The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-07-11


the uneasy partnership between Aus
trta and Hungary had been one
rather OF interest than Of kinship or
sympathy.
Slavs when Austria has chosen to
force into her empire are kept to
their obedience by nothing but fear.
Their hearts were with their kins-
men In the Balkans These were all
arrangements OF power, not arrange
ments OF, natural union or association.
1t was the imperative task Of those
who would make peace and make II
inteiligently to establish a new order
which. would rest upon the free
choice of peoples rather than upon
arbitrary power of Hapsburgs or
Hohenzollerns.
More than that. great populations
bound by sympathy and actual kin to
Rumania were also linked against
their will to the conglomerate Aus
tro-Hungarian monarchy or to other
alien sovereignties and 1t was part of
the task OF the peace conference to
make new Rumania as well as a
new Slavic state clustering about
Serbia. And no natural frontiers
could be found to these new fields Of
adjustment and redemption. 1t was
necessary to look constantly forward
to other related tasks. The German
colonies were to be disposed of. They
had not been governed; they had
been exploited merely. without
thought of the interest or even the
ordinary human rights Of their In
habitants.
Turkish empire. moreover, had
rAllen apart. As the Austro- Hungarian
had It had never had any real unity.
It had been held together only by pitt
less. inhuman force. It's people cried
aloud for release, for succor from un-
speakable distress, for all that the
new day Of hope seemed at last to
bring within its dawn. Peoples
hitherto IN utter darkness were to be
led out into the same light and given
ct last q helping hand. Undeveloped
peoples and peoples ready for recog-
milton but not yet ready to assume
the full responsibilities OF statehood
were to be given adequate guarantees
Of friendly protection. guidance and
assistance.
And out Of the execution Of these
enterprises of liberty sprang oppor-
tunities to attempt what statesmen
had never found the way before to
do: an opportunity to throw safe
guards about the rights of racial. ma
tional and religious minorities by
solemn International covenant; an
opportunity to limit and regulate mill
tary establishments where they were
most likely to be mischievous: an op-
portunity to effect a complete and
systematic Observation-Disclosures of
waterways and railways which were
necessary to the free economic life
or more than one nation and to clear
many OF the normal channels of COM
meree of unfair distractions or of law
or OF privilege; and the welcome op-
portunity TO secure for labor the con-
certed protection OF definite interna-
tional pledges OF principle and prac-
tce. These were not tasks which the
conference looked about IL to find
and went out of it's way to perform
They were inseparahle from the set
Elements OF peace. They were thrust
upon 1t by circumstances which could
NOT he overlooked. The war had
created them.
J In all quarters OF the world old es-
tab,ished relationships had been dis
turbed or were broken and affairs
were at loose ends. needing to be
mended or united again. but could
not be made what they were before.
They had TO be set right by applying
some uniform principle of justice or
enlightened expediencv and they
could not be adjusted by merely pre-
scrIh1ng in a treaty what should be
done.
New State Set Cp.
New states were to be set up which
could not hope to live through their
first period of weakness without as
sured support by the great nations
that had consented to their creation
and won for them their dependence
Ill-governed colonies could not be pu.
In the hands OF governments which
were to act az trustees for their peo-
pie and not as their masters 10 there
was to be no common authority
among the nations to which they
were to be responsible in the execu-
ton of their trust.
Future international conventions
with regard TO the control of water
ways, with regard to Illicit trafiic OF
many kinds. in arms or In deadly
drugs, or with regard to the adjust
ment OF many varying international
administrative ARRANGEMENTS could
not be assured II the treaty were to
provide permanent common interna-
tional agency, IL its execution in such
matters was to be left to the slow and
uncertain processes of cooperation
by ordinary methods Of negotiation.
II the peace conference itself was TO
be the end OF cooperative authority
and common counsel among the gov
ernments to which the world was
looking to enforce justice and give
pledges OF an enduring settlement,
regions like the Saar basin could not
be put under a temporary admins
trative regime which did not involve
a transfer OF political sovereignty
and which contemplated a final de-
termination OF its political connec-
tons by popular vote to be taken al
a distant date; no free city like Dan
zig could he created which was under
international guarantees to accept
exceptional obligations with regard
to the use of its port and exceptional
relations with a state of which II was
not to form a part; properly safe
guarded plebiscites could not be pro-
vtded for where populations were al
some future date to make choice
what sovereignty they would live un-
der: no certain and uniform method
of-arbitration could be secured for the
settlement Of anticipated difficulties
tr nnal decision WITH regard to many
matters dealt with in the treaty itself:
the long continued supervision Of the
task OF reparation which Germany
was to undertake to complete within
the next generation might entirely
break down: the reconsideration and
revision OF administrative arrange
ments and restrictions which the
treaty prescribed. but which 1t was
recognized might not prove OF last
ing advantage or entirely fair il too
long enforced. would be impracti-