The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1919-01-28
THE PEAc EcoNFERENcE AT WORK.

to business and held its first preliminary sitting Ther
is no doubt regarding the popular impotence with wha
was regarded a quite unnecessary amount Of prelm
mary canterng and marching and countermarching o
the forces of peace Lord Northce, who generally ha
his finger pretty closely on the public pulse, gave ope
expression in the columns of the press he controls tn
public impotence at the long time occupied in preminar
discussion.
AS most of this discussion was secret the world vii
probably know how far these long delays jus
tilted how deep in many instances the divergence
of views separating even the allied nations 1t might hav
been fatal to have met in public assembly till the varOu
differences were smOothed away by private negotiations
Public discussion does not always make for peace; on tn
contrary the consciousness of listening gallery Otter
makes each side defend it's views in public with VIC
ence and asperity it would not display in private
is only after repeated private rehearsas that acto
knows his part and present to the best advantage
1t is therefore only meet that the of the creates
drama the world has ever seen the proagonists shou'
appear the word-stage in full possession Of all thel
means as to play their parts worthly.
The conference can not be reproached the prem
mary period was over with having failed to plunge
once Sin medals res" The first resolution put solemn!
record the need for the establishment Of league O.
nations, the necessity Of nqurng into the responsible
ty of the authors Of the war; and after these responsible
ties have been ascertaned the taking of steps for th'
punishment of the guilty the fixing of the reparaton due
to the nations which have suffered from the aggression
of the guilty parties the amount time and place OF pay
ment the necessity of drafting international legislation or
industrial and labor questions and of establishing inter
national control of ports, waterways and railways 4
significant that there is reference to the much dis
cussed question of the liberty of the unless this be
included in the clause regarding ports and waterways
The new league of nations is only sketched in the mos
general terms except in far is provided that i
shall inject periodically in international conference anC
shall have permanent organization and secretaries t.
carry the business of the league between the confer
ences So far the idea put forward in the resolution
seems to be the creation of rather than inter
national parliament. Such organization would be {
sort Of glorifed Hague tribunal 1t remains to be seer
if the peace conference work out some machiner,
by which such worldcour would be enabled to enforce
its DEGREES This is the Of the whole problem There
reason in theory why the tribunal of The Hague
should not have made all war-especialy the one thu
world has just passed through-impossible. It's veal
point was that it only appealed to moral law and wa
without means of enforcing its decisions.
1t is the task of the Paris conference to fill up this la
cuna devise machinery of enforcing the decision
of the league of nations which will be accepted in advance
by all of them sincerely and without 'arriere pensee' o.
any kind That this to certain degree entails the aban
donmen of sovereignty the part of the states adhern
to the league is beyond all doubt The question is Have
the horrors of decision by force of so impressed
themselves on the public mind all the world as to in
duce the various states to make the necessary sacrifice
to prevent their recurrence in the future? If this is thu
case then should be possible to reach arrangement
by which superpower superior to state power, may be
created.
But if the desire for selfish profit and advantage should
still be ruling force will be difficult to set up powe
to which all must bow. In any nober problem
ever placed before any human assembly and the WORLD
will follow with sympathy skeptcsm according to be-
efs or temperament the abor of the peace conference
1t will have no difficulty in applying the acid test tc
the intentions of those taking part in it, there
of questions pending which will at once apply the
Of nationality questions of terri
tory questions of predomnance. If the states united
around the peace table at Paris the necessary
negaon to solve them justly and in the interest Of the
public peace then the future assuerd and the league
of nations can enter life of usefulness But if
Of allied powers who have just fought shoulder to
shoulder the greatest in the history of the world
not make here and now the necessary sacrifices what hope
is there for a future millennium Washington Post
The cost Of additional street light at the Church
street railway crossing would not be very great The
ton of light at this point might the city several
thousand dollars in damage suits before very much onper