The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1919-04-18
THE BEST THoucHT or THE
WORLD

the first draft Of the constitution or
the league of nations. and his speech
in support of it, which was pron0unc-
ed most earnest, eloquent and i'm
pressive, he was followed by Dir.
Leon Bourgeois of France, and will
the critics, DIRECTORS and obstruction.
lists, who try to convey the impress
sion that it is a league with Great
Britain, please give ear to what this
loyal Frenchman said:
81 rise to express the deep salts
faction of all. and of France more
than any other country, because she
is among the countries who have suf'
fered most, to see the unity of our
wills and of our hearts In passion
ate adhesion to the principles of the
league Of nations.
"That act of faith ~e shall do in
a spirit of cordiality and good will
that has been that of the committee.
Under the eminent Craftsmanship
of President Wilson the committee
has worked with all their hearts to
attain this great object"
This eminent Frenchman said that
the result OF the conference was not
complete, but was making an honest
effort to be discussed and to be ex-
amined not only by it, but by the pub.
lie opinion of the world.
Then, continuing, he said:
I'VE rise to prevent the renewal
of war like that which we have just
seen; we rise at the appeal of all
those who have fallen to spare their
offspring the renewal of such an Or
deal. We are persuaded that no war
in the future can be limited to a
small area.
"The interdependence Of the diffcr-
emit carts and different interests OF
the world has become such that no
conflict can be limited. It is that the
whole world may keep itself fr1m
danger that we today have ordained
that right and Justice must be the
basis of settlement in all the confer
ences. In the view of just people
there are no small and NO great
states. All are and all will be equal
before the principle of international
justice. and in the tribunal that will
give the decisions the judges will SIT
not as the representatives Of one par
ticular nation, but as the representa-
tives of international right"
Baron Mikano OF Japan. yoicing
the same sentiments. said:
81 beg to ada another voice to echo
the congratulatory speeches that
have been made ON the presentation
of document which is perhaps the
most important document that has
been compiled by the hand OF man.
"The great leaders, with staunch
purpose, have personified this great
movement. movement involving in
tricate problems of divers nations,
and they deserve the gratitude Of
their fellow men for successfully III
loting to this advanced stage a most
effective instrument for the maintan-
ance of the peace Of the world"
M. Venizelos of Greece joined in
and expressed the same cordial SEN
timents, saying in part as follows:
"Tae representative of Japan has
very aptly expressed my own thought
when he said that the hand of man
never wrought more important doc
ument"
And Signor Orlando also expressed
the feeling that is in all our hearts
when he said that we owe the bene-
fits of this great act to the blood Cf
all those who have "died for the lib,
erty oil the world"
Mr.. Wellington Koo of China, rep
resenting one-third of the population
of the world, expressed his great sat
isfaction and pleasure over the spirit
of fairness and business which pre-,
vailed at the conference.
From his speech we quote this
brief extract:
Thanks to the able leadership of
President Wilson and also to the mu-
tual cooperation of all members of
the commission, we are now at last
in possession of an instrument which,
as my distinguished colleague from
Japan has already said, Is to be a
memorable document in history, a
document which, to my mind, wilt
serve as a bulwark against interna,
tional restlessness and a guarantee