◆ SpookStack

- ; RISE with great pleasure to propose a vote of thanks to Senator Borah for eee I the honor he has done us by his presence, and for the powerful and ilumi-: * nating address to which we have just listened. He has stated, with an elo- quence which challenges the ears of his hearers and at the same time arouses their envy, his views on the policy of the United States in its foreign contacts. And speaking, Senator, only for myself — because this is not a representative assembly — I wish to say that as an humble member of the audience here I agree textually with most of what you have said, and if I might be permitted — to put my own interpretation on your statement, and might rely on the fact that dissent begins where interpretation starts, I would find it difficult to with- . hold my assent from it all. oot oe we a ~ You maintain that the warning of Jefferson, following Washington, against . ...-... 0 - " entangling alliances is still valid. So do I. You deprecate the use of that poor and unworthy diplomatic subterfuge, the unofficial observer, and I heartily join you in that sentiment. You think that nationalism still has a great part to play in the world, and that real and genuine patriotism is still one of the loftiest emotions that stirs the human breast. For myself, I would be the last = to dissent from either statement. You declare that any internationalism which is not fonded on the friendly codperation of free and independent nations rests on an unsound foundation, and that the cardinal aim of our foreign policy eae ae da fea is not isolation, but peace and commierce and ff iendship with all the nations of the world. That is one of the best and soundest of American traditions, let who will deny. Finally, you hold up to us the ideal of constitutional povernment, jealous of its own position in the world, jealous no Jess of the individual liberty and personal rights and privileges of its fellow-citizens. I say there never was a time when such preachment was more needed than it is needed in the United States today. It is good to listen to such things, to be called back to the fundamentals. I think if the time should come when the views of myself and the Senator should diverge, it would be more in conclusion than in premise, and more perhaps in method than in aim. I find it difficult, for instance, to think of the foreign and domestic policies of this country as two separate or independent things. They are not; they are but interdependent parts of one Breat political whole. Whether those who are charged with power by their fellow-citizens are moving in the foreign or in the domestic field, they dare not permit any con- sideration to deflect them from the pursuit of what is best for the peace and the welfare and the happiness of the nation they serve. I do not mean that they must be blind to what is going on around them, fora man walking on a crowded street makes slow progress if he pays no attention to his fellow-travellers; and a foreign policy of having no policy is the worst foreign policy of all. The longer I live the more I become persuaded that many of the differences between men arise out of the imperfections of our common speech. I think it —- was Lord Bacon who said that “the greatest sophism of all sophisms is equiv- ocation or ambiguity of words.” er ae . a