Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-08-18

truth of the Preamble to the Ameri-
can Constitution. 1t would have had
weight in the former case. 1t has
greater weight in the latter. In Arti-
Gle Y, the men of today are reaching
toward higher civilization. They are
building a temple of peace with
foundations laid broad and deep. so
that such a war as that which has
Just cursed the earth will never occur
again. q temple Of peace under whose
protecting arch the men of tomorrow,
with glad paeans of praise to the men
Of today. will go on enforcing the SUI
preme law of the world that Nation
Shall Not War Against Nation.
Will the adoption of the Covenant
nullify the Constitution? The Out
look. admittedly one of the foremost
weeklies of sane. rational, and keen
~ analytical thought. puts forth the
view that the proposed constitution"
of the League is simply a gentle
mans agreement" that IF Congress
ratifies this gentleman's agreement. i:
simply agrees to withhold the exer-
else of its Constitutional right to de-
clare war until it has submitted the
question to the League for discus
sion. 1t does not in the slightest de-
gree jeopardize it's Constitutional
privileges" No one claims that the
Covenant is a cure-all: but it is an
International union for peace prom
Using greater strength and dynamic
power than any other political COM
bination ever known to history. And
- 1ryr y,nuynr-hn-
cause the Covenant rests on the be-
lief that in union there is strength
the stronger the union. the greater
the strength--because it is founded
on righteousness. on the idea of
beneficent brotherhood and the ulti-
mate triumph Of the Golden Rule. we
may reasonably expect that men will
rise to higher. nobler plane. in
that wars. wasting and wanton wars.
will be known no more. Suppose the
League had been realized twenty
three years ago, twenty-five years
after German militarism first got a
strangle- hold on France. How differ
ent would have been the probable
from the actual world outlook dur
ing the past five years! For Ger
many experienced no greater surprise
or more unexpected action than the
entrance Of this country into the war
So that Germany would have been
compelled to bring her grievance be-
fore the League: or, If she had not
been a member of the League. with
her knowledge that the nine great
powers Of the Executive Council
would surely take Jurisdiction" the
Hun would not have hazarded his
heritage in defiance of the Interna-
tional Police Force of the World.
The very existence of this UNIQUE
force composed Of the pick" of the
armies and navies Of many nations.
will of itself prove the greatest de.
terent from war that the world has
yet known, the Big Stick" In fact.
the biggest kind of stick to keep the
bully and browbeater nation in place,
and to minimize bullets and blood
shed.
If man is an optimistic he be-
lieves in probabilities rather than
possibilities (for there is a great Diff
ference), he should favor the League.
If a man desires us to live up to our
oft-repeated declaration that such a
war must never happen again: II he
wishes to bring international law out
Of the dark ages by making war
against nations q CRIME; If he has
a right view OF our national re-
sponsibility as a world power that
took part In the war: IL he wishes to
substitute the appeal to reason for
the appeal to force; II he takes pride
in having his country be a darer,
and not a doubter, a leader, and not
a follower; II he wishes to have the
Shantung difficulty ultimately settled
in the right way: IL he wishes to
minimize the chances Of his country's
ever being brought again into such
situations as were caused by the war
and az are now being endured as a.
final result Of the war: finally, IL he
is anxious that we shall not, after all
the splendid things we have done. be
regarded by the rest Of the world a.
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