The Washington herald., 1919-02-23
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singleness OF purpose in demand
ing the league of nations. When
the story Of our magnanimity is
told to Congress, before the inevi-
table Congressional investigation,
there is bound to be blatant criti-
csm OF our course; but It's justi-
fication must be our trading point.
We were trading for the peace or
the world, not in a quadruple al
lance, not in a Hague court, with
a few democratic fringes on 1t, but
in a genuine league to prevent
war by removing the more appar-
ent fundamental causes of war
the economic causes-and IL we
gave where we should have with
held, II we were generous where
We should have been just, we
have the traders reason for our
action. We had to sweeten the pot
for the other fellow.
Greatest Task Ahead.
But the pot Is not sweetened.
The two months series of confer
ences and discussions have only
produced a reasonable hope that
the league will justify our hopes.
The first stages have been fairly
well entered. Only the will to form
the league Is apparent, and that
may weaken when the details are
loaded upon it The great powers
are fairly agreed; the smaller bel
ligerent and acknowledgement states
must be notified. Then Germany
oil AA At frn
Then the neutrals must be invited
to consider the question. They
must elect and send their own
delegates to the preliminary con-
ference. And then must begin the
long, hazardous task OF adjusting
the innumerable conflicts in rights
of the little nations, the Jealous
races, the competitive peoples. 1t
may take the whole of the year
of 1919 to get the job so well un-
der way that its completion may
be assured in 1890!
Having generaliZed about the
difficulties of putting Humpty
Dumpty together again, let us con-
slider a few specific instances, mat
ters of adjustment which might
never enter the heads of men at
home. They see only the war in
the large. But. coming closer, let
us consider the matter OF the
pleasant little town of Cantigny;
a French town, a lovely French
town. but last summer badly in
tested with Germans. The Ger
mans were in the way of Ameri-
can progress. So the Americans.
in blowing the Germans out, de-
Stroyed the town Of Cantigny.
Now if this was a war for democ-
racy, and we were first to declare
it such. it was our war as much
as Frances war. Cantigny is on
French soil; so possibly the French
may feel that the destruction OF
Cantigny Is as much our business
as 1t is the business of France.
We destroyed it protecting France,
incidentally, but protecting civil
ization primarily. So from our
point of view France might feel
that America, having destroyed
Cantigny. should pay for the same.
1t would not have occurred to the
folks at home to think of paying
for a French town destroyed IN
getting the Germans out of
France; but we were only getting
them out of France as a geograph-
ical incident. We were getting
them out of civilization. So this
point is one of a hundred like it
which have to be settled. and there
are two good sides to the question.
Another instance. The American
government at one time and an
other has advanced to France
much money; hundreds of mill
lions; possibly billions. To the
average man there is no differ
ence. France used that money to
fight the battles of civilization.
Many Europeans believe that this
money which America advanced to