The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-09-09
q The Editorial Page of The Daily Ardmoreit@ q
A YAP ANENT YAP


w most serious flaw in the peace treaty Here
tofore, as our reader, or perhaps readers, may
recall, we have defended the treaty, with its
necessary League of Nations, virtually in toto
We have said that while it is not perfect
treaty, it is the best treaty that can be made
under the circumstances and we have contend
ed that the League of Nations will develop and
improve. like the constitution of the United
States, so that it may solve in future all prob
lens left unsolved by the treaty
And now, alas! we must recant, we must re-
mig we must crawfish, we must turn tail and
take some of it back. This is humiliating, but
for the sake of consistency let us suffer the
humiliation. Like Henry Clay, we would
rather be right than president-and certainly
in these days when the presidency is such an eX
traordnarily hard job we prefer the Clay al
tentative. Yes, we must be honest with ourself
and the public; we must acknowledge our error
in supporting the peace treaty root and branch
bag and baggage without so much as the alter
alton of "t' cross or the elimination of an "i'
dot
We have learned, thus late in the day. that
under the terms of this pernicious treaty Of
peace the United States is to establish a cable
station on the tight little islet of Yap, wherever
or whatever Yap may be. And in the treaty
there seems to be no provision requiring the
formal consent or Self-determinaton of the
Yappers, of the free and sovereign people of
Yap of the liberty-oving and lazily oafing lal
lapaloosas of zap. From mmemoria time, it is
to be assumed, the Yappers have inhabited their
sapphire sea-set islet somewhere in the midst of
one of the seven seas, utterly unveXt by the re-
cept of intelligence from the raucous world of
the mainlands. Now are we, without their con-
sent formally and officially recorded, to invade
their solitude and their sancttude with sput-
terng cable messages telling about the troubles
of this weary word-even though the messages
merely get relayed by way of Yap and never
escape to disturb the somnolent reveries of the
Yappers? Why even the spluttering of the cable
"iuice" in the station would be an invasion, a
violation of the neutrality of zap, which nature
has made sacred.
We respectfully call this perncous provi-
sion in the treaty to the attention of Senator
Lodge, Senator Borah, Senator Knox, Senator
Reed, Senator FALL Senator Pondexter, Sen
ator Brandegee and other eminent defenders
Of the rights of small nations like China and
Yap. China and her Shantung province being
iset of zap, the clause may have escaped their
attention. We demand-and we will stand by
Mr. Lodge and his followers if they will take up
our hue and cry-that every naked mothers
son and daughter who has the franchise on the
iset of Yap be permitted to vote on the estab
fishing of this American cable station in their
midst If they are not permitted the privilege
hay the inborn right--of referendum on
the subject, and the cable station is established
as provided in the treaty-we trust most sin
cerey that the bellies of Yap will refuse to look
lovingly upon the young men from the United
States who operate the cable station, and that
the beaux Of zap will hitch up their trousers
if they have any-and hurl big punches of
bananas at the operators, or cocoanuts, or some
thing.
But let US see to it that the entire treaty,
including its necessary League of Nations, is
turned down because of this great wrong to
zap.