MUST SHUN WORLD POLITICS
Beveridge, Albert J.
Must Shun World Politics Suggestions To Change Americas Historic Attitude Against Entangling Alliances After the War Is Over Are Criticised By ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE, Former United States Senator...
...One circumstance alone makes this certain...
...If, however, there should be a hitch in arranging this...
...American relations with Mexico—every act with reference to that anarchy-torn country, demanded by American interests, rights and honor—will be determined not by the American nation, but by such Asiatic, European, South and Central American governments as are members of the league...
...since whoever secures the majority of votes controls the league and rules the world...
...In case the teague could not prevent the agreed collision of two or more powers, we would have to fight on one Bide or the other, no matter whether we want to fight or not and regardless of whether the quarrel concerned us in any way...
...Or on education...
...And who shall decide the relative strength in the internationl holding company of the various nations composing it...
...What will be the effect on the American nation, as a member of the league ? In the first place every purely American question will be decided by a majority vote of the nations composing the international holding company...
...Editorials and articles are creeping into our newspapers actually advocating that course...
...I have several times heard the proposal seriously made by foreign subjects interested in our welfare, that even our naturalization laws shall be abolished as to certain countries...
...And if the nations composing the league disagree, how will that affect the league's composite land and sea forces...
...Intrigue, bribery, threat, propaganda and all the evil forces of secret diplomacy are increased in activity and power...
...It is argued that a permanent political and military alliance would give us the protection of a foreign fleet...
...If not, what becomes of the sacred principle of the equality of nations, little and big...
...This is the insignificant item of the composition of the proposed international police...
...Our present association in arms has nothing to do with the question of a permanent political and military alliance with any foreign power after the war is over...
...What are the arguments for such an about-face of our national destiny...
...Under the American practice we elect our representatives and senators only from the districts or states in which they live, and our fundamental law requires frequent elections at fixed periods...
...In every popular government on earth, except our own, the strongest men are kept in public employment regardless of the party to which they belong or the place of their residence...
...Would American interests thrive under such conditions...
...All matters that affect other nations will necessarily be subject to the overlordship of the superstate...
...With the longest coast line of any nation in the world, with thousands of miles of seaboard on two oceans, with a futur> foreign commerce more extensive than that of any rival, with the richest country on earth to defend, the best THAT the interests and ambitions of the great powers will conflict is admitted...
...But will it not, instead, get us into war...
...In short the United States is not now and never has been "isolated" except in the sense that we have not been bound up to the fortunes of any foreign power by a political and military alliance...
...Would Strengthen U. S. In Wars...
...The proposition is that we shall form a permanent union with a foreign power effective both in peace and war...
...We must forfeit the control of our own fortunes...
...To achieve the blessings which membership ir the league would thus bring us, we must take from congress the power to declare war and, by treaty, bind ourselves and our children to wage war anywhere on earth that the majority of the league decides to be necessary...
...It follows that the control of the votes of the little nations immediately becomes the desire of the stronger and rival members of the league...
...if human nature continues to be what it has been throughout history...
...Early in June he delivered an address before the graduating class of I)e Pauw university...
...Or shall there be a common and general commissariat...
...More than one periodical, published in this country, openly and steadily champions that revolution of American policy...
...It follows that the control of the votes of the little nations immediately becomes the desire of the stronger and rival members of the league...
...We must give up the shaping of our own destiny...
...and biggest navy on the globe ought to be and must be that of the American nation...
...Indeed, if the theory of the league is to be carried out, this would be inevitable...
...For example, our immigration laws have, more than once, brought us to the edge of armed conflict with a foreign power...
...It is possible that the supervision of America's immigration policy would be exercised by the League to Enforce Peace...
...Indeed, if the theory of the league is to be carried out, this would be inevitable...
...On the other hand, whether its institutions be monarchial or republican, every other country carefully selects its ablest men for public service and keeps them steadily at work for the nation...
...Intrigue, bribery, threat, propaganda and all the evil forces of secret diplomacy are increased in activity and power...
...Does history or human nature justify expectations so rose-colored...
...we poison our future with ancient and alien animosities...
...But American unity is absolutely indispensable to our national prosperity, happiness, safety and indeed, to our very ongoing as a nation...
...I have several times heard the proposal seriously made by foreign subjects interested in our welfare, that even our naturalization laws shall be abolished as to certain countries...
...For example our emigration laws have, more than once, brought us to the edge of armed conflict with a foreign power...
...Interests Might be Sacrificed...
...We could be of no assistance in the direction of their affairs except to support the views of some other member of the league who knows" more- about those nations than we do...
...How are they to be provisioned...
...Of all nations we are the most immune from war if we hold fast to our traditional foreign policy...
...Or ALL matters that affect other nations will necessarily be subject to the overlordship of the superstate...
