Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1919-02-26
FACTS AND COMMENT

months he had been on European
soil, spending the first in travel and
informal conferences, the second in
the more definite duties of the formal
peace conference. 1t was only by be-
ing on the ground that the president |
could acquaint himself with the true
situation confronting Europe, and it
was only by letting himself be seen |
and known that the allied statesmen !
could see in him the one to reconcile /
their conflicting ambitions. The very /
list of the leaders with whom he |
conversed is suggestive of the infiu- |
ence that he eXerts in Europe at the |
| present time; Poincare and Clemen-
ceau, Lloyd George and Balfour, Or |
lando and Sonnino, Daiz, Parshing |
and Foch; these are but a few of the |
| leaders who came to know President |
! Wilson not only as an idealist at a
f! time when the world needs. ideals as
never before, but also as the leader of
an invincible army devoted to the re-
alization of those ideals. So when
questions came up in the peace con-
ference on which apparently there
| could be no mutual agreement, all
were ready to follow his guidance
| toward the long-desired peace.
In the great speech that the presi-
dent delivered in Boston immed ateIy
explain the plan for the league of ma
tons. That was very properly re-
served for a more appropriate time
and place. His purpose in speaking
before the seven thousand who gath
cred to welcome him home was to
place before them the utter futility of
another peace such as those emanat-
ing from the Congress of Vienna in
1915 and that of Berlin in 1878. and
hn NOR fhnf
in the work she had begun by joining
with the civilized nations to guarantee
permanent peace. The president de-
clared that he would fight and fight
hard against all who advocated
Americas withdrawal from her world
responsibilities into her former posi-
ton of aloofness from the rest of
mankind. Thus he threw out a chal-
lenge to Senators PoindeXter, Borah
and Reed who have this past week
, been bitterly criticising the proposed
league of nations and urging that
America have naught to do herewith
! Hostile critics of the proposed con-
stitution for the league of nations are
being harshly judged by those who
favor it, This is the wrong attitude,
for it is only by 0utspokeh and I'M
Sparing criticism that the good and
bad points of this new venture are
: to be brought out. The constitution
e is vet in its first draft; it may be
: drastically amended or definitely re-
Z !. jected by the peace conference. II
= it is to be improved, the delegates
: must know its faults. The sole JUS
y titled criticism against the hostile
a senators is that they are consuming
e the few remaining hours Of the ses-
t sion in discussing a matter that can
d not possibly come up for action be-
/, fore March 9TH. The keenest minds
of the world are scrutinizing every
;. word and line of the proposed com
y pact. II Senators Borah and Reed il
D their bitter criticism of the president.
o work exceed the truth, the advocates
e of the league of nations will soon ex-
pose the falsity of their position. l
the plan does abfogate the Monroe
doctrine and compel the United State!
e to settle a Mexican border rio
IF through tribunal sitting in SOM
: European city, America wants moth
d ing of it. If on the other hand tn
It existence of the league of nation.
q will insure all nations everywher
Is from fear or aggression, it will be do
ing for the entire world what tn
Monroe doctrine has done for America
n The !. w. w. aaitators received
"a | severe setback recently when the
attempted to dictate to the city Of Sc
:, attic how the public business Should b
10 conducted. january EAST shipyar,
le workers struck for higher wag
t. es and $4,000 union sympa thizer
J. were to have followed on F'ebruar
5e 9Th. As a matter Of fact $4,000 rean
quit work Street cars stopped
schools were closed, Restaurants an
theatres had to suspend and even tn
- newspapers could not get out thel
is nSJI9i editions Tho afi
as olution was exactly according to Rus
le sian lines. The strikers formally de
III elared that labor would not only shu
\, down the industries but would re ope
: them under its own management, Tn
city Of $50, 600 inhabitants found itse
paralyzed and wondered what was
l. come, but they did not have long I
to wonder. On the request Of Gov Lis
~ ter to the War Department, 800 u,
w troops were sent to Seattle from Cam
= Lewis, SO miles away, with machir
, guns, hand grenades and thirty truck
L loads of equipment and ammunition
rs The mayor swofe in 1000 extra polio
n armed them with shotguns and rife
Mt and ordered them to shoot on sigl
az anyone causing disorder. He the
:. sent formal notice to the strikers tn;
7ii unless the strike was called off ne7
morning, he should take steps to OF
| cIdlc ill SsSSeuIldl dD
place the city Under the control
he the Federal government. EVIDENT
,+s frmness was all that was needed ar
"a within forty eight hours Seattle We
0 itself again.
an Ole Hanson, the mayor whose eou
n age and energy nipped this Bolshevi
~ attempt in the bud, was not witho,
reason counted on by the labor for
es to side with them. Sixteen yea
OIL ago he had driven q covered wage
he across country and landed in Seatt
II after stopping week in Butte, MOI
tana, to take part in a labor fight
Ia the copper district. In Seattle
opened a real estate office that was
T. success from the start by reason of h
nc unusual qualities of salesma1shi
Established now as one of the pr
of gressive citizens, he became indigna
it at the crooked crowd at the Seat
H. racetrack and got himself elected
the legislature so that he could pa
f,- an anti-racetrack law. In the we
:. of the split in the Republican part
!" Ole Hansen backed Roosevelt and
IN 1914 he narrowly missed beir
. elected to the United States sena
me on the progressive ticket. He had a
re- vocated the minimum wage law f
ks women, the eight hour day for
"a workers. industrial insurance al
about all the modern improvements
legislation that stand on the statu
W. books of the very progressive state
ce- Washington. Naturally then in t
he recent strike the labor forces beIiev
Or that the mayor would be found
their side or at least would not o
aar pose them: They reckened witho
- their host, for they soon found out til
~ Ole Hanson. son of Norwegian INN
OIJ c-au MT n