Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-07

issue of the century Is before us and
the nation that halts and delays is
playing with fire. The finest impulses
of humanity, rising above national lines.
merely seeks to make another horrible
war impossible. Under the old order
Of international anarchy war came
overnight, and the world was on fire
before we knew It. It sickens our
senses to think of another.
We saw one conflict into which mod
ern science brought new forms of de-
struction in great guns, submarines.
airships and poison gases. 1t is no
secret that our chemists had perfected.
when the contest came to a precipitate
close, gases so deadly that whole cities
could be wiped out, armies destroyed,
and the crews of battleships smothered
The public prints are filed with the
opinions Of military men that In future
wars the method. more effective than
gases or bombs, will be the employment
Of the germs of diseases, carrying pesti-
lencc and destruction. Any nation pre-
pared under these conditions, as Ger
many was equipped in 1014, could con-
quer tho world in year.
1t is planned now to make this i'm
possible. A definite plan has been agreed
upon. The League of Nations is in
operation. A very important work, un-
der it's control, just completed. was par
ticipatcd in by the Hon. Elihu Root,
secretary of state under the Roosevelt
administration. At a meeting of the
council Of the League of Nations Feb
ruary II. an organizing committee of
twelve of the most eminent jurists in
the world was selected. The duty of
this group was to devise plan for the
establishment Of permanent court of
international Justice as a branch Of the
league. This assignment has been con-
cluded by unanimous action.
This augurs we'll for world progress.
The question is whether we shall or
shall not join in this practical and hu-
name movement. President Wilson, as
our representative at the peace table,
entered the league in our name, in so far
as the executive authority permitted
Senator. Harding, as the Republican
candidate for the presidency. proposes
in plain words that we remain out OF it.
As the Democratic candidate, favor
going in.
Harding's Plan Analysed
Let us analyze Senator Harding's
plan Of making German American
peace, and then calling for new re-
lationship among nations assuming
for the purpose of argument only, that
the perAdious hand that dealt with Ger
many would possess the power or in
fuence to draw twenty nine nations
away from a plan already at work and
induce them to retrace every step ana
make a new beginning.
This would entail our appointing an
other commission to assemble with those
a,lo t~I k,. 4ha ntbnr Win
the Versailles instrument discarded. the
whole subject of partitions and divisions
of territory on new lines would be re-
opened. The difficulties in this regard,
as any fair mind appreciates, would be
greater than they were at the peace
session, and we must not attempt to
convince ourselves that they did not try
the genius, patience and Diplomacy OF
statesmen at that time. History will
say that, great as was the allied triumph
In war, no less a victory was achieved
at the peace table.
The Republican proposal means dis
honor, world confusion and delay. 1t
would keen us in permanent company
with Germany, Russia. Turkey and
Mexico. 1t would entail. in the ulti-
mate, more real injury than the war it.
self. The Democratic position on the
question, as expressed in the platform,
is: 49, .e..
1--WE advocate immediate ratification
of the treaty without reservations which
would impair its essential integrity, but
do not oppose the acceptance of any
reservation making clearer or more spe-
cifc the obligations of the United States
to the league associates.
League Ratification First Duty
The first duty of the new admins
tration clearly will be the ratification
of the treaty. The matter should be
approached without thought Of the bit
| terness of the past The public verdict
will have been rendered, and ! am con
fident that the friends of world peace
| as it will be promoted by the league
will have in numbers the constitutional
requisite to favorable senatorial ac-
ton.
The captious may say that our plat
| form reference to reservations is vague
and indefinite. Its meaning, in brief,
| is that we shall state our Interpretation
! of the covenant aS matter OF good
faith to our associates and as a pre-
caution against any misunderstanding
| in the future. The point is that after
the people shall have spoken the league
| VIII De IN tNe HuiluS VI 10 AiiNhuo -
the Senate. and safe index as to what
they will do is supplied by what reser'
vations they have proposed in the past
Position on Covenant Restated
Some months ago, in a contributed
article to the New York Times, ex
pressed my own opinion of the situa
tion as it then was. reproduce i
here:
There can be no doubt that som'
senator's have been conscientious in theil
desire to clarity the provisions of thu
treaty. Two things apparently hav'
disturbed them: First, they wanted t.
make sure that the league was no
to be an alliance, and that it's basi'
purpose was peace and not controversy
Second, they wanted the other power
signing the instrument TO understand
our constitutional limitations beyont
which the treaty making power canno
go. Dealing with these two question
in order, it has always seemed to N
that the Interpretation of the function
of the league might have been stated il
these words
" In giving its assent to this treaty
the Senate has in mind the fact tina
the League of Nations which it EN-
bodies was devised for the sole purpos
Of maintaining peace and comfy anon
the nations of the earth and preventing
the recurrence of such destructive con
flicts as that through which the worl
| has Just passed. The CO operation O
the United States with the league an
its continuance as n member thereo
will naturally depend upon the adher
enca of the league to that fundamenta