Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-01-02
What Kind of a League:2

the prevention of war. It's views are summarized
the following statement:
The earlier projects for preserving the
worlds peace were based upon the conception
of that task as mainly of restraining any
disturber of the existing order. They looked
to a league of governments for common action
to compel submission of differences to arbitra-
ton or law courts international law courts.
rendering decisions based the old law Of
practice. 1t seems an obvious plan: Nations
should be enforced to keep the peace. But the
established order in the old law and practice
were often unavoidable and unjust, especially
toward small states-as this war proves.
We are setting up a large number Of new
states, rearranging the map completely, which
means that the old map was unsatisfactory and
unjust. Even If we could have compelled Aus
tria and Germany to settle their differences by
arbitration, no law court or arbitration board
could have given satisfaction to those peoples
who are now forming themselves into new
states, or have righted what now declare
to be gross injustice This proves that before
courts or arbitration be the means of Sc
curing justice they must be able to give deci-
sions on the basis of laws and conditions
which are themselves just And what may be
fair and just today, changes in the world
for the world is changing place-may make
unjust tomorrow.
That is why methods of maintaining peace,
looking merely to respect of the status quo
and the restraint of anyone who would disturb
it, methods which conceive of keeping order
merely as a matter of repression made
quate And any league Of nations which is
merely an alliance of governments constituting
an organ of repression will not permanently
assure both peace and justice.
That is why the League of Free Nations
association insists that the first object must be
to arrive at a common agreement to the
changes to which We must all assent for the
purpose of mending the conditions which lead
to war. The first task is to create a 1egisla-
ture or a deliberative assembly rather than to
set up courts which can only enforce the old
law. This type of league would provide for
change and development by constitutional
means, thus removing the need for
instrument of change or growth, furnishing
thus, in the international field what every ma
ton provides a matter of course within its
own borders: a law-making body.
This latter method does not, of course, dis
pense with the use of the organized force of
the nation. But the unit of that alliance itself,
without which it cannot its force effective
ly, depends upon agreement as to the laws and
rules which the common force shall uphold.
he NOR bar of ha 1aap all
gree, so that they cannot combine their forces
or turn them one against the other, the force
itself becomes ineffective. So that even the
coercive type of league depends upon agree
ment as to purposes and objects.
We are creating anything from twelve to
twenty states. Many will be shut off from
the from materials. If they are to
be prevented from quarrelng among them
selves there must be a new code of rights for
nations touching such things as access to mar
kets in foreign territory, railroad rates on in
ternational railways, passage along rivers, the
cultural and national rights of minorities
within their own borders, and a score of like
questions These troubles are sufficient to
disrupt any league unless definitely designed
It is for that reason that the League Of
Free Nations association throws the emphasis
of its efforts upon the legislative, the con-
structive law-making function of the league
distinct from pushing that in a quite secon-
dairy place in favor OF creating an organ of
mere coercion to the respect OF the status quo
1t is of the utmost Importance that the man
in the street. should realize that the first task
Of the league of nations is this decision as to
the changes Of the old conditions which are
called for. For on him ultimately will rest the
sanction Of those changes One additional
reason for emphasizing the need for an inter-
national legislature as one of the first essen
tial organs OF the league is that the very Gre
alton Of such may bring wildly homo to him
the fact that he has now to make the contrfbu-
ton to world peace by little thought as to
the sacrifices OF sovereignty which he is will
ing his country should make on behalf of the
ideal for which We went to Mar.