Metropolis weekly gazette. (Metropolis, Ill.) 1???-19??, 1919-05-23
The Worlds Next Step
NO. 3
National Vanity AMI the League Of
Nations
nr eLAnENeE |. sprFp

lea, nation that consistently has
shown II has no desire 10 Cypress thu
weak or rob its neighbours there should
be any opposition n oil TO a league Of
nations designed TO prevent others
from doing The things which the over.
whelming majority of as recognize a
wrong.
The honest, law-ahidng citizen does
not object 70 state Or national laws
ngainst murder or theft because he
thinks that at some time be might be
sufficiently enraged or be reduced to
such poverty rs 20 desire to commit
these crimes. Instead be lends his in.
fluenee toward having laws passed
which viii provide restraint for the
murderer and give care 10 the poverty
stricken.
Yet we find people even In the
United States asking such questions
as. Are We going 10 permit anybody
10 tell Us when we can or cannot 80
10 var 10 protect our riNitsfa or Are
we going to send our troops across
the ocean to die in Europe or Asia at
the behest of some power superior
TO our governments"
This Is national vanity. pure and
simple We are going to do just those
things whether we want to or not. We
have Just got through sending our
troops 10 Europe to die In n war that
we dld not want. II was forced on Us
against our VIII by Germany Our men
died and our treasure was expended to
an extent wholly unnecessary just be-
cause we minded our own business
or sat around acting, as we fondy
Imagined, on our own initiative. As
result We went TO war when our
enemy vas ready and We were not,
and We sacrificed thousands Of lives
and billions OF dollars which might
have been saved bad there been any
thing ike league of nations in ex-
istence IN 1914.
Let's go back to the outbreak Of the
European var and study thai a iittle.
Germany WIS In direct alliance with
Austria aud Italy. England. France
and Russia had an understanding"
Germany wanted war. She thought
the time hal come when she could risk
battle wlsh Frauce and Hussia at the
same time She knew Austria was
with her and thought Italy WINS safely
on her side. Her diplomats told her
that England would not fight. She
did NOT dream that the struggle would
even last long enough to drag the
United States into II. Japan. Canada.
Chin. Australia. Greece. Brazil she
discounted. Serbia and Belgium she
ignored II seemed quite eertain To
the Germans That they could accom-
pllsh their purpose.
Now suppose there had been In ex-
lsfenee az That time league Of ma
lions. Assume, for the sake of argu-
meut. that Germany had corrupted
Austria to the point where she knew
thar Austria would be with her But
suppose Germany had known that
England the United States. italy, ia
pun. Brazil and China aud all the
other nations would have taken sides
against her not one by one hut all at
once and with al their power. do you
link for a moment that Germany
would have dared ia start the world
war;
And suppose again lint Germany
had been irsano enough o start 9 war,
oven knowing 'hat I'll the world might
come D. cont you think llmt the
United stntes Z i had been q mem
bef 81 lhe leasue ol notions aud with
llie approval 81 thaf body had solun-
iafilg Joined IN the war the day the
German troops crossed the Belgian
frontier. would have sa9ed thousands
Of american lives and billions of
American dollars by lis prompt CO
operations
What hope would Germany have
had II all tie nations which finally
were dragged Ia against her one al q
time had combined on the first day
10 corrce her into behaving like a ciyl-
llzed siafef The war wonld probably
have been over IN four months instead
OF four years.
Ard though we got from this league
OF our own creation summons to at
tack Germany the first day she mis-
behaved. aud complied with IT, we
would have been acting with Just as
much freedom Of action as We finally
did. We had 70 90 to war whether we
wanted 10 or not. We could not pro-
fect our Legitimate interests nor could
we keep our sclf-respect and stay out
And when that international commu-
nifty Is one that we ourselves have
helped to create and that is doing our
will, why should We want to refuse
its summons?
You viii hardly find a patriotic
American citizen today who regrets
that we entered the war, in spite of
all II cost. You VIII find thousands
upon thousands who regret that we
did not enter sooner. And yet at the
same time you will find thousands Of
patriotic Americans-many who think
they are the most patriotic of all
who cannot abide the Idea that there
should be any organization higher than
our own government, which could tell
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