Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-05-16

q 10 bring into being League OF
Nations and relate ~ definitely to
the Treaty OF Peace 1t was the cii-
max Of the conflict between tho New |
World-in it's larger meaning-and
tho Old. the chief champion or tho
ono being America, OF tho other,
France.
II Is necessary FIRST to look into |
tho origin OF this important and sig
nificsnt document-the covenant
which the Americans were now
lighting for.
Where then did IL come fromE
Who made u. and how? What forces
Law behind a.?
No collection Of documents among
all those the President brought back
with him from Paris is more COM
plete. or important, or interesting,
than those dealing with the League
OF Nations.
Not Original With Wilson.
one fact arises above all others in
studying these interesting docu-
ments Practically nothing-not a
single idee-in the Covenant OF the
League was original with the Presi
dent. His relation TO II was mainly
that Of editor or compiler. selecting
or rejecting. recasting or combining
the projects that came In to him
from other sources He had two
great central and basic convictions
that League Of Nations was neccs-
sary; that IL must be brought into
Immediate existence. In voicing these
he felt himself only a mouthpiece
OF the people Of the world.
All the brick and timber o. the
structure was old. as old as the Ar
ticles Of Confederation and the Con-
stitution-older by far, He was
adapting them 20 the new end he
had in view. No leader can be orig
inal in ideas: he can be original only
in expression and in action. Lincoln
was not original in his idea that
slavery should be abolished. What
upset his world was his decision TO
abolish 81. The idea Of the League
was not original with Wilson: what
upset the world at Paris was his de-
termination 10 realize il Immediately
and as part OF this peace.
Ry the middle Of 1915. the la st year
~ the war. the project CT League
NJ Nations had taken definite shane
IN the minds Of many Thoughtful
men. both in America and Europe
Early in the spring OF that year the
British Government, acting through
ar. Balfour. nad appointed a COM
mittee % eminent international law
Hers 70 draw up a basis for a definite
pan. Tho report OF this committee.
made on March 20. 1918. was sent in
May 20 tho War Cabinet. the Dom!n-
ION Premiers. and the President O,
the United States. This document az
eighteen articles. known as the Phil
lmore report. from the chairman.
Baron Phillimore. became the foun-
dalton az the Leagues constitution.
II was no new creation. any more
than the plans which sprang from Il.
IT formulated in legal. diplomatic
phraseology what seemed most prac-
teal in the schemes already before
the world.
League Idea Widespread.
Wilson was. OF course. in touch
with the general currents OF thought
then sweeping the world regarding
n future League. In America there
was the League 70 Enforce Peace
and later the League o. Free Ma
lions Society. In England there wa +.
the old League OF Nations Society.
headed by Sir W. II. Dickinson ana
there were active new organizations
The League had been made a mar,
az the war aims Of the Inter-Allied
Labor and Socialist Conferenc. a,
FEBRUARY. 1918. which also resolved
that II should be made a part OF III.
coming settlements. The idea SVEN,
England even more completely than
Il did America.
When President Wilson reached
the point. then. OF studying con-
cretely the subject os a Lear,,e 81
Nations. in June. 1915. he turned 70
the Phillimore report. which had
been sent TO him the month before
AS matter OF fact. the essential
IDEAS OF the Phillimore report were
much the same as these OF the pro-
rramme Of the American League 10
Enforce Peace. These were:
That no nation should declare
war without first submitting its
cause 90 quarrel 10 some form OF ar
bitration or Cancellation.
THAT the nations OF the world
should agree 10 unite in various
measures OF punishment, including
the nation that should go TO war
without so submitting its case"
These provisions. which have
passed into Articles XII TO XVI. OF
the present covenant os the League
constitute a species OF indirect guar
Sntee. All members are pledged &c
ala any one OF them which may be
attacked either by surprise or
against the judgment o. an inter
national body on the rights OF the
case.
An indefinite Outline.
Beyond these points. the Philli-
more report contained little that was
GSnnite The organ OF Cancellation
which was 20 operate as an alterna-
tive 20 the traditional methods OF
arbitration was 10 be simply a Con
ference Of the Allied States" meet
ing whenever its services were re-
quired; and its decisions, TO operate
as valid injunctions against war,
must be unanimous. excluding the
interested parties.