no matter what position in life we occupy.

Just this one word more. I want to tell you men that we are in the game to the finish. There are no qualifications about it. I know you are doing your share, but I present this thought to you as I have be­cause of the reconstruction time which is to come, the great economic and social problems which must be determined and settled and the details of which must not leave in the hearts of the masses of the people the rancor of injustice. Do your share, and we will do our share. Let us try to do the best we can.

All glory to France, glorious France, whose every page of history I revere, whose gallant men and won­derful women are entitled to our tribute, our respect and our love. All glory to our own beloved America, to the two sister republics entwined and to all our allied democratic countries fighting together in this struggle to attain victory fraught with the highest civilization possible in the aspirations of the human mind and heart.