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Show THE CITIZEN ai -- struggled to end slavery, but if this president of our day could have his way America would be in a league formed to hold subject peoples in perpetual thralldom by military might. When Lloyd George appeals to the America of Lincolns day he does not know whereof he speaks. It was Lincolns day that ended human slavery on this continent and gave to all the world a lesson it will forget only in its hours of darkest counsel. The statue of Lincoln in London might as well be veiled if the leaders of British opinion continue to appeal to his memory to uphold imperialism and plunder. And in our own land we should be ashamed to look upon that noble creation of St. Gaudens by which he has preserved to us the soul of Lincoln if we plan to give away any part of that sovereignty and independence which Lincoln sacrificed his life to pre-- serve. as to give up not only their imperialistic aims but also the L of obtaining their just dues' from Germany." "However repugnai our sense of justice, this definitive adjustment may be the pl necessity, if it be a necessity, must be met frankly. It is bette forgive and forget than to keep Europe a wreck for decades generations. THE NEW LEAGUE The only hope of the leagues utility for peace, said Djj Jayne Hill in his speech at Saratoga Springs, is the shift o: center of gravity from a military to a judiciary organization. This is the creed on which all groups in the Republican party' agreed and the doctrine is well expressed in the platform plan scoffers tried to laugh down as an absurd compromise. The really was an inspiration and much of the credit for it is dui Senator Smoot who made the compromise possible. f Np one w'as more enthusiastic for the league as an internati organization for peace than Herbert Hoover, but he came to! that the covenant vested supreme power in an executive counciji the principal European powers and that these powers had at ti beck and call vast military and naval establishments which were free to use in conformity with the letter and spirit of Artid It was only the other day that Mr. Hoover suggested that Artie1 be eliminated and in making the suggestion he surrendered the position of those who saw the covenant as an instrumentality p! EUROPES DILEMMA In accord with the spirit of the League of Nations, which is primarily a military alliance, Great Britain and France consider themselves obligated to lend Poland aid in case the Bolshevist government renews its attacks. A military alliance is always in danger of attack from those outside the alliance. A League of Nations which is an alliance' must expect that the outsiders will combine against it. A League of Nations, which is a federation of nations to preserve peace through international agreement, differs from an alliance in that it admits to its ranks all the nations of the world. It is not a just- argument to say that Germany, for example, must repent and reform before being admitted to the league. A league which has peace for its purpose need not exclude any nation, not even soviet Russia. The Versailles peace took the form of a League of Nations to repress all outside the league. The framers of the treaty argued, no doubt, that if they were to obtain reparation and indemnity they must rely on force. Perhaps the argument was sound from that point of view, but it tended to prove that there could be no genuine peace until the victor nations had consolidated their power and insured the retention of their plunder by means of naval and military might. But if the victor nations succeed in consolidating their power and retaining their plunder by might will a genuine league of peace be possible? Will not the hatreds and passions engendered by the enforced peace make impossible a league based on international justice? We see some of the consequences of a league to enforce peace in the present state of Europe. Poland turns to her fellow members of the League of Nations and asks aid. They pledge themselves to give this aid if necessary. Why? Because they fear that the nations outside the league will combine and grow strong enough to resist them. It is not so much the fear that soviet Russia will crush Poland that alarms the allies as the fear that soviet Russia will join Germany in a counter league of nations which, like the original-leaguewill rely on war to enforce its .decisions. Poland was erected by the Versailles conference as a buffer state between Russia and Germany as a means of preventing the Germans from regaining their power and crushing France. It may be true that France can escape this fate only by militarism. It may be true that Great Britain must support France for the same reasons that moved her to support France in the world war. Bui if this is true, does it not mean that a League of Nations with peace as its prime object is impossible in the present state of European affairs? And if this is the correct inference, would it not be folly for the United States to commit itself to a League of Nations based on the military needs of the conquering nations? Would that not mean continued embroilement? Europe, including Russia and Germany, must consider whether a real federation of the nations for peace is feasible. Of necessity the nations must abandon the present conception of a league. The conquering nations must so far depart from their present idea - v peace. The voice of humanity, we believe, will be heard more and il insistently demanding that the leagues center of gravity be shij from a military to a judiciary organization. Elihu Root, at the Ha conference, has done much to impress upon his European colleaa the need of making the league a court of arbitration rather thaJ alliance to enforce peace. It is said that the basis of the Chic! plank was found in suggestions offered by Root. There is, h! ever, glory enough for all who had aught to do in effecting j admirable compromise. The enlightened opinion of statesmen is swinging steadily tovl the idea of a league that is a court. Sir Edward Grey came to! country to plead for the covenant as it stood, but after deliberaa for several months in the light- of the debates in our senate expressed the view that the Lodge reservations were satisfact: These reservations were intended to change the character of league by making Article X innocuous and by preserving the i: pendence and freedom of action of the United States. They not, however, affirmatively establish a judiciary organization, remains for the nations, by future agreements, so to change covenant that it will be, not a military alliance of prepondeii powers, but a machine for the ready and facile operation of court? conciliatpn and adjustment. - . Well, at any rate, Lipton can lift a cup of tea. , It the is said I. O. U. that Parley P. Christensen is now the candidate While the other candidates use typewriters Debs will be fined to the pen. Do they call it a Third Party because they expect it o to third? In Kansas City thousands are living in tents. City always was camping out. Living in Kan An Omaha bridegroom tipped the marriage license clerk a The price of Omaha brides seems to be soaring. A provisional government in Mexico is an interval between assassinations. (to |