The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-10-08
Unlike. Candidate Harding He Welcomes All Corners
 Who Seek the Light
THE MORE.
 THE MERRIER
Secretary of War Answers All Questions Propounded at Close Of His Masterly Address at Eagles Hall The True Meaning of the League of Nations.

The True Meaning of the
 League of Nations. A striking contrast to the incident | at Baltimore recently with which the public Is familiar when Edward A. 1 Ryan was rewarded with arrest and a l night in jail for asking Senator Hard | ing a courteous question in regard to l his stand on the League of Nations | was afforded Wednesday night at Eagles hall when Secretary of War I Newton D. Baker, at the close of his matchless address, Invited anyone in l the audience to quiz him on the sub- 5ect of the league or any |other issue | of the campaign.
 The Secretary's offer was taken ad- | vantage of by several of his auditors and rapid-f1re of questions-ranging 1 from the sympathetic to the openly l hostile was answered in such a way as to provide an intellectual treat. Subjoined will be found the com plete text of the queries and answers, the careful perusal of which The Times comments to it's readers: Question.
 At senatorial investigation in Washington of Woodrow Wilson, wasn't he asked the question had we entered the League of Nations as he put 1t without dotting an I or crossing a would we not have an army in Russia today, and isn't there Japan
 
 was taken from Russia and given to Japan by an army Woodrow Wilson sent there?
 | There was Senatorial tnveStiga tion of the President to start with. am certain of that. No such thing was possible. I want to be helpful to this man. He has seen something g that he has misunderstood and I want to help him. I know there was no such meeting as he has described. l am perfectly certain that no Senator , ial committee ever investigated the President nor did the Senate ever in vestigate the President, nor so far as l have ever heard did the Senate off . cially or unoficia1ly ask the President whether if we had gone into the League of Nations we would have an army in Russia at this time, and ! feel quite certain that his answer !, would be If he had been asked that would depend on whether Con- gress voted to send them, because the | constitution requires that the Con- gress and not the President shall de- eide a question of that kind.
 The gentleman asks another ques- ton. He asks whether American troops occupied territory in Russia and turn ed that territory over to Japan. Dur , ing the war, while we were still al war, 1t was believed that the Austrian 5 and German prisoners of war in Si- beria after the breakdown of the Rus
 
 ] to assist Germany by attacking Russia l on the other side. There were vast accumulat.ons of war material stored at Valdivostok and some at Mur- 3 l mansk and international forces were sent-including a very small number from the United States, to each place f I-I think altogether some ten o1 e twelve thousand. The American | troops were there guarding the rail road and keeping 1t open in the hope = that the people of Russia would bt able to use their railroads and tha supplies for the sustenance of the peo l pie of Siberia could be carried oveI their railroads. After so much of tha
 object was accomplished as was Dos eible, we withdrew our troops. Japa: $ did not withdraw hers at that time
 and her troops are technically wher' s our troops once were. But the Unitet a States did not take any territory ant r did not turn any territory over t r them.
 Question. = Do you consider that self -determi r nation of territory?
 Answer.
 6 The treaty provides for the com
 p1ete self of the terri l. tory of Russia, and I agree with tn President that the treatment of Russi ' by the nations of the world is tn Il acid test of that.
 Question.
 u Isn't Woodrow Wilson causing tn
 
 the acid test?
 This has nothing whatever to d l. with the League of Nations, yet al " a time when it was necessary to pre- l. vent material and supplies gettin
 into Russia that might get into tn -e hands of our adversaries that block d ade was started because the govern 'o nnent of Russia had broken down an
 couldn't control that propositio
 itself. I hope that the Russian pee
 pie will recover and I hope that
 coming soon and I wantait as muc
 as you do.
 S. Are these diplomats Or these wis . guys at The Hague able to brtn St about the peace of the world. or will I come about by the common peop lying down their arms and saying N Id won't have an5 thing to do with it?
 Answer.
 I think there are so many peep
 in .he world that it is wholly inlpo It sibie for them to act in concert wit n | one another. I believe it will I
 necessary for the hundred and ten { re hundred and fifteen millions of peep ,d of the United States to have som Ill body to represent them. I think e. would be necessary for the people : have representations and those state n- men can preserve the peace of Il
 world but only if we want them to ( l ana are OaCN cl sueul- IHS ASdS IL of Nations isn't worth the paper it written on unless the people are bat In of it. l believe in 1t, that is why
 am for Cox instead of HardiEg, b m cause Cox is in favor of 1t. or Question,
 What particular harm would be done the league if we had accept
 reservations: to Answer
 IT, The President. stated. and I belle
 1t was entirely right, that merely 1
 tte-pretivc reservations would ha |, done no harm at all, those whi uc merely stated A1nerica's position B ,, amendments would have to be Su