Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-09-17
ONE WAR AVERTED
BY LEAGUE, BAKER
TELLS OPPONENTS
Republican Plea for Court
With "Teeth," He Says.
Means Soldiers.
By the Associated Press.

| BY the Associated Press.
I WATERLOO. Iowa, September IL
There will be no peace in Europe un-
It'll the burden of armament Is lifted
and the fear of war destroyed. Secre-
| tary Baker declared here today in a
speech devoted wholly to discussion Of
the treaty of Versailles and the league
| of nations covenant.
| Challenging a statement from Sena-
tor Harding's speech accepting the re-
publican presidential nomination that
| the league was so utterly impotent to
prevent wars that it has not even been
| tried" Secretary Baker declared the
leagues operation has already saved
one war. though Senator Harding did
not know it," He recited the submits
sion to the league council by Sweden
and Finland of the Aland Island dis
pute.
Under the old order" Mr.. Baker
said. FINLAND would instantly have
occupied the Aland Islands with her
military forces; Sweden would have
lmobilized her fleet. cut off Finnish
peditionary forces for immediate at
| tack. But the league in operation has
already prevented one war"
! Teeth IN World Court.
| The Secretary also took issue with
what he described as Senator Hard
ing's assertion that some such inter-
| national court as the Hague tribunal
with teeth in it was the sole agency
necessary Tor the preservation of
world peace.
! "All of which sounds very simple"
Mr. Baker continued, but whose teeth
Hague tribunal? His criticism of the
!, covenant OF the league of nations is
! that 1t may require the use of the
armed forces Of the United States.
Now our armed forces are our teeth;
It e can a1 use to put its DEGREES rec and and
judgments into operation; If the
Hague tribunal is to have teeth 1t is
to have force, and the only kind of
force which operates among nations
| is armed force.
1--WE get nowhere by changing the
| name Of the thing: we get nowhere
by using the word teeth when we
mean soldiers 1t is clear that such
a court as Senator Harding must have
had in mind would be far more of a
posed by anybody; while the only kind
| of a court that has the least chance
of being organized with the consent
| of the other nations Of the world is
! tions and leave the Cancellation of
political controversies among the
states to the friendly Offices of such
! a body as the council of the league"
Machinery OF League.
In picturing the machinery set up
for the league, Mr.. Baker said that
the use Of military force was IAN
open question"
should a proper case arise" he
continued, 1.-The council would recon-
mend to the several governments OF
the league what, in it's judgment.
| ought to be done in q military way;
but the action Of the council must be
unani.sous, and even then it Is merely
| advisory, SO that there is no power in
the league anywhere, whether by in
ference or by statement, to compel
| any nation to use It's armed forces or
to contribute its armed forces against
it's consent given at the time it sur
! veys the controversy and measures
, the necessity.
| Each nation retains a complete
| veto upon any recommendation which
may be made that 1t use its military
| force Against any other nation in any
controversy"