The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1919-03-06

VIZ ioiS Iuil Will QdTc oppose IL.
1.-The first thing that | am &C
ing to tell the people on the othe
side OF the water sthat an over
whelming majority of the Ameri
can people is in favor of tn
league of nations. | know tha
is true. ! have had unmistakabl
| intimations. of it from all part
OF the country, and the vote
rings true in every case. / coun
myself fortunate to speak her,
under the unusual circumstance
of the evening. | am happy t
associate myself with Mr.. Taft
in this great cause. He has dis
played an elevation of view, anC
a devotion to public duty which
is beyond praise.
!" And | am the more happy be
cause this means that this is not
a party issue. No party has the
right to appropriate this issue
and no party will in the long run
dare to oppose 1T.
we have witnessed to SO
clear and admirable an exposi-
ton of the main features Of the
proposed convenant of the league
of nations that it is perhaps not
necessary for me to discuss in
any particular way the contents
of the document. | will seek,
rather, to give you its setting. |
do not know when | have been
more impressive than by the con-
ferences Of the commission set up
by the conference of peace to
draw up a covenant for the
league of nations. The represen-
tatives Of IA nations sat around
that board-not young men, but
men inexperienced in the affairs
of their own countries, not men
inexperienced in the politics of
the world; and the inspiring in
fluences of every meeting was
the concurrence Of purpose on.
the part of all of those men to
come to an agreement and an ef-
fective working agreement with
regard to this league Of the civil
lized world.
There was conviction in the
whole impulse; there was con-
viction Of more than one sort
there was the conviction that this
thing ought to be done, and there
was also the conviction that not
4 man there would venture to go
nome and say that he had not
-rie.l to do it,
"Mr. Taft has set the picture
FOR you of what failure of this
great purpose would mean. Wei
nave been hearing for all these
weary months that this agony ofl
war has lasted because of the
sinister purposes Of the central
and we have made maps
If the course that they meant |
heir conquests to take. Where |
lid the lines Of that map lie, of
hat central line that we used to
,all from Bremen to Bagdad?
"They lay through these very |
.egions to which Mr.. Taft has
,alled your attention, but they |
ay then through united empires
he Austro-Hungarian empire
whose integrity Germany was
pound to respect as her ally lay
n the path Of that line of con-
luest; the Turkish empire, whose
interests she had professed to
make her own, lay in the direct |
path that she intended to tread.
"And now what has happen
id? The Austro-Hungarian EN-
,ire has gone to pieces and the
Turkish empire has disappeared,
md the nations that effected
hat great result-for it was a re-
;ult of liberation-are now re-
;ponsible as the trustees OF the
lssets of those great nations.
"The nations that have long
,een under the heel of the Aus
rian, that have long covered be-
ore the German, that have long
uffered the indescribable agon-
es of being governed by the
Turk, have called out to the
world, generation after genera
ion, for justice, for liberation,
or succor; and no cabinet in the
world has heard them.
"Private organizations, pity
NO hearts, philanthrophic men
nd women have poured out their
reasure in order to relieve these
but no nation has
aid to the nations responsible,
You must. stop; this thing is in
olerable and we will not permit
t.. And the vision has been with
he people.
"My friends, I wish you would
effect upon this proposition
'he vision as to what is neces-
ary for great reforms has sell
Iom come from the top in the
.ations of the world. 1t has
o,oo f,,o,o, tho need and the as