Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1920-09-02

Marion, y. Especial )-SenatOr war
rem G. Harding, Republican nominee
for President, in a speech delivered to
a delegation from Indiana which called
on him here to pledge the support of
Indiana Republicans, declared that
twice President Wilson had an oppor-
tunity to obtain ratification of the
League Of Nations covenant and shat
he put ratification aside because he
would not accept reservations designed
solely to safeguard American rights
Senator Harding said:
II greet you in spirit Of rejoicing );
not rejoicing in the narrow personal
or partisan sense, not In the gratifying
prospects Of party triumph; not in the
contemplation of abundance In the
harvest fields and ripening corn fields
and maturing orchards; not in the re-
assuring approach Of stability after
period of wiggling and wobbling which
magnified our observation-disclosures all
Of these are ample for our wide re-
joicing-but l rejoice that America is
still free and independent and in po-
sition of self-reliance and holds to the
right Of DIFFERENTIATION, which are
priceless possessions In the present
turbulence Of the world
LET US suppose the senate had rat
flied the peace treaty containing the
league covenant as submitted to it by
the president in July of last year,
what would be the situation confront
ing our common country today? To
my mind there is but one answer. Be-
fore this day we would have been
called upon to fulfil the obligations
which we had assumed under Article
10 Of the league covenant, to preserve
the territorial integrity Of Poland as
against external aggression
Sympathy for Poland.
II shall not now attempt to meas
ure the boundless sympathy for the
just aspirations and restored independ-
ence Of Poland. Our present concern
is the international situation which
Poland has brought to our attention.
1.-THE council of the League Of Ma
lions would have reasoned, and rea-
soned correctly, that the United States
could furnish the munitions and, II
necessary, the men to withstand the
hordes advancing from Russia far
more easily than could the exhausted
nations of Europe. Moreover, mas
much as this would be the first test
Of the scheme Of world government
which was formulated and demanded
by the President, speaking for the
United States, the fact of a special
responsibility, resting upon our should
ers, manifestly would have been I'M
deniable. Undoubtedly the league
council, in advising upon the means
by which the obligations to Poland
should be fulfilled, as provided in the
covenant, would have SO held, and
probably the conscience of America,
certainly the opinion of the world,
would have sustained that judgment.
1.-THE conclusion that our country
might now be confronted by such
situation, If the senate had ratified
the league covenant, requires no
stretch of the Imagination. None can
deny that it Is possible. To many
candid minds, as to my own, such
distressing situation will seem high
ly probable Let US assume that the
ratification had taken place. Let us
assume, further, that the performance
of the allotted task required the wag-
ing Of war upon the Russian people,
as, of course, it would, what would
result what would of necessity have
to result? Nothing necessarily, we
are glibly Informed, since only the
Congress can declare war, and the
Congress might reject the appeal Of
the executive. But would the Congress
do that? Could the Congress do that
without staining indelibly the honor
of the nation?
Answer is mo"
ST answer No. and I say it not on
my own authority alone. Back of my
Judgment stands the President Of the
United States. Upon that point there
is first-hand information In the course
OF the discussion which took place at
the meeting Of the President and the
Senate Committee on Foreign Rela-
lions | raised the question by stating
a hypotheticatcase precisely analogous
to that which have depicted, and then
inquired whether we might not right
folly be regarded as a perfdious peo-