The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1919-07-31

governments il as much a menace "a
! as = League of peoples might be
hope for, the peace Of the world; ant
furthermore, that any League inccrp
GRATED into the present Treaty al
Peace can result in nothing but dis
aster. There are certain things which
belong to God, and one of them u
justice. Man has never yet found :
way to make wrong into right, or Il
save evil from its inexorable retribu
ton.
For Rejection or Authoritative
Limitation Of Article \
The treaties with the Central Pow
ers can hardly be regarded by any in
telligent person as final solution Of
the European problem. Their econom-
ic provisions are indefinite. Only the
prudent administration Of them can
save Europe from an era of violence
under them. The territorial provi-
sions fatty violate the principle Of
self-determination at many vital
points. Though plebiscite has been
granted in Silesia as a result of liberal
pressure throughout the world, people
are put under alien rule in other ter
ritories ceded to Poland, in Bohemia,
4
in the Tyrol, in Hungary, in the Jugo.
slav area, in the Balkans. The Saar
Valley may be added to the list.
When the economic provisions are
arbitrary because they are indefinite,
the territorial provisions are arbitrary
because they are unchangeable. 1t ID
the business of all who wish peace in
the world to fight for arrangements
by which amendment of both the ter,
ritorial and economic terms is pos-l
sible. The economic terms can be
amended by action of the League as it
stands. The territorial cannot be
amended under the Covenant. For
Article Ten guarantees the territorial
integrity of the member states.
This Interpretation of Article Ten
for which we have among others the
authority Of Mr.. Root, is disputed by
those who advocate ratification with
out amendment. They assert that the
guaranty means only that no change
OF boundaries can occur as result of
external aggression" The trouble
with this view is that the Covenant
without Article Ten forbids external
aggression. A nation which declared
war to change boundaries would vio-
late the Covenant if Article Ten were
not there. Why then is it there? I'll
is there, as Mr.. Root said, as separ-
ate alliance to guarantee the status
quo. Now no man who understands the
injustices and error of these treaties,
and wishes peace or long life to the
League, can wish to stereotype this
status quo.
Therefore Article Ten must either
be omitted altogether, or an authori-
tative Interpretation of it given which
will leave no doubt in any ones mind
as to its meaning. Those who have
defended it argue that it does not
stereotype the status quo; those who
attack it argue that it does. Both
disclaim the intention of stereoyping
the status quo. Therefore only those
who do wish to stereotype it can OBJ
ject to action by the Senate, and then
perhaps by the League itself, to clear
up the confusion. Those who wish to
make the terms of this settlement
unchangeable must be dismissed as
not having understood the meaning of
the treaties.
Action against Article Ten, far from
being an attack on the League, is an
effort to save it from destruction.
The League can survive only if it is
capable of readjusting this settlement
SO as to bring it into harmony with
the principles Of the war and the
of the peoples. A League
to guarantee the settle
ment Of 1919 is not progressive con-
of peace, but inaliteral fact a
Holy Alliance, and like its prototype
will perish amidst the execration Of
all that it liberal and generous in
For even though the
treaties of Versailles embodied the
sum of human wisdom and justice as
Of 1919, they will require amendment
as conditions change. 1t is therefore
necessary to make it perfectly clear at
the outset, that nothing in the Cow
enant prevents changes in the settle
ment which may be necessary in the1
interest of peace.
II is of no consequence that some
who attack Article Ten simply wish
% shirk responsibility. Their paru-
,anship is no excuse for counter -parti-
sanship. The central fact is that |,
Americans who want peace must re-