Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-10

or the intelligence to accomplish that
now. there must be another and
final war and the world must be
swept clean Of every power that could
renew the terror.
The league of nations was not
merely an instrument to adjust and
remedy old wrongs under n new
treaty Of peace ii was the only hope
for mankind. Again and again had
the demon of war been cast out Of
the house Of the peoples and the house
swept clean by treaty Of peace; only
to prepare time when he would
ter in again with spirits worse
than himself. The house must now
be given tenant who could hold it
against all such.
Convenient. indeed indispensable.
as statesmen found the newly planned
league of nations to be for the exc
cution Of present plans Of peace and
reparation, they saw 1t in new as
pect before their work was finished.
Dare We Disappoint Worlds Hope
IUtN Si" II as tilt Hlulll uDJt't VI
the peace, rs the only thing that
could complete it or make 1t worth
while. They saw IL as the hope Of
the world. and that hope they did
not dare to disappoint.. Shall we or
any other free people hesitate to
accept this great duty? Dare we re-
ject it and break the heart Of the
world?
And so the result Of the conference
of peace. 80 far as Germany is con-
ccrned, stands complete. The differ
ences encountered were very many.
Sometimes they seemed nsupcrabe.
1t was Impossible to accommodate
the interests of SO great body OF
nations-intpreStS which directly or
indirectly affected almost every ma
tion in the wOrld-withOut many
minor compromises. The treaty, as
a result, is not exactly what we
would have written. 1t is probably
not what any one of the national
delegations would have written. But
results were worked out which. on the
whole. bear test. ] think that 1t
will be found that the compromises
which were accepted as inevitable
nowhere cut to the heart of any
principle.
The work Of the conference squares.
as a whole. with the principles agreed
upon as the basis of the peace as we'll
as with the practical possibilities of
the international situations which had
to be faced and dealt with as facts.
Special Treaty With France
| shall presently have occasion to
lay before you special treaty with
France, whose object is the temporary
protection Of France from unpro.
voked aggression by the power with
whom this treaty of peace has been
negotiated.
Its terms link it with this treaty.
I take the liberty. however, of re-
serving it for special expliCaton on
another occasion.
Americas Role in War
The role which America was to
play in the conference seemed deter
mined. as ! have said. before my COL
leagues and | got to Paris-detcr-
mined by the universal expectations
of the nations whose representatives,
drawn from all quarters of the globe,
we were to deal with. 1t was uni
versally recognized that America had
entered the war to promote no pri-
vate or peculiar interest OF her own,
but only as the champion of rights
which she was glad to share with
free men and lovers Of justice every
where.
We had formulated the principles
upon which the settlement was to be
made-the principles upon which the
armistice had been agreed to and the
parleyS of peace undertaken, and no
one doubted that our desire was to see
the treaty Of peace formulated along
the actual lines of those principles
and desired nothing else.
We were welcomed as disinterested
friends. We were resorted to as
arbiters in many a difficult matter. 1t
was recognized that our material aid
would be indispensable in the days to
come, when industry and credit would
have to be brought back to their
normal operation again and communi
ties beaten to the ground assisted to
their feet once more; and it was taken
for granted, | am proud to say, that
we would play the helpful friend in
these things as in all others with
out prejudice or favor.
We were generously accepted as
the unaffected champions of what
was right. 1t was very RESPONSE
Bile role to play; but l am happy to
report that the fine group of Ameri-
cans who helped with their expert
advice in each part of the varied set
Elements sought in every transac-
ton to justify the high confidence
reposed in them.
And that confidence, it seems to
me, is the measure of our oppor-
tunity and of our duty in the days to
come. in which the new hope of the
peoples of the world is to be full
filled or disappointed.
The fact that America is the
Ffnallv father summed nm the