Evening star., 1920-03-28
DUTY OF AIDING EUROPE
PRESSES UPON AMERICA
Defeat of Treaty Brings Overseas Misery
to the Front-Possible Courses US.
May Take In World Affair.

of our strength. men and money alike
To attempt this is merely to under
take to do, for moral purposes. for
| legitimate and unselfish ends. what
Germany sought to do six years ago,
from the basest or motives. namely, to
become the dominant world power.
Nor is there any present reason to
believe that. given the Will to do
only good. we possess the prerequi-
site grasp of European facts. Again
and again our representatives totally
failed to grasp the European point
of view.
Isolated from European affairs we
can only be within limits. henceforth.
Aloof in the presence OF their suffer-
ings we cannot ever be. But between
acting as the emergency arises and
undertaking the regulation of the
world with all its frightful risks ana
possible costs-and 1 am not think
ing of money. mainly-the gulf 10
wide. Nor would I have my country
cross IL. In that direction there lies.
not alone failure, but dangers beyond
! those which it seems to me any states
| man has right to risk for his coun-
try.
League OF Nations.
L am aware that there is in the Unit
ed States a considerable group of men
and women who believe that the
league of nations, itself, would au-
| tomatically insure the proper solu-
| ton of the vexing problems of con-
| ficting national instincts. But any
one who was in Paris knows how
small an influence any so-called moral
| influence had in the presence of these
| national instincts. Whatever Presi-
dent Wilson believed when he went
| to Europe. no one can mistake the
! fact that he ultimately arrived at the
conclusion that the element of force
| was essential to the maintenance of
| the world system there created.
| The President has been widely
criticised for refusing to accept the
reservations affecting article Y, but
it seems to me he was far more logi-
cal than his opponents, for he had
| recognized, as nearly every one In
Paris did. that the one really life-giv-
| ing element in the league Of nations
| was the promise it contained of an
American return to Europe. with
| armies and with its financial re-
| sources. il any nation challenged the
principles embodied in the treaty and
expressed in terms of territorial ces-
sions.
But how can America safely under
take to guarantee any European from
tiers. some OF which are just. some
palpably unjust? Guarantee them. ws
must, however. If We insist upon draw
ing them. The difficulty with the
Paris. lies in the fact that Europe
saw in it an old-fashioned alliance.
| which included the United States. anil
America saw in it voluntary asso-
citation for the improvement of world
conditions.
Had the Senate accertei the treaty
with its own reservation appended
we should have been Legally exempt
| ed, but morally and materially COM
promised. Moreover. in adding the
Irish amendment. the Senate gave
clear evidence CT exactly the sort Of
controversy which follows closely upon
| the application Of the treaty. Ger
tainly the United States has just as
much right to be concerned over the
condition of the Irish as. say. OF the
| Jews in Rumania, on behalf of whom
we and the British demanded that
Kumania consent to drastic limita-
tions of her own national sovereignty.
| But actually this comedies an equal
r:gh. to the British and to the Ru-
manif ms to interfere on behalf of the
| American negro.
The simple truth seems to me to
be that in the matter of the league
of nations. Europe was talking and
| thinking of one thing, the United
States of another. and between the
| two conceptions there was a gulf at
least as wide as the Atlantic ocean.
| President Wilson undertook to COM
| promise the two views. but the COM
| promise contained so much of Euro
pean conceptions as to be unaccept-
4 Senate's reservations so complete
! ly eliminated the European concep-
\ tions as to make it worthless to Eu-
rope.
| But 1t is maintained that Europe is
| willing to accept the treaty with the
Senate's Reservations" The reason is.
| think, obvious. the success European
statesmen had in winning Mr.. Wilson
over to a considerable fraction OF
their views has not unnaturally in
spired the hope that. in practice. the
same result would follow all Ameri-
! can participation in European af-
| fairs. The resulting situation would
be that we should be morally, not
legally. committed. but this would
still be long way from absolute
! freedom of action.
| In my judgment if there is to be
| a league of nations any form of as
sociation. we shall have to begin over
again and at the beginning We shall
| have to content ourselves with far
modest foundation and proceed only
| so far as there is a common agree
ment on both sides OF the Atlantic In
| the formation Of that association we
shall have equally to avoid forcing
our views upon Europe and permit
| ting Europe to press her own views
| upon us. AS it stands. Europe mas IN
| fact rejected ours and we have re-
iected hers This was inevitable. given
the total difference Of actual concep-
ton. And in my Judgment the real
league of nations will only be pos.
sible when not merely the united
states and her recent allies, but Ger
many and Russia. as well. are able
and ready to participate in the
| formation Of such an association.
Had the league Of nations come
| into being now, with the oniteo
States as a partner. the result would
almost Inevitably have been the for
| nation of a rival league Of nations.
! with Germany and Russia as the main
factors. with socialism In one form or
another as the basic principle. and
| events would march swiftly toward
another world war between the two
systems of alliances.