Arizona republican., 1919-02-22
TAT I DEFENDS
 NATION LEAGUE
 bORAH ASSA|LS
Says He Was Misquoted- That Monroe Doctrine Is Safeguarded-Senate At tacks Bitter.

Safeguarded-Senate At
 tacks Bitter.
 SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 2l.-- William Howard Taft, president of the league to enforce peace, gave out a statement here today in which he reiterated his assertion that those who oppose" the proposed league of nations covenant "on the ground that we should maintain the so-called policy against entangling alliances, have narrow vision of our national duty"
 He declared he was confident that without specific provision the league of nations would, under the covenant as it is, maintain the justice and wis dom of the whole Monroe doctrine"
 He denied the charge that the Carne- gie peace foundation was financing the congresses of the league to enforce peace the next of which will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 Mir. Taft issued the following state ment:
 At this distance from Washington, while travelling night and day and ad dressing large audiences four and five times a day at the congresses, it is
 
 statements and events occurring in Washington, and elsewhere. This necessarily delays answer to questions put and charges made by opponents of tlfe league in the senate and elsewhere. Even now I have not secured an authentic account in full of Senator Borah's so-called open letter to me in reference to the Monroe doctrine, or the charges against me said to have | mi. T I wish now to answer them with such | limited adviceS as 1 have had as to their nature.
 Was Misquoted
 T observe I have been misquoted | in dispatches from San Francisco. | | have been made to say that I would not trust senators opposing this treaty over night What 1 said was this: I yielded to no man in my profound re- spect for the constitution Of the 1 United States as the greatest funda- mental instrument ever struck from the brain of man, but it made me inn patient to see a perversion of it's meaning and purpose urged in order 10 keep this great country out of a covenant to secure pease among men; that among those engaged in this were men whose adhesion to the guarantees of CIVIL liberty in that great inStru- ment and the means of maintaining them through the courts, had not been conspicuous in the past and whose dis position to amend or weaken them in the past made me feel that I would hesitate to trust them with the con- stitution over night
 T have said that those who oppose this covenant on the ground that we should maintain the so-called policy against entangling alliances and would withdraw SuS again into an im- possible status of world isolation with : out responsibility for the peace of the world, have a narrow vision of our na- tional duty. They fail to realize our enormous power of assistance to the world in securing peace by concert
 Thus they minimize Americas proper part as a factor in the advance of civilization. They thereby belittle America and become little Americans.
 Tn reference to Senator Borah's
 question whether l would recommend
 an amendment to the covenant of Paris
 specifically reserving from its re-
 strictions any limitation of the power
 of the United States to enforce the Monroe doctrine, l have to say l be-
 lieve the whole spirit and essence of
 the covenant is not only to preserve
 the Monroe doctrine in the western p utullSpileTS DuL a1SO to e&lenQ IL 10 the world, and to give it the sanction not Q of the United States alone, but also Q the whole league of nations. This is V particularly and specifically shown in Q article X of the covenant. If it be said
 that article X does not prevent a for . eign nation from buying it's way into Q territorial ownership and political Q power in the western hemisphere, with q out the consent of the United States
 and other American powers, then ] = doubt that if before the covenant is . signed and embodied in the treaty of e peace the concert of nations at Paris 1t will consent to have such a provision g inserted, and, of course, 1 would favor if this.
 No Truth in Financing Charge y But personally l am confident that . without this specific provision the V league would under the covenant as i e IS, maintain the justice and justice y of the whole Monroe doctrine Now doe!
 Senator Borah agree to support tn, g league if the specific amendment h, IS asks be adopted?
 m Tn respect to the charge that tn, in Carnegie Peace Foundation is payin, 5 me or financing in any way thes l. congresses, I have only to say that i D. is utterly false. The expenses of tn
 irlp ana Ol the Wl0le National Leag u 5- to Enforce Peace are met by a fun l. of voluntary contributions of its mem T. bers, The Carnegie Fund has not con V. tributed a dollar to that fund. Its te 'Wle W speakers, who have attended leagu o congresses on the circuit have not re ,rt ceived a. cent of compensation for month of hard work. They have ha
 their travelling expenses paid from tt
 league funds, to which they them
 selves have made substantial cor
 tributions.''
 Borah's Assault is Hard
 WASHINGTON, Feb. 21.-Criticis ,> ing the league of nations as ''the mo radical departure" from Presidel k Washington's policies and as spellir III the end of the Monroe doctrine, Sen;
 tor Borah, of Idaho, republican men
 Der of the foreign relations committe
 declared today in the senate that b. ,au fore the plan was adopted the Amer his can people should be allowed to gi id verdict on it.
 ter The Idaho senator. who recently q md clined President Wilson's invitation the White House conference next we
 to discuss the league constitution, d eau clared the United States should stea lin, fastly cling to Americanism as eta eur lished by the fathers and as recent The defined by former President Rooseve the He charged former President Taft wi
 making misleading statements aho aris the effects of the leagues plan