Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-09-15
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the Editor of the Telenraph

| To the Editor of the Telegraph:
During the interval of time since
the late issue of the Telegraph, con-
| tanning our last contribution under
the above caption the undersigned
has naturally been on the qui vive
/ to note If any exceptions had been
taken to our expressed views on the
| situation.
That is, should any one have
given such consideration to our state
ments as If desirous simply to JUS
| tify himself in declaring them to
| be of no further worth than he
would give to any mere diatribe, we
of course would like to know if
| there were any having such an ap-
prehension.
| We note, however, the case of one
contributor to your local press who
| has ventilated by an adverse criti-
cism. but in such general terms that
! he did not seem to designate any
| particular incident of alleged oppo-
sition to the acceptance of the peace
| terms of the League except by indul-
ging in such general accusation that
, all such cannot be characterized in
| any other terms than those of
vicious character"
He also proceeds further to sug-
gestions "of brass knuckles, slug
shot, etc." of sufficient figuratlVe
| significance to characterize the rec
ords of current literature as vic
| ious" and SO adverse to the critics
! preconceiVed notions of what con-
stitutes an accepted critique, but
without offering a cintilla of proof
| therefor; and hence he need not
q fn VI
| than a like dismissal of further con-
sideration in such role, If he imag-
ines that such invective will pass
muster.
The next accusation made against
the opposers of the peace treaty is
| that he attributes their opposition
/ thereto to motives "of illwill and
national jealousy" upon the part OF
those who he alleges are wont to
take advantage OF the masses VINO
are ignorant from want of knoWl-
edge of the content of the Treaty,
an assumption that we may venture
to say proves too much. That is,
| if such specific ignorance is real, who
is to blame for such a condition so
widespread, when, in fact, those
most interested in the rromulgation
of the truth have for months been
deprived of the reception of more
| than mere scraps of information, in
regard to the progress of the dellD-
erations to the end of the evolution
of a piece of moral and intellectual
worth that for all time would con-
serve the end sought. and confer an
Immortality of erudition and states
Imanship that would parallel the ex-
lcellencies of our national Constitu-
! ton that the greatest statesmen or
I.,1. re n6n 4
has given birth to. in the person OF
James Bryce, who in his eulog'y
upon the same, said of it many
precious truths, which we would like
| to quote but must forbear, but in
| few words say: THAT the whole his
tory of our country since 1888 has
been a commentary upon the services
rendered by the Constitution. The
greatest of all the services it could
render, and did render, was the spirit
it implanted in the hearts of the
people" In using the term i'm
planted" he did not wish to say that
''it gave birth to that spirit, for the
\ spirit was already there, and the
function of the Constitution was TO
confirm and develop it," And. fur
ther, Mr.. Bryce says: "As regards
that very part of your Constitution
which concerns the relations of the
states with the National Government,
! you may rest happy in the thought
that it has received the almost un-
qualified admiration of the whole
world" And yet it is this very re
llation" that our critic disparages-
a faux pas, that he will find 1t diff
cult to repair.
And then. again, it is revealed fur
ther that one attempts to instruct
the alleged ignorant" of the people,
even though many of these have al
ready learned something of the con-
tents of the Treaty which prove that
the nation is recorded as the great
est beneficiary of the awards of the
Peace Covenant upon the condition
that the same is sufficiently amended
to meet the demands of the case.
Notwithstanding the accusation that
| the advocates of amendments are in
fiuenced only by ''ill-will and jeal-
ousy toward the nation" There
fore, the only evidence that we have
that the critic was preparing to be-
smirch the undersigned appears to
be the fact of the unjust allotment
of votes of the electoral assignments.
namely those to the number of six
Co votes to the British Empire, and
but one Cd vote to all other mem
bers of the assembly, inclusive of the
United States. And the reason that
we affirmed this allotment to be un-
Just was the self-evident prima facie
truth, that in order that Great Brit
ain might have the said six votes
she must have accredited to her.
self one vote; and also one vote to
each of her provinces named in the
appendix of the Treaty in the order
of Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Fwto IND Dat H..
trast with this allotment we find the
United States consisting of forty
eight states. constituting class of
the most perfect autonomies of self