The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-08-07
SENATOR WATSON
WANTS SAAKTUNG
CLAUSE REJECTED
rNDitNAN ARGUES AGAINST
LENDING" CHINESE TERki.
TORY TO JAPAN

Washington, Aug. G,-Declaring the
history of German and Japanese acqul'
stions in Shuntung had been one
wrong heaped upon another Senator
Watson. republican, OF Indiana, asked
the senate TO reject that provision Of
the Versailles treaty which gives Japan
control IN Shantung peninsula.
The original shantung rights. sen
ator Watson said. were taken from
China by Germany In 1898 through u
demand enforced by u fleet of battle.
chips, and had been expanded 10 EN-
brace complete economic possession
of Shantuug" through supplemental
treaties in 1899, 1900 ana 1905. These
expanded rights, he said, had been
taken from Germany In the present
war 10y Japan, who had sought to re
intorcc her position by a treaty 'ob'
taincd 10y force from China IN 1903
aud by secret agreements established
hy fraud" Cousummatrd with the allies
in 1917.
can it be said that taint no longer
vitiat,S titlc?" asked the Indiana sena'
tor. Does wrong ever become right?
can duress pled upon durcss, can
fore. added to force, make unrlghteous'
ness hold? Can the German wrong III
China, plus the Japanese wrong IN
China, plus the Japanese wrong with
the allies. ever come to the full lruit
ion of perfect right.
1--WE went TO war in part, to undo
the wrong wrought by Germany, and
surely here Is one that enlists the
sympathy and challenges the attention
Of our country, aye of all civilization,
for it seeks to perpetuatc one of the
most fragrant wrongs ever committed
by the agents of the kaiser upon q
helpless and unoffending people"
Replying to declarations that the
German concessions seized by Japan
concerned only a narrow strip of terri
tory. Senator Watson said that never
thcless Japan had sent a military force
entirely through the province oI
Shantung," had established railroads,
mines and garrisons everywhere, ana
now was in complete military ana
economic possession" of the whole pro
vince with its population of 36,OOO,VO
Chinese.
The president recently has stated
he continued, that Japan intends to
return Shantung to China If that
be true, why is it not so written in
the contract? Japan waged two wars
with the announced purpose of ensuring
the independence of Korea. And yet
having won in both wars, she very
speedily annexed Korea, and i'll l9lO
made her a part of the japanese EN-
pire. one of Japan's alleged reasons
for waging war with Russia was that
she wanted to save Manchuria for
China. Manchuria is to all intents and
purposes a Japanese colony.
The whole story of the treatment
of China by Japan furnishes ample
illustration of the fact that Japan in
tends TO cling to Shantung, and that
her protestations of good faith are not
to be believed. Why was so monstrous
a wrong thus recognized? Simply be
cause it had to be done to save the
league.
president Wilson wanted the league.
# was his sole object Of his going 10
Europe, and for 1t he was and is will
ing to make great sacrifices of either
foreign rights or American independ.
ence. Japan, seeing his attitude, toos
advantage of him, and forced him TO
indorse this wrong to China by ths
threat that if it We're not done she
would withdraw from the conference
and would decline to ratify the league.
And he yielded, and is now endeaVorlng
to have our nation ratify this treaty
and condone this wrong. Japan coer'
ced him into that concession. That
country sold her signature for liberties
of SO 600 900 of human beings, and
Wilson, Lloyd George and Clemenceau
approved their bargain, and ratified
the sale.
The most remarkable, the most in
defeasible feature of this entire trans
action is that as result of a war
said to have been waged to make the
world safe for democracy we enforce
the spoilation of the whole republic in
the Orient, we ratify the acts, and we
turn the result of the larceny over TO
the most autocratic government that
now exists on earth, the counterpart or
Germany in the east.
And it can never be forgotten that
every nation whose representatives sat
around the table at the peace confer
ence and sanctioned this oriental crime
every one of them-had a treaty with
China to protect the territorial integ-
rity of her empire.
Il believe that the secret treaty made
by Japan with the allies in 1917, should
not be countenanced by them or by
us at this time, because it rests on
wrong. and is established on fraud. |
1t was q fraud on China because by the
terms of that understanding Japan got
China into the war. And the secret
treaty was as well fraud on our gov
ernment When by the Lansing-lshii
agreements in 1917 the United States
recognized that Japan has special IN
terests in China, neither President Will
son nor Secretary Lansing know that
Japan had secret treaties with the allies |