The weekly Alaska citizen., 1919-11-03

roe doctrine. What is the Monroe doctrine? The Monroe doctrine IS that no nallon shall come to the western hemisphere and try to es- tablish it's power or interfere with the self government Of people in this nemispnere; that no power shall ex- tend its governing and controlling in 11eunce in any form to either of the iiuence in any form t0 either 0t tic Americas. Very well ,that is the doc Urine ot the covenant. No nation shall anywhere extend it's power or seek to interfere with the political independence or the people of the world. And inasmuch as the Monroe doctrine had been made the univer- sal doctrine. l did not think that it was necessary to mention it par ticularly, but when l suggested that it was the desire of the United States that it should be explicitly recognized, it was explicitly recog- nized, for it is written In that noth- ing in the covenant shall be inter- preted as affecting the validity of the Monroe doctrine. The Monroe doc Urine is left intact, the United States is left free to enforce it.
 Without exception the suggestions of the United States were adopted. l want to say, because it may inter- est you, that most of these sugges- tions came from republican sources. l say that, my fellow citizens, not because it seems to me to make the least difference among Americans in great matter like this, which party such things came from, but because l want to emphasize in every discussion of this matter the absolutely non-partisan character of the covenant and the treaty. 1 am not in favor of the ratification of this treaty, including the covenant of the league of nations, because 1 am a democrat; am in favor of it be- cause l am an American and a lover of humanity. And, if it will relieve anybody's mind let me add that it is not my work; that prac- ucally every portion of the covenant of the league of nations emanated from councils running back. ten. twenty, thirty years, among the most thoughtful men in America, and that it is the fulfllment of a dream which five years ago, when the war began, would have been deemed unattain- able.
 q draw all this picture of the care with which the covenant was drawn, every phrase scrutinized, every inter- est considered, the other nations at the board just as jealous of their sovereignty as we could possibly be of ours, yet willing to harness all these sovereignties in a single, great enterprise of peace, and how the whole thing was not the original idea of any man in the conference but had grown out of the councils of hopeful and thoughtful and righteous men all over the world.
 Germany, at our request-I may almost say at our dictation-signed the treaty and has ratified it. It is a contract, so far as her part in it is concerned. I can testify that we tried to be just to Germany. When we had heard her arguments and examined every portions of the coun- ter proposals she made, we wrote the treaty in it's final form and then said, Sign here.'
 "I have said, in all frankness, that l do not see a single phrase in the covenant of the league of nations which is of doubtful meaning, but if they want to say what that undoubt- ed meaning is in other words that don't change the undoubted meaning, l have no objection. If they change the meaning of it, then all the other signatures have to consent. And what has been evident in the last week or two, is that on the part Of some men-I believe a very few. the desire is to change the treaty, especially the covenant in a way to give America an exceptional footing. Now, my fellow countrymen, the principle that America went into this was was the principle of the equality of sovereign nations. am just as much opposed to class legislation in international matters as in domestic matters. do not, tell you plainly, believe that any one nation should be allowed to dominate-even this beloved nation of our own and it does not desire to dominate"
 SOME GENERAL OBSERVATIONS | The President declared that while the United States formerly was looked upon as a selfish nation, that opinion has been absolutely 're- versed." It now was America's priv ilge, he said, to lead the world "un- less cynical counsels of some of our