Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1919-01-23
Formal Sessions Of the Peace
Congress Begun; League Of
Nations Up First.
MANY PLANS ARE PRESENTED.
Americans Carefully Safeguarding the
Monroe Doctrine-PoIand to Get
Help-Armistice Terms Made
More Drastic-United
States For National
Prohibition.
BY EDWARD W.. PlckARD.

Unless the peace congress, which
held its first formal session on Satrr-
day, changes its mind, the world must
be satisfied hereafter with such infor-
|. nation concerning its deliberations as
is contained in the official communique
| issued daily. Possibly because of a
|, breach of confidence on the part of
+ some correspondent, the supreme al
lied council adopted a resolution that
| the delegates shall not talk outside the
| peace chamber of the doings of the
conference. The hundreds of high
| priced journalists gathered in Paris
from all parts of the world can devote
their time to describing the majesty
OF the Arc de Triomphe and the allure
ments of the Paris boulevards. The
American and British correspondents
formally and energetically protested
against this rigid censorship. Later
4 the rule may be relaxed, otherwise
the demand for "open covenants of
peace openly arrived at goes by the
board
In the preliminary work of the con-
ference the makeup and procedure of
the congress We're settled. 1t was de-
4 cided that the United States, the Brit
ish empire, France, Italy and Japan
should be represented by five delegates
apiece. The British dominions and In
dia besides are represented as follows: !:
Two delegates respectively for Aus
tralia, Canada, South Africa and In
dia, including the native states. and
one delegate for New Zealand Brazil
has three delegates. Belgium, China,
Greece, Poland, Portugal, the Czecho-
Slovak republic, Roumania and Serbia
have two delegates apiece; Siam, Mon
| tenegrO, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Hon
| duras, Liberia, Nicaragua and Panama
one delegate apiece. The delegates
will vote as units.
/ A great deal of time last week was
devoted TO consideration of the various
! plans for the league of nations, the
organization of which was the first
:. matter taken up by the peace dele
gates after tney began their formal
sessions, in accordance with the de-
4 sire OF President Wilson. Many
schemes for the League were submit
ted. these dividing themselves gener-
ally into two groups which differ as to
the means of making effective the de-
| the rulings of the society OF nations
! Should be backed up by its combined
4 physical forces; the other, that such
/ force will not he necessary Iu the ex-
animation d the plans it seemed GER
4 tain that a compromise would not be
/ difficult to reach.
Prodded by the expressed anxiety of
the senate. the American delegates
carefully examined every scheme sub
! mitted to make sure that nothing in
them endangered the cherished Monroe
doctrine. They appear TO be satisfied
4 that this American ideal is not imppr-
| lied and that, on the contrary, the
league would in effect extend the prin-
ciple of the Monroe doctrine to the
4 whole world. The senate is not so sure
4 of this, and Senator Borali, who
strongly opposed the formation of the
| league, introduced a resolution which,
IL passed, would serye.notice that the
senate will not ratify a treaty the pro-
visions Of which conflict with the Mon
/ roe doctrine and with the traditional
duty of the United States to enforce
that principle.
-E-
The matter Of extending aid to Pc.
land was one of the serious things dis
cussed last week. especially serious