Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-02-21
King Idea the COnqueror
Distrzlst Dep0sed Him
Doubt Written in Covenant
Why England Saved Turkey
Keeper at India's Gate
Where Wilson Was Right

While America declines to commit ltSeu TO
the use of force in support of the league,
Europe declines to trust too much to
league that does not rest upon sufficient
forces.
While America shrinks from the league as
too much of an alliance, Europe makes
few alliances on the side in order to fall back
on one in case of need.
Neither side trusts the reorganization of
the world that few months ago would make
it safe for democracy.
And the author of the reorganization sits
in the White House in such frame of mind
thai the official apologist is forced to write
that he always had bad temper, only the
strain of recent years has weakened his con-
troll over it
TT IS the final act of the great tragedy.
L When the history of mems beliefs or
illusions comes to be written, more than one
chapter will be devoted to the great moral
empire of Woodrow Wilson.
Out of the war came the strangest phe-
nomenon in history, not dream of conquer
ing the world by force and holding it in sub
lection to force. such as Napoleon had, and
such as Alexander had, but dream of
quering the world by an idea and holding 1t
in subjection to an idea.
And this idea possessed mems hearts as no
religion ever possessed mems hearts.
The Christian religion took centuries to
spread over its part of the earth.
The moral empire rose in year, subduing
the minds of men over larger section of the
| earth than has ever yielded to Christianity
The chief priests gathered at Paris.
Men saw that they were merely human.
And worse, they themselves saw they were
merely human.
They saw too that the world was merely
| human.
Doubt was written into their covenant.
The moral empire lacked substance.
To have something they could feel and
touch and count on they wanted a little
material empire of the good old Napoleonic
sort on the side.
| pened the strangest story of the rise and fall
| of a faith in the whole history of mankind.
g q q
ITO MAKE the world safe for democracy
l. Turkey is to be preserved in Europe, in
Constantinople. with subjects in Asia, per
haps-Lord Robert Cecil thinks so at least
perhaps in Armenia.
Turkey has occupied strategic spot on the
map the point that controls the road to the
East
And the world has never been able to agre,
upon any one else as the holder of that spot
Internationally the Turk is harmless
He is SO evil that one cannot conceive O
him as anywhere except East of Suez."
He cannot be suspected of designin;
empire.
Either person so virtuous as TO be abov,
suspicion, or a person so vicious as to bC
impotent, must hold Constantinople.
We having refused, it is apparently goinr
to be the Turk
| He may have an unpleasant habit of mur
dering good many of his subjects.
But one has to pay price for the peace a
the world and the Turk is the peace Of tn,
world.
q q q
England saved Turkey once to keep Rus
Eia from entering Constantinople.
Russia in the old Byzantine capital, woult
have been an enemy holding the gateway I,
India.
Turkey was friend holding the gatewa,
to India, disreputable friend, il is true