“These are fateful times. Organized government has a definite duty all over the world. The house of civilization is to be put in order. The supreme issue of the century is before us and the nation that halts and delays is playing with fire. The finest impulses of humanity, rising above national lines, merely seek to make another horrible war impossible. Under the old order of international anarchy war came overnight, and the world was on fire before we knew it. It sickens our senses to think of another. We saw one conflict into which modern science brought new forms of destruction in great guns, submarines, airships, and poison gases. But scientists tell us that the next war will be much worse. Chemists have already perfected gases so deadly that whole cities can be wiped out, armies destroyed, and the crews of battleships smothered. The public prints are filled with the opinion of military men that in future wars the method, more effective than gases or bombs, will be the employment of the germs of diseases, carrying pestilence and destruction. Any nation prepared under these conditions, as Germany was equipped in 1914, could conquer the world in a year.
“The question is whether we shall or shall not join in this practical and humane movement. President Wilson, as our representative at the peace table, entered the League in our name, in so far as the executive authority permitted. Senator Harding, as the Republican candidate for the Presidency, proposed in plain words that we remain out of it. As the Democratic candidate, I favor going in.
“To me the Harding proposal means dishonor, world confusion and delay. It would keep us in permanent company with Germany, Russia, Turkey and Mexico. It would entail, in the ultimate, more real injury than the war itself. The Democratic position on the question, as expressed in the platform, is ‘We advocate immediate ratification of the treaty without reservations which would impair its essential integrity, but do not oppose the acceptance of any reservation making clearer or more specific the obligations of the United States to the League associates.’”
Reservations that Cox Favors
When discussing with Mr. Cox his attitude on the treaty reservations, he said:
“The captious may pretend that our platform reference to reservations is vague and indefinite. Its meaning, in brief, is that we shall state our interpretation of the covenant as a matter of good faith to our associates and as a precaution against any misunderstanding in the future.”
As to these “interpretations,” Mr. Cox felt that some statement should be made and suggested the following two:
(1) In giving its assent to this treaty the Senate has in mind the fact that the League of Nations, which it embodies, was devised for the sole purpose of maintaining peace and comity among the nations of the earth and preventing the recurrence of such conflicts as that thru which the world has just passed. The coöperation of the United States with the League and its continuance as a member thereof, will naturally depend upon the adherence of the League to that fundamental purpose.
(2) It will, of course, be understood that in carrying out the purpose of the League the Government of the United States must at all times act in strict harmony with the terms and intent of the United States Constitution, which cannot in any way be altered by the treaty-making power.