AMERICA WILL JOIN THE LEAGUE DECLARES OWEN

"Public opinion in this country will eventually force the United States to enter the League of Nations," Ex-Senator Robert S. Owen of Oklahoma told a CRIMSON, reporter in an exclusive interview Saturday morning.

"After the violent reaction to President Wilson's policies which kept this country out of the League when it was originally formed, there has been a gradual reversion of feeling among the people of the United States as they have come to realize the necessity of the League in preserving world peace and order. I am firmly convinced that if the matter were now referred to a general vote of the people, the result would be overwhelmingly in favor of our entry into the League. Although the government may not seem to realize this now, the pressure of popular feeling will inevitably produce the desired effect."

On War Responsibility

Senator Owen, who had come to Boston to speak before the Foreign Policy Association on "Recent Disclosures as to the Origins of the World War," next turned to a discussion of some of the discoveries he had made in this connection. He said, "During the Senatorial investigation into the responsibility for the World War, which took place in 1923, a secret treaty between France and Russia, signed in 1892, was discovered. This treaty stipulated that the moment any one of the powers of the Triple Alliance should mobilize, for whatever cause, Russia and France should mobilize simultaneously without even communicating with each other.

With Malice Aforethought

From that time on the general staffs of the two armies met every year. In 1912 Marshal Joffre declared that France had 1,300,000 men ready for instant mobilization. During the next two years frequent secret dispatches were exchanged between Paris and St. Petersburg which have been recently brought to light. These show beyond the shadow of a doubt that these countries were intentionally leading up to a war with Germany. With Great Britain, who had joined them through a fear of Germany's growing power, France and Russia knew that they had Germany in a net from which she could not possibly escape. The Triple Alliance was weakened by the practical withdrawal of Italy and the weakness of Austria. With Russia on the east, France on the west, and England in control of the seas, the statesmen of these countries saw that Germany must inevitably succumb to their policy."

The CRIMSON reporter then asked Senator Owen if he laid the entire blame for the war on France and Russia and how he explained the preparedness of Germany.

Whitewashes Germany

"I am certainly convinced," Senator Owen replied, "that France and Russia are entirely responsible for the war, and that they worked deliberately to bring it on. On July 24, 1914, actual preparations for war were undertaken by both France and Russia, although it was not known by the Czar that the mobilization was to be general until July 30. Germany, who had been forced to keep her army in readiness by the preparations of her rivals realized in the last days of July, when she could see that war was inevitable, that her only chance lay in speed.

"While the Kaiser was making frantic efforts to avoid the impending catastrophe, the German military leaders seeing that his efforts would be futile effected a speedy mobilization of the German forces. And then when hostilities had clearly gone beyond human control, they saw, that hemmed in on all sides as they were, their only chance for preservation lay in striking first.

"The attitude of the Kaiser on the eve of the war is brought out, beyond the possibility of misunderstanding, in a comment he wrote on one of the official dispatches from Russia, which to him sealed the future fate of Germany. He dwells with bitterness on this final triumph of what he considers the machinations of the English diplomatic corps. He also foresees with sadness the years of misery and war, and the final overthrow of Germany. That scarcely sounds to me like the language of a man who has just reached the long awaited hour of glory and conquest.

"The underlying causes of the war were the secret diplomacy and imperialistic desires of the Triple Entente. In the future, secret diplomacy is one of the first things we must definitely abolish. This I believe can be done through the agency of the League of Nations, which has taken a firm stand for frank and open dealings between nations."

Senator Owen then returned to the subject of the United States' entry into the League. "The value of our being a member will not be so much to ourselves as to the other nations of the world from the added prestige which our participation will bring to the League." He also reiterated his belief that the time was not far distant which would see this country a member of the League.

The CRIMSON reporter also asked Senator Owen what he though the effect of the Student Federation would be in improving international relations. "I am sure," Senator Owen replied, "that by bringing the students of the European and American countries into contact with each other a great deal can and will be done to further international understanding. The movement is of particular importance because the rulers of the future will be largely recruited from the students of today."

The CRIMSON reporter asked if Senator Owen had no doubts as to the ability of the students to carry out their present ambitious undertaking. He replied, "Absolutely none. Of course they will be able to acheve their present purposes and to go on from year to year increasing the scope and influence of the movement. Once it gets a good start it will have a strong tendency to be self-perpetuating."