Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1920-09-15

Marion. o. Especially Senator War
rem G. Harding, Republican NOMINEES
| for President, in speech delivered &c
delegation from Indiana which called
on him here TO pledge the support OF
Indiana Republicans. declared thai
| twice President Wilson had an oppor
tGnity TO obtain ratification of the
| League of Nations covenant and that
| he put ratification aside because he
would not accept reservations designed
/ solely TO safeguard American rights
Senator Harding said:
81 greet you in q spirit Of rejoicing
not q rejoicing in the narrow personal
| or partisan sense, not in the gratifying
prospects Of party triumph; not in the
contemplation of abundance in the
harvest fields md ripening corn fields
and maturing richards; not in the re-
assuring approach Of stability after q
period of wiggling and wobbling which
magnified our observation-disclosures all
OF these are ample for our wide re-
joicing-but ! rejoice that America is
still free and Independent and In q po-
sition OF self-reliance and holds TO the
right OF self-determination, which are
priceless possessions In the present
turbulence Of the world.
LET us suppose the senate had rat
flied the peace treaty containing the
league covenant as submitted to II by
the president in July of last year,
what would be the SITUATION confront
ing our common country todayf To
my mind there is but one answer. Be
fore this day we would have been
called upon to fulfil the obligations
which we had assumed under Article
| 10 of the league covenant, 10 preserve
| the territorial integrity OF Poland .as
against external aggression
Sympathy for Poland.
81 shall not low attempt TO meas
ure the boundless sympathy for the
just aspirations and restored independ-
| ence Of Poland. Our present concern
is the international situation which
| Poland has brought to our attention.
1.-The council of the League OF Ma
| tons would have reasoned, and rea
soned correctly. that the United States
could furnish the munitions and, Il
necessary. the men TO withstand the
hordes advancing from Russia fal
more easily than could the exhausted
nations of Europe. Moreover, mas
much as this would be the first ties
OF the scheme of world government
which was formulated and demanded
by the President, speaking for tn,
United States, the fact Of a speca
responsibility, resting upon our should
ers. manifestly would have been un
dcnlable. Undoubtedly the Ieagu,
council, in advising upon the means
by which the obligations to POLAND
should be fulfilled, as provided In tn,
covenant, would have so held, ant
probably the conscience OF America
certainly the opinion of the world
would have sustained that judgment
"The conclusion that our countr,
might now be confronted by such
situation, II the senate had ratified
the les cue covenant, requires n,
stretch OF the Imagination. None cal
deny that II is possible. To man,
candid minds. as to my own, such
distressing situation will seem high
ly probable Let us assume that tn,
ratification had taken place. Let III
assume, further, that the Performance,
OF the allotted task required the wag
Ing OF war upon the Russian people
as NJ course, Ii would. what woult
result what would of necessity hav,
TO result Nothing necessarily, w,
are gliblv Informed since only tn,
Congress "ar declare war and tn
Congrec- might -eier' the appeal O
the executive. But woulf the Congress
do that? Could The Congress do tina
without staring indelibly the homo
Of the nation?
. Answer is "Non
II answer No. and / say II not O,
, my own authority alone Back of m
. I Judgment stands the President of tn
United States. Upon that point Their
is first-hand information. In the cours
of the discussion which took place a
the meeting Of the President and tn
Senate Committee on Foreign Rels
tions / raised the question by Stain
hypothetical case precisely analogou
TO that which have depicted, and the
inquired whether we might not righr
ruiiy be regarded as a perfidious pee
, PIE III we should fail to contribute al
armed force, If called upon to do SO
, Inc President first replied, as
thought somewhat evasively, that w,
would be our own judges as to wheth
er we were obliged in those circum
stances to act in that way or not
Pressed further, however, in respons
to a query incorporating the assump
ton that the case provided for an
prescribed had arisen and that TIL
extraneous attack did exist precisel
D as 1t does exist today in Poland tn
President admitted specifically that w
would be untrue If we did not keep on
Il word
Replying further to = Questio
~nlSn PerhaRe I ought not to hay