davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
y ritain Will Not
~ Yield on the Sea

But no one should mistake the opnor-
tunities which the Germans viii hsge to
break up the unity Of their enen: :ss if
the congress assemblies with no clesv pro.
gramme in the minds of the Alli~y ran.
resentatives and no well defined under
standing as to which comes fist. the
settlement of the present war or lis pre-
vention of future wars. Talleyraoa had
the Congress Of Vienna by the -a-s in
no time, although he represea a a
beaten France and had been bs y 4
year before the agent Of the a.e red
Napoleon. Surely Prince Won BIZ T. If
he is called upon to perform the {. FOR
which he has been preparing fs four
years, will have hardly less attsactige
opening.
To take, for example, a singh .ues-
ton, that Of the freedom of the eas.
This either means some sort of I'd ma
tional understanding which viii In the
operations of the dominant sea power in
time Of war or it means nothing # It
means the former. then it Will ~ es-
tionably be opposed by the Britisa and
supported by the Germans. Sea pawer
used without regard to international law
as written before the era Of tie .bma-
rine and in defiance Of the rues Of
blockade, which were based upon 3 ~
ditions of sail navigation, has Il. .saa.
Germany and saved the world gate as
much as Great Britain, from German
domination.
Such being the case, it is certain hat
the British nation Will not now, wh#i ever
might be the case a generation heg #
the League of Nations shall demoua rate
its efficiency, yield in epe degree that
power which alone has proved lis sal
vation. But if Britain refuses ana Ger
many accepts a proposal coming from
President Wilson, what will be the .fect
upon American representatives q yer
sailles; what will be the effect upn the
whole Congress if the questions a rep
aration and restitution remain unst ttled
while the Congress divides over the free
dom of the seas?
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
.he Treaty Stood the
Il Test of Time

The result was that France for the
moment accepted Louis XVIII and the
Bourbons. No permanent resentment
was engendered against the conquerors
of Napoleon as result Of the treaty of
peace. In due course Of time France
upset the Bourbons, then the Orleanists,
returned to the Bonapartes and then
exiled Napoleon III, but the only modi-
fications of the territorial arrangements
of the Napoleonc settlement, so far as
France was concerned, were the acquisi-
ton of Savoy and Nice by vote of the in
habitants and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine
by conquest. The Holy Alliance was
failure, because it was an effort to turn
back the tide Of human progress, but the
treaty it's founders framed with France
stood the test of time
Now it would be conceivable that
should the victors of the present war fol-
low the example of those of a century
before, remit to Germany their just
claims for indemnities, content them
selves with taking for France Alsace-
Lorraine and distributing German col
onies as they chose, they might success
fully establish some orderly regime in
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
\ Aanger in
81 The League

But if our first objective is to reor
game human society, international So
clety, by creating a League of Nations to
which all peoples willingly surrender the
right and the power to settle their in
ternational differences, an organization
which in the nature of things will be a
guarantor of things as they are, of the
map made at Versailles, of the surren-
ders made by Germany-will Germany.
bleeding from the wounds of settlement.
made in accordance with justice, to be
sure, be willing member of anv such
association, or surrender save for the
time and by language alone, her freedom
Of action? Will she not do as Prussia
did after Tilsit-submit, but circumvent?
More than this, if, for example. GER
tain nations in the number of those as
sociated with Germany go to Versailles
with the view chat seeking reparation
and restitution must be the chief object
i've and others go with the belief that
reparation and restitution are less i'm
portant than the creation of real
League OF Nations, will there not be a
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

left without compensation for their mis-.
cries, will be hurried along ths road
which leads to Bolshevism.
To impose peace terms upon Germany
is simple business, for the thing which
the Allies mean to do are all clearly es.
tablished and are undiscussibls. The
only single point which can be se5ated
is that Of the size Of the money peymens
to be demanded Of Germany, a'sa that
can be agreed upon promptly Wssen the
congress assemblies at Versailles Eae AL
lied terms can be ready, they can se pre-
sented to Germany, and German accept-
ance can be made the conditio upon
which the next problem will be aced.
the problem of the organization of The
League of Nations.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
Gettle With the
~ Enemy irst

