ARTICLE XIX. TREATIES OUTSTANDING. I

Article XIX provides for the reconsideration of treaties no longer applicable whose continuance might endanger the peace of the world.

This will remove outstanding secret treaties and help safeguard world peace.

ARTICLE XX. INCONSISTENT OBLIGATIONS.

Article XX provides that the members of the league agree that the covenant abrogates all obligations or understandings among themselves which are inconsistent with the covenant and solemnly undertakes" that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms thereof."

This pledge helps to make secure world peace.

ARTICLE XXI. MONROE DOCTRINE.

Article XXI provides:

Nothing in this covenant shall be deemed to affect the validity of international engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings like the Monroe doctrine, for securing the maintenance of peace.

It is obvious with the pledge of all the nations of earth to respect and preserve the territorial integrity and existing political independence of member nations, the Monroe doctrine will be greatly strengthened, but this recognition of the Monroe doctrine is itself an event of importance and closes the door to any future challenge of the rights of the Republics of the Western Hemisphere to their own self-government and self-direction.

ARTICLE XXII. MANDATORIES.

Article XXII provides for mandatories to supervise the government of the people of the colonies and territories of the Teutonic allies

not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world.

It is declared

that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this covenant.

The mandate is to be intrusted—

to advanced nations who, by reason of their resources, their experience, or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility.

Freedom of conscience and religion, prohibition of slave trade, of traffic in arms and liquor, of the military training of the native, except for police purposes, is provided. The mandatory must make an annual report to the council, and a permanent commission is appointed to receive and examine the annual reports of the mandatories, and "to advise the council on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates."

Under this article peace and better government should be promoted throughout the world with the backward peoples,

ARTICLE XXIII. LABOR, SUBJECT PEOPLES, HEALTH, ETC.

Article XXIII is of great importance, and is as follows: Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of international conventions existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the members of the league

(a) Will endeavor to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women, and children, both in their own countries and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend, and for that purpose will establish and maintain the necessary international organizations;

(b) Undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control;

(c) Will intrust the league with the general supervision over the execution of agreements with regard to the traffic in women and children, and the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs;

(d) Will intrust the league with the general supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with the countries in which the control of this traffic is necessary in the common interest;

(e) Will make provision to secure and maintain freedom of communications and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all members of the league. In this connection, the special necessities of the regions devastated during the war of 1914-1918 shall be borne in mind;

(f) Will endeavor to take steps in matters of international concern for the prevention and control of disease.

Here are laid down the principles of fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women, and children, upon which the happiness and prosperity of the world depends.

(b) The members undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control. And all the nations committed themselves as to what "just treatment under government" means in their agreement recorded November 5, 1918, where the principles laid down by President Wilson in his address of January 8, 1918, and subsequent addresses, declared the great doctrines of democracy, that all just governments are founded on the consent of the governed. This promises justice, world peace and liberty.

This article agrees (e) to secure and maintain freedom of communications (postal, telegraph, telephone), and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all members of the league. This is a pledge of the highest character which will go far to promoting peace.

The members have pledged by this article (c) to control traffic in women and children and trade in opium and dangerous drugs, and (f) to look after the prevention and control of disease between

nations.

All these provisions tend to promote world peace.

ARTICLE XXIV. BUREAUS.

Article XXIV places all international bureaus already established by general treaties under the direction of the league if the parties to such treaties consent, together with all future international bureaus and commissions.

This provision advances human cooperation and promotes peace.

ARTICLE XXV. RED CROSS.

Article XXV provides for the encouragement and promotion of the Red Cross throughout the world.

Is not this a power for good and world peace?

ARTICLE XXVI. AMENDMENTS.

Article XXVI provides that the amendments to the covenant shall take effect when ratified by the members of the council and by a majority of the assembly. No such amendment shall bind any member of the league which signifies its dissent therefrom, but in that case it shall cease to be a member of the league. These are all the provisions of the covenant of the league.

COMMENT ON COVENANT OF LEAGUE.

It must have been observed that nearly every article has some bearing on promoting world peace and preventing war. That the principles are sound and wise.

That they are not new in theory, but that the opportunity to agree on these principles and put them into effect is very, very new and never available until the overthrow of militarism and autocracy was accomplished by the armed democracies of the world, November 11, 1918.

In framing the peace treaty with Germany it was absolutely necessary to organize a power adequate to enforce the terms of the dictated peace and compel German disarmament and reparation. This necessity made possible the league of nations and the termination of the old order of competing military governments.

The covenant has been drawn by the ablest men in the world, representing 32 nations, after conferences for many months. It carries out the hopes of Theodore Roosevelt in his Nobel prize address, and the argument of Henry Cabot Lodge at Union College, 1915, and has met the enthusiastic approval of thousands of Republicans like ex-President Taft and the League to Enforce Peace.

It is astounding how few amendments its opponents have been able to suggest to the covenant or to the treaty, and that the few amendments offered should be unnecessary and undesirable, and could be fully covered by a resolution of interpretation.

