The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1919-03-14
COL. ROOSEVELT ON
COURT OF nations
Extracts From Editorials
Showed Col. Against
Congress

The one effective move for OBJ
! tanning peace is by an agreement
among the great powers, in which
each should pledge itself not only to
abide by the decisions of a common
tribunal, but to back its decisions
with force. The great civilized ma
lions should combine by solemn
agreement in a great world league
for the peace of righteousness. A
court should be created--a changed
and amplifed Hague Court would
meet the requirements-com of
representatives from each nation,
these Representatives being sworn
to act as judges in each case, and not
in representative capacity.
The nations should agree on GER
tain rights that should not be ques-
toned, such as territorial integrity,
their right to deal with their own
domestic affairs and with such mat
tiers as whom or whom not they
should admit citizenship. All should
guarantee each of their number in
possession of these rights. All
should agree that other matters at
issue between any of them, or be-
tween any of them and any one of
number of specified outside civilized
nations, should be submitted to the
court as above constituted
Each nation should absolutely re-
serve to itself, its right to establish
its own tariff and general economic
questions as immigration and citi-
zenship.
Let us explicitly reserve certain
rights TO our territorial posses
sions, to our control of immigration
and citizenship, to our fiscal policy
and to our handling of our domestic
problems-problems generally-as
not to be questioned and not to he
brought before any international tri-
bunal.
As regards impotent or disorderly
nations or peoples outside the league,
let us be very cautious about guar
anteeing to interfere with or on be- |
half of them, where they lie wholly !
outside our sphere of interest; and |
let us announce that our own sphere !
of special concern in America (per- |
haps limited north or somewhere
near the equator) is not to be in
fringed on by European or Asiatic
powers
Moreover let us absolutely decline !
any disarmament proposition that |
would leave us helpless to defend |
ourselves. Let us absolutely refuse |
to abolish nationalism; on the con-
trary let us base wise and practical |
on a sound and in |
tense notionalism.
When all this has been done, let us
with deep seriousness ponder every |
promise we make, so as to be sure |
that our people will fulfill it, 1t will |
be worse than idle for us to enter |
any league if, when the test comes in !
the future, this country acts as badly |
as ii did in refusing to make any pro-
test when Germany violated the !
Hague conventions, in refusing to go
to war when the louisiana was
sunk. and in refusing to go to war
with Bulgaria or Turkey at all.
Let us go into such league. But
let us weigh well what we promise.
and then train ourselves in body and
soul to keep our promises. Let us
treat the formation of the league as
an addition to, but in no sense as a
substitute for, preparing our own
strength for our own defense. And
let us build a genuine information
llism-that is, a genuine and gener-
GUS regard for the rights of others
on the only healthy basis-a sound
and intense development of the
broadest spirit of American national
ISM