The sun., 1919-09-20

''This brings one inevitably to a dis
cussion of Article X. There have been
many efforts to assure people that 1t
does not mean what 1t says. To my
mind the President has settled II right.
He said II was a binding moral obliga-
ton. The important thing Is the first
part OF the first sentence, which reads:
The members of the league undertake
TO protect and preserve. as against ex-
ternal aggression, the territorial integ-
rity and existing political independence
OF all members OF the league And the
important word in the second sentence
Is the word obligation Taking the two
together we are under obligations to
respect and preserve the boundaries of
all the members of the league.
Mental Reservations Unfair.
81 do not believe the United States
can affofd any mental reservations on
this question We cannot afford to SUBJ
scribe to II unless we~are determined to
live up to It. IL we are honest we must
carry out our obligations. 1t will not
do for us to say when the league council
advises us how many troops and dollars
we shall contribute that we are free
to decide whether, we will contribute.
The instant you revise downward the
suggestion of the executive council you
desert the obligation. II we have the
right to revise the estimates downward
every other nation will claim the same
right and Article X. will mean nothing.
We must live up to this thing In the
spirit in which It was written.
How about the minds OF men who
drew Article X.7 History teaches us a
good deal more than visions teach us,
and history Is full OF lessons concerning
human nature. which has not changed
vtstbly In the last five years. History
should teach us that the mandates of
Kings or Emperors, of Congresses or
Parliaments, are incapable of preventing
the restlessness OF the human race, at
tempting to climb upon a higher plane of
civilization. Any group Of men who in
1918 think to establish a status quo to
preserve an existing political system for
all time to come are obsessed with the
height of human folly. They are flying
in the face OF all experience, assuming
to themselves a wisdom and infallibility
that no human being ever possessed.
Ajax defed the lightning. The men who
drew Article X. outrivalled Ajax.
i hope the reservations recommended
by the Foreign Relations Committee re-
lating to Article X. will be adopted. II
not. America will be under Obligation
to send soldiers and money to MAIN
tain for an indefinite future the status
quo of 1919. No organization can put
such straitjacker upon mankind
Many good people may wish Il could
be done. but 1 doubt the wisdom of II :.
1t cannot be done and 1 do not want
my country and her soldiers devoted
to any such purpose. 1t would bring
upon us the hatred and jealousy of
people whom we cannot understand.
Il now invite attention to Article
XVI, which declares that should a
member Of the league resort to war
In disregard of Its covenants It shall
ipso facto be deemed to have com
mitted an act OF war against all
other members of the league There are
several possibilities in this situation.
Grave Possibilities Seen.
TT is not at all certain that Greece
and Bulgaria will be able to live at
peace for long. Should Greece attack
Bulgaria she will have committed an
act OF war against every member of the
league, including the United States.
Under this article Americans are for
Didden to have financial or personal in
tercourse with the Greek people. II VIC
were a normal people that might not
excite any discussion. But we have
several hundred thousand Greek cit
liens. II their mother country goes 10
war against Bulgaria no American cit
zen can buy anything from a Greek
In the United States We can have no
financial intercourse with them. Every
little store kept by Greek must bs
closed. There is nothing like this situa-
uon IN any other country. What is
TO become of these Greeks? Presumably
they must all be informed somewhere am,
fed and clothed.
IF Austria should attack Hungary
every Austrian in the United States and
every Hungarian would be ostracized
immediately. l venture to say that
the Feoeral Government which would at
tempt to enforce the provisions of
Article XVI. in such a situation would
confront the gravest difficulty It will
not do to reply casually, That will
never happen Five or six Years ago
We never thought we should be in n
war with a great European power. bu,
II happened. Even when the wsr W.
months old few people believed we would
De IN 1t and they were told that thew
were overexcited. When we view m.
possibilities of friction inherent in
! slowly. ko
This argument could not appIv 70 O
| country like France, where ali tha Mo-
pie are brenchmen; nor to Great Britain
where all the people are British; nor to
Germany, where all the people are Ger
| mans. But this country will contain mil
lions or foreigners with whom we must
| deal N''
War Sometimes Is Necessary.
Reverting again to Article X. let me
say That 1 have no love for war II Is
organized murder. But thoughtful men
| cannot deny that occasions arise where
war Is the only means by which a neo-
pie can secure freedom, can rid them
| selves of oppression.
Article XXI, which is to preserxa
the Monroe Doctrine, reads Nothing in
this covenant shall be deemed TO affec,
the validity df international engage
| ments such as treaties of arbitration or
! regional understandings like the Monro.
Doctrine for securing the maintenance of
peace -
Il regard the Monroe Doctrine an thu
principal bulwark protecting the Ameri-
can people. shall never consent 10
have 1t interpreted as was suggested NV
some of the British members of the
peace commission. 1t should not be un-
der the Jurisdiction of anybody but Uncle
| Sam.
The most priceless possession of the
American people has been their freedom
of choice as between right and wrong I'm
international affairs; freedom to Judge
and analyze conditions as they arise, n
is now proposed that we surrender and
| follow the advice of a body nine -tenths