...THUS we would have been involved in the Russo-Japanese war...
...And if the little partners in the league are not to be equal contributors to the league's armed forces, and yet are to have equal votes with great powers, the international army and navy will be controlled by the diminutive countries, although the army and navy are supplied by the big ones...
...We must give up the shaping of our own destiny...
...But let us dismiss as of no consequence the swarm of minor perplexities of which these are a few examples...
...If that be "isolation," woe to us if we depart from it...
...So that, under our system, statesmanship as a profession is utterly impossible...
...Not commercially—our foreign trade has increased steadily and rapidly, and its further growth depends solely upon the energy of our business men, together with, the support of our government and certainly purely American fiscal and economic legislation...
...He is a frequent contributor to the leading magazines of the country...
...How have we ever been "isolated...
...Re-Examine Foreign Policy...
...we entangle ourselves in alien complication...
...It is said that the American nation can no longer remain "isolated...
...For instance, the Monroe doctrine will be interpreted by Japan as much as by the United States, by Germany as much as by Brazil, by Great Britain as much as by Venezuela, by Spain as much as by the Argentine...
...Indeed, if anybody but ourselves were at war with Germany, the American nation alone would keep on until Germany sues for peace...
...However, let America surrender to other nations the guardianship of American interests, rights and honor, if that course will keep the American nation out of war...
...He saw a great future for the people of the United States...
...EUROPE has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation...
...Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.—From Washington's Farewell Address...
...but in permanent political and military union with another nation we become a participant in all wars in which it may engage...
...IT IS said that such a connection will strengthen us in future wars...
...He is an able lawyer, an orator of national reputation and the author of several important books...
...This contingency has been foreseen by the highly practical gentlemen who are the promoters of the international holding company called the League to Enforce Peace...
...In drafting their military and maritime blue prints, these architects of the super-state have encountered a slight difficulty...
...We must mortgage the future of the American nation...
...When we sign the treaty that incorporates us into the league to enforce peace, we sign the death warrant of the American republic as a separate, free and independent nation...
...Indeed, the effect of such an arrangement would more likely be to increase the difficulty of enlarging American overseas commerce...
...Indeed, the adjustment of these differences is another basic purpose to accomplish which the league is to be established...
...That the interests and ambitions of the great powers will conflict is admitted...
...Ability, knowledge and experience are treasured as national assets...
...We must cease to be the masters of our own fate...
...Thus, in the settlement of international disputes Montenegro would have as much voice as Great Britain, Ecuador as much as France, Denmark as much as Germany—which is absurd...
...When we do we sacrifice the tremendous advantage afforded us by our geographical place on the globe...
...THOUSANDS of speeches are being delivered every day throughout the republic, hundreds of them by foreign subjects, containing suggestions of a permanent political foreign association after the war is over...
...and so, if any nation or group of nations within the league would not admit to a majority decision yhich they think imperils their vital interests, honor, or even their very existence, the majority of the league must enforce its decree by arms—either this or the league falls to pieces...
...But the plan now urged upon us is the utter and complete abandonment, after the war, of the traditional American policy...
...What then, would be the outcome of a permanent political union between our government, with its frequently changing, locally thinking and comparatively unequipped agents, and a foreign government with its steadily employed, carefully informed statesmen intent, above all, upon the advantage of their own country...
...When the American nation, situated and constituted as it is, relies on any foreign power for its defense it is no longer worth defending, its spirit quenched, its very soul extinguished...
...So it is that our public men must and do think locally, and precious time and strength is given to the repair of their political fences that ought to be devoted solely to the business of the nation...
...It would surely divide American citizens into hostile groups...
...He predicted that within the life time of the members of the graduating class the population of the United States would increase from 105,000,000 to 300.000,000...
...When we sign the treaty that incorporates us into the league to enforce peace, we sign the death warrant of the American republic as a separate, free and independent nation...
...Appeals more subtle and effective are being made in social conversation...
...Statesmanship is made a life career...
...But what good would such an arrangement do the American nation...
...but doubtless it can be overcome readily...
...He was United States Senator from Indiana...
...Is each nation to feed and pay its contingent...
...and a scramble of international politics results such as the world has never seen...
...There is no escape from the conclusion that small nations must have the same weight in the counsels of the league as the great powers are to have, unless the league frankly throws overboard the principle of equality of nations as to their rights...
...But the problems that perplex and divide those foreign nations are infinitely complex...
...Who Will Fix the Proportion...
...And if little and big states are not to have equal votes, how is it said that they have equal rights...
...Indeed, the adjustment of these differences is another basic purpose to accomplish which the league is to be established...
...It is possible that the supervision of America's immigration policy would be exercised by the League to Enforce Peace...
...We must bear in mind that the philosophy and program of the league to enforce peace rests upon the obvious fact that human nature can be quickly and easily repealed and that this trifling in-c:dental will be promptly attended to...
