Norwich bulletin., 1920-10-26
LEAGUE OF NATIONS PRIMER
Analysis and Answers
 Wharton Pepper

Question. What is the real trouble
 with the league of nations7
 Answer. The trouble is that 1t places the control of the peoples business in
 the hands of small group of diplomats and takes no account of the will of those who have to pay the taxes and do the
 fighting.
 O. What has been the cause of war in the past?
 A. The fact that the people who had | to do the fighting were seldom consulted l as to whether there should be a fight. c. Who brought on the wars? A. Professional statesmen and diplc-
 mats.
 0. How did they do it? A. By treating the peoples interna- 1 tional business like chess game, get 1 ting into disputes with one another over l the moves, making all sorts of hostile l threats and then, when the fight was on, calling on the people to back them up. ] c. What IS the remedy for such an l evil?
 A. The remedy is to give the people of a nation fair chance to decide whether
 the dispute is worth fighting about. 0. Does the league Of nations do this? A. Certainly not The people will
 have about as much influence on the poli- l cy of the league as minority stockhold-
 CTS in an industrial trust.
 l c. What is the league, anyway? | A On paper and in sermons it is g
 peace partnership between many nations | Actually it is a scheme to insure the 1 territories and governments of European nations at the expense of the United 1 States and to lodge the control of the 1 peoples business in the hands of little | group of international politicians. 1 0. How is the scheme worked out?
 A. By having each nation underwritt | the policy of insurance contained in ar i ticIe x of the league covenant and b5
 creating an executive council of hint men representing nine nations and by at tempting to put 1t in the power of these
 nine to decide in all great emergencies just what everybody shall do.
 | c. Who are the nine to be?
 1 A. A Belgian, Brazilian, an English man. a Frenchman, 8 Greek, an Italian, Japanese a Spaniard and a citizen of thu United States.
 0. Where are they to sit?
 A. In Geneva, Switzerlnd.
 | Q. How will the representative Of th' ] United States be chosen?
 A Nobody knows. It does not mak' much difference however how he is chos en because it is not possible for one maj really to represent one hundred mllliol The vote that he casts in the name 0 the United States might very well caus such a storm of protest from the peopl
 of the United States as would discredit
 our so-ealled representative and cracl I the league wide open. T c. Assuming that the members of tn Council have been appointed somehow 0 } other and are actually in session. wha ; will happen when a dispute arises be tween nations which tl-eir env"rnrrAnts d
 not settle by arbitration or otherwise. A. The council of me wi pass upo the dispute, unless the council itself o one of the disputants refers the case t the so-calIed assembly of nations" O. What may the council do with tn dispute?
 A. The best way to answer is by sup posing case. If. for example, Japa were to claim the right of free admissio to the United States for Japanese sub iects and we were to object Japa would refer the case to the council. W would claim. under article XV. that thi was a domestic andfnot an internations