OCR Text |
Show I Eeague of nations I IS CHANGED TO MEET G. O. R RESERVATIONS iJP1 J 1) .M.irk Sullivan, National Political E'V correspondent of the New York Eve- HBH ing Post. WASHINGTON, Sept 2. Tour cor-i4jB cor-i4jB respondent believes that the public -jH does not realize fully what Is happen- igaH lng to .the league of nations as it -'M affects the domestic politics of tho 'iH United States. This Is so important as tBfl to Justify an effort to make It clear. Last May EUhu Root wrote the draft of the platform plank of the Republican party dealing with the OH league of nations. Immediately there- lifter Mr. Root went to Europe and M has spent yi Intervening huh chlcf- fflH ly in consultation and co-operation ivSAi with those European statesmen who are the leading figures in the league VoflB of nations. In June Mr. Roofs plunk , bAi v. i- 1 1 1 i 1 -1) b tti l: r publican . Mv Vent Ion. The Del meanli - ( this fflH plank of Mr. Root's, added to tho iJEM other intentions which it was known Mr. Root was about to carry out in "xSfl Europe, cannot be summarized more briefly than in a dispatch your corre- J cpondent wrote at that time, on June lb MJEE1 I HIS MONTH. , "The Republican purpose Is to re- HHfl vlve The Hague Tribune, perfect It HHH and endow It with added vitality and Bff agencies Mr. Elihu Root is toda;, In Hyi such a position that tho future inter- national pollcj of the United Stati 'fM as between the league of nations and , 'J something different from the league of nations is almost certain to be bJJ determined by him." M A few weeks later news came from EflBJ Europe that Mr. Ryot had revived, The SB Hague tribunal and had announced ffJH that the first session of that tribunal LnLV Bince the war began In 1914, wouhl be OH held this present September, with H Mr. Root himself as prrslfllnn officer. 991 It was also karned that Mr Root. acting In concert with tho league of JvH nations acting, in fact, as an agent fiflH of the league of nations had also W organized a new and additional court Bj described as 'a complement of The Hague tribunal ol Judges which are to be chosen In the first instance, by I the judges ol Phi Hague tribunal 1 s'l'A'I I'.sMLN CHANGE VIEW'S At that time the Inf rences from 7 . what Mr. Root was doing, and from other Information thru came to pour EHv correspondent's attention were do- fjH?' scribed In a despatch published Au- fSf gust 3. In which it was aald: ' It p looks as if tho European statesmen IH who control the league of nations had EflJL made up their minds to accept as final HApAfl V the repeated refu.-al of America to CJJ ratify Mr. Wilson's version of the I , ' league and have therefore determined PJH to adjust themselves to the different PJH conception of America's Intcrnation- PJH al relations set out in the Republican PJH platform." PJH Within a few days thereat tSri Mr PJH Lloyd George paid publicly that In PJH order to get the co-operation of Amer- lea it might be neccss." ry to make "some change, in the form, at any rate of the covenant." A few days later Viscount Or-y mom specifically silcl: "The Americans must be told that if they will only Join the leog m they can practically name their own terms the Americans should be In-trusted In-trusted with the task of drafting a r-r-constructlon scheme." (About the same time several other European statesmt-n made public utterances to the same effect.) H HARDING'S STATEMENT. Finally, last Saturday. Mr. Hnrdlnn in his speech quOtea this tal mcnl from Viscount Grey said: "It com-H' com-H' prhende nubstantially whnt 1 would propose to do If elected pr aldent " H! l urtljormore. there is uiso this in common hetwei-n Mr. Hiirdl-iif's piT h S i turday .. nd wh i i i. f ' nations . doiiiR The league h - Wr j ' already accepted the new court re- I "j cently organized by Mr. Root. ij 1 Bcnator Harding also accepts thl. K name court. In his Saturday speech Uti I he said: 'The decision of such a MA court would bo accepted without sac rificing on our part one iota of our nationality." ROOT WORKS I1KTWI.RN. To your correspondent the inference infer-ence seems convincing that Iho evolution evo-lution of the Republican policy on the leagdG of nations, beginning with the platform in June and subsequently modified by Mr. Lodge's notification speech, Mr. Harding's acceptance speech and Mr. Harding's second last Saturday is marching hand in hand with the evolution of the league of nations In Europe toward the same end The harmony In these two is unmistakable. To what