Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-03-11

organ, and it is doubtless due to that fact
that they are permanent form OF securing
peace among units which otherwise would be
in conflict Regular diplomatic conferences
and legislatures permit the units affected by
them to secure changes when new conditions
demand them, and, therefore, keep the struc-
ture up to date. Legislatures require much
more unity of the parts than can be secured
for any kind of league short OF an actual
federation.
For the looser political league diplomatic
conferences are the thing, but, simple this
seems, they have been extraordinarily difficult
to establish in practice. More than that, IL
has been almost impossible to get good de-
cisions from them. The reason Las been the
theory of sovereignty, on which thu balance
Of power WIS founded. Each natiCn by this
theory had an absolute right to do as it
pleased, and it "ccorlingly could no. be pound
by anyone else's decision. One state voting
against proposition was sufficient to kill it.
Nations did not consider that they owed any
thing to the good of the whole family of
nations, and each usually pursued a policy
of complete selfishness. The result was that
good decisions were seldom made. for good
decisions depend largely on compromising ex-
IRENE views, while sovereignty made each ma
tons adherence to its selfish viewpoint re-
spectacle and customary.
Lack Of JUSTICE The elements Of interna-
t1onal justice are many They are better
known and recognized today than ever before
because we have behind us the experience of
the past, and because we have at hand great
mass of the literature of political science,
which both interprets the past and charts
out the right path When, therefore, we say
that no leagues of the past deserved to sur
vive because they all contained grave injus-
tice in their makeup, we are stating fact,
not especially making criticism.
The series of leagues resulting from the
Westphalian settlement were unjust toward
the peoples of the countries whose interests
they should have forwarded. Instead, the
theory of the divine right of kings was in it's
heyday, and Europe from 1897 until 1888
was little more than the battle-ground of
dynasties for personal power. The justice of
those days was that of the strongest blow.
The Holy Alliance, alleged to be the fulfill
ment of the Scriptural command that all men
consider each other as brethren, soon became
the sinister vehicle to choke out the popular
aspirations for liberty. In 1920 its members
openly declared their desire ''to put check
on force not less tyrannical and less de-
testable than military tyranny, that of revolt
and crime" Today the revolutionary move
ments of those times are recognized as the
birth pangs of freedom and self-government
for Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Greece, and
the Spanish-American republics.
Most notable of all, however, was the ex-
perience of the Germanic contederatA@G.
This Teutonic league had every feature of
the program of the League of Nations we'll
developed in it. Yet it failed, because of
Prussia and Austria. From 1915 to 1866 it
was the biggest political unit in Europe, ex-
cept Russia, and behind it's protecting front
Prussia sucked its strength to herself, to fall
upon its next strongest member, Austria and
acquire still further strength by this faithless
act. During the existence of the confedera-
ton Prussia and Austria enjoyed the fruits
Of injustice by voting arrangement which
gave them practical control, and left the
league simply bone of contention between
them. This act of injustice is still unex-
plated, for the present German constitution
leaves Prussia alone the same commanding
position in that empire that she had to divide
with Austria in the earlier confede1 alton.
(Adapted from study outlines in the
"Homiletic Review for December 1918
Copyright by Funk G. Wagnalls Co., New
York City,
Ito Be Continued)