There are 440 articles in the treaty of peace with Germany, not to mention many subdivisions. The opponents of the German peace treaty have proposed only two generic amendments, one, to eliminate the right of the United States to participate in the commissions of reparations and boundaries in Europe (the Fall amendments), overwhelmingly defeated in the Senate, and one other amendment relating to Shantung; otherwise, in this vast work of reconstruction, no other amendments were offered to the treaty proper. This would seem to be the highest possible testimony of the extraordinary ability with which this treaty of peace (of 537 pages) was constructed. Two amendments were offered to the covenant of the league, one to Article III, to give the United States six votes in the assembly, and one in Article XV, forbidding the dominions or colonies of Great Britain voting in the assembly where Great Britain was a party to a dispute pending.

No higher testimony to the extraordinary perfection of the covenant of the league could have been offered than the poverty of these two solitary amendments which we have already shown (under Art. XV) to be without any substantial value, and which would be in

jurious because other nations would raise the same issue of expanding their votes if this argument were well founded, which it is not. No other nation has raised such a point.

ARGUMENTS OF THE OPPOSITION:

First. The Fall amendments proposing to prevent the United States from participation in the commissions on geographic lines. reparation, etc., only mustered 30 votes. It is much better for the United States to stand faithfully by the Allies in the reconstruction of Europe rather than to abandon our Allies and lose their respect by deserting them and leaving the entire labor and cost of restoring peace on them. The United States, representing less hatred toward the German people than any other belligerent, is in a position to give good advice on these commissions, favorable alike to the Germans and to the Allies themselves. These amendments received 30 votes and were defeated.

Second. The next amendment was the Shantung amendment, to strike out Japan and insert China as the transferee of German rights in Shantung. Japan as proposed transferee has given the most solemn pledges in writing to turn over to China everything in Shantung except certain commercial concessions and a town site for trading purposes. Under the league of nations the question of Japan's right to the commercial concessions would arise as a matter of dispute between China and Japan to be settled under Articles XII, XIII, and XV according to justice, public opinion, and in a spirit of international cooperation and good will when peace is declared. China should recover the commercial concessions before a just forum, but Japan should be compensated by China for driving out the Germans and restoring Shantung and these commercial concessions, but the alternative of no treaty or no covenant" or long delay is worse than the plan agreed on, which has been made preferable by the extraordinary circumstances.

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The spirit of democracy is growing rapidly in Japan as in the balance of the world and when Japan agrees to the covenant it binds the Japanese to the principles of liberty, justice, and self-government. The mistakes of the military factions in Japan do not represent the future policies of Japan.

Third. The next proposed amendment was to give the United, States six votes in the assembly on the ground that Great Britain had six votes in the assembly and would use them to the disadvantage of the United States.

The United States and Great Britain have been good friends for. over a hundred years. They have had no difficulties incapable of diplomatic adjustment and by arbitration, and under the improved. conditions it is well-nigh inconceivable of any dispute arising between the Government of Great Britain and the Government of the United States, which under improved conditions can not be settled amicably by diplomacy or arbitration. Great Britain has only one vote representing distinctively England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the numerous British possessions scattered throughout the world; Canada, New Zealand, the Australian States, the States of the Union of South Africa, and India have one vote each. India ) has 300,000,000 people. Canada is almost as large as the United States geographically; Australia almost as large. The representa

tives of these great self-governing countries outside of Great Britain will not be appointed by Great Britain. Each of these great countries will send as a representative a man of the highest character and ability, just as the United States will do. The United States need have no fear whatever of any decision under Article XV by the assembly in any dispute with Great Britain. It is incredible that a dispute between Great Britain and the United States could ever reach the assembly; it is more incredible that a decision will be rendered against the United States concurred in by the council unanimously (except our own and the British representative, who would not vote) and a majority of the representatives of 50 nations assembled in conference, and that the United States would not be satisfied with the decision. But if the impossible happened the worst that could then occur would be that the matter would remain unsettled, and Great Britain and the United States would be precluded from going to war with each other for three months (Art. XII) and forbidden to engage in external aggression on the territorial integrity of each other (Art. X). A mountain has been made of a molehill.

The votes in the assembly would only have value as they are based on facts and sound reason, and if partiality might be suspected for Great Britain on the part of the representatives of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and India, such partiality is quite as probable for the United States by the representatives of Panama, Cuba, Haiti, San Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and other Central and South American Republics. The United States has a right to rely, and it can safely rely with confidence upon the common sense and common honesty which will dominate the world's great assembly when it meets around the council table to carry out the high principles of the covenant.

The critics of the league have brought in four reservations.

RESERVATIONS.

The reservations proposed by the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations could be equally well covered by interpretative resolutions, as the reservations are presumed not to be amendments but merely expressing the attitude of the United States under a covenant ratified without amendment.

The first reservation is as follows:

1. The United States reserves to itself the unconditional right to withdraw from the league of nations upon the notice provided in Article I of said treaty of peace with Germany.

That is, without regard to fulfilling its obligations before time of withdrawal.

There is no objection to such a reservation except that it would be better as an interpretative resolution. The reservation does not really change the meaning of the treaty itself, because, of course, the obligations of the United States would certainly be fulfilled at the time of its withdrawal.

The right of the United States to withdraw meets every possible prophesy of evil by the enemies of the league, for if for any reason the league proves unsatisfactory the United States can withdraw. It will never wish to withdraw.