The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-08-19


will affect normal production, but great
manufacturing establishments also,
which should be restored to their for
mer uses, great stores of machine tools,
and all sorts of merchandise which must
lie idle until peace and military policy
are definitely determined. By the same
token there can be no properly studied
national budget until then.
Other Nations Will Get Start Of U. S.
"The nations that ratify the treaty
such as Great Britain, Belgium and
France, will be in position to lay
their plans for controlling the markets
of central Europe without competition
from us, if we do not presently act. We
have no consular agents, no trade repre-
sentatiyes there to look after our inter
ests.
There are large areas Of Europe
whose future will lie uncertain and
questionable until their people know
the final settlements of peace and the
forces which are to administer and sus-
tain it.
without determinate markets our
production cannot proceed with intelli
gence or confidence. There can be no
stabilization of wages because there can
be no settled conditions of employment.
There can be no easy or normal indus
trial credits, because there can be no con-
fident or permanent revival of business.
''But I will not weary you with OBJ
vious examples. ! will only venture to
repeat that every element of normal life
amongst us depends upon and awaits the
ratification of the treaty of peace; and
also that we cannot afford to lose a sin
Bile summers day by not doing all that
we can TO mitigate the winters suffer
ings, which unless we find means to pre-
vent it, may prove disastrous to large
portionsof the world and may at its
worst, bring upon Europe conditions even
more terrible than those wrought by
the war itself.
Nothing, / am led to believe, stands
in the way of the ratification of the
treaty except certain doubts with regard
to the meaning and implication OF GER
tain articles of the covenant Of the
league of nations; and ! must frankly
say that ! am unable to understand why
such doubts should be entertained, You
will recall that when | had the pleas
ure Of conference with your commit
tee and with the committee of the House
OF Representatives on foreign affairs at
the White House last March, the ques-
tions now frequently asked about the
league of nations were all canvassed
with view to their immediate clarif-
cation. The covenant of the league was
then in its first draft and subject to re-
vision 1t was pointed out that no ex-
press recognition was given to the Mon
roe doctrine, that it was not expressly
provided that the league should have no
authority to act or to express judg-
ment on matters of domestic policy, that
the right to withdraw from the league
was not expressly recognized and that
the constitutional rights of the Con-
gress to'determine all questions of peace
and war, was not sufficiently safeguard
ed. On my return to Paris all these
matters were taken up again by the
commission on the league of nations and
every suggestion of the United States
was accepted
"The view of the United States with
regard to the questions ] have men
toned, had, in fact, already been accept
ed by the commission and there was
supposed to be nothing inconsistent with
them in the draft Of the covenant of the
draft adopted-the draft which was the
subject of our discussion in March-but
no objection was made to saying ex-
plieitly in the text that all had sup
posed to be implicit in it, There was
absolutely no doubt as to the meaning
of any one of the resulting provisions Of
the covenant in Bhe minds of those who
participated in drafting them, and I
respectfully submit that there is moth
ing vague or doubtful in their wording.
"The Monroe doctrine is expressly
mentioned as an understanding which is
in no way to be impaired or interfered
with by anything contained in the cove
nant and the expression regional under
standings like the Monroe doctrine was
used, not because any one of the confer
ees thought there was any comparable
agreement anywhere else in existence, or
in contemplation, but only because it
was thought best to avoid the appear
anee Of dealing in such document with
the policy of single nation, Abso.
lutely nothing is concealed in the phrase.
Domestic Questions,
with regard to domestic questions,
article 10 of the covenant expressly pro-
| vides that. if in case of any dispute aris-
| ing between members of the league the
matter involved is claimed by one OF