The result may easily be chaos at
Versailles, an extension of the sessions
through weeks and months, to the utter
dlsorganlzatiOn of the business of the
world and the perpetuation of conditions
out OF which anarchy may grow. Such
delay, too, would be to the German in
terest, for it must be German policy to
postpone to the last possible moment. .anv
passing of sentences upon her which
VIII compel her to make payment. If
she could achieve a permanent senara-
ton of the Allies, growing out of the
different values placed upon reparation
and the League of Nations. then she
might escape altog~ ther.
The solution to this tangle. if seems
to me, must be sought in the separation
OF the two functions Of the Versailles
congress. If the first business be the
settlement with Germany, the settlement
which alone can free the French and
Belgians from the intoerable burden
placed upon them by German deeds of
destruction, then we shall achieve peace,
we shall close the war as it should be
closed, and the way will be clear to the
creation Of League of Nations. But
II the terms of peace are left to be the
trading ground for German adhesion to
League of Nations, we shall get no.
where and Germany may be able to es-
cape from the costs of her crimes, while
the French and Belgian populations,
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

really make peace, for it is the German
who has been our great enemy and with
him we have tc, make the main settle
ment. And if Germany resolves itself
into Russian anarchy then we can only
choose between waiting at the Rhine un-
til anarchy has passed and sending our
armies into Germany to restore order
and reorganize the nation against its
will This is the problem now before us
in the case of Russia, and it seems very
far from solution.
Such, then, is the first great obstacle
in the pathway of those who are to meet
at Versailles. Nor is it less clear that,
even though Germany presently achieve
national political refrigeration, such re-
integration as permits her to send repre-
sentatives to Nersaill IS able and author
lied to speak for people and a nation
itself capable of observing the decisions
accepted by its representatives, there is
bound to be very considerable loss of
time. So far from prompt settlement
and a speedy signing of treaty of
peace, the best hope must be that, after
serious delays, but without temporary
adjournment until a new German revolu-
tlon has passed. Germany will be able to
send delegates having the same poten-
tialities as those of Britain, France or
the United States.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

Bclgians what she has stolen, seized, de-
stroyed? If so, it is easy to frame a
treaty which does these things, and we
have the power to enforce this repay
ment, however long and intricate may
be the procedure. We have liberated
French and Belgian soil and reclaimed
Alsace-Lorraine; the German colonies
are IN our hands, as is the German navv
and the weapons of the army. We are
occupying the left bank of the Rhine and
we can continue to occupy it until Ger
many pays up, just as German soldiers
stayed IN Eastern France until the in
demnity of 1871 was paid
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
\ Separation
"A Of Objectives

This, to my mind, is the fatal dilemma
which grows out of the combination of
two wholly dissimilar objectives at Yer
sailles. 1t was the dilemma faced by the
conquerors Of Napoleon, who were as
eager as are the victors of to-day to get
some insurance against the terrible con-
vulslon which had shaken Europe, not
for fifty-two months, but for TWENTY-FIVE
years. They solved it by separating the
two objectives. They made prompt peace
with France in the Treaty of Paris. and
IN this treaty they deliberately sur
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
Even Utopia May
- Be IntoIerable

