The Delta independent., 1920-10-08

| League would be so woven Ito Ihe
general fabric of the treaiJ. hat It
would be very difficult 10 sci.~rii e
| it therefrom. That las been G' ne.
Hence one must famili i.ize h:m' eli
with the entire document Or ne can
not intelligently compreh- ,i the a.
League My opinion is that In 5 is a
yictor's treaty, a treaty of :'r.e. a
treaty of punishments, a treaty OF
partition, treaty burdened With
conditions accepted by the van
quished only at the point of the sword.
Doubtless Germany deserves its pun
ishments and much more, but the
treaty is nevertheless freighted with
ghastly cargo of future wars, only
awaiting opportunity for their bloody
development. Germany, like France
before her. will submit to her burdens
only so long as she must. Both her
self and Russia are excluded from
the League. 1t now seems probable
that she can and will control that
great but suffering nation in the near
future, and operate within her vast
dominions unhindered by any treaty
limitations Russian Bolshevism
means and has always meant Ger
man activity in Russia. Through
Lenine she has acquioed ownership
of majority of Russian manufac-
turing equipment The population of
the two countries is fully two hun
dred and fifty millions; more than
twice that of Great Britain, France
and Italy. and equal to the combined
population of these three countries
and the United States. And we have
antagonized all elements in Russia
by a hesitant and ineffective policy,
obnoxious to the present dominant
class and deservedly unsatisfactory
Poland, Czecho- -Slovakia and the Bal
kan states are bitterly resentful of,
the boundaries prescribed for them.
some of which must be hereafter
defined by plebiscites. Morever. they
are populated by composite but con-
flicting races. whose bloody COLI
sions have been occasionally avoided
in the past by a dominating authority
now wholly removed. Italy has no
intention of abandoning her demand
for Fiume. nor is Jugo-Slavia less
determined to retain it. Italy clashes
with Greece in Albania and Asia
Minor, while France and England
even now look askance at each other
from their vantage points in Serbia
and Palestine. Across the Pacific the
Shantung problem looms large and
sinister. All these situations with
others of minor import lurk in the
treaty: their outlines scarcely con-
cealed by the elaborate phraseology
of its ponderous recitals Roumania
has just defied the authority of the
Allied and Associated powers. over
run Hungary and arrogantly refuses
to surrender foot of its occupied
territory. Hungary must be protected
by the Allies If protected at all. and
that seems impossible. except by
armed Intervention.
Do you see any prospect of restor-
ing normal conditions here by merely
settling the international problem of
the League2 Or that when one of
these storms breaks from three to
five thousand miles distant from
America the burden OF their suppress
sion under the League must fall upon
us because ours is the only Great
Power still possessed of the financial
and military sinews of war? And do
you believe that public sentiment of
our cOuntrymen will approve our
entry into any such war waged upon
other continents than ours. to settle
diffaranca. xxrhn tT
isphere? Speaking solely for myself.
I cannot perceive the wisdom of rati-
flying treaty pregnant with strife
and conflict, and hoping to avoid them
by INTERVENING its articles with
covenants for a League of Nations.
This is possible only to an alliance
offensive and defensive, equipped
actually and potentially with power
to enforce its mandates. ] know of
course that the new and the Balkan
nations save Bulgaria are to be mem
bers of the League, yet Italy. Rou-
mania and Bulgaria are approaching
an entonte. sure to be countered by
similar action between Greece and
the Serbian Confederation. Europe
cannot change the habits nor control
the propensities born of experiences
centuries old. Her ways are not our
ways, nor her purposes our purposes.
Peace has been interludes with her.
With us ii is a normal state Her
memories are of war and the pun
ishments they have inflicted. OF
wrongs endured, of hates engendere1.
Of reprisals hoped for Ours have not
yet been darkened by shadows such