New Britain herald., 1919-03-11
he committee of fourteen, presented

the Committee of fourteen, presented lhe proposed constitution of the IeaSue to the PIenary Council in ITS TOT its consideration. almost his hISt "ords were. "I can conceive that many of the decis,o,,h we make shall heed subsequent alteration in some degree When he tended +ho other udy III Boston, one Of the onen ing. sentences of his addrass 1,.os. e, have come home to rencr4 rror-,,os,s :, When he met the con, .n,t+ooa a,, Foreign Affairs of Congress o+ t,a White House dinner he was o,,otod i,,, one guest as saying that be ..bo,>na the draft of the covenant wouId ,o came effective without radicol changes" and by another that he did not expect that the league nro- ject would go through without change" although he feared amend lnent of it's vital features would he difficult.
 When President Wilson had con- cluded his Paris speech, Lord Robert Cecil of Great Britain said it was "a good omen that this document had been laid before the world before being finally enacted, so that people everywhere could advise upon and criticise it." Prime Minister Lloyd George, after a moving appeal for a remedy as against war, said: "l do not know that this will succeed. buC if we attempt it the attempt will be a success"
 Premier Orlando of Italy spoke of the birth of the right of peoples as having appropriately taken place in France, which was "a happy omen for beginning these debates" NJ. Leon Bourgeois of the French delegation, suggesting two amendments, sad: We do not present this plan as some thing final, but only as the result of an honest effort, to be discussed mo- only by this conference but the pub lie opinion of the world" Baron Makino of Japan, indorsing the plan, served notice that at the proper time he intended to present certain amenG- mentS which he hoped would receive favorable consideration. NJ. Lou Tseng Tsiang of China expressed his country's desire to participate in fu- ture discussions and M. Hymans of Belgium proposed an amendment.
 Here we have admissions from rep resentatiNes of all the great and two of the lesser powers that the coven- ant is to be discussed and probably amended. Nobody claimed that it was either perfect or final. It was held that in it's main features it would, if adoped, save the world from such another catastrophe as it has recently experienced. Yet several American senators assaiIed the whole proposition with oratorical bIudgeons, and some newspapers, like the New York Sun, which is now dutifully lining up with Mir Taft and Senator Knox in favor of possible amendment, applauded every one of the false and defama1or utteranCes of blatant senators who, unlike these gentlemen, had nothing to offer but vituperation
 We have had few more shameful exhibitions Of minimizing parti2an- ship and spleen in the United States than the venonnOus uproar which greeted this first pra ctica ble essay to- ward enduring peace. Detraction and calumny persist in many places. but they are hiding now behind the pre- text that their only aim is amend ment. While some opponents of the league would amend away the whole covenant, no doubt. most of it's critics are now protesting to subscribe to its main principles and are noisilv demanding a right which never has been denied them.
 Have they had visions of the ten millions of neW-made graves in Europe, of the devastated states and of the regions where famine turks or have they heard from the pconIo who are grooming under the burdens of debt and taxes?