The Washington herald., 1919-12-14
AMERICA HAS WRECKED PEACE.
ACCORDING TO SOME BRTTONS
Better Have Let Huns Win Than Torpedo
League of Nations, Say Disappointed
Liberals While Tories Are Quite Happy.
ny JOHN LLOYD BALpERsroN.

London.-"America Torpedoes the
League Of Nationsv
I Thls screaming headline on the
contents bills OF the evening news
papers famed out along the Strand
when news came that the Senate
had adopted reservations which, In
London opinion. wreck the Paris
treaty. As l watched knots of peo-
pie gather before the news yenders /
was reminded of that other day
nearly hve years ago. when / saw.
also from a bus-top in the Strand, the
headline shouting from every cor
ner. Too Proud to Fight"
Britain. official Britain, as well as
the plain citizen, is dumbfounded by
the Senate's action. Newspaper dis
patches from Washington have for
days foretold what has happen ned.
but they were not believed. At this
writing the final action of the SEN
ate and the course of the President
are IN doubt. The situation may
change. but in Official circles here
1t Is now conceded that whatever
happens America will not subscribe
to the treaty agreed on in Paris.
and this story is an attempt to ex-
plain the view prevalent here OF
the very serious situation that now
confronts the world in consequence.
Tories Arc Happy.
The League of Nations is dead,
n the Senate reservations stand.
TINS opinion is universal. and causes
dismay and confusion in the minds
OF foreign office officials who have
been trying to work as though the
league already existed. 1t produces
rejoicing in the breasts of the old
time Tories and extreme Imperial
lists. who have hated the league be-
cause they feared II would prevent
England from seizing "a dominant
position in the world. Liberals and
those Unionists who followed Will
son in Paris, who believed in the
possibility of a new dispensation of
peace and justice, are overwhelmed
with dispair.
Last night and all today have
spent talking to official friends
whom ] have known during the
war. and to men representative of
business and financial interests.
America and the treaty was our one
topic, and I found every shade of
emotion from the delight of the old
crusted war-horse who told me that
now America had "abdicated' Brit
ain could take over and run the
whole world. to the gloom Of the
Liberal editor who remarked that
no such tragedy has befallen civ
ilization since the foundation of
christianity.
First, I propose to indicate the
Official view. or perhaps it would be
more accurate to say the first i'm
pressions produced on bewildered
officials, for the actual policy which
Britain will adopt to meet Americas
condemnation of the league cove
nant has not yet been discussed.
snys 1t Means Chaos.
The world Is placed in. desper-
ate position. these men say. by the
victory of the Lodge forces. Speak
ing frankly and personally. not
officially. a high official who took
part in the Paris negotiations said
to me today:
ut means chaos. Never in his
tory has there been such a situa-
ton. At the end of a great war
your President with the greatest
difficulty imposed upon the powers
in Paris a league of nations. We
all wanted to draw up the terms
first, and arrange a league of ma
tions afterwards, but he would not
have II so. He insisted upon the
league being created as the foun-
dation of the whole treaty. so tina,
the mandatory scheme and half the
territorial arrangements made later
were based on the league and un-
fortunately fall with the league
why do reservations made by
the Senate necessarily destroy the
league?" l asked.
Because such a league was i'm
possible without the full co-opera-
tion of the United States. You are
the only disinterested great power
The rest of US do not trust each
other sufficiently to form a league
or perhaps / should say that be-
cause our interests conflict in SO
many places we could not take
seriously a proposal that a league
of European states should have the
force.
Army Made II Practical.
But when Wilson agreed that the
economic and armed force of the
United States should in certain cases
be at the disposal of the council of
the league, the league became prac-
tical. We all know in Europe that
America would use her force over here
with extreme reluctance. and only In
just cause. We were all ready to
join in a league in which a great
outside. pacific country should guar
antee justice. see to it that no COM
binations inside the league should use
a n cy1Ia tn faarfh fka iraNA Df
one group Of countries against an
other. The reservations to article ten
| transform the league into a debating
society. You have first taken away
the only protection We had against
war. and now We are left defenseless
when you rob US of the substitute you
pressed on u.s.
This last remark was made with
much feeling. and 1 asked the official
to explain 1t.
Il mean," he went on. that IL Will
son had not rammed the league solu-
ton down our throats. We should have
sQuabbled for some months. in Paris
and at the end made a treaty dividing
the world into spheres of influence un-
DER the control OF the great European
nations. We should have gone back to
the principles Of the Congress Of
Vienna, and tried to reconstruct a
new balance of power. The old sys-
TEN was bad tangle, but it kept the
peace most Of the time. We should
| nave satisfied the ambitions of Brit
ain. France and Italy as nearly as
possible, and as for the rest, we should
have treated them as we used to treat
tine Balkans, in whatever way was
least likely to make trouble and cause
| wars.
Would Protect New Order.
But WILSON would not have it.