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Show ( VENIZELOS IS FOR j LEAOUENATIONS ; Strong Support Given by Greek Leader to Presi- Ident Wilson. PARIS, Franco. Dec. 20. (Delayed) Today I called on Eleulherios Veni-zelos, Veni-zelos, prime minister of Greece, whom I consider the greatest statesman h) eastern Europe, and perhaps in all Europe, because he combines genuine idealism with practical politics. Many m European statesmen have behind their idealistic utterances a substratum of cynical doubt Not so with Venizelos. He displayed his wonderful capacity for practical negotiation in the crea-- crea-- lion of the Balkan alliance in 1912. and 1 it was on principle that ho throw in his lot with the allies at the lowest ebb ! of their cause, when the Dandanelles campaign had failed igriominiously, when the allies had given him half-, half-, hearted support against the pro-Ger-f 'man tendencies of King Constantino; fi when they had sent him insufficient ! troops at Salonikl, when on every side victory seemed to be resting on the banners of Germany and even a large part of his own people -were wavering. Venizelos stood unshaken for the cause j of liberty, antimilltarlsm and democ-j democ-j racy, because ho believed in these prin-1 prin-1 cipfes and was ready to sacrifice hiru-' hiru-' self for there. 1 :J Buoyed Up by Joy of Victory. J It was surprising to find him so full of enthusiasm and health after so many terrible years of his country's , internal and external strife, and I said , f to him, "I am glad to see you looking bo much better than when I saw you , last in Athens." "It is the joy of victory," he answered, answer-ed, stretching out his arms as if to 1 enfold that capricious goddess. "What do you think of the league of nations?" I asked. "We must havo It," he answered. "Modern wars are the extermination of ! r man and the only way to escape them .! Is by a league of nations. It will also, I bellevo, do away with the difficulty about the freedom of the sons. The $. British emplro is not compact like tho L United States. It is scattered over the fj earth, and for Great Britain to give up t her navy would mean disintegration. J On this account Great Britain Avould i not be willing to forego hr right of !j maintaining a largo fleet and using the f blockade In case of war. That dlffi-I dlffi-I culty In tho situation would disappear f. M the league of nations decreed that V tho right of blockade and search li should be exorcised only against those who infringed the rules of the league of nations." "Should there be an international fleet?" I asked. "That," said he, "is an open an.d a ' less Important question, but possibly Is there may be such a fleet." t For An International Court j "Will the league of nations havo the three functions legislative, executive , and Judicial?" I asked. "There are two views on that mat- ter," wa8 the reply. "There are those i ho wish to mako the wholo bound 5 forward at once. They desire to have a league of nations with ;i complete I I government having legislative, executive execu-tive and Judicial branches. Such an organization would have an armed jorce as well. This Is, understood as t Jne American plan. The othor view i, is represented, for example, by Sir j .ert Cecil's protest thntThe does not ? De'levo In covering the whole ground li l once ThIs view would limit the J c&8uo of nations to judicial action in I f iulating international disagreement-!. J i am In favor of tho adoption of tho loader plan. But if wo cannot get a complete international government, either because on examination there are too many difficulties in the way or on account of timidity in making such a radical advance at one jump, I believe a supreme court of a league of nations alone would go far to prevent pre-vent wars. "If the nations must submit their differences to an international court which would take at least three months "to pass on a case, then the question will be discussed publicly and lime and the pressure of the public opinion of the whole world would compel com-pel a settlement," "Do you think this war would have occurred If Austria and Serbia had been compelled to submit their differences differ-ences to a supreme court of nations?" "The important thing to mo,'.' responded re-sponded Venizelos, "seems lo be Inat the league of nations should be fonued in such a way that international disputes dis-putes would of necessity be brought to trial. Plowever, I do not . wish at present to discuss the details of the league of nations " No Parallel In Vienna Treaty "Surely." I said, "we must escape an unsatisfactory treaty like that of Vienna, Vi-enna, in which there were declarations of the rights of the peoples and certain cer-tain vague provisions, I believe, for international in-ternational peace arbitrations." "There Is no analogy," he answered with vehemence, "between the treaty of Vienna and the treaties now to bo made. In the treaty of Vienna tho raon-archs raon-archs disposed of the peoples without regard to their wishes. This war was fought for the rights of the people to govern themselves and. unless it provides pro-vides for their self-government it will, in my opinion, have llttlo effect." "What about the secret treaties?" I asked. "Why," he exclaimed with emphasis, "if we have a league of nations then I suppose those treaties will be done away with. As a matter of fact, those treaties were made before tho real pur-poso pur-poso and significance of this war developed devel-oped before America came into the conflict ' They no longer apply. At Versailles we all agreed on the fourteen four-teen peace terms of your president. That agreement abrogates the previous secret treaties which are not in harmony har-mony with It. They are not consistent with the self-determination of peoples." peo-ples." This statement of M. Venizelos that the allies at Versailles agreed to the American peace plan as embodied in Mr. Wilson's fourteen principles re-, moves any doubt on the subject. His opinion that this agreement abrogates the secret treaties previously made is of the greatest importance. Futuro of Asiatic Turkey. "What about tho undeveloped peoples peo-ples of Asiatic Turkey?" I asked, "and the division of thoBe regions among the great powers?" "It is natural. to suppose that the league of nations will tako over the administration ad-ministration of those regions and grad- ually help the undeveloped people to self-determination and self-government " I left after the interview with Joy In my heart, for here was a statesman who took tho idealistic aims of ihe war seriou'.ly and saw no insurmountabie barriers to making those changes in the organization of international relationships rela-tionships which the needs of the peoples peo-ples of the earth demand. |