extent the lalsoo between th-.s two things consists con-sists of Mr. Elihu Root must be Wholly Whol-ly a matter of Inference. It looks .i- If Mr Root Is in lb role of an Informal ambassador from America and. in a narrower sense, from the Republican party, to the league of nations. It seems to your correspondent that what is likely to happen is this The league of nations after the election in the United State's on Novtmbpr 2. will reorganize itself fundamentally, it will adopt as its basis and principal princi-pal function the new court recently organized for It by Mr. Root. The league will also reorganize Itself In other respects. It will incorporate as I amendments all of those American objections ob-jections which were proposed by our senate as reser ntions. The league, iit'r reorganization, will consist of Mr. Root's court, strongly organized and powerful In action, and in addition addi-tion to that, several of the merely advisory ad-visory features of the present league. As Mr. Harding said on Saturday, "1 would take all that is good in tho I league of nations." JOIH 1.1 -i E DP CB &.NGED Alter the leugue has reorKanized Itself It-self thus, or as soon as it is clear that the league is golniu' to reorganise reorgan-ise Itself in this way. the Republican party. I apprehend, will announce that it is ready lo Join the league in this fundamentally changed form. It is difficult to see how this can happen before our election. No amendment to the league can be made before next meeting of the assembly of tho league and that does not come until November Novem-ber loth, twelve days after our election. elec-tion. Of course, no foreign statesman would be so foolish as to initiate any such action until after our election. It has been frequently said here at home by the more ardent American advocates of the league of nations that it is impossible for the league to reorganize re-organize Itself, that the learrue is now in existence, a polng concern with twenty-nine members, and that wc cannot ask these twenty-nine members to change their organization in order to accommodate therv;?!ye3 to us. TO PLEASE AMERICA. In saying this the American advocates advo-cates of the league arr- more considerate consid-erate of its sanctity than those hu-I hu-I ropean statesmen who are themselves tho chief men In th? league As I I have shown, these statesmen them-; them-; selves; have said that the league can I and will be reorganized so as to accommodate ac-commodate itself to the American 'theory of what it should be In fact, I as between the two principles, it i more desirable for the league to make i uges which will put every' member Of It on an equality, rather than for America to enter the league with j qualifications, with these same changes attached to our act of entrance en-trance as "reservations." It will be better for all that America's obllpa-t obllpa-t under the covenant should be no less and no more than the oblign-I oblign-I Hons of tho other members of the league. I ' Is entirely practicable for the league lo make tins.- chaiirccs. It Is true that twenty-nine nations have signed the covenant and became mom-, mom-, bers of the leagu . but it is also -true that the great bulk of these I twenty-nine nations subscribed in a pi 'functionary way I think the i I'nlted Stales is almost the only nation in which legislative debate and pop-lular pop-lular discussion preceded the jc.ning I I Of the lcapue. The great bulk of the.sr nations signed the covenant as per- dunctorlly as an individual slpns the constitution of a clui or a lodge that he Is Joining. Jf these nations Joined the league with such pert unetoriness ns this, they can accept changes with equal simplicity As a matter of fact everybody knows that If England and France think well of any amendments and adopt them all the other nations will follow suit. HAVE 1 u I I N IN LIK I However, all this argument is un-IV) un-IV) Lloyd George. Lord Irev ' and several others of the leading Statesmen in the league have said thai the league can reorganize Itself and it can. As a matter of fact, the I league of nations Is already in process I of making amendments to the covenant. coven-ant. Pour such amendments have recently re-cently been proposed by Sweden. -Most of what Is here said Is based I on Inference from events, but to your com. spondcnt the .trend of these' events see ma Mnmlstakabale. The foct of it on our presidential campaign, I af.suriiiiiK that this trend goes on. will, be treated In a later article. ' |