The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-09-28


principles we have avowed as the ,
principles for which we are fighting.
There should exist no doubt about
that I am, therefore, going to take
the liberty of speaking with the ut.
most frankness about the practicai
Implications that are involved in It,
Lasting Peace.
"If it he~in deed, as in truth, the
common object of the governments al
lied AGAINST Germany and of the ma
lions whom they govern, as 1 beheve
it to be, to achieve by the coming set
Elements a secure and lasting peace, 1t
will be necessary that all who SIT down
at the peace table shall come ready
and willing to pay the price, the only
price, that will procure it; and ready
and willing, also, to create In some
virile fashion the only instrumentailty
by which it can be made certain that
the agreements of the peace will be
honbred and fulfilled.
That price is impartial justice in
every item of the settlement, no mat
ter whose interest is crossed; and not
only impartial Justice, but also the sat-
isfaction of the several peoples whose
fortunes are dealt with. That indis-
pensable instrumentality is a league
of nations formed under covenants
that will be efficacious. Without such
an instrumentalityb by which the peace
of the world can be guaranteed, peace
will rest in part upon the word of
outlaws and only upon that word. For
Germany will have to redeem her
character. not by what happens at the
peace table but by what follows.
And. as see it, the constitution of
that league of nations and the clear
definition of its object must be a part.
is in a sense the most essential part,
of the peace settlement itself. 1t can
| not be formed now. If formed now, it
i would be merely new alliance con-
| fined to the nations associated against
| a common enemy. 1t is not likely that
| it could be formed after the settle
ment. 1t is necessary to guarantee the
| peace; and the peace cannot be guar
| anteed as an afterthought. The rea-
/ son, to speak in plain terms again,
why it must be guaranteed is that
there will be parties to the peace
| whose promises have proved untrust-
worthy. and means must be found in
| connection with the peace settlement
| itself to remove that source of inse-
curity. 1t would be folly to leave the
German to the subsequent voluntary
action of the governments we have
| seen destroy Russia and deceive Ru-
mania
The Five Terms of Peace
But these general terms do not
disclose the whole matter. Some de-
tails are needed to make them sound
less like "a thesis and more like a
prdcIcdI program. IneSe, then, are
some of the particulars and 1 state
them with the greater confidence be-
cause I can state them authoritatively
as representing this governments In
depreciation of its own duty with re-
/ gard to peace:
81. The impartial justice melted Out
must involve no discrimination be-
tween those to whom we wish to bt
just and those to whom We do MOI
wish to be just. 1t must be justice
that plays ne favorites and know.
no standard but the equal rights O.
the several peoples concerned;
'2. No special or separate interes
OF any single nation It any group o.
4 nations can be made the basis of an,
part of the settlement which is no
consistent with the common interest.
of all;
80. There can be no leagues or al
liances or special covenants and un
] derstandings within T. family of ma
tons;
-. And more specifically, Their,
, can be no special. selfish economi,
com bfnationf within the league ant
| no employment of any form of eco
nomic boycott or exclusion except a.
the power of economic penalty b,
exclusion from the markets of tn
, world may be versed in the league O
nations itself as means of discipline
. and control
IS. All international agreement
and treaties of every kind must b.
made known in their entirety to tn
, rest Of the world.
Special alliances and economic ri
vairies and hostilities have been tn
; prolific source in the modern WORT,
of the plans and passions that produc
war 1t would be an insincere, a
well as an insecure, peace that di,
not exclude them in definite and bind
ing terms.
: Responsibility by United States.
Il THE confidence with which 1 ven
5 ture to speak for our people in thes
r matters does not spring from our ira
ditions merely, and the we'll know
l principles of international actio
E which we have always professed an
followed. In the same sentence il
which say that the United States vii
. enter into no special arrangements o