Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-15

guarantee against the things which
have Just come near bringing the
whole structure OF civilization into
ruin.
"1ts purposes DO not for a moment
lie vague. Its purposes are declared
and it's powers are unmistakable. 1t
is not in shat this should
be merely a league to secure the peace
OF the world. IL Is n league which can
be used for cooperation in any inter-
national matter. That is the signif-
canoe OF the provision introduced con-
cerning labor. There are many ame-
llorations Of labor conditions which can
be effected by conference and discus.
sion. / anticipate that there will De
a great usefulness in the bureau Of
labor which IL Is contemplated shall be
set up by the league. Men and women
and children who work have been in
the background through long ages and
sometimes seemed to be forgotten,
while governments have had their
watchful and suspicious eyes upon the
maneuvers Of one another, while the
thought of statesmen has been about
structural action and the larger trans
actions OF commerce and or finance.
'Now. II I may believe the picture
which / see, there comes into the
tVHNEtVuhtu thlC ~ Nht bVNy Va 'fo soOOh
ing people of the world. the men and
women and children upon whom the
great burden Of sustaining the world
must from day to day fall, whether we
wish IL to do so or not; people who
go to bed tired and wake up without
the stimulation Of lively hope. These
people will be drawn into the field Of
international consultation and help
and will be among the wards OF the
combined governments OF the world.
This Is, 1 take leave to say, a very
great step In advance In the mere con-
ceptiGn Of that.
Then, as you will notice. there IS
an imperative article concerning the
publicity of all International agree.
ments. Henceforth no member of the
league can claim any agreement valid
which It has not registered with the
secretary general, in whose office, OF
course, IL will be subject 70 the exam
ination by anybody representing a
member of the league. And the duty
is laid upon the secretary general TO
publish every document of that sort
at the earliest possible time.
ST suppose most persons who have
not been conversant with the busi-
ness OF foreign affairs do not realize
how many hundreds Of these agree.
how difficult 1t might be to publish
the moro unimportant of them imme-
diately. How uninteresting It would
be to most of the world to publish
them Immediately, but even they
must be published just as soon as II
is possible for the secretary general
to publish them.
Helpless to BE Assisted
"Then there is a feature about this
covenant, which to my mind is one of
the greatest and most satisfactory ad.
vances that has been made. We are
done with annexations of helpless
peoples, meant in some instances by
some Powers TO be used merely for ex-
ploitation.
I'VE recognize in the most solemn
manner that the helpless and unde.
veloped peoples OF the world. being
in that condition, put an obligation
upon us 10 look after their interests
primarily before we use them for our
interests; and that in ali cases OF this
sort hereafter it shall be the duty OF
the league to see that the nations
who are assigned as the tutors and
advisers and directors of these peo
pies shall look to their interests and
their development before they look
TO the interests and desires Of the
mandatory nation itself.
There has been no greater advance
than this, gentlemen. If you look back
upon the history of the world you will
see how helpless peoples have too
often been a prey to Powers that had
no conscience in the matter. 1t has
been one of the many distressing reve