Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1920-06-04


Such a method of making peace
with Germany, the president said,
would place an ineffaceable stain
upon the gallantry and honor of the
United States"
Text of Message.
The presidents message follows:
ITO the House of Representatives
II return herewith, without my sig
nature, house joint resolution 327, in
tended to repeal the joint resolution
of April 6, 1917, declaring a state of
war to exist between the United States
and Germany, and the joint resolution
of Decembse Z, 1917, declaring state
of war to exist between the United
States and the Austro-H Hungarian gov
eminent, and to declare a state of
peace.
II have not felt at liberty to sign
this joint resolution because 1 cannot
bring myself to become party to an
action which would place an ineffacO-
able stain upon the gallantry and hon-
or of the United States.
Lit E0SOlut1Ou seeks To OSLdDlISu
peace with the German empire with
out exacting from the German gov
eminent any action by way of setting
right the infinite wrongs which it did
to the peoples whom it attacked and
whom we professed to assist when we
entered the war;
Have we sacrificed the lives of
more than 100000 Americans and ru-
ined the lives of thousands of others
and brought upon thousands of Ameri-
can families an unhappiness that can
never end for purposes which we do
not now care to state or take further
steps to attain?
The attainment of these purposes
is provided for in the treaty of YER
Sailles by terms deemed adequate by
the leading statesmen and experts Of
all the great peoples who were associ-
ated III the war against Germany. Do
we now not care to join in the effort
to secure them?
moreover, when we entered the war
we set forth very definitely the pur-
poses for which we entered, partly be-
cause we did not wish to be consid
cred as merely taking part in Euro
pean contest.
'This joint resolution, which / re-
turn, does not seek to accomplish any
Of these objects, but in effect makes
a complete surrender of the rights of
the United States so far as the Ger
man government is concerned.
"A treaty of peace was signed at
Versailles on the twenty-eighth. of
June last, which did seek to accom-
plish the objects which we had de-
clared to be in our minds, because all
the great governments and peoples
which united against Germany had
adopted our declarations of purpose
as their own and had in solemn form
embodied them in communications to
the German government preliminary to
the armistice of November IL, 1918.
Action of Senate.
But the treaty as signed at YER
sailies has been rejected by the SEN
ate of the United States, though it has
been ratified by Germany.
BY that rejection and by its meth
DDS we had in effect declared that we
wish to draw apart and pursue objects
and interests of our own, unhampered
by any connections of interests or of
purpose with other governments and
peoples.
Notwithstanding the fact that upon
our entrance into the war we professed
to be seeking to assist in the mainte-
nance of common interests nothing is
said in this resolution about the free
dom of navigation upon the seas, or
the reduction of ornaments, or the vim
dication of the rights of Belgium, or
the rectificatiOn of wrongs done to
| France, or the release of the Chris
| tian populations of the Ottoman en-
| pire from the intolerable subiugation
which they have had for so many gen
| efations to endure, or the establish
ment of an Independent Polish state.
| or the continued maintenance of any
| kind of understanding among the great
| powers Of the world which would be
calculated to prevent in the future
such outrages as Germany attempted,
and in part contaminated
eve have now in effect declared
that we do not care to take any fur
| Their risks or to assume any further
responsibilities with regard to the
/ freedom of nations or the sacredness
Of international obligations or the
safety of independent peoples.
''Such a peace with Germany
/ peace in which none of the essential
| interests which we had at heart when
we entered the war is safeguarded-is,
or ought to be, inconceivable, is incon-
sistent with the dignity of the United
! States, with the rights and liberties of
her citizens and with the very funda-
| mental conditions of civilization.
| 81 hope that in these statements |
have sufficiently set forth the reasons
! why / have felt it incumbent upon me
! to withhold my signature.