The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber.

It is, therefore, a matter of vital interest and concern to the people of the United States that the sanctity of international treaties and the maintenance of international morality be restored.

Conscription is the vitality of a nation, the purification of its morality, and the real foundations of all its habits.

Nothing short of self-respect and that justice which is essential to a national character ought to involve us in war.

Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.

There can be no stability or peace either within nations or between nations except under laws and moral standards adhered to by all.