Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-09-24

nina II tine teeth tnat senator
Harding Sss:=ssS g re restraining
influence hat will prevent war.
II there had been such an agree
ment in existance in 1914 there
would have been no war. Germany
would not have dared to begin war
with a knowledge that all the other
nations, and particularly the United
States and Great Britain, were lea
gued against her In such a purpose.
The mere moral power Of this agree
ment is quite sufficient to deter any
nation from war without first COM
plying with the procedure Of arbi-
~tration or Cancellation required in the
covenant.
The idea OF a dispute In the Bal
kans. for example. requiring the
United States to send an army to
keep the peace, is fantastic and far
fetched, to say the least. No Balkan
state, not any combination of Bal
kan states, could withstand the eco
nomio pressure which the great
powers would bring to bear, without
firing a shot.
But even II some nation should
make bold to defy the other members
of the league, war would follow only
as a last resort. The first measures
taken would be an economic boycott
and a blockade of the offending ma
ton. All the other nations of the
world would refuse to have any deal
ings whatever with the nation that
started the trouble. Trade with that
nation would at once cease, its money
values would depreciate and the
country would be blocked so that it
could do no business anywhere. This
would bring all but the very strong
est nations to terms in short order
and American boys would not be
called Upon to fight, neither would
the boys Of any other country be
called upon to take up arms. This is
the advantage of the league. It puts
into operation peaceful means of
subduing a nation and only as a last
resort are arms resorted to, and in
that case we would probably have to
fight anyway, as we did in the recent
war.
As for the advice" of the council
as to what course each nation should
pursue when an offending nation re-
fuses to obey the ruling of the league
it rests upon the respective govern
ments themselves to decide how they
will fulfill their obligations. The ad-
vice OF the council must be by unani-
agreement of it's members, and
he United States will be a member.
No advice as to the course of action
will therefore be given that would
70 NSAo4ASACO Unjust " IAO OhAlcO
States by the representative of our
government. Probably no advice will
be given by the council until after
consultation with the respective gov
srnments represented in the council.
This consultation would seem to be
essential in important matters, for
his is a League of Nations, not a
'upersate, as some try to make it
,ut, and the members Of the council
ire primarily but representatives Of
he nations that are given the pre-
dominating influence.
Inasmuch as these nations have
he greatest power. both in them
selves and in the league. their re-
possibilities will be the greater,
Ind they will endeavor to reach an
among themselves as to
what action should be taken in case
If such an extraordinary emergency
IS would fall upon Article x alone.
Each government must be its own
Judge as to the in which it
will fulfill its obligation, and the
character and extent of its support
will depend upon the circumstances
Of the case, the greatness of the
emergency and the degree of its own
Danger. That danger would be meas
lred to a large extent by proximity
and It is reasonable to assume that
The countries nearest the seal of
would be first to go to the
aid of the attacked.
In considering Article x, the whole
covenant must be considered along
it. When this is done it is APP
that the sole object is to pre-
vent war and that is why peace
loving people, especially mothers,
the league. Until such time as
ornaments are reduced and nations
can fully trust each other there must
be some guarantee that the various
nations will stand together, especial
ly is this so from the viewpoint of
the smaller nations. Article x gives
the weaker nations this assurance.
and especially are the newly created
nations. which have come into ex-
as a result of the war, assur-
ed that they will be protected. Only
in an extreme case will war be re-
sorted to. The other articles in the