I heard a story told the other day that was ridiculous, but it is
worth repeating, because it contains the germ of truth. An Indian was
enlisted in the army. He returned to the reservation on a furlough.
He was asked what he thought of it. He said: "No much good; too much
salute; not much shoot." Then he was asked: "Are you going back?"
"Yes." "Well, do you know what you are fighting for?" "Yes, me know;
fight to make whole damn world Democratic Party." He had evidently
misunderstood some innocent sentence of my own.
But, after all, although there is no party purpose in it, he got it
right as far as the word "party"--to make the whole world democratic in
the sense of community of interest and of purpose; and if you ladies
and gentlemen could read some of the touching dispatches which come
through official channels, for even through those channels there come
voices of humanity that are infinitely pathetic; if you could catch
some of those voices that speak the utter longing of oppressed and
helpless peoples all over the world, to hear something like the "Battle
Hymn of the Republic," to hear the feet of the great hosts of liberty
going to set them free, to set their minds free, set their lives free,
set their children free, you would know what comes into the heart of
those who are trying to contribute all the brains and power they have
to this great enterprise of liberty.
I summon you to the comradeship. I summon you in this next week to say
how much and how sincerely and how unanimously you sustain the heart of
the world.