Omaha daily bee., 1920-10-18
|Harding's
Position is
MadeClearl !. /
atG
Senator Johnson Comes to De.
fense of Republican Candi-
date on League of
Nations. @
Raps c er tain Papenrs

Chicago, Ill.,, Oct. l7.-(Spcciai
Telegram. )-Senator Hiram John-
son of California gave the following
statement this afternoon regarding
Senator Harding's attitude toward
the league OF nations: ips
"The men and newspapers who
pretend to be friends OF Senator
Harding and who assert that he Is
to take this country into the leagic
of nations do him distinct dis
service, and pay him sorry compli-
ment" ~.
II speak of course, solely from the
public utterances of our candidate,
but these utterances make PLAIN
beyond cavil that when Senator
Harding is president, he will not
take the United States into the
league of nations. I'D
In his speech of acceptance he
characterizes the league as a mill
tary alliance which menaces peace
and threatens all freedom He
called it the supreme blunder,' and
asserted that he would leave Amer
ica free, independent and self-reliant,
but offering friendship to all the
world "a
Senate Saved Day. n
"He instanced the war between
Poland and Russia as indicating
what we would have been let in for
in the language of Secretary of State
Lansing, but for the action of the
senate. ~
again, he referred to America as
member of the league as one insa
pitiful minority among many states
in merged world government ard
included himself among those who
had opposed what we sincerely n.
garded as betrayal of our own coun-
try to the interest of others Gf
"He deprecated his vote for
reservations and said that conditions
had changed now. Experience had
brought enlightenment and he SOL
emily added: We know now that
the league constituted at Versailles
was utterly impotent as a preventa-
tive of wars. 1t is so obviously i'm
potent that it has not even been
tried. The original league mistaken
ly conceived and unreasonably in
sisted upon, has undoubtedly passed
beyond the period of restoration.
The maturer judgment of the world
will be that it served to pass for the
simple reason that contrary to all of
the tendencies developed by The
civilizing processes of the world it
rested upon the power of might and
not of right
Harding's Stand clear-cut.
II am unable to understand the in
tellectual processes which can misin-
terpret or imisconstrue these words,
and do not appreciate the friend
ship of individuals who, in the teeth
of declarations describing the league
as a military alliance menacing
peace and Threatening all freedom.
the supreme blunder, obviously i'm
potent, resting upon the power of
might, not of right will still insist
that the words are meaningless, and
that Senator Harding intends some
thing else than he says. #
ITO make doubiy plain his mean
ing. in his speech of acceptance He
said: I am opposed to the very
thought of our republic becoming a
party to so great an outrage upon
other people who have as good right
10 seek their freedom as we had in
1916, and the same right toi develop
eminence under the inspiration Of
nationality as we had for ourselves
"And yet, men and newspapers
who claim to be friendly assert
that Senator Harding is going into
the league and so would have him
guilty of the very outrages he de-
nounces."