The Dayton forum. [volume] (Dayton, Ohio) 1913-1949, 1919-10-24

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America came out OF the war In
! maaniacentiy advantageous position.
She had turned the scales and achiev.
ed vietcry Yet she asked not one ! !
lsiota of the spoils Of war. Unfortun-
| ately this was not so With other ma
tions. Said Senator Harding:
What europe Asks.
Empires and sovereign states, auto
cratic, imperial, or democratic, nal
| fought and sacrificed and bargained
and covenanted--and we had fought
i with them and they craved peace and
we craved peace. But they wanted All
nexations and extensions and crea-
ions. and they wanted this republic,
i with its resources its Weallh oI men
Il and snaterial--to guarantee the
changes they had wrought, and want
i cd the United States OF America i'll
their unselnshness to guarantee in per-
petuity the selfishness or the Oiu
World.
They had nothing to offer us but the
phantasmal thing. taking the elusory
share of the image OF peace, a prom
ise deeply appealing to the aspirations
4 of ourselves and the world for tran
guilty and the banishment OF war.
AndssMe bargained for IT, and then
they fashioned it into reality, suited
TO serve Europe and the Orient as the
seal or righteousness on all to which
the allied powers had agreed.
Moral Obligations Sacred.
We have heard much lately about
moral obligations. When thing
lis cuyenanted 1t Is difficult for me to
distinguish between moral and legal
! obligation. For this republic. either
or both ought to be solemnly binding
The nation which ignores either is
! losing the conscience which is essen
d tial to self-respect and respect among
!. nationss 1t was Germany's contempt
2 for scrap of paper that made her
an outcast In the eyes of the civilized
It world
4 There has been curious conflict OF
meaning III the use OF the word
moral When senator's, speaking In
this chamber In defense Of the league
i covenant found opposition developing
to the powers conveyed In article 10
they hastened to say the councils cal
To war. armed or economic, in defense
I of any member was not binding
3 "only moral obligation. In the re
v corded conference between members
OF the foreign relations committee ans
the president 1t was declared by TIL,
president that we were not bound Ii
III no to war on recommendation OF TIL,
council, that there was only mora
obligation on which we should hap,
to pass Judgment for ourselves. Late
on, I'M the record OF the meeting, Til,
president emphatically declared
moral obligation the most binding D
III all. Let every man make the distine
V tion that he prefers. A contract is
contract, a covenant is covenant
and ii this republic does not mean t,
= do as 1t promises, it has no business
= to make the promise.
Requirements OF Article X.
There is no language In the cove
= nant more plain than Article 10
.e Either 1t means what 1t says, an,
obligates the nations to go to war Ii
defense Of member nation, or
n means nothing at all. Ii 1t leaves an
member nation free to exercise 1t
own Judgment as to the merits of an
Of attack, it does not guarantee the te,
"a ritorial integrity or peace of any ns
ton 1t Is worse than phantom 1t
Y the mirage that lures Ifations thirs
D. ing for peace to the very desert {
). cruel destruction. The pity OF Ii /
I. that no reservation will cure the II
= Without the power which is clearl
y expressed, the league Ia rope
ol sand" as the senator from Connect
o. cut described 1t, and with the nows
ne established, as it must be to max
ID. the league effective, we have surre
th dered our own freedom OF action to
{. council whose members viii repr
s sent the pTejudices, ambitions, hatred
- and jeaIousies OF the Old World or [
si the assembly, where we are outvote
&c 8 to ] by Great Britain and her co
no onies, and we still remain party [
as the racial, geographical and inherite
enmities Of Europe and the Orient.
= sympathy For Armenia.
Does any thinking man stop
msasure the colossal and endless i
Movement before which the sublir
eat unselfishness and most confldel
aitruism must falter? Contempia
for q moment only the mandatory II
Armenia. II Is very appealing to po
tray the woes. the outrages. the ma
sacres, the awakening hopes OF A
menia, and visualize the doubts al
distresses and sacrificed lives Will
THE senate waits know the q
4 peal that touches the heart OF Chri
tian America In It's concern and syn
pathy for Armenia 1t easily may !
made to seem as IL the syinpathet
Son OF God had turned To the Omnip
tent Father to send this twentlet
century defender 40 the New Test
ment to succor those stricken 2
iieyers in the great Trinity. But q
big, warning truth is little prociatme
Our armies sons OF this republic, q
youths from American homes al
wanted there. Armenia calls an
Great Britain lis urging. insisting
hundred thousand soldiers are neede
More American soldiers FOR Armen
than we heretofore maintained unds
the flag In any the years OF peac
Answer the call and we station tn
American army at the gateway D
tween Orient and Occident, to b
come involved In every confli
the Old Wcrld, and our sple