The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1920-08-08
DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATE IN HIS ACCEP.
LANCE SPEECH STANDS FEAR
LESSLY UPON PLATFORM
Continued from, page IA,

or Europe and of the earth. proposing
that understanding which makes us
a willing participant in the coilsecra-
o OF nations to a new relation.
ship"
In short, America, refusing to en-
ter he league of nations (now al
ready established by twenty-nine ma.
tions) and bearing and deserving the
contempt Of the world, would submit
an entirely new project. This act
would either be regarded as arrant
madness or attempted international
bossism.
The plain truth is that the republi-
can leaders, obSessed with a determ-
nation to win the presidential cleo
ton, have attempted to satisfy too
many divergent views. Inconsisten.
cies. inevitable under the circum
stances, rise to haunt them on every
hand and they find themselves at
least, against a great principle. More
than that, their conduct is opposed
to the idealism upon which their party
%prospered in other days.
Defends Wilson and League
Illustrating these o~bservances by
concrete facts, let it be remembered
that those now inveighing against
an interest in affairs outside of Am
erica, criticised President Wilson in
unmeasured terms for not r~esenting
the invasion of Belgium in 1914. They
term the league of nations a military
alliance, which, except for their oppo-
sltion would envelop our country,
when as a matter of truth, the sub
ject Of a league of nations has claim
ed the best thought of America for
years, and the league to enforce peace
was presided over by so distinguished
a republican as ex.President Taft,
who, before audiences in every sec
ton advocated the principle and the
plan of the present league. They
charge experimentation when we have
as historical precedent the Monroe
Doctrine, which is the very essence
Of Article Y of the Versailles cove
nant. Skeptics viewed Monroe's man
date with alarm, predicting recurrent
wars in defense Of Central n South
American states, whose guardians
they alleged we need not be. And
yet not a shot has been fired in al
most one hundred years in preserving
sovereign rights on this hemisphere.
They hypocritically claim that the
league of nations will result in our
boys being drawn into military serv-
ice. but they fail to realize that every
high school youngster in the land
knows that no treaty can override
our constitution, and TO congress
alone, the power to declare war. They
preach Americanism with a meaning
OF their own invention. and artfully
appeal TO a selfish and provincial,
spirit, forgetting that Lincoln fought
Il war over the purely moral question
Of slavery, and that Mckinley broke
the letters of our boundary lines,
spoke the freedom of Cuba, and car
ried the torch of American idealism
to the benighted Philippines. They
lose memory Of Garfield's prophecy
that America, under the blessings
of God-given opportunity, would by
become q Messiah among the nations
Of the earth.
Fateful Times at Hand
These are fateful times. Organized
government has a definite duty all
over the world. The house Of civili-
zation is to be put in order. The
supreme issue of the century is before
us and the nation that halts and de-
lays is playing with fire. The first
impulses Of humanity rising above
national lines, merely seek to make
another horrible wal impossible. I'm
der the old order Of international an
archy wal came overnight, and the
1t. 1t sickens our senses to think
Of another. We saw n conflict
into which modern science brought
new forms Of destruction in great
guns, submarines, airships, and poison
gases. 1t is no secret hat our chem
lists had perfected, when the contest
came to a precipitate close. gases so
deadly that whole cities could be
wiped out, armies destroyed, and h
rev of battleships smothered. The
public prints are filled with the opin-
ions Of military men that in future
wars the method, more effective h
gases or bombs, Will be the employ
ment Of the germs Of diseases, carry
pestilence and destruction. Any
nation prepared under these condi-
lions as Germany a equipped in
1914. could conquer the world in q
year.
League Of Nations
1t is planned now to make this
A definite plan has
been agreed upon. The league OF
is in operation. A very i'm
portant work, under its control. just
was participated in by
Elihu Root, secretary Of state
under the Roosevelt administration.
q meeting Of the council Of the
Of nations, February II. an
organization committed of IL Of the
most eminent jurists in the world
was selected. The duty Of this
group was to devise a plan for the
permanent court Of international just
Ice, as a branch Of the league. This
assignment has been concluded by
action. This augurs we'll
for world progress. The question Is
whether we shall or shall not join
n this practical and humane move
ment. President Wilson, as our rep
at the peace table, en-
.ered the league in u name, In so
Tar as the executive authority per
a.. A. 80 l
publican candidate for the presidency.
proposes in plain words that we re
out Of It. AS the Democratic
candidate I favor going in. Let Nv
Senator Harding's plan OF
a German-American peace,
then calling for "a new relation.
ship among nations" assuming for
he purpose of argument only, that
he perfidious hand that dealt with
Narvnonv would pOgeasS the mower |