["Hear, hear!"] There is no man either inside or outside of this room
more convinced that we could not have avoided it without national
dishonor. [Great applause.] I am fully alive to the fact that every
nation who has ever engaged in any war has always invoked the sacred
name of honor. Many a crime has been committed in its name; there are
some being committed now. All the same, national honor is a reality,
and any nation that disregards it is doomed. ["Hear, hear!"] Why is our
honor as a country involved in this war? Because, in the first instance,
we are bound by honorable obligations to defend the independence, the
liberty, the integrity, of a small neighbor that has always lived
peaceably. [Applause.] She could not have compelled us; she was weak;
but the man who declines to discharge his duty because his creditor is
too poor to enforce it is a blackguard. [Loud applause.] We entered into
a treaty--a solemn treaty--two treaties--to defend Belgium and her
integrity. Our signatures are attached to the documents. Our signatures
do not stand alone there; this country was not the only country that
undertook to defend the integrity of Belgium. Russia, France, Austria,
Prussia--they are all there. Why are Austria and Prussia not performing
the obligations of their bond? It is suggested that when we quote this
treaty it is purely an excuse on our part--it is our low craft and
cunning to cloak our jealousy of a superior civilization--[Laughter]--that
we are attempting to destroy.
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