The sun., 1919-02-06
LEAGUE CONGRESS
URGES ARMAMENT
Taft, at Opening Session Here,
Sounds Plea for Nations
Support.
TO MEET IN NINE CITIES
All Speakers Emphasize Neces-
sity Of Fighters Enforc-
ing DEGREES.
TO MEET IN NINE CITIES

sity Of Fighters Enforc-
ing DEGREES.
Adequate armament by land and sea
as a guarantee Of the life Of the League
Of Nations. expected to be one Of tho
important results OF the Peace Confer
ence. was favored by all tho speakers
yesterday at the opening Of the session
of the National Congress for a League
Of Nations. organized by President Taft
as head Of the League to Enforce Peace.
Tho national congress will hold Its
| sessions until March and will meet in
nino different cities. Its intent is to Gre
| ate widespread public interest in the
plan of a League OF Nations, and TO this
end. In order to reach and include every
| section of tho country. Mr.. Taft and
group OF speakers who will accompany
him will be heard at each OF the nine
city conventions. They will travel in a
special car and will address audiences
| at Boston, Chicago. Minneapolis. Port
| land, Ore; San Francisco, Salt Lake
| City. St. Louis and Atlanta
Tho New York convention opened yes
terdAy at the Hotel Aston and will con-
tinue all day tomorrow.
Mr.. Taft was the principal orator. the
other speakers being DR.. Henry van
/ Dyke. DR.. George Grafton Wilson of
| Harvard University. Clifford Pinchot,
! William Church Osborn. James W. Ger
ard. Or. Stephen S. Wise. Frederick r.
| Coudert, cambridge Colby and DR..
Nicholas Murray Butler. president OF
Columbia University.
Tell of Need for Armies.
Each OF the speakers dwelt upon
the necessity for armies and navies Of
| the necessary size to keep such a peace
as shall be entrusted for safe keeping
to League OF Nations after peace has
been fully established. They declared
| that proper ornaments were quite other
| wise than provocative of further wars.
! contrary to the American Constitution.
| or out Of harmony with the Monroe
| Doctrine. 1t was explained carefully.
| however. that the armies and navies OF
the great world Powers must be only
OF a size necessary to keep the world
peace. but sufficiently large when banded
| together to destroy forever tho likeli-
hood Of any nation dreaming dreams OF
world domination.
You can distribute the policing OF
this hemisphere" said Mr., Taft, be
| tween the United states and the a, Il
G Powers OF South America. and YOU
| can distribute IL among some of the
| European Powers in so far as Europe Is
| involved. In other words, we are in
favor OF some plan to achieve the pur-
| poses OF the war and make peace per-
! manent or We are not.
I'VE might as well be frank. The
! Powers that won this war are meeting
over there and fixing up a League OF
| Nations IN advance for the reason that
| even noH they are finding difficulty with
| the smaller nations. some OF whose rep
! resentAtives have arrived with very
! unrea sonable view Of their Importance.
Formed by Necesstty.
"'rhc little nations are to have the
| protection % the great nations VINO are
| now debating the peace and forming eHe
league 20 accomplish the purposes OF
the war. The League of Nations Is to
be formed. II at all. by the pressure or
circumstances of the war. That is the
way all great institutions are formed.
| zone OF the things that makes me
| imnatient il TO hear that everybody rec
| ognizes that an agreement to make war
| Ia unconstitutional under the constitu-
ton OF tho United States. Now that Is
one OF those ad captendem expressions
BY a correspondent who knows little
about everything that has no founda-
ton, and yet It gives the wrong I'M
preston.
isn't IL possible for the United States
10 agree to make war. and 10 agree by
| tho treaty mating power Wen, II II
IL not she has done Il. She did 1t IN
the case of Panama. where she guar
antees the political and territorial In
| tegrity of Panama. What does that
| mean hut that we will fight II anybody
violates that political or territorial in
| tegrity? And We have done the same
for Cuba.
why is Il unconstitutional? II we
| we're to go into an agreement TO send
| 100000 men and put them under Mar
! shs, Foch as part 81 a great interna-
t,onal army. and say TO Marshal Foch.
| You may use our forces In obedience
| TO the orders OF the executive council
OF the league to make war against any
member OF the league which liz recaicl-
| trant,' that would be unconstitutional.
But We are recommending something
else, namely, that we should enter into
an obligation that when force Is needed
! 10 s,,ppress war we will furnish II.
Finally, we have the argument that
we are violating the tradition against
! entering entangling alliances when were
begun by Washington in his Farewell
| Address, characterized by Jefferson in
his messages, and which we have sa-
| credIy followed down TO this war. If
there was ever an ocular demonstration
that we had reached the end of the APP
plication OF that tradition these four
wears of war have given us that demon
stration. You say we were carried into
the war by the blindness Of Germany.
! Doubtless we were. but We were carried
into the war by the force or ci"cum-
stances that Germany yielded to.
L. 9. Greatest Power.
"There Is one thing more. and that
L. the responsibility OF the United States
| In tho world. We are the greatest
| Power in the world That is not a
statement based OH the lack of modesty
that 10 not the expression of mere
disposition. frequent In Americans. to
| blow That In the fact
we have here a vast population with
the highest average OF intelligence in
the world. We have the greatest natu'
raj resources IN the world. We have
shown on the fields OF France and
Flanders that We have material for ar
army than which there is no better, AMI
never was any better In the world. and
that very fact makes our agreement IA
contribute our share to any means OF
enforcing justice Of the highest impor.
lance.
"Let us go on and speak for the faith
that is in US. let US hear and see the
truth as We understand It. let us appea