think every one of any humanitarian
sympathies hopes to see evolved AZ Yer
sailles some form of international agree
ment which may prove the framework
for true League of Nations. and i real
guarantee against international miaun-
derstandings, which eliminate ineyita5ly
in wars The danger which is apparent
to many to-day is the danger that r. dis
closed in the inevitable confusion which
will result #, before the present var Is
hquidated, the conditions Of future in
ternational association become the ,auSs
of differences, debate, estrangemena, be-
tween the nations who have won THIS war
only by seeking a common end by unity
Of thought and of action.
But if the condition, and the only con-
dition, of a League of Nations he to
make a peace with Germany which viii
make the victims of German aggre sion
and violence in the past four years bear
the eventual burdens of that aggre .sion
then it seems to me that the price IS 100
high. And the danger is very real. Nor
is there less danger that we may be
brought to the position Of seeking to
lessen the effectiveness in Brit.sin's
hands of the one weapon on which our
victory in this war depended. namely. lhe
British navy, operating without rega9d TO
conventions, regulating the "freedon Of
the seas
Even Utopia would be intolerable il in
it only the red-handed murderer wrre
to have immunity from the consequences
of his recent crimes merely because ne
had changed his name or his emplo$cr.
More than this, we hear much to-day of
healing peace" and certainly every
one hopes that we shall have this bless
ing. But even a healing peace must be
designed first to heal the wounds of he
innocent victims before it strives to care
the wounds of those who were injured
seeking to murder their neighbors. Afd
if any one is to bleed to death, to folbow
the figure of speech. it certainly shoald
not be the women and children of Franee
and Belgium.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
The Obstacles in Questions of From.
tiers, and the Organization of the
Races in Their Proper Spheres
Copyright, 1918, New York Tribune Inc

split between the victors in this war, and
will not the Germans be able to make
use of this split, naturally allying them
selves with those who seek to promote
the League of Nations rather than the
claims for restitution and reparation?
And if such divergence of detectives
occurs, it seems to me inevitable that
the United States, which has suffered
no material injury Of consequence and
is therefore east concerned for itself
with any claim for restitution or repara-
ton, will be most likely to drift toward
a community of action with the Germans
in the furtherance Of the scheme for
League of Nations at the sacrifice of
the claims for reparation to Britain,
France and Italy, as we'll as Belgium
and Serbia.
The Germans, moreover, whatever de-
gree of order they may succeed in es-
tablishing at home, are bound, as their
course has already indicated, to come to
Versailles with an insistent demand for
generous terms in order that their coun-
try may not sink into the Russian state
Of anarchy as a consequence Of the bur
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
TT ow France Was
Won Over

But in facing the same difficulty that
must now be faced again the conouerors
of Napoleon were far more logical than
the victors of the present hour. Thev
desired to prevent new outbreak like
the French Revolution with its twentv-
odd years of consequent wars. But thew
realized that this would be impossible if
they undertook to write a treaty which
imposed upon France any such burdens
as would awaken permanent resentment
in the minds of the French people.
Therefore they sacrificed their claims
against France in the main, giving the
French people almost complete immunity
from punishment as bribe to win them
to the new order.
Actually the situation was this: For
more than twenty years French armies
had overrun Europe, making war in for
elgn countries, enlisting the subjects,
requlsltoning the funds. The revolu-
ton, and Napoleon afte,. it, had made
war at the expense of the enemy. and
France was free from debt at the hour
when the Emperor abdicated. Here was
clear warrant for indemnities. clear
chance for retributive Justice, but the
conquerors deliberately put it aside.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
Sea Power and Other Problems That
Will Vex the Conference and
Force 1t to Step Warily
BY FRANK II. SIMONDS
Author of "The World War;" "They Shall Not Pass,

may please us, but we cannot come at
the German nation, we cannot settle
anything, we cannot do more than de-
eide upon such measures as we, the
western nations, may collectively deem
necessary to protect France and Bel
gium from German revolutionary at
tacks and occupy such German provinces
as we may feel are sufficient to serve as
guarantees Of q future payment by Ger
many of the claims we hold against
her when she does achieve national re-
integration
With respect to Austria, we can settle
the question of the frontiers between the
several nationalities into which the Haps
burg Empire has resolved itself. These
several states can act as nations and ac-
cept the territorial changes. They to-
gether with Bulgaria and Turkey. will be
definite entities, unless they in turn. all
or in part, succumb to socialistic and
Bolshevik revolutions; or declining AL
lied arbitration, fight among themselves.
as the Poles and the Ukrainians are now
fighting.
But it is with Germany that we must
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

