I give the introduction to his address as it appeared in the New York Times:
"Frank A. Vanderlip, who spoke last night at the Hotel Astor, at a dinner of the Economic Club, which was held for the purpose of hearing his story of conditions in Europe, whence he has recently returned, said that England was on the verge of a revolution, which was narrowly averted in February, when he was there, and the conditions on the Continent of Europe are appalling beyond anything dreamed of in this country.
"He said that the food conditions in Europe would be worse instead of better for a year ahead, because of the dislocation of labor and the destruction of farm animals, and that the industrial and economic outlook, generally, points to a period after the war, which will equal, if not exceed the war period in suffering and misery.
"He said that Italy was afraid to disband her army, because she could not employ the men and was afraid of idleness. He said that the differential, which had kept England preëminent in international trade, was the underpayment of labor, and that this differential was now being wiped out, forcing England to face tremendously serious problems for the future. He quoted a British minister as saying that means would have to be found to send six or seven millions of Englishmen out of the British Isles and closer to the sources of food production, if continental conditions continued long as at present.
"He said that the best printing presses in the world to-day, except those in Washington, were at Petrograd, and that they were turning out masses of counterfeited pounds, francs, marks, lira, and pesetas, so skillfully made that detection was almost impossible. He said that these counterfeits were being spent largely by Germans to foment Bolshevist propaganda.
"Spain would, he said, be the most promising country in Europe except for the labor situation there, which had brought it to the verge of Bolshevism. He said that the most perfect laboratory of Bolshevism in Europe outside of Russia was in Barcelona, Spain, which he said was ruled absolutely by a mysterious secret council, which had censored and fined the newspapers until they quit publication and had enforced its will in all matters by assassinations, which no one dared to punish.
"He said that America alone could save Europe and that its aid must be extended to all countries equally. He said that this was necessary, not only to save Europe, but to prevent an invasion of America by the forces threatening the social overthrow of Europe."
Why the American Legion?
There, at least, is one great reason.
Our men of the army, navy, and marine corps got a schooling in the practical Americanism which our military establishment naturally teaches. Those who were aliens by birth and those native sons with inadequate educational advantages learned a great deal by association with men of better types and by travel. These men can and will stem the insidious guile of the wolf, and, to aid them in so doing, the Legion has an active speakers' bureau under Captain Osborn teaching Americanism in every section of the country. These speakers, in helping to organize the Legion along the right lines, teach the Constitution of the United States and preach that remedial changes in this government can be brought about in only one way, and that is, constitutionally.