OCR Text |
Show $ s $ & ' &' 9 4 $ &r jH I Tcutotx f" ' $ &ir s I'' d i "i us s els k $ $ & 3 & 4 General Smuts Tells t American Editors What Countries Must Do. MEW WORLD NOW Must Extend Aid to Dis-""tressed Dis-""tressed With AIT j Mapanimity. j LONDON, Thursday, Nov. 14 Lieutenant Lieu-tenant General Jan Christian Smuts tonight entertained a party of American Amer-ican editors on behalf of the government. govern-ment. Addressing tho guests he said, that greatest and most fruitful fact of1 the great war had been the coming to-' gether of Europe and America. "Old Europe is dead and a new! v,orld Is slowly emerging," he said. "In the upbuilding of this new world the co-operation of America is essential. essen-tial. "America has become jointly respon-1 sible wjth Europe for tho new order i which will arise from the ruins of this war. "When the great American republic joined us in the struggle, it was not only with material weapons, but with all that moral reinforcement which came from the splendid vision and moral enthusiasm of President Wilson, speaking on behalf of. the people of the United States. His was tho grent vision of a league of nations, and our main concern now must be the saving sav-ing of Europe for the future of the world. As we organized the world for victory let us now organize tho world against hunger. That will be the best preparation for the new order of international in-ternational good feeling and co-opera-lion. "The position is tragic in the' extreme. ex-treme. A whole world order is passing pass-ing away. There is danger of things going too far and giving Europe a set-back'from set-back'from which she will not recover for generations. Tho ovils bred by hunger threaten not merely the old institutions, in-stitutions, but civilization. We saved the soul of civilization; now let us care for its sick body. "Not only the liberated territories of our allies, not only our small neutral neu-tral neighbors, but the enemy countries coun-tries themselves require our helping hand. Let us extend it in all generosity gener-osity and magnamity! "It would all have been so much easier if Germany had fought a clean fight and not stained her hands with such crimes, but even so, we must be influenced by larger considerations. "Tho existing Inter-allied machinery, machin-ery, which is tho nucleus of a league of nations probably will undertake this task. In the period of reconstruction reconstruc-tion after the war, all countries, allied, al-lied, neutral and enemy, will have to be rationed for certain raw materials. Here again international machinery is necessary. We thus are making straight for a league of nations charged charg-ed with tho performance of these international in-ternational functions. "Then a3 regards the primary object ob-ject of the league, from Finland to Constantinople the map will be covered cov-ered with small nations divided by profound antipathies and most of them with minorities conductive to national weakness. We may therefore expect more dangers of war hi Europe Chan In the past. Therefore It is imperative impera-tive that we create an International organization to keep the peace." "The league also would bo useful in solving other problems. For instance when tho league is established, America Amer-ica might be asked to act in some trouble in Turkey or Russia on behalf of I ho league, which would give her general directions. Or take the case of the former German colonies. Some of them must fairly and properly be given to the British dominions who conquered them and for whose future development and security they are nocessary. But there may conceivably be others which the allies, while refusing re-fusing to restore them to Germany as we cannot foresee what course the future fu-ture development of Germany might take, might transfer to certain. powers until their ultimate disposal is settled. "Probably other knotty territorial problems could be deferred in tho samo way. The task will bo as difficult diffi-cult as it Is great-but where America joins hands with Europe, and Great Britain, In attempting to solvo it, I have no doubt a solution will be found." t |