Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-08-30
The Shauu,,g Amendment
From the Kansas City Times.

1t will be said that an American amend
ment to the treaty restoring Shantung to
China will have no effect upon the secret trea-
ties between our allies and Japan by which
the German rights in that province were be-
slowed upon Japan, and which settlement was
confirmed by the Versailles signatories and rat
fled by Germany.
That may be so, and yet we shall see in
case the senate adopts the foreign relations
committees amendment. But whether 1t does
or does not the United States cannot afford.
even in appearance, to seal by its approval if
after the fact transaction that indelibly
stains with injustice peace loudly pro-
claimed to be one of high righteousness and
honorable dealing. To what level of diplo-
macy have we descended, and how far have we
the war, when it can be urged in the senate,
as was done by Senator McCumber, who voted
against the committees action, that the robblng
of China is extenuated when we approve a
covenant that at least will not permit her to
be robbed again?
If that is the best that can be urged in
favor of covenant paraded as new and
compelling moral force in the world, the rever-
ence of such logic proclaims it poor indeed.
We do not know whether China entered the
war upon Americas advice or not. She sought
our advice, the president admitted in his con-
ference with the senate committee, and our adj
vice to her was to enter. The president was
not able to say whether that advice was the
persuasive" factor in inducing her action or
not. We do not know whether China had rea-
son to believe that if she did enter the United
States would protect her interests at the peace
table. The president says we made no prom
Uses to that effect. But these considerations
make difference in the case. In any event
China was justified in expecting from all our
pretensions to the world that we would not
lend ourselves to her partition by Japan We
had, before the war, posed as Chinas friend.
We had proclaimed the policy of the open door
in China and had opposed that of special con-
cessions to powers asserting preponderant in
terests there. All our dealings with China for
years, financial, commercial and political
from the formulation of the Hay policies down
to the moment she asked our advice as to
whether she should break with Germany-had
been of a nature to induce her confidence in
our friendship and counsel.
If we now consent-even if the withhold
ing of our consent does not change the event
that the German rights in the peninsula,
given under duress, shall pass to Japan in pay
ment of services to the allies from which China
derived nothing except a change of masters, we
standing our former relation to China had OBJ
tanned for US. We go back upon all our poll
ces and all Our diplomacy And for what?
10 get Japan into league which she will en-
ter strengthened as military power and in
trenched in position in which we, as league
mcHlDer, are DOunQ 10 Qe1end ner against the
nation which had regarded us as her best
friend.
America cannot approve contract contain
ing an immoral consideration and then pretend
that the league of nations stands on any higher
plane than did the European diplomacy it dis
places. The Shantung amendment is our pro-
test against the insincerity of that claim. Let
it be effective or ineffective to right the wrong
it cleanses Americas hands of the stain of
the transaction, and less than that we can
not do.