SENATOR HITCHCOCK DEFENDS LEAGUE AND ARTICLE X.

Representatives of 32 nations meeting at the conference in Paris agreed unanimously upon the 26 articles in the covenant of the League of Nations. Forty-Free nations have now accepted the covenant and entered into solemn agreement to abide by its terms. Only two large nations are not now in the league one is Germany which will undoubtedly go in as soon as admitted, which will probably be at an early date. The other in the United States, which will go in it the American people show by their votes that they want to join the rest of the world in organizing against war.

Each nation which joins the league remains its full sovereignty, independence and self-government. There is nowhere in the league a sentence which raises the slightest doubt on this point. For the most part the covenant of the league is a collection of agreements which the members make to each other for the purpose of doing away with war. To understand these promises and agreements we should first know what are the causes of wars. They may be listed as follows:

What Are the Causes of War?

First, secret treaties. In the past many wars have grown out of secret treaties. Therefore one of the promises all nations make in the covenant is to make no more secret treaties. They agree that hereafter secret treaties shall be void, and any treaty to be in effect must be filed with the secretary of the league and published to the world.

Second, great armaments and military establishments. The building up of great armaments has in the past at times provoked wars and induced nations to enter into wars which might not otherwise have been undertaken. Each nation which builds up a great military establishment also stimulates other nations to do the same. For this reason it is agreed in the covenant that every member nation shall enter upon a system of gradual armament reduction, under the advice and suggestion of the council of nine nations so that the reduction shall be simultaneous among all nations.

Third, the private manufacture of arms and ammunition for profit by corporations has stimulated many wars. The revolutions of South and Central America have been promoted, stimulated and carried on because the ammunition companies of the United States have made millions out of the business. The wars in the Balkans and other half developed countries of the Old World have also been stimulated and provoked in order that the big ammunition manufacturers of Great Britain, France and Germany could make their millions.

Hence it is provided in the covenant that the private manufacture of arms and ammunition for profit shall be placed under a ban by the nations joining the league and that necessary arms and ammunition shall be made by the governments themselves.

Wars Caused by Disputes

Fourth, many wars have arisen out of disputes between nations. Hence it is solemnly agreed by those who enter the league that hereafter whenever disputes arise which diplomacy is unable to settle the nations will submit the question to arbitration if it is an arbitrable or justifiable question before the high court of justice which the league is to establish and that they will abide by the decision. If it is not an arbitrable question or is political in its nature or not capable of settlement in court, they agree to submit the question to an inquiry by the council of nine nations, and each nation agrees if the council makes a unanimous recommendation the nation against which it is made will not go to war against the nation in whose favor it is made, and if the council is not unanimous in rendering its recommendation it is agreed that both sides shall state their case before the members of the league, leaving each one free to take such action as public opinion may suggest.

In any event, each nation joining the league agrees that under no excuse will it go to war in case of a dispute during the six months that the court of arbitration is sitting or during the six months that the council is making its inquiry, or even for three months after the inquiry or the arbitration is concluded. This promise insures a cooling-off period of nine months during which war will be impossible. That no nation will break its pledge is made certain by a provision that any nation which breaks it thereby declares war on every other nation in the league and automatically all financial, commercial, postal and other relations are cut off, and the offending nation is subjected to a withering boycott by all the world. This is so severe a penalty that it is certain that hereafter no war can begin, within the nine months period at least, and if a war is postponed nine months that period will be sufficient to allow public opinion to make it impossible.

Article X Prevents Wars of Conquest

Fifth, the other kind of war is a war of conquest and such a war is made practically impossible by Article X. Article X has been enormously misrepresented but is very simple and easily understood. It consists of only two sentences. The first sentence is as follows:

"The members of the league undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all members of the league."

That is the pledge and it is all of the pledge there is in Article X. It will be seen that it does not apply to revolutions but only applies when one nation attacks another with a view to disputing its independence or to seizing its territory. This pledge, however, can only be made effective and only carried out in one way and that is set forth in the second sentence. The pledge cannot be made effective by one nation calling upon another for help. It cannot be made effective by one nation voluntarily going to the assistance of another nation. It cannot be made effective by the league ordering one nation or all nations to go to the assistance of a nation in trouble, because the league has no right to order it. The only way in which it can be made effective is set forth in the second sentence of Article X, which is as follows:

"In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled."

Majority Voting Impossible

The council, as we know, is composed of nine nations, five of which are permanent members of the council, the United States, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan. The other four members are elected by the members of the league from time to time and at present they are Spain, Brazil, Belgium and Greece. This council, then, must meet. The only action it can take is to advise members of the league what they should do in the emergency. They cannot even give advice except by a unanimous vote. There is no majority voting on such questions and even a vote of eight to one would not do. The vote by which the council gives advice on carrying Article X into effect must be by unanimity, and as the United States is a member of the council there is no possibility of carrying Article X into effect except by the agreement of the United States as well as every other one of the nine nations in the council.

All of the attacks made on Article X to the effect that a majority might decide to involve the members of the league in war or that the United States might be outvoted are utterly without foundation.

Article X Binds Morally

The real justification for Article X is that it morally binds every member of the league to immediate action against any nation attempting a war of conquest providing the nine members of the council unanimously decide that action should be taken. This provision, it is thought, will be strong enough to prevent any nation of the world daring to attack another with a view to disputing its independence or taking its territory.

One hundred years ago the United States in the Monroe Doctrine notified the nations of the world that the United States would go to war if any European country undertook a war of conquest in the Western Hemisphere. That announcement was criticised at the time by reactionary statesmen who said it would involve us in wars with European countries for the protection of little republics in the New Yorld. It has never cost us a dollar and never cost us a man but it has prevented European nations from interfering with the territorial integrity and political independence of 20 American republics. What the United States did for the Western Hemisphere by the Monroe Doctrine it is believed can be done for the whole world by Article X.