The Washington herald., 1919-03-05
Tragedy in Hopes European People
Have Placed in Covenant of League,
Wilson Says in New York Speech


speak at the Metropolitan Opera
House tonight. He said:
MY fellow citizens. l accept the
intimation of the air just played;
/ will not come back "till its over.
over there" Applause.)
And yet, I pray God in the in d.
terest of peace and of the world
that that may be soon. (Ap-
plause)
THE first thing am going TO
tell the people on the other side
of the water Is that an oyerwhelm-
ring majority of the American peo-
pie Is in favor of the league of
nations. (Applause) l know that
that is true. I have had unmis-
taxable intimations Of it from all
parts of the country, and the
voice rings true A. every case.
High TriBsfe to Taft.
"I account myself fortunate to
speak here under the unusual cir
cumstances OF this evening. 1 am
happy to associate myself with
Mr.. Taft in this great cause. (Ap-
plause.) He has displayed an ele-
walton OF view. and a devotion to
puDllC uulNs "DlCIt 10 btyOiiu
praise. (Applause.)
And / am the more happy be-
cause this means that this is not a
party issue. (ApplauseD No party
has the right to appropriate this is
sue and no party will in the long
run dare oppose it. (AppplauseO
We have listened to so clear and
admirable an exposition of many
of the main features of the pro-
posed covenant of the league of
nations, that it is perhaps not
necessary for me to discuss in any
particular way the contents of the
document l will seek rather tn
give you its setting
II do not know when have been
more impressed than by the con-
ferences of the commission set up
by the conference of peace to draw
up a covenant for the league of
nations. The representatives of
fourteen nations sat around that
board-not young men. not men in
experienced in the affairs of their
countries, not men inexperienced
in the politics of the world; and
the inspiring influence of every
meeting was the concurrence OF
purpose on the part of all those
men to come TO an agreement and
an effective working agreement
with regard 10 this league OF the
civilized world.
None Dared to Shirk.
There was conviction in the
whole impulse. There was convic-
ton of more than one sort. There
was the conviction that this thing
ought to be done, and there was
also the conviction that not a man
there would venture to go home
and say that he had not tried to do
it. Applause.)
Mr.. Taft has set the picture
for you of what a failure of this
great purpose would mean. We
have been hearing for all these
weary months that this agony Of
war has lasted of the sinister
purpose of the Central Empires,
and We have made maps of the
course that they meant their
COnQuests to take. Where did
the lines of that map lie, of that
central line that we used to call
from Bremen to Bagdad? They
lay through these very regions
to which Mr.. Taft has called
your attention. but they lay then
through united empire, the Aus
Hungarian Empire, whose in
tegrity Germany was bound to
respect as her ally lay in the
path of that line of conquest; the
Turkish Empire whose interests
she prOfessed to make her own
lay in the direct path that she
intended to tread.
And now what has happened?
The AustrO- Hungarian Empire
has gone to pieces and the Turk
ish Empire has disappeared zap
plause), and the nations that eff
fected that great result-for it
was a result of liberation-are
now responsible as the trustees
of the assets of those great ma
tions Capplause)
Would Curb Intrigue.
You not only would have
weak nations lying in this path.
but you would have nations in
which that old poisonous seed of
intrigue could be planted with
the certainty that the crop would
be abundant; and one of the
things that the league of nations
Is intended to watch is the course
of intrigue. Intrigue cannot
stand publicity and If the league
of nations were nothing but a
great debating society it would
kill intrigue. 1t is one of the
agreements of this covenant that
it is the fSiendly right of every
nation a member of the league,
to call attention to anything that
it thinks will disturb the peace
of the world, no matter where
that thing is occurring. CAP
plause).
There is no subject that may
touch the peace of the world
which is exempt from inquiry
and discussion and 1 think every
body here present will agree
with me that Germany would
never have gone to war If she
had permitted the world to dis
cuss the aggression upon Serbia
for a single week. CApplause).
THE British Foreign Office sug-
gested, it plead, that there might
be a day or two delay so that the
representatives of the nations of
Europe could get together and dis
cuss possibilities Of a settlement.
Germany did not dare permit
days discussion. You know what
happened. So soon as the world
realized that an outlaw was at
large. the nations began one by
one to draw together against her.
League Warning to Outlaws.
I'VE know for n certainty that if
Germany had thought for a mo-
ment that Great Britain would go
in with France and with Russia