Omaha daily bee., 1919-09-20
Objection by a Democrat.

Omaha, Sept. 16.-To the Editor
of the Bee:-I have few objections
to the proposed league of nations,
which / believe are strong enough
to merit attention-and being a
democrat, 1 naturally embodied
them in letter to the World Herald.
That paper has seen fit to refuse me
the courtesy of it's columns, and
therefore appeal to you. / oppose
the league because:
1st. Its prime purpose is to
guarantee an unjust peace. Last
November we offered and Germany
accepted peace on the basis Of
Wilson's fourteen points," but Mr..
being made, the fourteen points,"
see no difference in principle be-
tween Germany's deliberate repudia-
ton of her promise to maintain Bel
gium neutrality, and the Allies delib-
crate refusal to make peace on the
basis they had promised. i believe
it is the duty of all good Americans
to try to maintain our honor brighter
than Germany's.
I'd. It's secondary purpose is to
stop all war. l have found by
questioning, that many readers of
the World-Herald would be no more
surprised by rain out of a clear sky
than they would by war after the
league has been established. One
needs to- be no prophet to say that
the league will not stop war. We
might hope that war would be post
poned for many decades, if England,
France, Italy, Japan, Poland and
Roumania had given any evidence
since last November that they had
new outlook on International poll
tics, and proposed to follow differ
ent policy than before. But, know
ing as we do that nation goes to
war to satisfy a dishonest desire for
something that rightfully belongs to
another nation, and knowing that
most of the Allies today have those
dishonest desires and are dishonest
ly satisfying them at the expense
not only of their enemies but even
of friendly, helpless China, we would
be criminal fools to suppose that
having gorged themselves for the
nonce, they would never again have
the same desires, or that those de-
sires would not, in the future as in
the past, lead inevitably to war
Sd. How can we hope to benefit
the world at large, and ourselves in
particular, by associating ourselves
with a group Of nations whose in
gratitude to us and whose hypocrisy
before the whole world is without
parallel in all history? Their in
gratitude to us is shown by the fact
that they have deprived us of the one
thing we fought for-an honorable
peace-although if we had not gem
erously gone to their assistance, they
would have been German slaves by
this time; and their hypocrisy is re-
vealed in their claim of standing as
guardians of international honesty
for all time, when they would not
even begin that guardianship until
they had taken as many choice bits
OF their enemies territory as they
could safely assimilate in fat con-
tradiction to their written promises.
4th. Those who support the
league offer many contradictory
arguments, and their methods are
sometimes disingenious. We have
been told in one breath that the
members of the league are all honest
therefore we should join them:
and in the next that they are all so
dishonest that they will not form
league unless we do join them. 80.
Mr.. Wilson tells us that unless we
vote to do SO, we do not have to
aid in European war, although we
are certain to be advised" to do so:
but he also says that the moral OBJ
legation arising from being advised"
is stronger than legal one. AS
to methods, let me point out that the
league Is rider" on the peace