The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1919-09-12

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treaties are bad. The system is bad,
and some of the provisions of these
particular treaties are bad. The pro-
visions of the secret treaties, or some
Of them, were insisted upon by the
nations participating in them, and
were incorporated in the peace treaty
What the critics overlook, however,
is the fact that international relation
ships in Europe heretofore have al
ways been based upon secret treaties
European diplomacy knew no other
method. When Italy and Japan en-
tered into the war they merely fol.
lowed the invariable precedent of the
past by agreeing in advance upon
an after the war program, upon a
i division Of the spoils Of war, to put
it cOarsely. 1t was known that in the
event Of victory Germany's colonies
would be taken from her 1t was
natural and inevitable that England
and France and Japan should agree
In advance as to which of the colonies
should go to which,
a bad SYSTEM? Certainly, when
viewed from the standpoint of perfec-
ton But one the existence of which
had TO be accepted because it did
exist Sensible men who accept con
aOk
do otherwise than premise their &C
tions upon the existing cOnditi0nA
To reject a peace which in its en-
tirety is highly desirable, a peace
which in itself will bar all secret
| treaties in the future if the peoples
of the nations conserving to it insist
upon the carrying out of is plain pro-
visions, merely because it is based
in part upon secret treaties of the
past, would be utterly illogical.
This leads to another point Sena-
| tor Johnson objected to the treaty
| because it was made not by the peo-
pies of the nations which fought Ger
many but by their rulers. This is
partly true and partly untrue. The
attitude of the peoples of the various
nations; Of course, largely dictated
the position of their representatives
at Paris. So far as the European ma
tions are concerned, at least, those
representatives could not have re-
| mained in power but for the appro-
val Of their peoples. But this impOr-
tant fact is to be remembered in con-
nection with the future. The league
of nations will be what the peoples
of the nations composing it make it.
In practically every nation of the
world the people are assuming lar
ger powers in the control Of the gov
ernments. In practically every one
the political issue is no longer be-
/ tween the old time liberals and con-
serVatives; it is between the liberals
and the radicals. And both Of these
classes are interested in making the
league of nations a workable instru-
ment, responsive to the will of the
people. That is one of the chief
grounds of the reasonable nope that
! it will prove an effective agency for
the preservation of peace.
Senator Johnson is particularly
! concerned about article TO- If he had
his way he said, he would shut up
every American in a room for "a
hours and make them learn article
10 by heart. We, too, should like to
have that provision universally known
and to further the good work we
print it here verbatim:
| 1.-THE members OF the league un-
dertake to respect and preserve as
| against external aggression the ter
| ritOrial integrity and existing politi-
cal independence of all members of
the league. In case of any such ag-
gression, the council shall advise up
on the means by which this obliga-
tion shall be fulfilled"
The senator is anxious that every
one should read this article, but it is
apparent that he himself has not read
it Understandings. How else can he
explain his impassioned assertion to
his audience that you are asked to
guarantee with your blood" that
these territorial ARRANGEMENTS shall
stand for all time, and his even more
absurd statement that I'VE are asked
to guarantee the possession of Shan
tung by Japan for all time" Appar-
emily his eyes are blind to those
words, "as against external aggres-
sion" That means merely that Ger