Evening journal., 1918-10-16


we are not In full accord.
The third OF his fourteen conditions OF
peace, which he announced early In
January last, reads as follows:
THE removal as far as possible
OF all economic barriers. and the
establishment Of neutrality OF
trade conditions among all the
nations conserving TO the peace
and associatIng themselves for Its
maintenance"
Again | commend the Presidents
frankness. He has made It clear that
/ The treaty OF peace must guarantee to
Germany, as well as to all other sigma
tory nations, the right 10 buy raw ma
terials without boycott or discrimina-
tlOn, fabrlcate the same with her now
impoverished labor, and with the pro
duct exploit the markets OF the United
States, as well as all other markets,
without encounterlng a protective
tariff. Evidently he does not intend to
forbid tariffs for revenue only, for such
tariffs are the. prime reliance OF Eng
land, the only free trade country In the
world.
This IS in strlctest harmony with a
statement made by the President at
Baltimore on September 25, 1916. He
then sald ~ hope to see America pit
Med against the world, not IN selfshness,
but In brains"
That he fully expects to get such a
provision in the treaty Is made equally
clear in his purely partisan letter seek
Ing TO control the election OF the IN
tried Democrat, Davies, Of Wisconsin,
instead OF the tried, faithful and loyal
Republican, Lenroot, where he uses this
language:
The men in the trenches who
have been freed from economic serf-
dom, 10 which some OF them have
been accustomed, will return to
their homes with a new view and
new impotence OF all mere political
phrases"
"Sconomio serfdom" is seldom applied
to American conditions except by Demo-
Gratis, and have never known them to
apply It to anything but protective
tariffs.
l do not critlcise the President for
being a free trader. He was educated
in that school of political economy; he
taught free trade for more than a
quarter Of a century, and has been a
platform advocate OF It all his life. His
parents were supporters Of, and he is
manifestly a believer In, that provision
Of the Constitution OF the Confederacy
which prohibited a protective tariff.
Having been a lifelong free trader, and
a paclfst, honor him that his personal
sentiments and beliefs on those ques-
tions have not changed simply because
of his official position.
Another provision Of the Presidents
fourteen conditions Of peace, which
does not meet the approval Of all Re
publicans, Is the demand for freedom
Of navigation upon the seas, outside
territorial limits, alike in peace and in
war" This is found In condition No. 2.
The fact that Germany cOntended for
this very thing affords no reason why
the President should not Insist that In
that particular Germany was right, and
the Allies wrong. And 1t Is no criticism
of the President now TO express regret
that / cannot agree with him as 10 the
wisdom OF q provision Of the treaty
that will prevent the United States, and
her allies, from using their combined
fleets to prevent the Importation Of war
supplies, should Prussianism declare
the treaty "a scrap Of paper" and again
seek world domination. Having built
our feet at great cost and sacrifice,
some Of us Republicans hold that we
should reserve the right to use II,
should occasion require, for the en-
forcement Of the peace Of the world, as
we'll as for the protection Of the United
States.
The fifth condition Of peace laid down
by the President reads:
"a free, open and absolutely i'm
partial adjustment Of all colonial
claims, based upon a strict OBJ
servance OF the principle that in
determining all such questions Of
sovereignty the interests of the
populations concerned must have
equal weight with the equitable
claims OF the government whose
title is to be determined"
l regret the announcement Of this al
legged principle as much as | rejoice
that the exact opposite was expressed
in the Declaration Of independence. My
dear Mr.. Tumulty, can you imagine the
Declaration Of Independence declaring
IldL KONEIuiltlll5 uglANC tAAGn Juob
powers through the application Of the
principle that accords to the interests
Of the American colonists equal weight
with the equitable claims" Of England?
may be in error in my Interpretation,
but if were called upon as a lawyer
to apply this doctrine thus announced
by the President to existing conditions
l should say that this paragraph would
subject the future Of Alsace-Lorralne,
Poland and Finland, as well as all cap
tured German colonies, to the principle
that the interests Of the people in these
respective countries should have equal
weight with the equitable claims Of
Germany. In other words, that all such
questions would have to be thrdshed
out at the conference table, under a
give-and-take policy.
Some Of US Republicans much prefer
Lloyd Georges statement Of the PROPOSE
ton, made just three days prior to that
Of the President. He said: Secondly,
a territorial settlement must be secured
based on the right Of self-determination,
or the consent Of the governed" That
is the doctrine we announced to Eng
land back in the eighteenth century,
and It thrills me not little to have the
British Premier announce the same