The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-07-10

safeguarded plebiscites would not be
provided, for where populations
were at future date TO make
choice OF what sovereignty they
would live under. no certain and
uniform method OF arbitration could
be secured for the settlement of
anticipated differences OF final de-
cision with regard to many matters
dealt with in the treaty itself; the
long continued supervision OF the
task of reparation which Germany
was to undertake to complete with
in the next generation. might en-
tirely break down; the reconsider
alton and revision of administrative
arrange ments and restrictions which
the treaty prescribed, but which II
was recognized might not prove OF
lasting advantage or entirely fair II
too long enforced. would be i'm
practicable. The promises govern
about the way in which labor was
to be dealt with. by law not only.
but in fact as well. would remain
a mere humane thesis II there was
to be no common tribunal OF opin-
ion and judgment to which liberal
fluences which alone might secure
their redemption. A league OF free
nations had become a practical
necessity. Examine the treaty OF
peace and you will find that every
where throughout its manifold pro-
visions its trainers have felt obliged
to turn to the league of nations as
an indispensable fundamentally for
the maintenance of the new order
1t has been their purpose to set up
in the world--the world of civilized
men.
After All, Not Ephemeral.
That there should be league Of
nations to steady the counsels and
maintain the peaceful understand
ings of the world, to make not
treaties alone, but the accepted
principles OF international law as
well, the actual rule of conduct
among the governments OF the
world. had been one of the agree
ments accepted from the first as
the basis of peace with the central
powers. The statesmen of all the
beIligerent countries were agreed
that such a league must be created
to sustain the settlements that
were TO be effected. But at first
l think there was a feeling among
some of them, that while 1t must
be attempted, the formation OF
such a league was perhaps a coun;,
sci of perfection which practical
men, long experienced in the world
of affairs, must agree to very eau
tiously and with many misgivings,
1t was only as the difficult work of
arranging an all but universal adj
justment of the worlds affairs adj
vanced from day to day from one
stage of conference to another that
it became evident to them that
what they were seeking would be
little more than something written
upon paper, to be interpreted and
applied by such methods as the
chances Of politics might make
available if they did not provide a
means of common counsel which
mon authority whose decisions
, would be recognized as decisions
which all must respect. And SO the
most practical. the most skeptical
among them turned more and more
to- the league as the authority
through which international action
was to be secured, the authority
without which. as they had come
to see 1t, would be difficult to give
assured effect either to this treaty
or to any other international I'M
derstandng upon which they were
to depend for the maintenance of
peace. The fact that the covenant
of the league was the first sub
stantive part of the treaty to be
worked out and agreed upon, while
all else was in solution. helped to
make the formulation of the rest
easier. The conference was, after
all, not to be ephemeral. The con-
cert of nations was to continue
under a definite covenant which
had been agreed upon and which
all were convinced was workable.
Forward With Confidence.
They could go forward with con-
fidence to make arrangements in
tended to be permanent. The most
practical of the conferees were at
last the most ready to refer to the
league OF nations the superintend-
ence of all interests which did not
admit of immediate determination,
of all administrative problems which
were to require a continuing over
sight. What had seemed a counsel
of perfection had come to seem
plain counsel of necessity. The
league of nations was the practical
statesman's hope of success in many
of the most difficult things he at
tempted. And it had validated it.
self in the thought of every member
of the conference as something
much bigger. much greater every
way, than a mere instrument for
carrying out the provisions of
particular treaty. 1t was universally
recognized that all the peoples Of
the world demanded of the confer
ence that it should create such a
as would make wars of aggression
and spoliation, such as this that has
just ended. forever impossible.
cry had gone out from every home
in every stricken land from which
sons and brothers and fathers had
gone forth to the great sacrifice
that such a sacrifice would never
again be exacted. 1t was manifest
why it had been exacted. 1t had
been exacted because one nation de-
sired dominion and other nations
had known no means of defense ex-
Cept ornaments and alliances. War
had lain at the heart OF every ar
rangement OF Europe-of every ar
rangement of the world-that pre-
ceded the war. FESTIVE peoples had
been told that fleets and armies,
which they toiled to sustain meant
peace: and they now knew that
they had been lied to; that fleets
and armies had been maintained to
promote national ambitions. and
policy meant anything else but
eforce, force-always force. And
they knew that it was intolerahle.
Every True Heart Demands.
Every true heart in the world,
and every enlightened judgment de-.
manded that at whatever cost of
Independent action, every govern
ment that took thought for its
people or for justice or for ordered
freedom should lend itself to a new
purpose and utterly destroy the old
order of international politics.
Statesmen might see difficulties,
but the people could see none and
could brook no denial. A war in
which they had been bled white to
beat the terror that lay concealed
in every balance of power must not
end in a mere victory of arms and
a new balance. The monster that
had resorted to arms must be put
in chains that could not be broken.
The united power of free nations
must put a stop to aggression, and
the world must be given peace. II
there was not the will or the in
telligence to accomplish that now.
there must be another and a final
var and the world must be swept
clean of every power that could 4
renew the terror. The league of
nations was not merely an instru-
ment to adjust and remedy old
wrongs under new treaty OF
peace; II was the only hope for
mankind. Again and again had the
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