Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1920-12-24
WORK DONE BY THAT DEAD leAeuE,

WVnk JUNE Of mai U6AU LCR0UE'
The League Of Nations which Mr..
Harding SO often pronounced dead
is the livelicst corpse we eyer heard
or read Of.
'Paul Hymans. President of the
League Assembly, in his closing
speech, before adjournment, dc
clared the meetings Of the last five
weeks have demonstrated the com
plete success Of the League and
that ii is now "a living, working,
practical organization The rcla-
lions between the Assembly and
the Council have now been def
nitely established. Mr.. Hynans
said.
The Covenant has been inter
preted and the necessary moditica-
tions will be ready at the next SEES
sion Of the assembly, he declared.
Technical organizations have been
created to help establish the world
on sound economic and imam
cial basis
Steps have been taken toward
disarmament. Even if the League
has failed TO find mandatory for
Armenia, it at least has found a
mediator in President Wilson"
In addition 10 what President
HymanS here says. the Assembly
admitted quite number Of addition
al States to membership. among
them Austria which made war
at the Kaiser's dictation and came
out ruined nation with the old
dynasty gone and its territory mis-
membered.
The Assembly accomplished on
the 18th the first important con-
structive act in the work Of the
League of Nations in adopting a
statute for permanent interna-
tional court of justice. The organ
ization as planned still lacks the OBJ
ligatory appearance of both part
les to dispute and provides no
penalty for noncompliance with
the decisions Of the court.
The advocates Of the project
however, believed that it is the
most complete plan that could be
accepted by the different govern
mentS and arc confident that the
good will of tho nations will reme-
dy its defects. The plan will go
now TO the different States for rat
ification.
In the meantime Mr.. Harding
knowing that tho the Republican
politicians may be against the
League. the people want Amcri-
ca TO 60 in. is holding conferences
with the politicians Of his party
and has even summoned number
Of Democrats like Bryan and Scna-
tor Reed to confer with him all in
the hope that some sort of an asso-
citation Of nations, as he is pleased
to call it, may be worked out that
will satisfy everybody. The scheme
is hazy, very hazy--thc main object
being TO suggest something for
which Wilson cannot get the credit.
We dare say however, that Mr..
Wilson is not apt to hunger for
credit for any SO called association
Mr.. Harding and his friends may
devise when We already have
League of Nations worked out and
agreed 10 after great labor and long
conference by the leading statesmen
of Europe. Asia. North, Central and
South America. What these have
done was entirely acceptable TO the
American people when Mr.. Wilson
brought back the treaty. embracing
the League Covenant, and gave it to
the people, many leading Republic
cans among them Vice-Prcsidcnt-
elect Calvin Coolidge. and Mr.. Taft
and Mr.. Wickersham, endorsing il
enthusiastically and without hest
tation. II was only when an issue
was needed by the REPUBLICANS on
which TO 90 to the people in the
recent campaign and the exigcn-
cics Of party seemed to demand ii
that furious and wholly partisan
attack was made on both the treaty
and the Covenant, both OF which all
the interested nations had accepted
and signed, that any evidence OF
dissatisfaction was seen or heard Of
and this was manufactured for q
party purpose. And in this furious
passionate opposition we see the
most unpairioiiC, the most hyDo-
critical and the most disrcputablc
and short-siGhtcd effort to de-
ccivc and miSlcad the people we
have ever seen or read Of in Amcri-
can party history