Imperial Valley press., 1919-04-21
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
DEBATE A 7 BOSTON
Continued from a Previous Issue)

other nation, may be brought before
the Executive Council for inquiry and
decided against US. 1t would seem 20
be clear that the trainers of the Cove
nant did not intend to submit to the
interference Of the Council the in
talnal affairs OF the members Of the
League, and assumed that the CUun-
Gil would in such questions follow the
recognized principles of international
law
It can hardly be supposed that Eng
land, for example, intended that any
nation should be entitled, by raising
a dispute, TO ask the ouncil to IN
Guire into the government of the ma
lives of India, and make recommen-
dations for change; or that France
intended to authorize an inquiry
whether or not she was justified IN
repeating the Concordat with the
Church; or that Italy contemplated
! recommendation on the restoration
of the temporal power of the Vati-
can.
If it were not self-evident that
purely internal affairs were intended
e left in the hands of each coun-
try as heretofore, the exceptional
treatment Of a couple Of such subjects
would prove it. Special provisions
are made for reducing ornaments
and improving the condition Of labor
matters that would otherwise be
regarded in international law as do
mestic concerns. It is true that there
S no express statement in the Cove
nant that Internal affairs are not
subject to interference by the oun-
ell, and there is no attempt to de-
fine what matters are of this nature
bLt 1t is perfectly clear that immi-
grafton and tariffs are internal af-
fairs. and if there is anv serious doubt
on the question, there Will doubtless
be no objection to making it perfectly
cleear
The Monroe DOctrine-Its Different
Meanings.
Next we come 10 the greatest bug
rear Of all, the point on which popu-
lar alarm IS most readily awakened
by vague denunciatiOn without definite
explanation. 1t is the Monroe Doc
trine. As one Of those who have al
ways believed strongly in this doc
trlne, ! understand that it means, or
IS BY some persons supposed to mean,
several different things. In it's orig
inal sense it meant that no foreign
nation should interfere with the in
dependence, or seek by force TO ac-
qulre any part Of the territory Of any
any country in the American hemi-
sphere. Taken in this sense, the
Covenant extends the doctrine over
the whole world, or at least over ali
that part Of it which is covered by the
League.
Senator Lodge says that such an
extension destroys the Monroe Doc
time. 10 do not quite see that !
10 net see how the provision that you
shall not do thing anywhere upsets
4 provision that you shall not do it
in a particular place lie says that
it is pulling down the fence, and that
YOU do not preserve renee by pull
ing it down. That is perfectly true
if YOUR object is to preserve ten fence,
but if vcur object is to preserve the
fruits inside the fence YOU do not
fail to preserve them by making the
fence cover two orchards instead of
one And my interest i'm the Monroe
Doctrine is not in the fence. but in the !
things the fence protects-to wit. the /
people cf these United States and the
other countries Of America.
An Amendment Needed.
There IS another later and broader 4
sense in which the doctrine means /