Omaha daily bee., 1920-02-16
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Benson On the I,earpc

1
omaha, Feb. 14.-To the Editor
OF the Bee: The publication Of Lord
Greys letter justifying. from the
European standpoint, the Lodge
reservations to the covenant of the
league of nations, is the most signif.
cant occurrence sinee~ the discuss
sion or the covenant began. II is
not only known that this letter was
tne authorized pronouncement OF
tne British government, but that
france and Italy were consulted
ana lent their approval 1t thus
amounts to frank statement that
even from a European standpoint
there Is no reason--and never has
peen any--why covenant written
ins Europe, by Europe, and for Eu-
rope, SHOULD be accepted without
reservations by the United States.
me British and French press seem
almost a unit on this point-as sam
pies, the London Review says:
we have stated clearly and Of
ten that IN our opinion the United
States would be perfectly Justified
IN refusing to accept the vast and in.
Definite liability Of the league of
nations. Even in these days Of
steam and electricity, the 5000
miles which separate America from
Europe count for something. There
| Is no reason because the Americans
lntervened at the 18th hour to COM
| plete the defeat of Germany why
they should be mixed up in all the
squabbles and intrigues Of European
| politics."
The Paris FrancaiseS Says. "The
| thing is simple. America simply
refuses to be drawn into European.
Asiatic and African feuds that are
! not her affairs"
The inexplicable thing about It
all is that anyone in America could
| nave ever entertained any different
idea When analyZed, the plainest
thing about this covenant is that
England, France, Italy and japan
were all there and got theirs when
1T was written, and that the United
States was not there in the same
sense that these nations were. True.
we had five commissioners but four
of them could be likened to a pa
renthesis, which grammarians say
should be spoken In a low tone Of
voice and could be left out alto
gether without Spelling the sense
The president iterated and reit-
Grated that he represented men
everywhere" That was too much
territory for one man to cover, and
as a result the covenant was so
drafted that should we enter the
league under it. it would not only
commit us to vast and indefinite
liabilities" the extent of which no
man can foresee, but it could. un-
der the compelling force of the
combined armies and navies of the
-Nt1I i..{1 y,nN !.
all the years to come.
The president argues that these
things are not likely to happen and
that-we can afford to take a chance.
In his letter to Senator Hitchcock
he says he has never seen the
slightest reason to doubt the good
faith of our associates or that they
would seek to commit us to lines Of
action which under the constitution
only the congress of the United
States can, in the last analysis. de-
eide"
This is strange new doctrine,
that nation can trshsfer its SOW
ereignty and still retain it. "The |
power that construes determines
the power that rules" Suppose they !
should seek to commit u.s." The |
league government at Geneva and |
not the United States government |
at Washington will decide what |
powers the covenant confers upon |
it and what obligations the cove |
nant imposes upon us, and, even |
though we were willing to trust the |
matter Of our sovereignty to the |
grace Of the diplomats of the east
ern hemisphere today, we must re. !
member we are trustees for poster |
ity and that the league goes on for |
ever.
Should we enter the league under
the covenant with the American |
reservations, we would then be play |
ing a part more unselfish, generous |
and magnanimous than any other |
nation ever played in the whole his |
tory of the world.
Since England, France and Italy /
have taken the pains to telf us in
the plainest kind of language that |
the Americanized covenant is sat !;
isfactory to them, 1t seems mex |
plicable that any American would |
insist upon an un-AmericaniZed !
one. 1t has become so apparent that |
with these reservations America |
would be in so much better posi- |
ton to serve civilization in case of |
cataclysm, there can be little |
doubt that on second sober thought |
these nations are sorry they put |
it over on us when the covenant was |
drafted and now really desire the |
covenant with the American res
vations, for. what else could Lord |
Grey mean when arguing for the
reservations, he says:
"There will again be some great
catastrophe of war in which it
(America) will find itself COM
PEELED to Intervene for the same
reason and no less, or even great.
er cost than in 1912"
In the meantime the treaty rests,
with the presidents personally con
Quoted part of United States sena-
tors at sea, 1heekly waiting for him
to deign to tell at what port he is
going to land them.
B.-A. BENSON.
Proposes Neighborhood Patrol.
Omaha, Feb. 12.--To the Editor
robberies going on in Omaha at
present a scheme has come into my
mind which to me seems plausible.
How does it strike you?
Say neighbors in a block take an
integest in each other-if police
protection is not, afforded by the
city (that is sufficient and trained),
why can't neighbors keep their eyes
open. If they see unusual things,
slch as trucks and machines cart
ing off quantities of things next
door, or two or three doors removed.
or across the street, make it their
business to look into it. If you see
lights and commotion at Unusual
hours, phone or keep an eye on the
place. Mistakes naturally will be
made, but what of 1t; better 10 mis-
takes than one big haul by b set