The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-06-04

open once more, since MS reslgna-
ton during the Peace Conference. He
has come out to explain to the world
just why it was impossible for him
to collaborate with Mr.. Wilson. Cal.
though to be more exact, collabora-
tion did not take place at all. Mr.
Lansing was completely ignored by
Wilson, both before their departure
for Paris and after.) The defenders
Of Wilson are hot on the trail Of Ian
sing, asking him the unanswerable
question, why he remained in the
cabinet, when he saw he was not
wanted.
The thing of interest to us, how
ever, is not. the controversy between
Wilson and Lansing, but the ex-
posures that Lansing makes. When
the high and mighty get to quarrel
ing, some good is bound to come Of
it. We learn secrets that otherwise
would not be disclosed to the prole-
tartan masses. We learn how the
fate of people is decided by men
who do not understand what they
are dealing with and who do not care,
except that it means gain for a
small coterie of capitalists. We learn
much that better had not been re-
vealed, If the safety of the capitalist
system is to be maintained.
One of the significant things barred
is the wonder Of the "open treaties
openly arrived at" as propounded so
magnificently by Mr.. Wilson. Day by
day, during the Peace Conference, it
became clear that Wilson was be-
traying the stand he took when pro-
claiming the brilliant" fourteen
points. But the cynicism Of it all is
appealing, when one thinks that it
was the lives and destines of millions
of human beings that were being
bargained for--bargained for secret
ly, without their being allowed to
say single word of approval or
protest! Thus, in the words Of Lam
sing: "Intrigues, which were only
possible through secrecy, stained
nearly all the negotiations at Paris,
but in the final act Of Withholding
knowledge of the actual text Of the
treaty from the delegates of most of
the nations represented>in the Con-
ference, the spirit of secretiveness
seems to have gone mad!"
Shantung was added to the list of
war prizes that were to be distribute
ed to the lucky claimants or the
loudest complainers. Shantung, ac-
cording to Lansing, was awarded as
a bait to Japan, to keep her in the
League!
Mandatories, supposedly obliga-
tions, moral and otherwise, on the
part Of "altruistic" capitalist ma
tions, were another species of in
trigue and deceit. At that time, the
word mandatory had to be looked
up in the dictionary by the averagN
man. There he learned about the
duties Of guardian nations toward
their wards. 1t sounded lofty: it
seemed ideal. According to Lansing,
however, it was only a means of the
victorious Allied nations cheating
Germany. Had the colonial posses
sions been distributed to the Allied
nations as prizes Of war, Germany
could have contended, and, in the
opinion of Lansing, justly so, that
the value of these possessions should
be deducted from the indemnity that
Germany would have to pay. But in
distributing the mandates, the League
OF Nations, would presumably do
so in the interests Of the colonies
and the mandates would be accepted
by the powers as duty and not to
obtain new concessions. Thus, under
the mandatory system, Germany lost
her territorial assets, which might
have greatly reduced her financial
debts to the Allies, while the latter
obtained the German colonial posses
sions without the loss Of any claims
for indemnity"
Such altruism! Such idealism!
The mandates were distributed!
And further secret treaties, were
made, even behind the back Of viii
son, the preacher Of "open treaties"
and the maker of secret ones! And
today, the United States government,
in whose interests Wilson made these
secret treaties, is disputing the valid
ity Of the other secret ones. The
U. s. government is contesting the
right Of japan to the Island Of Yap
and the right Of Great Britain to
The oil fields Of Mesopotamia. And
The negotiations are going on JUST
AS OPENLY AS THEY DID AT
PARIS! When negotiations are con-