The Irish standard., 1919-11-01
Powerful States and Powerful Em
pires. (Applause.)

might be interested by the argument
OF those Americans who say that, as
far as America is concerned. it is bet
ter that America should not enter at
all. l have heard Americans ask.
What is the League of Nations for?"
Now any League of Nations-is it to
keep peace? They say, what is it for
to keep peace? They say America has
not been the disturber of peace. Let
those nations that have been distur-
bers of peace, these nations of Europe,
let them first go and form League of
Nations and keep the peace among
themselves. (Applause) And when
they have spent probationary period
and proved that they have kept the
peace, then we can join with them,
because we would feel that they would
no longer be bad company. (Applause.)
l have heard Americans make that
point. and l have heard Americans say,
therefore. from that point of view, that
they are preserving the peace of the
world by not entering into such a
League of Nations, that is, into any
League of Nations whatever, until such
time that they would have confidence
that the nations of Europe would keep
the peace. | have heard Americans
say that they would not have the pres
ent League OF Nations because it
would be Il diminution of American
sovereignty.
But these are arguments you see,
American point of view. think that any
League of Nations would not be well
for America to enter into at the pres.
ent moment
But, we are not in that position. We
are arguing not as Americans. We
are arguing as lrishmen. We are not
here. We are over in Europe where
we are dragged, despite ourselves, in
to European wars and where we have
suffered from the battles between Eu-
ropean nations. We are ourselves
| d
tie, as l have said, 700 years old. We
are anxious to settle that and we are
willing to enter a League Of Nations,
whether ii be a World League OF Ma
tions or European League Of Ma
tions, and the people in Europe might
form the first and when Europe has
formed the United States of Europe
and shows it can be as good as the
United States of America, then that
the United States Of America would
join and form the United States of the
World. (Applause)
But, as l say, we are in Europe. We
are, from a point of view, not big
nation, like yours, that can stand in
dependent in that sense. We are
anxious for League of Nations; and
nobody can really and truly say that
we are opposed to the League of Ma
tions. We are opposed to the pres
ent proposed covenant, that is all; and
we are opposed to that, as we have
right to be, because, first of all, 1t is
fundamentally unjust. 1t will not, on
/ it's very foundation, achieve the pur-
pose which it is pretended 1t will
achieve-and particularly because of
the fact that we are subject people,
and that that covenant in it's present
form proposes to keep US forever in
subsection.
Now, | want you to be clear about
that, and want you to see how the
proposed covenant. as l have shown,
would affect Irish liberties and per-
petuate us in slavery want to point
that out, and this will be the end. l
want to point out how, really, 1t is an
unfair and unjust League of Nations.
] said 1t was not a League of Ma
tions at ALL If you want League of
Nations, why not put your own name
on it. Why not make the facts cor
respond with the name? Why not
make it a League of Nations? The
nations are not so very difficult to
find out There are certain of them
with we'll defined national aspirations,
to use the phrase, think, that was
used by your president in one of his
fourteen points. No less than ten OF
these fourteen points are based upon
this principle of self-determination.
And this principle is sacred princi-
pie, and it is, anybody can see, the
only principle on which you can have
peace Why not let these units that
are nations in the world come togeth-
er and let them have as their repre-
sentatives, governments-or, rather,
governments based in accordance with
the will of the people. If you do that,
if you first single out what are these
nations, and then give to these ma
tions the right of determining for
themselves what form of government
they will have, then these governments
nm, cood ronroconfativoc fO the conn.