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Show THE 4 CITIZEN of the first presidency of his church. It was confronted by the same problem that confronted him. It, too, was asked to decide whether the churchs prestige should be used on one side or the other of a political issue and it decided in the negative. If he had been as wise as the first presidency of his church this unfortunate dispute would not have arisen. The rebuke administered by The Herald is especially forceful because it embodies the views of churchmen as high and influential as is Apostle Ivins himself. It is no secret that distinguished officials of the Latter-da- y Saints church are owners of The Herald and, in calling Apostle Ivins to account for his unfair and conduct, they are trying to set their church right before the people and undo, insofar as they are able, the injustice committed by Apostle Ivins. un-Ameri- can PRESIDENT FRAMES TRAP Washington dispatches are accurate, the President, still continuing his secret negotiations, has proposed a compromise to the Republican senators. Still relying on a phrase rather than a principle, using a clever diplomatic formula rather than a clear plan, he suggests that the Senate ratify the treaty .with interpretive reservations. Inasmuch as we suggested in our last issue that the Democrats agree to the Republican changes because these changes embodied just the meaning the Democrats gave to the treaty, and inasmuch as we used phrases similar to that devised by the President, it is essential to distinguish between our suggestion and his. These reservations, we said, embody just those assurances which the Democrats have been giving us as their interpretations of the League of Nations cov- I'F enant. The friends of the President have a right to interpret his formula interpretive reservations and they show that he wants simply interpretation and not reservation. If the Senate intends to give the treaty a specific meaning as its interpretation it must make reservations which shall become a part of the treaty. The Democrats have said already that the Republican reservations are nothing more than Democratic interpretations. If so, there should be no objection to making the Republican definitions a part of the treaty. When Great Britain made a reservation that she must have the biggest navy, no matter what measure of disarmament were ordered by the League of Nations, it was something more than a mere interpretation. The United States Senate, if it wishes to give an interpretation of the treaty which shall be binding, must embody its reservations in the treaty. As we said last week: Once again it is simply embodying in the treaty the interpretation to which the Democrats adhere and to which, supposedly, all advocates of the league, here and abroad, adhere. If the Democrats are sincere they will vote to make the reservations a part of the treaty, for in that way they will show the courage of their conviction ' that the reservations do not really change or modify the treaty but simply expound its meaning. We suspect that the difficulty lies in the fact that the Democrats do not really believe in their own interpretations. They say the treaty means certain things, but they are unwilling to put the definitions in the treaty because they are far from sure that the covenant means what they say it does. To obtain ratification they are willing to use whatever alluring language is necessary to persuade their antagonists. The President himself has seemed to giv an alarming interpretation of the treaty. Not long before the President left for Europe he said: Special alliances have been the prolific cause in the modern world of the plans and passions that produce war. And yet he proposes a special treaty of alliance for the United States, Great Britain and France, a treaty that looks forward to war, which binds the United States to wage war in a certain specific circumstance an attack by Germany on France, If that special alliance be not an interpretation of the spirit and purpose of the League of Nations, what is it? On the occasion to which we allude the President also said : There can be. no alliance within the general League of Nations. Arrived in England, he said: The United States will. enter into no special arrangements or understandings-witparticular nations. In these words the President was repudiating the old' European system of balance of power and he employed these words because Premier Clemenceau had frankly expressed a preference for.: the European system. Clemenceau declared for special alliances, and won. President Wilson compromised. The point we make is this: the proposal for a special alliance shows that the league covenant is really a league for .war, that President Wilson so interprets it. He wanted France to understand that the compact was so truly a covenant for war that France had no need of fearing that jt would fail to give her the necessary protection warlike protection. But because, Clemenceau persisted in his.feas the President offered an interpretation. It took the form of a proposal for a special alliance as a consideration for his support of the League of Nations and the President surrendered. Japan demanded Shantung and its 40,000,000 inhabitants as consideration for her support of the League of Nations and the President surrendered. In its present form the treaty with the covenant included, binds us, apparently, to give up a part of our sovereignty to the league. Apparently it binds us to let the league interpret the Monroe doctrine; to go to war whenever the executive council decides that we must to preserve the territorial integrity and existing political independence of any member nation; to give the league the right to interfere in our domestic problems if they threaten to cause a war. The President, we are informed, wishes to compromise with the Senate by interpretive reservations which shall say that the apparent meaning is not the real meaning, but he does not want the reservations in the treaty. He wants the interpretations in such a form that the executive council of the league can consider them The Republican senators, on obiter dicta, mere scraps of paper. the other hand, will not be. satisfied with a political commentary or editorial on the league, but will insist that the reservations shall notify other nations that we agree to the treaty only in a certain sense. The Senate would define the contract and say to the other member nations, This is our interpretation of the various articles and we sign the contract on the understanding that it is also your interpretation; if the contract means anything else we repudiate it. h - PROTECTING FOOD BARONS more than six months following the signing of the armistice War Department held great supplies of canned goods off the market. Lately there has been some indication that these supplies would be sold in an effort to reduce prices, but information on the subject is scarce. Undoubtedly prices would decline if the government went about the selling of war supplies honestly and not in a way to help the speculators and the protected packers, canners and others in the food combine. Five months ago we proposed that the administration at Wasn-ingto- n sell, war supplies. If the administration has been forced by public opinion to take this action the suggestion probably was wise at the time we made it. Had the goods been placed on the market prices undoubtedly would have fallen, but the administration, we fear, thought it better to protect the pockets of the packers rather than the pockets of the ptople. It has been admitted that the War Department agreed with the packers to withhold from the market $100,000,000 worth of canned goods so as not to unsettle the market this coming season. Peas, corn and squash were added to the army rations, not to pamper the appetites of the soldiers, but to protect the canners. In Baltimore many tons of bacon went to wraste because kept in unsuitable warehouse. This is simply one instance of waste. We have no doubt that many millions of dollars worth of foodstuffs and other war materials has been going to waste. Had the materials been put on the market months ago the whole country would have FOR |