The Washington herald., 1921-03-25

10 reel that ne put himself IN an
undignified light. That was the day
when Mr.. Lansing ought to have
resigned. His resignation would. Of
course, have brought exactly the
explosion which, by his silence. he
hoped to avoid. But IL We had had
the explosion then, and IL the at
tention of the world had been call
ed in this spectacular way to the
difference in views about the league
Of nations between Mr.. Wilson and
his Secretary OF State, the world
might have escaped later develop
ments far more disastrous.
As Mr.. Lansing tells the episode.
II occurred in the presence OF tbs
entire American delegation at one
Of the few meetings OF the delega-
tion that the President ever called.
The President had explained his
conception of the league OF nations.
Objected to LansIng's Criticisms.
81 pointed out" says Mr.. Lansing.
certain provisions which appearei 4
to me Objectionable in principle or
at least a doubtful policy. Mr.. VIII
son, however. clearly indicated-at
least so i interpreted his words and
manner-that he was not disposed
part and was unwilling to discuss
them. He also said with great can
dor and emphasis that he did not
intend to have lawyers drafting the
| treaty of peace"
On this extremely pointed express
sion Of Mr.. Wilson Mr.. Lansing
comments in a manner which he
intends to be most solemn. but
which strikes the reader with some
humor. He says: THE Presidents
sweeping disapproval of members Of
the legal profession participating in
the treaty making seemed to be
and / believe was, intended to be.
notice to me that my counsel was
unwelcome. Reirg the only lawyer
on the delegation, I naturally took
this remark TO myself. and ] knew
that other American commissioners
held the same view OF its purpose.
An Unchartered and Dangerou,
Course.
| For his failure to resign forth
with, Mr.. Lansing gives the reasons
which everyone falls back on when
he fails to act according to what the
circumstances demand OF him per-
sonally and tries to justify Il by
lGOnSlQeTdllCnS
But the truth is that when anyone
of us seeks to escape the simple
code OF what is demanded of him
personally as a human being. and
tries to Justify IL by abstractions
Of the larger good. he is in course
that is unchartered and dangerou:
both to him and to the presumed
beneficisries Of the larger good.
v 49,
and there, IL would certainly hav,
been better for his personal com
fort and reputation; and in all prob
ability the world would have es'
. capped some of the unhappiness thai
has followed. It woald have pre-
, cipitated an explosion, but il woulc
have called timely attention to de
lay and mystery
Righteous seIf-JudEment.
Mr.. Lansing. however, stuck
From then on his diary records
rather monotonously. the righteou.
self Judgment of a man who has tn,
air of indulging in the luxury o.
} personal discomfort for what he con,
) ceives to be the greatest good of th'
world. He keeps on writing note;
} of protest which are never acknowl'
edged and probably never read. And
he is not the only one who write:
notes.
One of the best things in tn,
book is the clear and vigorous let
J ter in which Gen. Bliss seems al.
most to call Mr.. Wilson on the carpet
like a young lieutenant for assent
ing to Japan's taking Shantung. II
can't be right to do wrong even &C
make peace" concludes the strxtght'
thinking old general. Peace is de.
sirable. but there are things dearer
than peace"
Bartered for League
In those two concluding sentence.
of the letter which Gen. Bliss wrote
and which Lansing and white also
read and approved. is expressed the
chief indictment against Mr.. Wilson
at Paris. Mr.. Wilson wanted the
league of nations so much that he
didn't care about the IetaIis of the
peace treaty. Seeing that, the smart
er traders. who had little interest
in such altruistic distractions OF
the league. but who were concerned
with things they could get theil
fingers on. like territory and boun-
diaries, Unanswered Wilson into q
position where he was begging them
to take the league. and they were
exacting from him the concessions
they wanted in yhe treaty.
Mr.. Lansing's- book is likely to
work serious detraction In the pub
lie estimation both OF Nr. Wilson
personally and OF the whole result
of the Peace Conference. Afr. Lam
sing questions the good faith OF
the system of mandates, says that
Mr.. Wilson in his excess of will
fulness tried to devise a form OF
peace treaty which could be en-
tered into indepen 1cntly by the Ex-
Iecutive without the formalities OF
Senatorial consent" and in a dozen
other points indicts both the treaty
and Mr.. Wilson's part in II.
The Essentials OF ysdsaent.
The net Judgment that she Amer
ican people viii need to get insinind
IL tAat there was nothing but good
50 the foundation idea OF an agree
ment among nations to end war