New Britain herald., 1918-08-20
The League of Nations.
(N CIV York Sum-

The League of Nations is coming to the front again. It's advocates believe that such combination will prove the most effective means of preventing the future outbreak of great wars, such as that which is now convulsing the world. They desire to keep the project in the public mind, to the end that it may receive favorable attention when the present conflict terminates.
 Lord Robert Cecil, one of the most influential of English statesmen, has recently expressed some views on this important subject to a correspondent of the New York Times. He says:
 T am personally doubtful whether league can work by majority votes. For instance, l doubt whether the United States would accept a Euro pean view of the Mexican question, or whether we should be willing, to alter the government of Ireland to suit a league of nations. We may STOW, of course, but I think at present we must follow the ordinary rule in all interna- tional proceedings and must require the decisions of the league to be unanimous"
 It is obvious that there would be no need of a league of nations to enforce action in regard to which all were agreed. The only purpose of such combination would be to enforce the will of the majority upon the mi nority.
 Senator Elihu Root in his Nobel Prize address in 1914 spoke on this subject with his usual clear insight when he said:
 '"The attractive idea that we can have a parliament of man with au- thOrity to control the conduct of na- tions by legislation or an international police force with power to enforce na- tional conformity to rules of right conduct is a counsel of perfection. The world is not ready for any such thing and it cannot be made ready ex- cept by the practical surrender of the independence of nations, which lies at the basis of the present social organi- zation of the civilized world. Such a system would mean that each nation was liable to be lawfully controlled and cOerced by a majority of alien Powers That majority alone could determine when and for what causes and to what ends the control and coercion should be exercised. Human nature must have come much nearer perfection than it is now, or will be in many generations. to exclude from such control prejudice, seIfishness. ambition and injustice. .An attempt to prevent war in this way would breed war, for it would destroy local self-government and drive nations to war for liberty. There is no nation in the world which would seriously consider a proposal so shocking to the national pride and patriotism of it's people,"
 The only sort of a league of nations which has any present prospect of success is a league to compel each constituent member thereof to keen it's word.
 Every consid erable nation is bound to others by two kinds of treaties: many Powers, which form the basis of international law; and secondly. those separate treaties which consti- tute special agreements between inc high contracting Powers. A violation of either is readily ascertainabl and as every honorable nation presumal,1v intends to keep it's word none need hesitate to agree that others may oblize it to do so. There would be no sacrifice of pride or patriotism in a,iv- ing suhc consent, where a nation is acting in god faith and intends to f111- fill it's treaty obligations in letter and spirit.
 Such seems to us to be the 1imita- tions which must hedge about any practicable project for a league of na- tjons after the war.