Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-06-09
Henry Lodge Keynote Before

and what it threatened. So the
| long debate began and it has
lasted for more than year. At
the outset that portion of the peo-
pie who wished an instantaneous
and unqualified acceptance of
covenant which most of them had
never read had possession in large
measure of the press and other
methods of obtaining publicity and
thus were able to keep up a con-
tinual cry for immediate ratifica-
ton. The vocal part of the COM
munity felt almost universally, as
! they listened to each others
voices, that the whole country was
with them, but they forgot the
great inarticulate masses of the
people who went silently about
their work AMI their business, who
did rot write letters TO the neWs-
papers or publish circulars or
spend millions in spreading Their
views through powerful organs
and active associations but who
simply loved their country and
thought first of the inte:ess vf
Amt RIGA. The debate in the ser
the speeches, they listened to the
arguments, and, what is far more
important, they began to read
and discuss the covenant of the
| league themselves, in the street,
by the f1resides, wherever men
and women meet together. They
began to understand the league,
They began to know what IT
meant They saw it was an al
lance and not a league for peace.
They saw that it did not mention
the Hague conventions which we
all desired to have restored as
foundations for further extensions,
did nothing for the development
Of international law, nothing for
world court and judicial de-
cisions, and nothing looking to-
wards an agreement as to dealing
with -justiciable questions.
These real advances toward pro-
noting peace, these constructive
measures were all disregarded and
the only court mentioned was
pushed into an obscure corner.
The people began to perceive
with an intense clearness that this
alliance, silent as to real peace
agreements, contained clauses
which threatened the very existence
of the United States as an indie
pendent power-threatened its SOW
ereignty, threatened it's peace,
threatened It's life. The masses OF
the people became articulate. PUB
lie opinion steadily changed and to-
day the number of Americans who
would be willing to accept the cove
nant of the league o. nations last
as the president brought Il oack
from Europe is negligible. The
American people will never accept
that alliance with foreign nations
proposed by the president. The
president meantime has remained
lnf1exible. He is determined to-
have that treaty as he brought Il
back or nothing and 10 that i'm
perious demand the people will re-
ply in tones which cannot be mis-
understood. No man who thinks
Of America first need fear the an
swer.
The Famous Article 10.
Mr.. Wilson said in a recent let
ter to Senator Hitchcock: For my
own part l am not willing to trust
| to the counsel of diplomats the
working out of any salvation OF the
| world from the things which it has
suffered" And he said this in be-
! half of an alliance whose repre-
I sentatives will all be diplomats and
| politicians. They will all act In
| behalf of the interests of their rep
resentative countries and they will
have nothing judicial about them.
| Strip the league of every clause
which involves the action of politi-
cal representatives in the assembly
and the council and you leave but
one article in which the diplomats
of the league as such will have no
| power.
That is the famous article 10.
Most of the league covenant was
prepared by General SHUTS, of
South Africa, but article 10 was the
work of the president Of the United
States. 1t is true this article is
free from diplomats. but 1t rests
entirely upon naked force. In that
way peace is to be preserved and
the nations freed from war by
multiplying the opportunities for
the use Of force, Each individual
nation Is bound by article 10 to go
to war for the protection of the
territorial integrity and the polit-
ical independence of every other
nation in the world at the time of
signature that is, for the protection
Of states some Of which are not yet
determined or established, for the
protection of boundaries which no
man can define. We were to give
such a guarantee and any of the
countries in the league in the event
Of exterior aggression could have
demanded our armed assistance,
and our soldiers and sailors must
then have gone forth at the COM
mand of foreign countries unless
we shattered all hope of world |
peace by breaking a solemn moral
senate, no matter what their future
fate might be, were determined that
the covenant containing that article
|unmodified should never be ratified.
1t became every day clearer to them |
that the alliance called a league of
nations, instead Of being a guaran-
tee for the worlds peace, was a |
breeder of war and an enemy of |
peace. AS we studied it-and a |
majority of senator's desired to
have some league If possible which |
should be genuine league of
peace-we found that it dragged |
us not only into every dispute and |
every war in Europe and in the
rest of the world but that our
soldiers and sailors might be
forced to give their lives in quar-
rels not their own at the bidding
of foreign governments.
1t also appeared that our domes-
tic questions, like immigration,
could be interfered with. that the
Interpretation of the Monroe doc
trine was to be left to the decision
of the league. that we were to be
made participants in the outrage
Gus disposition Of Shantung which
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