The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-07-12

night.
"The League Of Nations comes to
us" said the Senator, "after its prin-
cipal members have been gorged with
territory, with their boundaries and
limits increased beyond the widest
dreams, and with other immense
tracts of the worlds surface yet to be
distributed among them. After these
accessions of territory, when each of
the four great nations possesses lands
far greater than ever before, the one
going solvent national concern on
earth, the United States, undertakes
by Article 10 of the League of Ma
tions Covenant, to guarantee forever
these extraordinary territorial limits"
Repeatedly Senator Johnson as
serted, with the greatest emphasis,
that Article 10, which has been des-
cribed by its advocates as the "heart"
of the League covenant, was designed
solely to preserve for all time exist
ing governments and their territor-
ial integrity.
"How can any man of liberal views
agree to Article 10?" he exclaimed.
"When / speak of men of liberal
views | mean those who believe gov
ernment's obligation is first to men
and women and children. The Sec
ton freezes the world into immutab
ility. 1t arrogates to those of us
who are here today knowledge su-
perior to that of all those who shall
come hereafter. 1t makes the pre-
sent generation decide the fate of all
future generations. 1t takes no heed
of new world events, of ever-changing
advances and progress. 1t assumes
today to be the end, and that the men
of today may write the history of
tomorrow. 1t assumes to put the
world in rait-jacket, wherein there
can be no movement for betterment
or progress of humanity. But be-
yond and above all this, the main
tenance of the static condition can
be accomplished by the blood of just
one nation, and that is ours"
The Senator said that he "iterat-
ed and reiterated" that the League
of Nations pledges Americans to
place their sons under European and
Asiatic command in European and
Asiatic disputes, controversies and
wars.
"The advocate of the League of
Nations who denies this" he declar-
ed, "is either woefully ignorant or,
what is worse, endeavors to deceive
his people"
He said that common expression
among apologize proponents of the
League of Nations is "half a loaf is
better than none"
But" he continued, "half a loaf
poisoned is worse than none at all,
and this half loaf, as some of its
protagonists describe it, that has
been given us is poisoned in its very
creation by wrong, injustice, dupli-
city, and unbroken faith. 1t was
neither fair nor just nor humane,
when the world wanted peace, to de-
lay that peace until the territorial
acquisitions, like those of Japan,
should be for all time guaranteed.
When the peoples of every country,
staggering under the terrible effects
of war, were longing and praying for
its end by the treaty, were begging
and pleading that they might resume
as best they could their normal
lives, it was the worst sort of dup
licity to intcrtwine and intelmingle
with the treaty of peace a document
for the maintenance of existing gov
ernments and newly acquired bound
aries. Some day some one must
answer to the soldiers who have
kept aboard, to those who will be
sent aboard, to the mothers and the
fathers at home, for seven months
of intermeddling that ar English do
cument guaranteeing the British and
Japanese Empires and the Kingdom
of Italy might be fastened upon the
American people"
Referring to the amendment al,