Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1919-11-03
Great Britain and the League of Nations.

During the peace conference and since The Re
publican often expressed the belief that the League
of Nations was concession to President Wilson at
Paris of something in which the other powers were
not concerned. That fact is not a good argument
against the League of Nations. We then and since
believed that the League of Nations expert
ment worth trying provided properly safe
guarded while making the experiment. In that
no harm could come to us and much good might re-
suit to the world. The chances of might be min
inized; certainly they could be increased. That
is why then and in favor of
League of Nations with interests properly pro-
tected by reservations.
But we never shared with the president the belief
that "the heart world would be broken" if the
league should fail We that the other great
powers were concerned Premier Clemenceau
cared nothing about the league and frankly said
so while urging treaties of alliance with the United
States and Great Britain He never regarded the
League of Nations as a sufficient protection for
France.
We knew too, that when the subject of the
League of Nations introduced into the British
parliament in connection with the peace treaty, it
was greeted with laughter and good -humored boot
IN, as a good joke. 1t not regarded serious
enough to be seriously opposed The treaty of peace
was ratified with promptness because that sat
1Stactory 10 the BrluSns ldOyu GeOrSe MAD seen 10
that at Paris Even if the British had been dis
posed against the covenant they could not have re-
jected it without rejecting the treaty.
These incidents regarded by suffi-
proof that Great Britain and France had let the
president have the League of Nations to play with
while they engaged in what they regarded
serious business. The deeper the engrossment of
the president with what looked upon his OBJ
session. by the British the French the Italian and
the Japanese delegates, the less likely they to
be disturbed by his interference with them in prac
teal matters And once, when he did interfere in
the matter of Shantung. the japanese did actually
threaten to take the paythng away from him.
In the current number of Worlds Work, Lothrop
Stoddard presents British view of the League of
Nations in the following quotation from article
by L. j. Maxse editor OF the National Review
London:
considering that the League of Nations would
not have been so much mentioned at the peace
conference. but for President Wilson, to whom it
is a sort of King Charles head to be brought into
every discussion. Englishmen entitled to
the suggestion of American propagandists that the
the Covenant is a Machianelian British trap into
which crafty John Bull has lured the guileess gen.
tleman from Washington The think of
il the more convinced become that the League of
Nations must have originated in Boche BRAIN be-
caus It admirably calculated to promote Boche in
teress but its place in the terms is manifestly
American handwork, for which President Wilson is
entitled to all the credit-as any detriment
ITO ascribe 1t to General SHUTS, Lord Robert Cecil
or any other British statesman is playing the
game They worked at the draft covenant to please
the president, because they told and believed
that the American people had set their heart
League Of Nations, the creation of which alleged
to be the main cause Of their being in the
Had Colonel Roosevelt happened to represent the
United States Paris in place of Pre- sdent Wilson,
it would have been heard of. We cannot con-
sent therefore to have this abortion fathered upon
u.s. and it is unfair of republican opponents of Will
sonian policy to thus prejudice at the ex-
pense Of Great Britain
con the other hand the British have every res
son for gratitude toward the republican party for
refusing to buy pig in poke, and for insisting
that this question be discussed this respect the
senate has done infinitely better than House of
Lords The house OF representatives is setting a
good example to the House Of Commons We can
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