The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1919-08-28


fcring which unless we find means to
p, event it, may prove disastrous to a
large portion of the world, and may
at its worst bring upon Europe con.
diicas even more terrible than those
b. ucht by 'be war itself.
,,nihing ( am led to believe, stands
in the way OF the ratification of the
treaty except doubts with regard to
the meaning and implication Of certain
articles OF the covenant OF the League
Of nations; and | must frankly say
that am unable TO understand why
such doubts should he entertained
You will recall that when / had the
pleasure Of a conference with yCur
committee and with the committee ui
the house of renrc au,alivcs on foreign
affairs at the White House in Mar i
last, the questions now most frequent
ly asked about the league Of nations
were all canvasscd with view to their
immediate clarificatiUn The covenant
Of the league was then in its first
draft and subject to revision. 1t was
pointed out that 10 express recognition
was given TO the Monroe Doctrine.
that it was not expressly provided that
the league should have no authority
TO act or to express a Judgment on
matters Of domestic policy, that the
right to withdraw from the league was
not expressly recognized and that the
constitutional rights of the congress to
letermine all questions Of peace and
war was not sufficiently saleguarded
On my return to Paris all these mat
ters were taken up again by the CON.
mission on the league of nations an
every suggestion of the United States
was accepted,
The view of the United States Will
regard to the questions | have men.
toned had, In fact, already been ac.
cepted by the commission and there
was supposed to be nothing incon.
sistent with them in the draft Of the
covenant first adopted, the draft which
was the subject of our discussion in
March, but no objection was made
to anything explicitly in the text thai
all had supposed to be implicit in it.
The Monroe Doctrine is expressly
mentioned as an understanding which
is in no way to be impaired, or inter.
fered with by anything contained in
the covenant and the expression re.
gional understanding like the Monroe
Doctrine" was used not because any
one Of the conference thought there
was any comparable agreement any
where else In existence or in contem-
plation, but only ebcause It was
thought best to avoid the appearance
Of dealing in such a document with
the policy of a single nation.
With regard to domestic questions.
Article Sixteen Of the covenant ex.
pressly provides that. il In case of any
dispute arising between members of
the league the matter involved is
claimed by one Of the parties "and is
found by the council to arise out of
a matter which by International law
is solely within the domestic jurisdic.
tion Of that party, the council shall so
report and shall make no recommends
tions as to its settlements"
The United States was by no means
the only government interested in the
explicit adoption Of this provision, and
there is no doubt in the mind Of any
authoritative student Of international
law that such matters as immigration,
tariffs, and naturalization are incon
testably domestic questions with
which, no international body could
deal,
The right OF any state to withdraw
had been taken for granted but no OBJ
lection was made to making 1t explicit.
Indeed, so soon as the views expressed
at the White House conference were
laid before the commission it was at
once conceded that 1t was best to
leave the answer to SO important
question to inference, No proposal
was mede to set up any tribunal 10
.a5s Judgment uron the CJesiio-
whether O witiGrg ing nation had n
fact filled "ajl its N erac:ioIai oh.
LEGATIONS ami all ,is oHiration under th
'oyenant' J. was Ie.,-nls d t.iGt tia.
Question mist be ly. ti ue resJ.v,d b.
the conscience o. a.. GJ,isu J.. .ngos!ai
to withdraw. and / 4, taat IL d,p
not seem tC me wOy, r...t 90 propose
that the article be made .., y g.. . b.
because / know that the United &C..
would never itself propose TO Withdraw
from the league II its conscience was
not entirely clear as TO the fulfilmeut
Of all Its international Obligations. II
has never failed TO fulfill them and never
will.
Article Ten is In no respect Of doubt
ful meaning when read in the light Of
the covenant as a whole The council
of the league can only advise upon"
the means by which the obligations OF
that great article are TO be given ef-
feet to, Unless the United States Is a
party to the policy or action In question,
her own affirmative vote In the council
is necessary before any advice can be
given for a unanimous vote of the coun-
Gil is required. If she Is a party, the
nous vote OF the council is only advice
in any case.
Each government is free TO reject It
II IL pleases. Nothing could have been
made more clear to the conference than
the right OF our congress under our
Constitution to exercise its independent
judgment in all matters OF peace and
war. No attempt was made 10 .question
or limit that right. The United states
will indeed undertake under Article Ten
to respect and preserve as against ex-
ternal aggression of the territorial in
tegrity and existing political indepen-
dence Of all members OF the league and