Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-08-15
MAKING RESERVATIONS

The developments of the past few days indicate
that the present prospect is for the approval Of the
peace treaty, with its provision for the League of Nations,
with certain reservations. These reservations are likely
to be Of an interpretative character, rather than of a
nature which will effect vital changes in the subject
matter of the document.
The president naturally desires the document which
he presented to the senate to the ratified as it stands,
and from day to day he is reported to remain firm in
his opposition to any modifying clauses whatever. At
the other end of the line are those who are opposed. to
any league under any sort Of conditions, and who. if
they vote for reservations, will do so only for the pur-
pose of shelving the whole matter. But in between these
two extremes there is a large body of men who desire
the. creation Of a League of Nations. who approve of
the general scope and purpose Of the proposed consti-
tuition, and are willing to accept it with any modifi-
cations which will not impair its effectiveness.
Several in this middle group are willing to. accept
the compact as it is, recognizing no need for interpre-
tatve additions, but they are willing to accept these
provided they are in accord witht what they consider
to be the clear meaning of the document itself. Others
believe that the language Of the constitution is not suf-
ficiently clear on certain points, and wish to clarity the
situation by stating in a formal way their understanding
of its provisions. So ~. ~
There SCENE to be no good reason why those who
are In favor OF the compact as written should refuse to
accept the. ratification of that compact with such inter-
ASt0S4 % w ~ COu1A1Vl WIFI ~. 1ahc
the passage relating to the Monroe doctrine. for instance.
Article XXI reads:
Nothing in this covenant shall be deemed to .
affect the validity of international engagements
such as treaties of arbitration or regional under
standings like the Monroe doctrine for securing r.
the maintenance Of peace.
Objection has been made to this on the ground
that the Monroe doctrine is neither an international
enRaeement NOR a regional Notwithstanding h,,+ ..j,n1v
a declaration of policy and purpose by the government
of the United States. That may all be true. 1t may be
that neither Of the terms used fits the Monroe doctrine
perfectly. But what brief term is there that would fit
it better? It is easy enough to describe the Monroe
doctrine, but it is scarcely to BE expected that in a great
tended to be there should be a whole chapter devoted
to a subject Of special interest to but one country. The
natural inference from . reading Of Article XXI is that
the men who framed It, recognizing the difficulty of
using q single term which would always be understood
to apply to the Monroe doctrine, and desiring that the
meaning Of the sentence should be unmistakable, tried
tc clinch the thing by mentioning the. Monroe doctrine
by name. ..
Nevertheless. II anyone deems that treatment in
adequate, a statement by the senate that the United
States stands with reference to the Monroe dictr1ne just
where 1t has always stood can do no harm, and II it will
facilitate ratification there seems to be no good reason
why it should not be made. Other interpretations sim
that they will, be,