Germany and, in negotiating with it.,
formulate a constitution for a League of
Nations. Remember, am not for a sim
gle moment suggesting this as a ri ht
just or proper course. On the contrary,
1t would, in my judgment, be singularly
inequitabe and intolerable. But if the
League of Nations is the chief concern
of the Peace Congress this would offer a
way, and I think the only conceivable
way, of bringing Germany into it.
If, by contrast, we proceed to frame
our demands and impose them upon Ger
many, Alsace-Lorraine, Schleswig. Prus
sian Poland, with Danzig, the German
colonies and an indemnity of ten to
twenty billions, in what spirit will the
German people be with respect to a
League of Nations, organized by their
enemies who have just imposed upon
them this terrific sentence? And grant
ing that Germany succeeds in establish
ing some sort of government which
sends duly authorized delegates to Yer
sallles, will that government be able to
obtain ratification of its treaty from the
German people, or will it and the treaty
both be repudiated?
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
THE Second Great
Il Obstacle

So much for the first obstacle. But
there is second only less imposing. At
Versailles two things are to be sought
and they are by no means easy to har-
monte. We, the conquerors of Ger
many, are going to impose upon Ger
many the sentence of the civilized world
We are going to make her pay for her
crimes in two ways. We are going to
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
WIN There Be a Recognized
w German Government

We have had since November II one of
the most dramatic and astounding pa
geants in all human history. We have
seen the surrender of a great nation on
the battlefield, followed by the swift
revolution within that country which
has swept away all the old landmarks,
all the familiar forms of government.
And while the great enemy, Germany,
was surrendering and Transforming it
self Austria Hungary has resolved it
self into chaos of races. At the mo-
ment when the discussion of peace is
imminent we are not in the least cer~
tain that we shall have in the case of
the two larger nations with which we
have been at war any recognized gov
ernment, speaking with the sanction Of
the German people, OR any conceivable
group of representatives, collectively
speaking for what was a month ago
the Hapsburg Empire.
And this is the first and greatest OBJ
stacle which lies in the pathway of the
Versailles congress. If Germany shall
now eschew Russian pathways and find
swift and satisfactory methods of restor-
ing domestic tranquility and attaining
such governmental unity as to enable her
to send to Versailles delegates speaking
for the German people and authorized
and capable of binding the German peo-
pie to the agreements there made, the
undertakings in the way of territorial
cessions and financial reparatons, then
the task will be simplfed But what
evidence have we yet to warrant belief
that this will be possible? Moreover.
If it is not how can we, in fact. achieve
peace with our recent enemy at Yer
sailles?
In the past the beaten nation or coal
1tlon OF nations in the great wars of
history have survived with their national
integrity undestroyed. France. after
1870, changed from an empire to a
republic, but the representatives of the
Third Republic spoke with full and un-
questioned authority, their signatures to
the preliminary armistice and the de-
tinitive document of Frankfort were
honored by their countrymen and un-
challenged by their foes. When Ma
poleon abdicated at Fontainebleau in
1914 his conquerors placed a Bourbon
on the French throne and made peace
with him. This peace, for the moment
suspended by the return from Elba, was
nevertheless repeated in new Treaty
OF Paris after Waterloo and honored
alike by France and her conquerors.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

hausting general war men have before
sought some insurance through nterna-
tional combination. Thus when Napo-
leon was defeated the sovereigns of
Europe combined in Holy Alliance.
They united against what they conceived
to be the peril to peace of their time,
namely, republican ideas They includ-
ed France in the alliance because they
were able to place one of themselves, a
duly authenticated King, upon the French
throne.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
y ussia Established the
AN First Precedent

