The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-04-09
THE LURE OF PEACE

T>HERES sinister plot abreWing, citizens, to lure
IL the United States into the League of Nations.
You guessed it: Englands at the bottom of it.
Well, we won't have anything to do with any,
thing like that will we? We're going to keep out of
European troubles aren't we? We're going to stay on
our side of the water and let them do what they like
on their side They can't involve us again. Well just
stick to our peaoeable program of building bigger
Army than ever had before and bigger Navy
sslan anybody ever had before and paying bigger
bill for war, past present and possible, than any
body ever paid before We won't depend on the two
biggest oceans for protection and certainly won't
depend on any League of Nations! We got common
sense. Ask us.
VxIONDER why England is schemng to get us
w into the League, anyhow? They're tricky lot
You wouldn't trust tner1 any farther than you could
throw Queen Mary the new liner, not Her Majesty
with your left hand Remember how they inveigied
us into the last
Maybe the pace is getting too swift for the Brit
ish Maybe they can't stand the expense of ruling
the waves Didn't Mussolini make them back up
and hasn't Hitler got them buffaoed9 And before
that the Japanese?
So now they want us in the League of Nations to
help them pull their chesnuts out of the fire Moth
ing doing!
rs the above the American attitude? In the absence
Il of any utterance from any responsible official
source it may be. In other words, We propose to
keep alive our distrust of all other people and to
trust to luck that in spite of all experience we can
keep out of the next war, now generally believed to
be not more than two years distant. Bigger Army
bigger Navy and bigger bill to pay. That would
seem To be our program.
But there must be better way.
TT may be that France is pointing toward the bet
l. ter way in the plan she has presented to the
League of Nations with the proposal that it be SUBJ
mitted to a great international conference for
sderation.
The League of Nations today is probably regard
ed as a failure by majority of Americans. Ger
tainly it has failed to maintain peace in all the
years since it was set up and 1t has failed to adjust
fairly all the disputes that have occurred between
member nations It's failures have been more dra-
matte than its successes, even though there have
beer sufficient of those to justify the cost to date
of its operations.
The fact remains that the Wilson idees is as fine
today as it in the days when the nations
of Europe with some assistance from America and
the Orient, engaged in blowing one another to
hell as the only alternative to peaceable settle
ment of their differences. The weakness of the
League not in its conception but in the manner
of its birth. 1t attached to and made part of
one of the cruelest and most stupid peace treaties
ever concocted by the vctors in war, a pact so
unfair that it could not be enforced or at least not
for long.
The pact, the Versailles Treaty is now pretty
well destroyed. Japan, Italy and Germany, each in
its way, have cut themselves free fre.; Il and
from the restraints of the League CT Nations.
Something better must take its place. something
more fair. more honest, more just If that can be
accomplished q League of Nations can be formed
that win function.
France chief sinner in the monstrous peace
making at Versailles. proposes the new attempt.
France. at bay behind steel and concrete barrier
Is aEachronistc as the Chinese WALL seems at last
ready 70 admit her ercr. She proposes new deal
y looks toward an END 70 the competition IN arma-