R. Pettigrew letter to Champ Clark - September 10, 1917

Transcript

Chicago, September 10, 1917. Hon. Champ Clark, Speaper of the House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. My dear friend: I was pleased to receive your letter in regard to my letter in relation to the war. It seems to me that Woodrow Wilson is trying to make the world safe for hypocrisy. The idea of that fellow to undertake to tell the German people what kind of a government they shall have. Does he want to force them to have our kind of democracy, where 357,000 people own all the property, and sixty-five per cent of the people own nothing? Does he expect drafted boys who have no homes and no property to go over to Europe and fight in a war, the purpose of which is unknown to them? I am going to write a letter in a few days, and I am going to predict that the whole world cannot lick Germany, and am going to give the reason why they cannot. Of course I am not in favor of peace – I want the European nations to fight it out. They are fighting over the right to rob the rest of the world - fighting over the spoils of Asia and Africa and the Islands of the sea – and they ought to continue to fight until, like the Kilkenny cats, there is nothing left of them but their tails. Then the common people of Europe would take possession of the government, and there would come out of it something for humanity. They would repudiate the war debts, confiscate the land, and the result would be something in the way of human progress. However, I did not intend to bother you about this. You may make whatever use of my letter you choose. I note the last paragraph of your letter. You say that you wish I would give you an account of my trip in 1908 to see Murphy. I did see Murphy and I think George Fred Williams was with me - am not sure about this. We also talked with Cohallan. I do not remember so very much about the matter. But if you would write me the version that I gave you at the time, when I get home I will look up the correspondence in connection with the matter. I think I went to New York for the very purpose of seeing Murphy and Cohallan, and others. I know I saw Bird S. Coler, and maybe he went with me - but I am not sure of that - my impression is that it was Geo. Fred Williams. I will write Williams and ask him; so that, by the time I get your reply, I can give you a full statement. Yours truly, R. F. Pettigiew