§ 902] THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 757 able to the victors, inasmuch as it broke faith with a submissive foe after surrender, and that it would breed future wars and so broke faith even more fatally with hundreds of thousands of splendid youth who gave their lives, in long torment and suffering, to "win a war that should end war." At the same time the severest critic must confess that the new world map made at Versailles is at least a tremendous advance over the old map PREMIER CLEMENCEAU DELIVERING THE DICTATED TREATY TO THE GERMAN DELEGATES AT THE VERSAILLES PEACE CONFERENCE. The Germans are directly opposite the Premier. of 1914, since the new map has political divisions drawn far more according to the reasonable and natural lines of race and language and popular desires. 902. In America there developed much opposition to joining the League of Nations. President Wilson's influence finally rallied the Democratic Senators in favor of ratification of the Covenant without modification. With equal unanimity, the Republicans opposed it but upon two widely different grounds. A small section declared that for America to join any such "super-government " would sacrifice her sovereign in dependence; that we were able to take care of ourselves, and should let the rest of the world look after itself. A much larger group objected to particular features of this Covenant, but agreed that it was no longer possible for America to hold aloof from Europe. Said ex-President Taft: 66 The argument that to enter this covenant is a departure from the time-honored policy of avoiding entangling alliances' is an argument that is blind to changing conditions... The war ended that policy... It was impossible for us to maintain the theory of an isolation which did not exist in fact. It will be equally impossible for us to keep out of another general European war. We are just as much interested in preventing such a war as if we were in Europe.” Republican Senators, representing this view, added to the covenant certain amendments with which they were willing to ratify. President Wilson claimed that such amendments would make ratification invalid; and against his influence the Republicans could not muster the necessary two-thirds vote in the Senate required. The Democrats failed likewise to secure the necessary votes for ratification in the original form. While touring the country to arouse support for the covenant, Presi dent Wilson suffered a distressing physical breakdown, and the whole question hung fire for many months. In 1920, the President hoped to make the election of his successor a solemn referendum " upon the matter. As usual in American politics, too many other questions entered into the campaign to leave any one issue absolutely clear cut; but the election of the Republican candidate, Warren G. Harding, by a "landslide" victory, certainly shelved any probability of the United States entering the League for the present.1 66 1 The League has accomplished useful work in settling minor European differences, and it has admitted several new members Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Luxemburg, Costa Rica, and Albania; but the absence of the United States (now the most powerful and richest country in the world) seriously handicaps its usefulness. - especially as Germany and Russia are still excluded. § 905] THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 759 903. During the closing years of the Wilson administration, the energies of government and nation went largely to the costly process of sudden readjustment from a war to a peace basis. Moreover, many of Mr. Wilson's old liberal supporters had been alienated by what they called the surrender of the Fourteen Points in the peace treaties.1 Partly for that reason, and more, no doubt, because of Mr. Wilson's breakdown, the administrative leadership fell into the hands of a reactionary wing of the Cabinet. In Congress the "standpat" elements felt themselves in control in both parties, and prepared to rush through legislation to restrict free speech and to secure universal military training. The nation at large, however, recent as war excitement was, kept its head on such questions and remained faithful to American tradition; and as Congressmen "heard from home," they quietly allowed these bills to die in committee. On the other hand, in a period of great need, no really progressive legislation was secured. 904. Soon after the war, industrial gloom overspread the land. Europe had no wealth wherewith to buy American farm products. Lacking the usual market, American farmers have had to sell their produce all through 1920-1921 for less than the cost of production. Accordingly they, in turn, have been unable to buy machinery and factory goods on the usual scale; and there has followed a long business depression and a cruel period of unemployment, from which (March, 1922) the country is only now promising to recover. 905. In the presidential campaign of 1920, the nominating conventions of both the great parties were dominated by the Old Guard political machines. Progressive elements, however, were soon tremendously encouraged when President Harding invited Herbert Hoover and Charles Evans Hughes to leading 1 Many Americans were deeply aggrieved that Japan was allowed at Versailles to retain Germany's old rights in the Shantung peninsula of China, with its forty million people. The victory of English and French imperialism in the disposition of Syria and Mesopotamia was also highly offensive. places in the new Cabinet. The recent Washington Conference well justifies such hopefulness. Two great powers came out of the World War with relatively small sacrifice, and, indirectly, with great increase in national wealth and power. These were the United States and Japan. But between these two there were many old and grievous irritations; and now the World War had created new causes for dispute especially in Japan's aggressions in China1 and Siberia (with their serious threat against American trade prospects in those regions) and in her monopoly of the old German cable stations in the North Pacific.1 The World War had hardly closed when the governments of these two countries began an ominous race in naval" preparedness," upon a scale previously unknown, - just such a race as had proved in Europe a prelude to war. But, soon after taking office, President Harding called an international conference to consider the limitation of naval armaments and the peaceable adjustment of the Pacific disputes. This conference met at Washington on November 12, 1921, and sat for twelve weeks. It was made up of delegates from the United States, England, France, Italy, Japan, and from four smaller powers interested in Pacific matters, - Belgium, Holland, Portugal, and China. Charles Evans Hughes, the American Secretary of State, presided. 906. On the opening day, Mr. Hughes made public a detailed proposal for sweeping reduction of war navies. All building of new ships of war was to stop at once including the huge fleets actually under construction and considerable portions of the navies already in commission were to be scrapped; Eng 1 During the war, while the rest of the world was devoting its energies to withstanding Prussian militarism, Japan forced China (unorganized and helpless from recent revolution) to accept a series of twenty-one demands which secured to the aggressive island empire great economic and even governmental control in her larger neighbor's affairs. Moreover, at the peace, in accordance with one of the " secret treaties" (p. 756), Japan had kept not only Germany's former control in Shantung but also all former German islands in the Pacific north of the equator. § 907] SPLENDID ACCOMPLISHMENT 761 land and the United States were to keep an estimated equality of effective tonnage; Japan was to keep three fifths that strength (about her existing proportion); France and Italy were to have smaller fleets, equal to each other; and none of these powers was to lay down any new "capital ship," even to replace outgrown vessels, Then followed a magnificent proof of the value of such "open diplomacy." As soon as the amazed world could catch its breath, it sent up a joyous and universal acclaim of approval; and eventually the proposal was adopted without essential modification. The mere saving of taxes for the coming years is no small matter for a war-impoverished world; but a vastly greater thing is that this arrangement makes it practically impossible for any nation to attack another in the Pacific for at least ten years, even if it wished to do so, which means a breathing spell in which wise statesmanship ought to make future war still more unlikely. SECRETARY OF STATE CHARLES EVANS 907. And the Conference proceeded to remove many of the occasions which might have led to a wish for war. The new |