The Washington herald., 1919-07-20

son had put up . moro ~ isss vigspeus
but losing night for them. rhus.
friends Of Ee-ope keep writing ms.
America has '.lost her war" since her
associates got what they went out
to win. while America sought only to
build the foupdation Of a peaceful
world and was j6bhcd OF with a sham.
league Of nations and had all her
lofty principles ramuaed down her
throat by the practical ClemenceAu.
Lloyd George and Orlando. Accept
ing President Wilson'S phrases. II Is
widely stated. the allies turned and
twisted them uutil they made them
mean the opposite of, what the Pres, :
dent intended.
NY Indiana friend listened to all
this carefully, admitted this view OF
the case had not occurred TO ,peo-
ple in Indiana, then laughed and said
he didn't care what was sid. He
was interested only In results. This
interest In results" this intolerance
Of controversy about points and
phrases is typical of the Middle West.
People out there will not get excited
about whether the fourteen points
were or were not adhered to. They
point out that these points were
merely roughly sketched at a period
in the war when the Germans were
getting the best Of 1t. and that only
two things matter: First, the Ger
mans must make what reparation they
can for what they have done: and
second, the world must see that this
sort of thing doesn't happen again.
East wPssgIes over Every Point.
II, was said above that Pittsburgh
and Chicago furnish two exceptions
to what seems to be the spirit of
the Middle West. In those cities
as in Washington, New York and
Boston-there is a disposition to ge;
down to grips with the covenant.
point by point, wrestle with 1t and
see IL it doesn't contain snakes and
cannot be improved. In Pittsburgh
I spent an evening in company with
several prominent citizens, and not
one of them took the uncritical, en-
thusiastic, hopeful view that I since
have come to feel characteristic Of
this section of the country.
These Pittsburghers were all very
critical OF Wilson, all felt that care
full mining operations must be un-
dertaken to see whether In the league
the country has not been sold a. gold
brick. Pittsburgh sentiment seemed
to be that the Senate should so
amend or amplify the treaty as to
provide that the United States can
withdraw from the league when It
pIeases: that the American execu-
tive and legislative powers and not
an international tribunal be the
a. he ha0
America to intervene in Europe be-
cause the league has been defied. and
lastly that the Monroe Doctrine shall
be more specifically withdrawn from
the sphere Of control Of the league.
Pittsburgh. to be sure. is in The bsn-
ner Republican State. but in Chi
cago. where politics are more
mixed. ! found the same skepticsl
and critical attitude. I dined with
three men. two Democrats and one
Republican: wheat broker. a
packer. and a university professor.
All three agreed, for different rea-
sons, that the Senate should reject
or materially modify the covenant
The professor said wars always
were and always will be. and that
we ought to get in as few of them
as possible. and not pledge our
selves in advance to fght IL any
small nation in Europe thfows its
hat in the ring. The broker and
the packer saw in the covenant a
plot on the part of England and
France to get the United States to
underwrite. by force OF arms. a
peace so unjust that without our
assistance it must be overthrown
by the sword within a few years.