Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

The Dominion THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1920. AMERICA AND THE TREATY

A somewhat pessimistic estimate of the American attitude towards the Peace Treaty and the League of Nations is credited to-day to the Washington correspondent of the London Times. Ho considers that the hope of immediate and effective participation in ,the League of Nations is definitely dead. It is plain enough that if the correspondent's, anticipations in this respect and others are realised, the cause of world pepee and reconstruction will be seriously pre» iudicccl. If it were once established that the United States had reverted to the,policy of selfish isolation, the hope of giving complete effect to the Treaty of Versailles might disappear. It has already been indicated in statements by German Ministers and in other ways that Germany would be quick to fasten upon the refusal of the United States to join the League, of Nations as a pretext for evading or repudiating the obligations shu' has incurred under the Treaty. With America holding aloof, the Allies would hardly be well placed to deal with such tactics. It k perhaps somewhat early to assume, however, that the United States haß definitely turned aside from the path of international duty. No one doubts that some sections in the United States arc completely opposed to League membership. Tho German-Americans, and an Irish section bitterly hostile to Great Britain, are piominetit in this category. , But it docs not necessarily follow that the American people as a whole would be content to revert to the policy of selfish isolation, or that tho political faction which is gaining the upper hand will rest its hopes on inducing them to adopt ' such a policy. The position of advantage gained by Senator Lodge and his followers is modified by the fact that ninny of the leading lights in the Republican Party are strong advocates of ratification on terms acceptable to the Allies. The immediate question ' raised is whether it is possible to ' admit the United States to the ■ League of Nations on her own terms , as these arc stated by the dominant i Republican group in the Senate. The opinion ,has been so freely ex- t pressed both in America and else- . where that the Lodge reservations ' reduce the League of Nations Covenant to a shadow that some surprise ' must have been occasioned bv the ( Washington report that Mr. Lloyd i Gkoiiqe cabled to Viscount Grey, ( while the latter was in America, ' stating that these reservations were 1 "satisfactory." Apart from the ob- , jections raised to the membership j and voting power of the British Dominions in the League of Nations, ( the reservations leave to Congress .. the power to accept or reject a man- ( date, and also to determine who- ' ther military measures shall be f taken, at the behest of the League, under Article 10 of the Covenant— , the Article which guarantees States ; belonging to the League against ex- ; ternal aggression. This last is the ( reservation which President Wil- '. son. declared would "cut the heart ! out of the Covenant." Other re- J servations affirm that the Monroe , Doctrine is to be interpreted and enforced solely by the United States, that the United States shall deter- j mine what arc domestic questions, i and shall settle them herself; and i that the United States has an abso- I lute right of _ withdrawal from the ( League, and is to be judge of whether her obligations are fulfilled at j time of withdrawal. Other reserva- , tions which have been drafted aim ( at' preventing the United States E from taking part in the various ' commissions created under the ! League of Nations, and at equalis- ,1 ing the votes of the United States l and tho British Empire in the < League Assembly. ' < It is a point to be emphasised ( that there is no evidence at present ' that the voting powers conceded to < the British Dominions are the chief stumbling-block to Treaty ratifica- f tion in America. The point is one e which awaits further elucidation, s but tliDrc is no reason at present to ? suppose that objections to the vot- J ing 'pewers of the Dominions would s in themselves block the ratification of the Treaty and League Covenant t in America if the way were cleared ( in other respects to an agreement, t The points chiefly emphasised by l the Republicans have been that tho responsibilities imposed on the United States by the League consti- ' tution nust be finally interpreted by f its own Executive _ and Congress, „ and that the United States must i•' judge for itself what matters of t domestic concern shall be submitted i,' to the judgment of the League. Alt though the alleged disclosure of Mr. „ Lloyd George's attitude is not offi- a cial, it seems likely that the British Government is prepared to go far in t accepting American reservations on n these lines. Recent utterances in fi tho, French newspapers suggest, that * tho same course may be taken in * France. Indeed, it seems quite s possible that both France and Brit- ii ain may be prepared to let America '' enter the Lcatnie prfctirnlly on her [ own terms. Nor does Ibis attitude ,', necessarily imply any serious weak- ], eiiiug of Hie hopes with which the f< League is founded. It is based f presumably upon a belief that if '' America- once agrees to enter the League she will naturally and inevi- s tably ci'-operalo with other nations {' in upholding international justice <■! and maintaining peace. It has, s: never been suggested or supposed «' thai the League could develop on ,; j any other basis than that of the g] friendly and voluntary co-operation b of the leading nations of the .world. [tl

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19200205.2.9

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 112, 5 February 1920, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
945

The Dominion THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1920. AMERICA AND THE TREATY Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 112, 5 February 1920, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1920. AMERICA AND THE TREATY Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 112, 5 February 1920, Page 4

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert