Part 2 (1/2)
During the period for the selection of delegates to the Deave a signed interview to the New York Tiue of Nations and outlined two reservations which he believed would satisfy every reasonable objection In part, he said:
”If public opinion in the country is the same as it is in Ohio, then there can be no doubt but that the people want a League of Nations because it seeainst war I am convinced that the San Francisco Convention will endorse in its vital principles the League adopted at Versailles
”There can be no doubt but that some senators have been conscientious in their desire to clarify the provisions of the treaty Two things apparently have disturbed theue was not to be an alliance, and that its basic purpose was peace and not controversy
Second, they wanted the other powers signing the instrument to understand our constitutional lio
”Dealing with these two questions in order, it has always seeueits assent to this treaty, the Senate has in ue of Nations which it e peace and co the recurrence of such destructive conflicts as that through which the world has just passed The co-operation of the United States with the League and its continuance as a member thereof, will naturally depend upon the adherence of the League to that fundamental purpose'
”Such a declaration would at least express the view of the United States and justify the course which our nation would unquestionably follow if the basic purpose of the League were at any time distorted It would also appear to be a si in the future and at the same tiht be inviting a controversy over our constitutional rights, bylike these:
”'It will of course be understood that in carrying out the purpose of the League, the government of the United States must at all times act in strict harmony with the terms and intent of the United States Constitution, which cannot in any way be altered by the treaty- quality of this general international scheme Whether this be true or not, the fact remains that it will justify itself if it does nothe resource which is necessary to repair the losses of the war No one contends that it is a perfect docuht direction It would put the loose ends of civilization together now and do more toward the restoration of normal conditions in sixindependently, in ten years'
time The Republican senatorial cabal insists that the treaty be Americanized Suppose that Italy asked that it be Italianized-- France that it be Frenchized--Britain that it be Britainized, and so on down the line The whole thing would result in a perfect travesty
”The io to work, but the beginning must not be on the soft sands of an unsound plan If this question passes to the next administration, there should be no fetich developed over past differences Yet at the same time there must be no surrender of vital principles It ing, to asse up the nations of the League, in which event revision may not be sotask is getting started, being careful however that we are starting with an instrument worth while, and not a mere shadow”
To an extent to which very few public one, Governor cox has expressed the firue will enable the people of Ireland to bring their contention and claims before a world tribunal It was his stateue would be the hest court in the world, and he stated that thus far it had never been heard even in a istrate's court Sentiments on the question of self-determination were also expressed in his article in the New York Times In this the Governor said:
”We are a composite people in the United States and the belief of students of government in years past that our democracy would not endure was based entirely upon the idea that we could not build a nation from the blood of many races which had old inherited prejudices It is very important, particularly at this time when racial impulses and emotions have been stirred world- wide as never before, that wethese lines In this connection it is well to bear in mind that the armistice which preceded the peace was based upon fourteen cardinal points; one of the ht of self-deterely from dispute over territory and imposed restraints of racial aspirations
Governmental entities are roups are bounded by racial hoeneity rather than by the physical characteristics of the earth in the form of iven element and distinct ambitions possess the soul of racial unity In harmony with this theory, the San Francisco convention should emphasize the Deovernht to hold the emotions which stirred the founders of our Republic”
The Governor's position on the League was aust 7th, 1920, in which he said:
”We are in a ti and straight acting This is no ti Never in all our history has overnment Never was sacrifice s of heart and houarantees the perpetuity of our institutions--if the faith is kept with those who served and suffered The altar of our republic is drenched in blood and tears, and he who turns away froations of the war, not consecrated to a sense of honor and of duty which resists every base suggestion of personal or political expediency, is unworthy of the esteem of his countrymen
”The men and women who by expressed policy at the San Francisco Convention charted our course in the open seas of the future sensed the spirit of the hour and phrased it with clarity and courage It is not necessary to read and reread the De It is a document clear in its analysis of conditions and plain in the pledge of service made to the public It carries honesty of word and intent Proud of the leadershi+p and achievement of the party in war, Democracy faces unafraid the problems of peace Indeed, its pronounce with the platform framed by Republican leaders in order that both spirit and purpose as they doanizations may be contrasted On the one hand we see pride expressed in the nation's glory and a promise of service easily understood On the other a captious, unhappy spirit and the treatment of subjects vital to the present and the future, in terms that have completely confused the public iven its oay in the selection of the presidential candidate, but it was surprising that it was able to fasten into the party platfor policy that possesses it
”In the midst of war the present senatorial cabal, led by Senators Lodge, Penrose and Smoot, was formed Superficial evidence of loyalty to the President was deliberate in order that the great rank and file of their party, faithful and patriotic to the very core,exterior, conspirators planned and plotted, with bigoted zeal With victory to our arms they delayed and obstructed the works of peace If dee with our constitutional peace- authority was rejected Before the country knew, yes, before these men themselves knew the details of the composite plan, formed at the peace table, they declared their opposition to it Before the treaty was submitted to the senate in the manner the Constitution provides, they violated every custo a copy of the doculy from enemy hands, and passed it into the printed record of senatorial proceedings
Fro the whole subject into a technical discussion, in order that the public ed in its objective, but the method has At the outset there was the careful insistence that there was no desire to interfere with the principle evolved and formalized at Versailles Later, it was the form and not the substance that professedly inspired attack
But pretense was futile when proposals later came forth that clearly emasculated the basic principle of the whole peace plan
It is not necessary to recall the details of the controversy in the senate Senator Lodge finally crystallized his ideas into ere known as the Lodge reservations, and when congress adjourned these reservations held the support of the so-called regular Republican leaders
”Fro Political expediency in its truest sense dwarfed every consideration either of the public interest or of the reat political party The exclusive question was how to avoid a rupture in the Republican organization The country received with interest, to say the least, the announceo, where the national convention was asse with the subject of world peace, had been drawn leaving out the Lodge reservations, and yet ree reservationists, the roup of Republican senators that openly opposed the League of Nations in any form
”As the platform made no definite committal of policy and was, in fact, so artfully phrased as to h the convention with practical unanimity Senator Johnson, however, whose position has been consistent and whose opposition to the League in any shape is well knoithheld his support of the convention's choice until the candidate had stated theof the platform, and announced definitely the policy that would be his, if elected
”The Republican candidate has spoken and his utterance calls forth the following approval from Senator Johnson:
”'Yesterday in his speech of acceptance Senator Harding unequivocally took his stand upon the paraue of Nations The Republican party stands committed by its platform Its standard-bearer has now accentuated that platfor his words'
”Senator Harding, as the candidate of the party, and Senator Johnson are as one on this question, and, as the latter expresses it, the Republican party is committed both by platform in the abstract and by its candidate in specification The threatened revolt a leaders of the party is averted, but the minority position as expressed in the senate prevails as that of the party In short, principle, as avowed in support of the Lodge reservations, or of the so-called mild reservations, has been surrendered to expediency