Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1920-08-31

tIeel III the propaganda spread
abroad by Mr.. Creel, ever step the
United States had taken, had been
represented as taken in the name OF
Wilson. Then, too Mr.. Wilson was
the commander-in-chie of the Ameri-
can army and navy. His was the only
American voice heard in international
intercourse Congress had put into
his hands the nations man-power. its
wealth, its railroads, its shipping. its
industries, even its farms and its very
households.
In the stormy days of 1918 when the
German tide was stemmed, it was the
name of Wilson that Europe saw
above the Stars and Stripes that saved
the world. Last but not least, Presi-
dent Wilson stood in Europe and at
the Peace conference as the holder of
S1O,OOO,000, 900 worth of Europe's
promissory notes. Small wonder that
sovereigns and governments listened
to him and that the people acclaimed
him until he was confirmed in his vain
delusion that his mind could solve all
the unsolvable problems which had
baffled Europe since Ulysses wand
cred on his long way home from Troy.
In Europe, as well as the United
States, President Wilson won support
for his League of Nations by this
pledge That the league would bring
universal peace, and, therefore, uni
versal disarmament. Is it any wonder
that at the end of the bloodiest con-
flict in history, mems hopes for eter-
nal peace should respond quickly to
such pledge, or that they should not
scrutinize too carefully the means
proposed to reach this end?
That was the reason Europe listen
ed. That was the reason a large
share of the American people, praying
for universal peace, gave support to
the Wilson project until they found it
was all sham-that, instead of tran
guilty, it would give America tur-
MOL; that instead of disarmament, it
would mean greater armament: that
instead of leaving sovereign United
States as the one great pacific power
capable of leading the world toward
universal brotherhood, it would force
even this country into the bloody an
gle of European Imperialism as a
partner in war instead of a leader in
peace.
The present record is here set down,
because it shows how, "unembarrass-
ed" by his "repudiated leadership"
President Wilson came to proclaim
himself the sole voice of the American
people, with a mandate to wrest from
an unwilling Europe League of Ma
lions which should be above all ma
tions.
We shall see him, by the force of
that pretense, induce Europe to heed
his demands. We shall see his return
with his constitution" of the League
of Nations, and we shall hear him tell
America that Europe's heart will
break unless her distracted and suf-
fering peoples secure this great boom
We shall see him, ignoring the unmis-
taxable voice of his countrymen and
defying the open challenge of the SEN
ate, cross the seas again to tell the
Peace conference that the United
States stands, unanimous, behind him,
that it will take nothing less than the
League of Nations with is undotted
and It's uncrossed-and that the league
must be the first provision of the
treaty of peace. We shall see him,
then, sacrifice Americas vital inter
eStS ana yleld the great heritage or
foreign policy to obtain the
mere appearance of success. We shall
see him return the second time to this |
country to fight, by every means with
in his autocratic powers, against the |
of the covenant of the
league.
When the senate shall have adopted
to safeguard Americas
tights and constitution, we shall see
him order his democratic followers
n the senate to reject the treaty. This
accomplished, we shall see him veto
/ resolution declaring the war at an
md. We shall see him finally bitter,
lefiant, alone in the position:
There shall be no peace but my
,eace. The nation is still at war"
1t is a drama without precedent in
modern history. Future generations
will stand aghast at the swift move
nent from arrogance to hypocrisy,
rom hypocrisy to perfidy, from per- I
Idly to the betrayal of a nation. Even (
low the United States hardly knows {
IL that it escaped, or how narrowly
missed accepting a partnership with
european Imperialism partnership
n which it would have furnished the