BY contrast after Russia fell and the
bolShevlk rose to power there was no
one with whom the Germans could salts
factorily conclude peace, and we had the
amazing spectacle of Trotzky and his
associates quitting Brest-Litovsk, refus-
ing to sign treaty which they could
not refuse to accept. Since that time,
moreover, there has been condition of
anarchy in Russia and no man could or
can clearly understand what is the sit
uation. German armies have occupied
Russian territory and organized indie
pendent states on old Russian soil, but
even the Germans recognized long be-
fore they finally yielded to the western
nations that the settlement of Brest
Litovsk was no settlement.
We have then the clear possibility
that what happened in the case of Rus
sia will now occur in the case of Ger
many This revolution in the former
German Empire may rapidly or slowly
march to the chaos which has existed
in Russia for more than a year and a
half. If it does, we can occupy such
portions of the German territory as we
choose; Germany is helpless; we can
make such provisional arrangements as
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
,r the Hurdles to Peace at the Versailles Meetin

rendered their own material claims
against France that France might not be
left in state Of sullen and enduring re-
sentiment which would make a new war
almost inevitable.
Having done this, they went to Vienna
and there, in real congress, undertook
the reorganization of Europe and of the
international relations of the world
which was expressed in the Treaty of
Vienna, fortified by subsequent agree
ment made between kings. At Vienna
France appeared as an equal, and repre-
sented by Talleyrand, soon reasserted
her old influence in European gather
ings. The decisions made at Vienna
were an abominatlon. They contained
the seeds of untold wars and revolutions,
but this does not lessen the strength of
the argument that only by the separa-
ton of the two detectives could any
agreement have been made, and had the
Vienna document been as good as it was
bad it would not have been possible if
the victors of 1914 and 1916 had pur-
sued toward France the course we are
bound to pursue toward Germany.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

deprive her of certain provinces in
habited by people who are German, not
by their own wish, but by the decision
of the sword in the past. We are going
to free the Danes, the Poles and the in
habitants of Alsace-L Lorraine. In addi-
tion, we are going to compel Germany to
pay anywhere from $4,000, 100000 to
100000 100000 as reparation for wan
ton injuries done in defiance of the ac-
cepted rules CT war
This is one number on the programme.
But in addition we, with the Germans,
are to frame new international system,
a League of Nations which is to regulate
all international relations in the future.
serve as superstate, with police power
and with many other powers over the
whole body Of nations, such as have here
tofore been exercised only by the central
government within separate states. And
unless Germany is a willing and sincere
partner in this enterprise the League of
Nations will be failure, for it's success
must rest upon it's universally. With
Germany out, it is no more than per-
petuation of the existing alliance against
Germany. Moreover, Germany may
easily, if the Reds gain control, join
hands with the Russian Reds, and then
we shall have the old situation of rival
alliances once more.
Me holy Alliance Against
III Republican Ideas
Now, n ,ch of this is familiar ground
There is / thing new about the League
of Nations, and after long and ex-
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
TT O Make
IL Germany Pay

In war and in peace, in all human
relations, it is equally essential to fix
upon the objective. Is the Versailles
gathering to be primarily for the pr
pose of compelling Germany, at last con-
quered, to make just restitution and rep
aration for past sins against humanity?
To make her repay to the French and
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

dens imposed upon it. The plea may
be sham or sincere, but in either case
it will be effective and will make a meas
ure of impression And it will be direct
ed adroitly at all the socialistic and
anarchistic elements in the Allied coun-
tries.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

They deprived France of her conquests,
they restricted her practically to the
limits of 1889, but there they left it, and
the additional burdens placed upon the
nation after Napoleon had returned and
regaincd power, only to fall at Water
loo, were, in fact, insignificant.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

TNHE approach of the hour when
the representatives of the vari-
Gus nations which have, for
more than four years, been at
war will meet at Versailles to frame
document restoring peace has served
to concentrate the attention of the world
upon the possibilities and the probabil-
tiles of what must prove the most mo-
mentous international assembly since
the Congress of Vienna. And yet, de-
spite the intensity of world interest,
the problems and the difficulties which
must be surmounted are as yet little
understood, particularly in the United
States.
New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
Me holy Alliance Against
IL Republican Ideas

Now, mNch of this is familiar ground.
There is / thing new about the League
of Nations, and after a long and ex-
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