River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1919-04-17
The League Of
Nations Forum

The League Of Nations Forum
which was held in the Normal
auditorium last Friday night was
exceptionally we'll attended, and the
interest with which the speakers
were followed showed that the
citizens of River Falls are alive and
are thinking of the important nation
al problems which confront us today.
The idea Of having such a meeting
was first brought Up by the Tuesday
Club, and the success of this gather
ing would indicate that in the future
from time to time the townsfolk will
gather together to discuss problems
of interest.
The meeting was opened with a
community song. and then Mr..
Karges took up the first phase of
the question as to why we must
have a League of Nations. He
emphasized the increasing destruc-
tiveness Of modern warfare and
pointed out that were we to have
another war such as the one just
past the destruction would be so ap-
palling that it would wipe civilization
from the face Of thef earth. For
that reason, he argued, it was
necessary that we enter into some
covenant with the other civilized
nations to prevent future war.
Miss Latta was the second speaker,
and gave a very clear and interest
ing account of the original draft for
the League of Nations as approved
by the committee for drawing up
the constitution of the League of
Nations. She pointed out the method
in which the League would operate
under this constitution to. avoid con-
ficts and to settle future disputes in
peaceable manner.
President Ames discussed the
foreign policy of the United States
and its relation to the League OF
Nations, and gave a very interest
ing historical account of the cir
cumstances under which the Monroe
Doctrine was formulated, and then
pointed out the new Interpretation
of the Monroe Doctrine as it is now
applied. He pointed out that the
original idea of the Monroe Doctrine
was simply that of protective
measure for this country, and that
now the construction placed upon it
made it an instrument for the pro-
lection of all the small South
American republics against the
possibility of aggression from across
the waters. He also pointed out
very distinctly that our policy of
isolation will have to be discontinued
because of the necessity of taking
part in world affairs.
Rev. Thrush discussed '''The Ethics
IF the Case" and emphasized the
fact that we must be absolutely fair
in our dealings and our deliberations
at the Peace Conference, that we
must not be oyer-hasty in making
our final judgments, and struck a
very sympathetic cord in the audi
ence when he stated that the ethics
of the case demand that there be
reparation for all the damage done
by the Hun.
Mr.. Erlandson spoke on the effect
of the League of Nations on the
sovereignty of the United States,
and cited several articles in the con-
Istitution of the League to show that
there was no intention that there
should be any surrender Of sover-
eighty on the part of the members
of the League, but rather that the
nations involved simply delegate
power to the executive council Of
the League. He felt that there was
no more loss of sovereignty in join
ing the League of Nations than
there would be in promulgating a
treaty with another nation in which
certain rights were relinQuished.
Mr.. Clark concluded the discussion
with talk on the attitude of some
of our political leaders and pointed
out that the antagonism which GER
tain senators manifested toward the
draft for the League of Nations was
the result Of selfish interests. He
said that inasmuch as we had
promised the boys who went to war
that this should be the last war,
fbo+ NO ovJod If fn them tn SI1nnort