Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-18
BAKER DISCUSSES
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
Delay in Ratification Breaks Prom
ise America Made to Heart
of World.
BY Associated Press to Every Evening

! BY Associated Press TO Every Evening
Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 1S.--Forma
announcement of his purpose to discus,
during the presidential campaign "som,
of tho objections which have been urged
against American participation in the
League of Nations was made yesterday
by Secretary Baker of the War Depart.
| ment, speaking before the Ohio State
Democratic convention.
'FWhon the suggestions based on parti.
san feeling have been swept aside,' Mr.
Baker said, 'there remain but two or three
points which really deserve serious con-
sideration. The most important of these
is that which is addressed to Article Ten
of the covenant, which article, the Presi-
dent has said, is the heart Of the whole
matter.
"Since Senator Lodge and Senator
Harding have both repudiated the Lodge
reservations, for which they both voted,
it does not seem likely that these particu-
lar reservations will figure in tho campaign
except illustrations of the tactics used to
defeat ratification of the treaty"
Asserting that the whole question hing
ed upon Article Ten. Mr.. Baker devoted
himself to discussion of that section of the
covenant saying that he did not believe
that there could be any league or peace
or disarmament without "the equivalent
Of Article Ten In the covenant, accepted
as q common principle and obligation by
all nations of the earth.
"Those who criticise Article Ten" he
said, "misread into it some sort of fear
that it places the military power of the
United States at the disposal of the council
of nations and will require American arm
les to be sent overseas to enforce guaran-
tees of Article Ten without consent of the
American people; but there is nothing
whatever in tho covenant which socks 20
change the power given by the constitu-
tion to- Congress alone to declare war.
while il might we'll be that in the
early stages of the operation of so great a
principle it might be necessary for the
great powers TO show the sincerity of
their adherence TO it by actually enforcing
it, any such occasion, so far as the United
States is concerned, would have to be
addressed to the sound wisdom Of Con-
gress Meanwhile the league, without
congressional action, would be able in all
human likelihood to make the guarantee
effective by mere weight of it's moral and
economic power"
Without Article Ten, MIR. Baker said,
"the league is vain" while with II ''the
league becomes n great, modern, civilized
agency" working TO. bring the world into
"just relationship"
"Ths is the article Of the covenant
which, it is said, needs to be Americanized,
Mr.. Baker said. at is American. We
invented it and applied il among ourselves
we fought for it as the cardinal principle
at issue in the world war; our President
formulated il and forced its acceptance;
its principle and its purpose are thorough
ly American"
Turning to armistices conditions ac-
cepted by Germany, the secretary said:
"But all these questions were settled
once. We and our allies accepted the sur
render of the Central Powers on that dec
laration (the fourteen points, of the presi-
dent as an express condition.
THE long delay in ratification of the
treaty has appeared 10 break to the heart
Of the world the promise which America
made with its lips, This delay IS due to
Senator Lodge and his round robin and his
reservations; il is due TO Senator Harding
and his associates who voted with Senator
Lodge for reservations which they have
| now repudiated.
"But the Democratic party in its San
| Francisco platform has restated Ameri.
| cas- cause. Our candidate has, with
simplicity and directness, declared his
position on this subject the league) by
saying " favor going in"
"H America Is to participate in inter
national affairs" Mr.. Baker said, ''the
| beginning must be made before the cement
is set which binds the rest Of the world in.
to family IN which she is not a member .
National interest as well as moral duty
! demanded he said, that we now decide.
"Our action will throw the determinins
weight into the scale pian for America as
well as for mankind, he said The uues
ton is whether America being in the worlC
shall be of it: whether she shall cooperate
with other civilized peoples in the main
tenanee of peace, or shall draw herseli
exclusively aside. allow the rules Of the
game OF life to be made by others and by
failing TO exert in advance her economic
and moral power be again obliged at even
more frightful cost to suspend the processes
Of her life, and send her sons to die in 3
struggle which the weight Of her word
given in advance, would have suffced to
prevent"
When the next war might come de
pends In large measure upon us and our
action in this campaign Mr. Baker said
IF we max it the business of states.
men to avert war and equip them with
agencies whereby war may be averted il
may never come" he added.
While Americans spoke of themselves
as peaceful people, Mr.. Baker said, "oul
own history shows that we have not beer
able to preserve our own peace, much less
that of the world, by the old agencies
which were much more promising than
Senator Harding's plans of holding up q
pious hand and asking everybody to be
good. During the 145 years since the
beginning of the American revolution
he said, the United States had been en-,
gagged in civil or foreign wars for about
thirty-seven years.
'If those episodes in our history be
counted as war, in which the public mill.
tary power was necessary to be exerted
thus bringing into account minor wars ana
serious domestic disturbances, we find
that out of 145 years of our national exist.
ence only 45 have been years of peace and
100 have been years OF military exertion, y
he added. "The history of all great
civilized powers parallels our own"
eff we do not go into the League Of
Nations, we must continue to arm" the
war secretary declared. 'If we are to play
lone hand it must be strong hand. We
will he bfIt ono cornpatifor ir,