The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-01-02

"'lSHt, ~ come down TO the concrete
affairs of the world, to say to those
who must MI the trenches and fight
battles in case the league calls for
war that that is what is expected
from them in the beginning. when
We reach that point, however. not a
single one seems willing to accept the
proposition. 1t is explained or modi-
fed or as in the case of the senator
from Illinois, rejected.
Mr.. Balfour has been quoted time
and again as favoring a league of ma
lions. l want to read a paragraph or
two fom a debate in which Mr.. Bal
four stated what he meant BY "a lea
que of nations" which seems to me,
after he got through with it, was moth
ing more than an old lady's internal
tional quilting society He said:
ut is quite easy to imagine a court
representing all the nations--a court
which would have the same relations
to nations that the supreme court in
Ehiiti lOtl IlelS " lllt SldlSS III aHltIlIS
But the supreme court of America,
which my right honorable friend truly
said was a court of as high authority
as any court in the world, is court
whose DEGREES are enforced from one
end of the United States to the other
and has behind it the organized police
of the United States, and my right
honorable friend forgot to tell us
where an international police was to
be found likely to enforce the con-
tracts between one nation and anoth-
er and to see that any default Of pub
lie justice and international dealings
should be forbidden. He must have
felt, think, himself, when he was de-
veloping this scheme of his for the en-
forcement of treaties, that it did want
the basis on which all enforcement of
contracts in a country rests; that is, it
had not behind it the power of the law
to enforce the decision of the court"
Then the speaker gives us clearly to
understand that Great Britain will
hardly turn over to a tribunal which
Great Britain does not create the pow
er to use her army and her navy to
enforce the DEGREES Of some other tri-
bunal. He continues:
Therefore so far I agree that the
economic weapon-the power of i'm
posing tariffs in certain cases--may be
so misused as to amount to very
great international outrage But l do
not think that any country will con-
sent to abandon the idea of putting on
tariffs if it's own economic needs, hon
estly and modestly conceived. require
that to be done. My right honorable
friend is justly entitled to speak for
the great organized industries of this
country, but l do not believe in the
long run that labor in this country
would consent to give up its power OF
dealing, if necessary, by tariffs witt
the economic problems which may
arise. If no doubt there was universe
free trade enforced by some court o.
law, it might certainly would-ad(
to the wealth of the world and Nigh
not greatly injure their populations
But | venture to think that that prop
osition is driving the abstract econom
ic theory to impossible limits. How
ever that may be, I think the plal
which my right honorable friend in
dtcates is one which he would not fin
communities would assent to.
would be impossible, among othe
things, because so many countrie
must have tariffs
And so forth.
| So he rejects also the enforcement
of the DEGREES through economic pro
cesses. Then he says, further:
HE again told us that the league O
nations could only succeed If Their
was general disarmament. If Their
was universal freedom Of trade,
there was universal arbitration, and
everybody believed in the success @
those methods. | thought that las
proviso showed that my right honor
able and gallant friend had clearly ap
pretended, as. indeed, his whole speec
showed, what the difficulty of nj
scheme was. The scheme is based o
universal disarmament. Universe
disarmament can only be tolerated b
states which believe that they are Sc
cure from invasion, and they VIII nc
believe that they are secure from IN
yasion unless and until they feel con
fidence in the international arrange
ment which is to stop war. so tina
the whole scheme, / will not say move
in a circle, but depends upon Peep
, having a conviction that their schen
will succeed, and that conviction
f based upon the fact that there Is un
( yersal disarmament. while unlVers
/ disarmament could only take place
e the event Of their being persuade
Y that the machinery for keeping u
peace of the world is going to be SUI
a cessful."
g So Mr.. President. the able gentl
e man who Is quoted throughout Il
e land as being in favor of league
d enforce peace, first, rejects a superb
s ternational court with an army to el
o force it's DEGREES; second, he rejects t
C proposition of an economic emorc
v ment of its DEGREES; third, he ridicul