Arizona republican., 1919-08-20

only government interested Tn the eX-
 plicit adoption of this provision, and there is no doubt in the mind of any
 authoritative student of international
 law that such matters as immigration. tariffs and naturalization are incon- testibly domestic questions with which
 no international body could deal with out express authority to do so- No enumeration of domestic questions was undertaken, because to undertake it,
 even Ky sample. would have involved
 the danger of seeming to exclude those
 not mentioned
 Right to Withdraw Recognized "The right of any sovereign state to
 withdriiw had been taken for granted, but no objection was made to making it explicit. Indeed, so soon as the views expressed at the white house
 conference were laid before the com mission it was at once conceded that it was best not to leave the answer to so important a question to inference. No proposal was made to set up any tribunal to pass judgment upon the question: whether a withdrawing na- l tion ha1 in fact fulfilled all it's in ternational obligations and all it's ob- | ligations under the covenant. It was recognized that the question must be | left to be resolved by the conscience of the nation proposing to withdraw,
 and l must say that 1t did not seem
 to me worth while to propose that the article be made more explicit. because
 knew that the United States would never itself propose to withdraw from the league if it's conscience was not entirely clear as to the fulfillment of all its international obligations. It has
 never failed to fulfill them and never
 will.
 Article X is in no respect of doubt | fui meailing when read in the light of
 the covenant as a whole. The council
 of the league can only advise upon
 the means by which the obligations ot that great article are to be given ef- feet to. Unless the United States is a party to the policy or action in ques- tion, her own affirmative note in the l council is necessary before any advice can be given, for a unanimous vote oi the council is required. If she is a party, the trouble is here anyhow. And the unanimous vote If the council is
 only advice in any case. Each govern ment is free to reject if it pleases Nothing could have been made more
 clear to the conference than the righi of our congress under our constitu- tion to exercise it's independent judg- ment in all matters of peace and war No attempt was made to question ol limit that right. The United State, will, indeed, undertake under article to 'respet,t and preserve as against ex- ternal aggression the territorial fnteg- ! rity and existing political independenct
 of all members of the league, and tha
 engagemsnt constitutes a very gray, ] and solemn moral obligation. But it il
 a moral, not a legal. obligation, ana , leaves OUT congress absolutely free ts put it's own interpretation on it in al , cases that call for action. It is binding
 in conscience only, not in law.
 Article X seems to me to constitut [ the very backbone of the whole cove
 nant. Without it, the league would b. ) hardly more than an informal debat l ing society. It has several times beel i. suggested in public debate and in pri
 vate conference that interpretations o 3 the sense in which the United State 3 accepts tae engagements of the cove 5 nant should be embodied in the in I strument of ratification There can b. 2 no reasonable objection to such inter 3 pretationsi accompanying the act o f ratification provided they do not form i a part of the formal ratification itself Most of the interpretations whicl , have beerI suggested to me embed, { what seelns to me the plain meanin : of the instrument itself But if sucl $ interpretation should constitute a par I of the formal resolution of ratification 9 long delays would be the inevitabl ? consequerlce, inasmuch as all the man 2 governments concerned would have t Q accept. in effect, the language of tn I senate as the language of the treat f before ratification would be complete
 Sl,nator Lodge Replies.
 [ After tie president had delivered hi l statement, Senator Lodge said
 "Mr. President: We have no though l of entering upon arguments as to in terpretations. but the committee wa } very desii.ous of getting information o 3 certain points. which they though 7 would be of value in consideration ( 3 the treaty. which they desire to haste { in every possible way.
 } If we have to restore peace to tn T world it is necessary that there shoul g be treaties with Austria, Hungar, Turkey and Bulgaria Those treatie
 are all more or less connected with tfi ! treaty with Germany The question 7 should ike to ask is what the pros e poets ard of receiving those treatie ,, for actiork"
 e The President: T think # is yer t good, sir and so far as can inds ] from the contents of the dispatche : from my colltgues on the other side { I the water, the chief delay is dne { : the uncertai1ty as to what is yosns /