The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1919-09-11
TRYING TO KILL
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
Senators Are ResortIno to the o'd
Parliamentary Device OF k''''no
by Amendment

! fal plotters against the League Cove
nant is plain to the view. Tney are
trying to kill the League OF Nauons'
The law assumes that men intend
the necessary consequences OF tneH
own acts II the action these Sena-
tors urge upon the Senate 10 taKen'
It win necessarily destroy the League.
They do not even seek to conceal
their purpose. They are resortlns
to the old parliamentary device oi
killing by amendment. Mr.. Knoxs
hostile resolution, which has gone 10
| ira death. has been abandoned fora
Qualifying resolution" 1t is intended
that the Senate shall declare in this
resolution that its ratification OF the
Treaty of Peace, SO tar as 1t apphes
| to the League of Nations, shall pc
without effect so far as the United
| States is concerned until the otner
nations signing the Treaty shall agree
to certain reservations, which are 10
be substantially those recommended
by Senator Root. The Washington
correspondent of The Times asked
Senator Knox what would happen IL
the allied nations decline to accept
these reservations. THE United
States in that event would be outside
the League Of Nations" Mr.. Knox
replied. with smile. Without the
United States the League would be
a lame and impotent organization; IN
all probability it would fall to pieces.
Therefore, we may start from the
postulate that Senator Knox. Senator
Lodge, Senator Borah, Senator John
son and their associates fully intend
the death Of the League OF Nations
and are taking measures to that end.
But what is their Interior aim!
Merely to prevent the erection OF
safeguards against the greatest cause
of human suffering cannot be tho
whole end and aim of their plotting.
We know that they have a political
purpose-to express their hatred OF
PRESIDENT WILSON, to discredit
him and thereby advance the fortunes
of the Republican party. Their tao
tics and their utterances disclose that
motive, it is charged against them by
responsible leaders of their own
party. But by what strange perverted
process Of argument have they per
suaded themselves that the success OF
their desperate plot against the
League Covenant would improve the
chances of the Republicans in the
Presidential election next year?
The country is against them. The
great sober minded, reasonable. and
patriotic mass of their own party IL
against them. Is practically certain
that they cannot command the sup
port Of the majority Of the Republican
Senators in their desperate adventure.
That the Republican party at large
condemns their procedure is made
evident by authoritative utterances in
many States of the Union. An ex-
President and an x-Attorney- General
OF their own party have condemned
them. More than score of repre-
sentative Republicans In this city
united the other day in a remon-
STRANGE against the course they are
pursuing. In the West, newspapers Of
high standing and OF unquestioned
loyalty to the party are outspoken in
denunciation OF the thing they are
trying to do. The st. Louis Globe
Democrat, a great and influential
newspaper OF answering fidelity to
Republican principles, declares that
"a large proportion of the Republican
press favors the League, and there
are but few important Republican
that are uncompromisingly
against It," In support Of this asser-
ton it reproduces upon its editorial
page in its issue Of June %, FIVE col
umns of editorial expressions from
newspapers of promi
nence, all deploring the unwise and
dangerous course of the Senatorial |
Of the League. Among
these newspapers are The Los
Angeles Times, The Portland Oregon
ian, one Of the great papers Of the
Pacific coast; The Des Moines Reg |
lister, a representative Republican
paper; The Salt Lake Tribune, an
other sound Republican newspaper,
The Topeka Capital and the Globe
Democrat.
The Globe Democrat calls attention
to the adoption OF resolutions en-
dorsing the League Covenant by the
vote of 29,750 to 42e
BY the American Federation of Labor;
to the resolution of the Federation OF
Women's Clubs, representing 1000. 900 4
women, declaring Its approval of the
revised Covenant Of the League: It
points out that in canvass OF asri-
cultural papers published in forty
.hree States, only one Of sixty-eisht
opposed ratification of the Treaty
With the League and sixty-four un- Il
lualifiedly favored it. The attitude
If the Church In favor of the Cove
liant has been made known from hun
lreds Of pu1pits. Says the Globe
Democrat: Here we have labor. II
agriculture. the Church. the women,
md probably business supporting the
league From what source would the
Party draw . conouerfne