Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-04-29
The Worlds Next Step
No. s
National Vanity and the League of
Nations
Py CLARENCE 1. SPEED

shown II has no desire 10 Cypress the
weak or rob its neghbors, there should
be any opposition AT all to Il league Of
nations designed TO prevent others
from doing the things which the over
whelming majority of us recognize as
wrong.
The honest, law-abiding citizen does
not object to state or national laws
against murder or theft because he
thinks that ar some time he might be
sufficiently enraged or be reduced 10
such poverty rs to desire to commit
these crimes. Instead he lends his in
iiuence toward having laws passed
which will provide restraint for the
murderer aud give care to the poverty
stricken.
Yet we find people even In the
United States asking such questions
rs, Are we going to permit anybody
TO tell Us when we can or cannot go
to war to protect our rightsW or Are
we going TO send our troops across
the ocean to die in Europe or Asia at
the behest OF some power superior
10 our governments"
This Is national vanity, prre and
simple. We are going to do just those
things whether we want to or not. We
have Just got through sending our
troops to Europe to die in war that
we did not want. 1t was forced on us
against our viii by Germany. our men
died and our treasure was expended To
an extent wholly unnecessary just be
cause I'VE minded our own business
or sat around acting. as we fondlT
Imagined, on our own Initiative. As
result we went to war when our
enemy was ready and We were not.
aud we sacrificed thousands of lives
and billions of dollars which might
have been saved had there been any
thing like a league of nations In ex-
isteuce In 1914.
Let's 80 back to the outbreak of the
European war and study tina! little.
Germany was In direct alliance with
Austria and Italy. England. France
and Russia had an understanding"
Germany wanted war. She thought
the time had come when she could risk
battle with France and Russia Mt the
same time She knew Austria was
with her and thought Italy WAS safely
on her side. Her diplomats told her
that England would not fight. She
did not dream that the struggle would
even last long enough to drag the
United States into It. Japan. Canada
China Australia, Greece, Brazil she
discounted. Serbia and Belgium she
ignored It seemed quite certain to
the Germans that they could accom-
pllsh their purpose.
Now suppose there had been in eS-
istence at tIlt tipe League of ma
TONS Assume. for the sake az areu
ment, that Germany had corrupto
Austria 70 the point where she knew
that Austria would be with her. But
suppose Germany had known that
England, the United States, Italy ia.
pan, Brazil and China and all the
other nations would have taken sides
against her, not one by one but all ut
once and with all their power, do you
think for n moment TINT Germany
would have dared to start the world
war?
And suppose again that Germany
had been insane enough to start war.
even knowing that all the world might
come in, don't you think that thu
United States, If il had been Il Nom
Der Of the league Of nations, and with
ba nj IF he hrh ag1
tarily joined in the war the day the
German troops crossed the Belgian
frontier. would have saved thousands
of American lives and billions of
American dollars by its prompt Co
operation?
What hope would Germany have
had If all the nations which finally
were dragged in against her one at Il
time had combined on the first day
10 cocrce her into behaving like a civil
lied state? The war would probably
have been over in four months instead
OF four years.
And though We got from this league
Of our own creation n summons to at
tack Germany the first day she mis-
behaved. ana complied with it. we
would have been acting with just as
much freedom of action as we finally
did We had to 20 to war whether we
wanted to or not. We could not pro-
tect our legitimate interests nor could
we keep our self-respect and stay out |
And when that international commu-
nifty is one that we ourselves have
helped to create and that is doing our
will, why should we want to refuse
its summons?
You will hardly find a patriotic
American citizen today who regrets
that we entered the war, in spite of
nil il cost. You will find thousands |
upon thousands who regret that we
did not enter sooner And yet ut the /
same time you will find thousands of !
patrotic Americans-many who think |
they are the most patriotic of all
who cannot abide the idea that there !
should be any organization higher than |
our own government, which could tell |
us when we ought to 20 towards if, |
in these days Of the interdependence !
of the whole world we had any choice