THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS[2]
January 13, 1919
It is, of course, a serious misfortune that our people are not getting a clear idea of what is happening on the other side. For the moment the point as to which we are foggy is the League of Nations. We all of us earnestly desire such a league, only we wish to be sure that it will help and not hinder the cause of world peace and justice. There is not a young man in this country who has fought, or an old man who has seen those dear to him fight, who does not wish to minimize the chance of future war. But there is not a man of sense who does not know that in any such movement if too much is attempted the result is either failure or worse than failure.
The trouble withMr.Wilson’s utterances, so far as they are reported, and the utterances of acquiescence in them by European statesmen, is that they are still absolutely in the stage of rhetoric precisely like the “fourteen points.” Some of the fourteen points will probably have to be construed as having a mischievous significance, a smaller number might be construed as being harmless, and one or two even as beneficial, but nobody knows whatMr.Wilson really means by them, and so all talk of adopting them as basis for a peace or a league is nonsense and, if the talker is intelligent, it is insincere nonsense to boot. SoMr.Wilson’s recent utterances give us absolutely no clue as to whether he really intends that at this moment we shall admit Germany, Russia,—with which, incidentally, we are still waging war,—Turkey, China, and Mexico into the League on full equality with ourselves.Mr.Taft has recently defined the purposes of the League and the limitations under which it would act, in a way that enables most of us to say we very heartily agree in principle with his theory and can, without doubt, come to an agreement on specific details.
Would it not be well to begin with the League which we actually have in existence, the League of the Allies who have fought through this great war? Let us at the peace table see that real justice is done as among these Allies, and that while the sternest reparation is demanded from our foes for such horrors as those committed in Belgium, Northern France, Armenia, and the sinking of the Lusitania,nothing should be done in the spirit of mere vengeance. Then let us agree to extend the privileges of the League, as rapidly as their conduct warrants it, to other nations, doubtless discriminating between those who would have a guiding part in the League and the weak nations who would be entitled to the privileges of membership, but who would not be entitled to a guiding voice in the councils. Let each nation reserve to itself and for its own decision, and let it clearly set forth questions which are non-justiciable. Let nothing be done that will interfere with our preparing for our own defense by introducing a system of universal obligatory military training modeled on the Swiss plan.
Finally make it perfectly clear that we do not intend to take a position of international Meddlesome Matty. The American people do not wish to go into an overseas war unless for a very great cause and where the issue is absolutely plain. Therefore, we do not wish to undertake the responsibility of sending our gallant young men to die in obscure fights in the Balkans or in Central Europe, or in a war we do not approve of. Moreover, the American people do not intend to give up the Monroe Doctrine. Let civilized Europe and Asia introduce some kind of police system in the weak and disorderly countries at their thresholds. But let the United States treat Mexico as our Balkan Peninsula and refuse to allow European or Asiatic powers to interfere on this continent in any way that implies permanent or semi-permanent possession. Every one ofour allies will with delight grant this request if President Wilson chooses to make it, and it will be a great misfortune if it is not made.
I believe that such an effort made moderately and sanely, but sincerely and with utter scorn for words that are not made good by deeds, will be productive of real and lasting international good.
THE END
FOOTNOTES:[2]This article on “The League of Nations” is the last contribution that Colonel Roosevelt prepared for The Star. It was dictated at his home in Oyster Bay, January 3, the Friday before his death. His secretary expected to take the typed copy to him for correction Monday. Instead she was called on the telephone early Monday morning and told of his death. A delay of several days naturally ensued, before the editorial reached the office of The Star.In view of the immense moment of the issues before the Peace Conference, The Star had asked Colonel Roosevelt to give his countrymen the benefit of his discussion of the possibilities of a League of Nations as a preventive of war. He consented, although, as he wrote, he expected to follow this editorial with one “on what I regard as infinitely more important, namely, our business to prepare for our own self-defense.” That article, however, was never written.This article, then, his final contribution to The Star, represents his matured judgment based on protracted discussion and correspondence. It is of peculiar importance as the last message of a man who, above every other American of his generation, combined high patriotism, practical sense, and a positive genius for international relations.
[2]This article on “The League of Nations” is the last contribution that Colonel Roosevelt prepared for The Star. It was dictated at his home in Oyster Bay, January 3, the Friday before his death. His secretary expected to take the typed copy to him for correction Monday. Instead she was called on the telephone early Monday morning and told of his death. A delay of several days naturally ensued, before the editorial reached the office of The Star.In view of the immense moment of the issues before the Peace Conference, The Star had asked Colonel Roosevelt to give his countrymen the benefit of his discussion of the possibilities of a League of Nations as a preventive of war. He consented, although, as he wrote, he expected to follow this editorial with one “on what I regard as infinitely more important, namely, our business to prepare for our own self-defense.” That article, however, was never written.This article, then, his final contribution to The Star, represents his matured judgment based on protracted discussion and correspondence. It is of peculiar importance as the last message of a man who, above every other American of his generation, combined high patriotism, practical sense, and a positive genius for international relations.
[2]This article on “The League of Nations” is the last contribution that Colonel Roosevelt prepared for The Star. It was dictated at his home in Oyster Bay, January 3, the Friday before his death. His secretary expected to take the typed copy to him for correction Monday. Instead she was called on the telephone early Monday morning and told of his death. A delay of several days naturally ensued, before the editorial reached the office of The Star.
In view of the immense moment of the issues before the Peace Conference, The Star had asked Colonel Roosevelt to give his countrymen the benefit of his discussion of the possibilities of a League of Nations as a preventive of war. He consented, although, as he wrote, he expected to follow this editorial with one “on what I regard as infinitely more important, namely, our business to prepare for our own self-defense.” That article, however, was never written.
This article, then, his final contribution to The Star, represents his matured judgment based on protracted discussion and correspondence. It is of peculiar importance as the last message of a man who, above every other American of his generation, combined high patriotism, practical sense, and a positive genius for international relations.