The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1919-04-11
WHAT is A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
(By Casper M. Edwards.)

saying it is what its name implies,
but there is better definition.
A League of Nations, as proposed in
| this the year of our Lord, 1919, at a
time when the world has been stepped
| in sorrow and bathed in blood, is, in
effect, Universal Treaty; or it might
be compared to an extension, an am
plifieation or a modification of our
own Constitution. A League of Ma
tions-that is, the League of Nations
lis not in any sense Federation OF
| Nations, and in order that the dis
tinction may at once be disposed of
we will proceed to say that FEEDER
alton of Nations--like Federation of
| States; like our own Federation OF
States, is union for many purposes,
and bringing into play comfy of
relations which Intervene so closely
that some supreme authority is indi-
spensable. So, in our own case, in
the Federation of States, we must
have the Federal Government to do
for the whole what the individual
States are unable to do or incapable
of doing for themselves, and to extend
advantages and business; to weld, as it
were, the several separate units into
one homogeneous mass. A Federation
of States must, of necessity, be indis-
soluble and, if successful, the destinies
and interests TO all must be firmly
linked.
On the other hand, League of Ma
tons Cat least the one under consid-
eration) does not contemplate an al
lance for all purposes, or, in fact, an
alliance for any purpose, or If we ex-
cept the mutual agreement (Which is
not an alliance) not to provoke or in
dulge in warfare only under agreed
circumstances or after due warning;
true this may involve some minor I'M
derstandings, but it does not make
any one nation responsible primarily
for the financial direlections of ag-
gressive tactics Of another. It is, as
we have stated, universal treaty, in
which all nations sign and agree to
do the same thing, and openly, instead
of two or three nations entering into,
as they frequently have, offensive and
defensive alliances calculated at any
moment to disturb the peace of the
world. Often these alliances are veil
ed in secrecy and mostly the terms
and conditions of the private treaties
have been secret. In private treaties
the methods and ethics of the gun
gangs of the larger cities are elabor-
ated, while the League of Nations
may be compared to the discipline of
the police force In the League of
Nations there will be no supreme au-
thority and no delegated authority.
Each nation speaks for itself and all
must speak at the same time.
Will they do it; will not some ma
ton refuse restraint? Maybe, but
hardly. If five, or ten, or fifteen men
enter into an agreement, do not the
majority Of them usually keep it?
And is it not better for them to agree
to do good thing than not to agree
at all? And if there is a turbulent,
unreasonable or contentious man in
the compact does not the scorn and
good intent of the others usually hold
them in check? What's to keep any
member of any lodge from divulging
all he knows about the inner work
ings of the order? Will he be hung
or beheaded if he does? No; yet he
may get drunk or 90 crazy, but he
never tells. Had you thought of it in
that way?
No force will be required to carry
into effect or sustain the provisions of
the League. A demonstration of
force would be antagonistic to its
plan and purposes. Much, of course,
depends upon the morale of the ma
tions themselves, and morale is as
much an attribute of nations as it is
of individuals. 1t even applies to COM
munities. For instance, a town of
fifteen thousand people has only five
policemen and is orderly. Are the
people afraid of the policemen or are
the policemen mightier than the peo-
pie? No? Well, then, why do the
people behave? The answer is emo
rale". And morale is but sentiment
buildcd upon principle and enlighten-
behaved as an old one, but the rule
works. And the League will improve
with age.
Now that all the facts are discern
ible no sane person denies that Ger
many started the greatest war in his
tory and no sensible person can con-
ceive that even the Kaiser thought
his armies could conquer all the ma
tions of the earth, collectively. I'm
doubtedly, the Kaiser relied upon his
secret treaties with his allies and up
on what he believed to be indifference
of some nations and the unprepared-
ness of others. Notwithstanding the
intricate system of spy-work and es-
pionage, the Kaiser did not realize
the extent of preparedness of re-
sourcefulness of the countries that
were to become involved in this titan
ic struggle; nor did the allies fully
appreciate the size and appetite of
the military monster created by the
despotic ambitions of the Kaiser and
his satellites during the many years
of preparation. If the Kaiser could
have foreseen his fate he would have
foresworn war, and if the other coun-
tries--forced by the exigencies of the
situation to become allies---had anti
cipated the intentions and prepara-
tions of Germany they would have
nipped those intentions and prepare
tions in the bud. But, as it was, to
say the most and the worst, either
side YVES in the dark as to the capaci-
ties Of and CONCENTRATIONS Of the other
and the only recourse was to con-
L. Fxuao. - ,x,cv.