Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1919-08-07
Western Civilization vs.. Japan.

In the Shantung incident we have
spread before the world what justice
there is in secret treaties; what great
nations will do to be helped when
under fire, and what splendid oppor-
tunists the Japanese are. The Japs
parried around the late war and be-
came immensely rich supplying the
Allied armies. Now they would APP
propriate the great territory of Shan
tung with thirty-six million inhab-
tants. This war was to be one for
! humanity with no conquest, but here
we have presented to the gaze of the
world the crookedest piece of inter-
national piracy ever recorded, and
the world will not stand for it In
any event the United States Senate
will not sanction the shameless pro-
ceeding.
While President Wilson acquisced
in the Japanese coup, it was Eng
lands arrangement, and the most
stupid diplomatic deal ever attempts
Breeder of Losses and Enmity.
United States Senator Davis Ell
kins, of West Virginia, speaks in UNI
mistakable terms regarding the pro-
posed League Of Nations. And he
speaks with the authority of real
soldier and statesman. He is
Spanish-American war veteran and
fought in France in the late war
| There is therefore none Of the paid
for Chautauqua platform opera buff
fet and partisan deliverance in what
he says and the conclusions he rea-
ches 1--WE are told" says Senator
Elkins, that the people want the
scheme approved and adopted by the
Senate without let or hindrance, and
we are told that the soldiers who gave
their lives gave them for this pre-
cious document of I'M Americanism
and of internationalism, and the sol
diers who survived the hell Of battles
are as eager for it. | most empha-
tically deny that this is true, and
as unhesitatingly assert that this is
just the reverse. ! was a soldier in
this great war, and soldier in the
war with Spain. / think that know
the soldier, and feel that / am as
competent to speak for him as those.
who were at no time his comrades i'm
arms. We talked this thing over in
France, in billet and camp. There
was no diluted Americanism in that
talk. 1t was straightforward
shoulder Americanism; nationalism
without alloy. They wanted no en-
tangled alliances with any European
government whatsoever. They want.
ed to finish the job and get home,
and keep out of any European mess,
but ready and prepared to go in if
as Germany did, any nation challen-
ged our rights and our liberties.
That was the soldier sentiment in
Europe when ! embarked for home,
and that is the soldier sentiment I
have found exists here since my re-
turn. AS to the civilian public at
plarge, can speak for only that
part of it which resides within the
state of West Virginia. can do
this without any hesitation whatso-
ever. The great majority of the peol
pie of the state Ehave the honor to
resresent in the Waited States Sem
at are unquestionably and unalter-
ably opposed to the covenant Of the
league of nations as finally brought
home by the President and presented
the Senate
"As it is now, or as it may be, this
is not the kind Of a league of nations
that the American people had hoped
for and expected. The more clearly
the issue is understood by them, the
more apparent this will become. The
price that they are asked to pay is
too great for the uncertain peace and
protection that the trainers of the
covenant, more than the covenant it.
self, promise. We should try again.
Try to get league of some other
kind that will more certainly guar
antee world peace; assuredly one
that will not compel us to surrender
:. any of our sovereignty, our national
ism, our sacred liberties and insti-
buttons. The present scheme, in my
judgment, lets us in for endless years
of trouble, warfare in all parts of
the world, material losses beyond
computation and, in the end, assures
us the enmity and jealousy Of the
world !,