Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-08-19
GIVES
GENERAL VIEWS
OF PRESIDENT
CONTINUED from page ~

Missouri reaches only a portion Of its
FORMER market; there IL an immediate
need for cotton, betting, and also for
|~lubricating oil which cannot be met
al! because,rthe channels Of trade
are barred by war when there is no
OF which the central empires alone
formerly purchased nearly four m1i-
lion bales.
And these are only examples,
There is hardly a single raw material,
and single important foodstuff or q
single class Of manufactured goods
which Is not In the same case. Our full
normal profitable production waits on
peace.
Military Plans Wait Action.
Our military plans OF course wait
upon 1t. We cannot intelligently or
wisely decide how large a naval or
military force we shall maintain or
what u policy with regard to mill
tary. training IL to be until we have
peace not'only, but also until we know
now peace is to be sustained, whether
by the arms Of single nations or by the
concert Of all the great peoples. And
there Is more than that difficulty in
VOWED. The vast%surplus properties Of
the army, include"not food and cloth
ing merely, whose sale will affect nor
NAL production, but great manufac-
turing establishments which should
be restored to their former uses,
great stores Of machine tools and all
sorts of merchandise which must lie
idle until. peace and military policy
are definitely determined. BY the
same token there a be no properly
studied national budget until then.
"The nations that ratify the treaty,
such as Great Britain, Belgium and
ENr0 nNa yryt1I In tn - ~4r{<;4s - I~-
their plans for controlling the markets
of central Europe without competi-
ton from us. If we do not presently
act. We have no consular agents, no
trade representatives there to look
after u interests.
Future Of Europe.
There are large areas Of Europe
whose future will lie uncertain and
questionable until their people know
the final settlements of peace and the
forces which are to administer and
sustain it. Without determinate mar
kets our production. cannot proceed
with intelligence or confidence. There
can be no sterilization of wages be-
cause there can be no settled condi-
lions of employment. There a be no
easy nor normal industrial credits be-
cause there can be no confident or
permanent revival of business.
But I will not weary you with OBJ
vious examples. I will only venture to
life amongst us depends upon and
awaits the ratification Of the treaty
Of peace; and also that we cannot at
ford to lose a single summers day by
not doing all that w can to mitigate
the winters, suffering which, unless
we find e to prevent it, may prove
disastrous to a large portion Of the
world and may, at its worst, bring
upon Europe conditions even more
war itself.
Doubts Only Obstacle.
Nothing, I am led to believe,
stands in the way of the ratification
of the treaty except certain doubts
with regard to the meaning and impli-
cation of certain articles of the cove
nant of the League of Nations; and I
must frankly say hat I am unable to
understand why such doubts should
be entertained. You will recall that
when I had the pleasure Of a confer
ence with your committee and with
the committee of h house Of repre-
sentatives on foreign affairs at the
White House in March last the ques-
tons now most frequently asked about
the League Of NaSions were all cam
vassed, with a view to their immediate
Qualification. The covenant of the
league was then in its draft subject to
revision. It was pointed out that no
express recognition was given to the
Monroe doctrine, that it was not
specifically decided hat the league
should have no authority to act or to
express a judgment on matters Of do
nestle policy, that the rights to with
draw from the league was not ex-
pressly recognized and that the con-
stitutional right of the congress. to de-
termine all questions of peace and war
was not sufficiently safeguarded. On
my return to Paris all these matters
were taken up again by the commits
sion on the League of Nations and ev-
cry suggestion Of the United States
was accepted.
Accept U. IS. View.
1.-THE view of the United States with
regard to the questions I have men,
toned had, in fact, already been &C
cepted with them in the draft Of the
covenant first adopted-the draft
which was the subject Of our discus
sion In March-but no objection was
made to saying explicitly in the text
! what all had supposed to be implicit
In 1t. There was absolutely no doubt
as to the meaning of any one of the
resulting provisions Of the covenant in
the minds of those who participated
IN drafting them and I respectfully
submit that there Is nothing vague or
doubtful In their working.
Monroe Doctrine.