Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1920-10-15
PROMINENT 31 IN SIGNED STATEMENT
 DEFINES POSITIONS
Public Men Present Refuta- tion League or No League
 Comprises Issue
CITE PLATFORM OF
 REPUBLICAN PARTY
Difference in Parties Now Merely Continuation of Wilson's Fight With Senate Obli-
 garchy

New OrK, OcC. 14.-A statement explaining the positions in the pres idential campaign of thirty-one prom inent men who have advocated some form of international agreement, was issued over their signatures here to. night and announced they would support Senator Harding.
 Elihu Root, Herbert Hoover, Geo. W. Wickersham, Henry L. Stimson, A. Lawrence Lowell, Henry w. Taft, and Charles E. Hughes were among the signers of tho statement, which follows:
 "The undersigned who desire that the United States shall do her full part in association with the other civilized nations to prevent war have earnestly considered how we may contribute most effectively to that end, by our votes in the coming election.
 "The question between the candi- dates is not whether our country shall join in such an association. It is whether we shall join under an
 
 vision negotiated by President Will son at Paris, or under an agreement which omits or modifies some of those provisions which are very ob- jectionable to great numbers of the American people.
 "The paper signed by 38 Republi, can senators in March, 1919, before the league covenant was adopted at Paris, advised the president that the signers could not approve treaty in the form then proposed, although it was their desire that the nations of the world should unite to pro- mote peace and general disarma- ment.'
 Gives Version
 "A majority of the senate voted to ratify the league agreement with notifications, which there is good evidence to show, would have been accepted by the other nations. But MT. Wilson refused to accept these notifications and insisted upon the agreement absolutely unchanged and Democratic senators, sufficient in number to defeat the treaty as midi- fled, followed Mr. Wilson against rat ification.
 "That is substantially the difference between the parties now. The Demo- cratic platform and candidate stand unqualifiedly for the agreement ne- gotiated at Paris without substar- tive modification.
 "On the other hand, the Republi- can platform says:
 The Republican party stands for agreement among the nations to pre- serve the peace of the world. We believe that such an international as- sociation must be based upon inter- national justice and must provide methods which shall maintain the rule of public right by the develop ment of law and the decision of inn partial courts; and which shall se- cure instant and general interna- tional conference whenever peace shall be threatened by political ac- tion, so that the nations pledged to do and insist upon what is just and fair, may exercise their influence and power for the prevention of war;
 MT. Harding said in his speech of August 28:
 {" There are distinctly two types of international relationship. One is an offensive and defensive alliance of great powers the other type is society of free nations, or an association of free nations, or a league of free animated by consid- eration of right and justice, instead of might and self-fnterest and not merely proclaimed an agency in pur- suit of peace, but so organized and so participated in as to make the ac- tual attainment of peace a reason able possibility. Such an associa. tion is favorable to me and I would make no fine distinction as to whom credit is due. One need not care what it is called. Let it be an as- sociation, society or a league, or what not. Our concern is solely with the substance not the form thereof , "Mr. Harding has since repeatedly re-affirmed the declarations of this speech in the most positive terms.
 "The question, accordingly, is not Continued on page Six