The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1919-01-20
rHE FOUNDATION sToNE Of rEAcE.

Nine weeks have been consumed by the allied nations
in getting together to frame their peace terms after he
signing Of the armstice with Germany The delegates
are now confronted with set of problems that fairly
stagger the mind in their completely and magnitude -Four
empires have crashed down, directly involving the lives
and fortunes of s21 100000 individuals besides reacng
upon the populations of other countries.
The collapse of the German empire, the Russian en-
pre- the Hungarian empire and the Turkish en-
pre nothing less than the reconstruction Of Europe
and the Near East The former empires must have gov
ernments and their peoples must have security in making
IA living Adjacent countries must also have guaranty
of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness The peoples
thus affected vary in degree of civilization" from nomad
trbesmen to deposed emperors Their ideas of
men range from the comparatively efficient mnistra-
tons of spiked club recalctrant head to the tor
tuOus intricaces of Hun propaganda The peace con-
ference at Paris must take into consideration all these
degrees and kinds of humans in the hope Of allotng to
them their respective shares of liberty and territory and
starting them on their hazardous search for stability
1t has been President Wilson'S task to aid the heads
of the allied governments to find principles which
might underlie the whole structure of reorganization in
Europe and the Near East as the Declaration OF indie
pendence and the Constitution undere the United States
Mr. Wilson has stuck to his task with commendable dill
gence and elimnatory Skill finally placing before his col
leagues in the supreme council few fundamental prn-
cipes which may be applied to every problem that may
arise. He has dverged very little in most of his
preserved this nation His digressOns viii them
selves they are errors for truth will prevail in spite
of ALL If they newly discovered truths, human
power will be able to rob Woodrow Wilson of the
credit for their discovery
1t is becoming more evident every day that Of
the peoples of Europe so engrossed with racial feus
territorial disputes, economic entangements etc. that
they do not keep foremost in their minds the first
standing fact of this wartha it is war for liberty and
will not be until liberty is gained Humanity has
taken longer step forward since 1914 than it had taken
as whole in the preceding one thousand years The
backward peoples of Europe and the Near East
blamed for failing to comprehend instantly what the war
really to them They have never had freedom and
do not know what to do with it how to safeguard it.
Therefore the nations that fought the enemies of liberty
and purchased victory by exchanging the lives of then
for it. must act trustees for the peoples who are
now suddenly made free.
All sorts of absurd suggestions are made by all sorts
of individuals in earnest desire to solve the peace
problem Errors and falsehoods are flying thick as
summer gnats The lover of ordered liberty would be
disturbed if he felt that some of the absurities proposed
by men in high places really to be taken seriously
by the peace conferees But there is comfort in the
thought that the gosspers and volunteers are not armed
with power that the hotheaded persons who breathe
cause that the league Of nations which fought shoulder
to shoulder to victory the enemy is going concern
not descen dream and that the men in control Of
this league practical patriots wise their generation
and mbued with stern resolve to hammer out enduring
peace on the anvil'of truth.
The existing league of nations will raise up Russia and
keep down Germany 1t will see that free nations will
rise the ruins of old empires 1t will avoid interaed
quarres and seek justice for ALL The necessities of hui
mainly require that the world shall have both peace and
liberty and it has been found that these two blessings
cannot be obtained without establishing the rule that
governments shall exist only with the consent of the
governed That is the keel block and foundation stone
Of America 1t has outlved and outfought the powers
Of evil and it survives eternaly vigorous because ete-
nally true On that principle the league of nations can
build; and if it does build the edfce will stand and
the powers of hell will not prevail against it-Washing-
ton Post.
Each delegates arrival at the peace conference was