The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1918-05-25
NJ .coNcERT b EuRoPE..

a
NO acoNcERT OF EUROPE"
A few days ago it was announced
that italy had signed treaty with
her allies which replaced the agree
ment entered into by her and the en-.
tente powers at the moment Of hel
entry into war. This treaty, like
the original agreement, has as its OBJ
ject the definition Of Italy's cltims
territorial and other, on the western
side Of the Adriatic.
It is subject for congratulation to
know that the new treaty has greatly
modified the excessive claims con.
tanned in the original agreement
claims which caused 50 much heart
burning among the Serbs and their
bdothers-in-race, the Jugoslavs. But
there is one point on which the dis
patches are silent, and that is wheth-
er or not Serbia is cosignatory to
the new treaty. If she is not it is a
most regrettable lacuna. The action
of the powers, if this should prove to
be the case, would resemble the reviv.
al of the concert Of Europe" of I'M
happy memory, the pretention that
the great powers, merely because
they are great powers, have the right
to settle the destinies Of the smaller
nations. al Y des morris quill faut
qu'on tue" (there are some dead that
one must kill afresh) say the French,
and the concert Of Europe" is one Of
these corpses which must be kept Sc
curely dead,
The jretension to superior knowl-
edge on the part Of the great powers
as to what the smaller nations requir-
ed was one of the direct causes of the
war. The decisions Of cdiplomatic
congress in the past always held the
germs of future conflict on account
of this arrogation Of superior wisdom.
The treaty Of Vienna, the treaty of
Paris, and especially the treaty Of
Berlin make curious reading in the
light Of subsequent events. A score
of diplomatists seated around green
table, dispOsing Of the destinies Of
smaller peoples without consulting
them, can do more to disturb the
peace thatn the bands Of comitadjis
in the mountains of the Balkans.
# fact, the diplomatist was the
father Of the comitadji. The unjust
decisions Of score Of gentlemen in
gold laced uniforms made him take to
the mountains, rifle in hand. "There
are times" says Carlyle, when anly
the man with the bayonet knows what
to do and how to do it,
The sooner the powers realize that
we have entered on a new epoch when
no country, however powerful, has
the right to impose its will, or even
the will Of a coalition Of such pow
ers, on any country, however weak,
the better for all concerned. For
the weakest country, if it cannot
wage successful war, can always pre-
vent peace. The awakened con-
science of the world will never allow
the errors Of the"concert Of Europe"
to be repeated,
Sooner or later the nations that
have vanquished Germany will take
council together fer the safe conduct
of the world. The United States will
participate in congress which will
adjust the claims of small nations. 1t
would be we'll if all the nations, great
and small, should be put on notice
that the United States will not join
any coalition Of large nations for the
purpose Of discriminating the fate of
small nations. The small nations
now under brutal domination of Ger
many viii not be really free if the
great nations liberating them assume
to dictate their boundaries, their
form Of government, and their rela-
tons with their neiehbors. It is all
most as offensive to be dominated by
friends as by enemies.
The United States should take the
position that big nations should be
protectors, but not dictators. The
question win be vitality important
soon. -Washington Post.
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