The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-07-18

I'll y W
inc n enforce Justice and give pledges
OF an enduring settlement regions
like the Saar basin could not De put
under a temporary administrative re-
CINE which did not involve a transfer
Of political sovereignty ana "hici.
concentrated q final determination OF
It's political connections by poPuiai
vote TO be taken at a distant uate'
no free city like Danzig could De Gre
ated which was under elaborate inter
national guarantees TO accept eAcep-
tional obligations with regard 10 the
use of it's port and exceptional reia.
tions with a state Of which 1t was not
20 form q part; properly ~feguaru
plebiscites could not be provided 1or'
where populations were at some III
ture date TO make choice what sover-
eighty they would live under; no Ger
tain and uniform method or arDllra'
ton could be secured for the settle
ment of anticipated difficulties OF hnai
decision, with regard to many matters
dealt with in the treaty itself; the
~long-continued supervision OF the task
Of reparation which Germany was TO
undertake to complete within the next
generation might entirely break down;
the reconsideration and revision or all
mlnistrative arrangements and restrlc-
tons which the treaty prescribed, Dut
which it was recognized might not
prove Of lasting advantage or entirely
fair If too long enforced, would be I'M
practicable.
A league of free nations had become
a practical necessity. Examine the
treaty of peace, and you will find that
everywhere throughout its manifold
provisions its trainers have felt obliged
to turn to the League of Nations as an
indispensable instrumentality for the
maintenance of the new order 1T has
been their purpose to set up in the
world, the world Of civilized men.
That there should be a League Of
Nations to steady the counsels and
maintain the peaceful understanding
Of the world, to make, not treaties
alone, but the accepted principles OF
international law as well, the actual
rule of conduct among the govern
ments Of the world, has been n of
the agreements accepted from the first
as the basis of peace with the central
powers.
Mar Statesmen Agreed.
The statesmen of all the ~belligerent
countries were agreed that such q
league must be created to sustain the
settlements that were to be effected.
But at first l think there was a feel
ing among some of them that, while
it must be attempted, the formation OF
such a league was perhaps a counsel
of perfection which practical men,
long experience in the world Of affairs,
must agree to very cautiously and
with many miSgivings.
1t was only as the difficult work Of
arranging an all but universal adjust
ment of the worlds affairs-asisan""
NUN uay TO day, from one stage o.
conference to another, that it became
evident to them that what they wer,
'NNhiIS "Oulu VIC jIltlc IlOIe tuul
something written upon paper, TO BIZ
interpreted and applied by such meth
DDS as the chances Of politics might
make available, If they did not provide
q means Of common counsel which al
were obliged TO accept, q common au
thority whose decisions would be rec
ognized as decisions which all mus
respect.
Skeptical Turn to League.
And so the most practical, the mos
skeptical among them turned NOR
and more to the league as the author
ity through which international actio
was to be secured, the authority with
out which, as they had come to see il
1t would be difficult to give assure
effect Othis treaty or to any others IL
ternatiOnal understanding upon whic
they were to depend for the maintt
!, nance of peace.
? The most practical of the cor
ferees were at last the most read
to refer to the league Of nation
lHc OIL all interest
which did not admit of immediat
determination Of all administrative
problems which were to require
7 continuing oversight. What Ia
) seemed q counsel Of perfection IN
{ come to seem q plain counsel Of nece
: sity. The league of nations was til
| practical stateSman's hope of success
| in many of the most difficult thins
| he was attempting.
And it had validated itself in til
| thought of every member of the CO..
: ference as something. much bigge
} much greater every way than a mel
J instrument for carrying out the pr
visions of a particular treaty. 1t Wa
universally recognized that all III
peoples of the world demanded Of I'll
conference that it should create sue
a continuing concert Of free nation
: as would make wars Of aggressic
and spoliatiOn, such as this that III
) just ended, forever impossible. A CT
J had gone out from every home
every stricken land from which sol
and brothers and fathers had gor
l forth to the great sacrifice that SUE