...Must Shun World Politics Suggestions To Change Americas Historic Attitude Against Entangling Alliances After the War Is Over Are Criticised By ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE, Former United States Senator from Indiana For years Albert J. Beveridge of Indiana has occupied a leading position both as a writer and political thinker...
...They have to do with the passions and prejudices of millions of men in the mass and are not to be understood without a thorough and accurate knowledge of their history for hundreds of years...
...On the contrary it would ruin us...
...Let no American citizen be seduced into the belief that any foreign political alliance will procure a single new market foT a single dollar's worth of American products...
...and these we can take care of ourselves...
...The expense of it would be small compared to the tax on our resources that a permanent political and military foreign alliance would surely lay upon us...
...We have not been and are not "isolated" financially or economically—-our banks and corn-* Sees Danger in League To Force World Peace BUT the plan now urged upon us is the utter and complete abandonment, after the war, of the traditional American policy...
...Would the prosperity of the American people be fostered...
...mercial houses have intimate connections in all countries...
...We must forfeit the control of our own fortunes...
...and they, accordingly, have made plans for an international army and navy to act as a world police...
...That we do not have stronger financial establishments abroad is due solely to our incredibly narrow and short-sighted fiscal legislation...
...The moving picture is utilized to the same end and the minds of unsuspecting audiences are subjected to the insinuation of the films...
...From any point of view, membership in the league works a complete and absolute abandonment of our happy situation on the globe and makes our position that of a geographical part of Europe or Asia...
...But we never will draw the sword except to safeguard and advance American interests or to uphold American rights and honor...
...Within the week several have appeared in our press stating this to be the inevitr able outcome, if not the very purpose of the war...
...When we can not the American nature will have ceased to amount to anything and we can dismiss it from our consideration...
...Before we embark upon a partnership which every American statesman heretofore has feared and avoided, let us clearly realize that we must change our form of government so that we shall have some chance to preserve even the present well-being of our own people—for, under the proposed international partnership we could not, in any case, possibly hope to increase their happiness...
...Before we embark upon a partnership which every American statesman heretofore has feared and avoided, let us clearly realize that we must change our form of government so that we shall have some chance to preserve even the present well-being of our own people—for, under the proposed international partnership we could not, in any case, possibly hope to increase their happiness...
...And on what basis shall'it be fixed...
...The proposition is that we shall form a permanent union with a foreign power effective both in peace and war...
...If so, China must send more men and money than the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany combined...
...For it is unthinkable, of course, that the big nations or combination of big nations that is beaten in such a contest would submit humbly and in a Christian spirit...
...shall the properties be based on wealth ? Or on location...
...Let us suppose the league established and at work...
...He attacked the frequent suggestions in the press of a permanent political foreign association after the war is over.—Editors Note...
...Nevertheless, we would be a party to every decision the league might make and be bound to support it by armed force...
...AMERICAN interests would unfailing be sacrificed by any political union with any foreign power whatever...
...Some of the ablest of the proposed international holding company understand this perfectly, and assert that free trade will be one of the highest blessings that the league to Enforce Peace will confer upon the world...
...On population...
...Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns...
...IN CASE all members of the league are to contribute to the international police in proportion to their size, who will fix that proportion...
...Shall all nations provido an equal number of soldiers, sailors and ships...
...The same is true of American import legislation...
...We have not been and are not socially "isolated"—Americans gc freely all over the world and our hospitality to visitors from abroad is known and availed of in every land...
...These few trifling details being attended to satisfactorily and effectively, who is to command these harmonious armies and fleets...
...we load upon our shoulders foreign burdens...
...Should the league fall into two hostile camps, as many careful thinkers believe to be inevitable, the American nation would then find itself a member of an international faction, engaged in all its controversies, compelled to fight all its battles...
...This would be of incalculable ^ value to any power to which we thus chained ourselves...
...Shall Colombia, Siam and Great Britain, Uruguay and Japan furnish an equal number of men, vessels and supplies...
...THUS it becomes a patriotic duty to re-examine the traditional foreign policy of the American nation to overthrow which this sapping and mining of American public opinion ia now being conducted with so much skill, energy and persistence...
...1899-1905...
...The bold proposal is advanced that even the very teaching of American history shall be so changed as to harmonize with this plan...
...At a little fraction of the cost of the wars and complications in which a permanent foreign political and military alliance certainly would involve us we could enlarge our navy until it is what it ought to be, and some day will be, the greatest navy in the world...
...What Would Have Happened...
...If the small nations are not to have equal voice with the great ones, what voice shall they have...
...Shall Costa Rica count for as much as Belgium, Nicaragua for as much as Holland, Honduras for as much as Switzerland...
...No man can make public affairs his life work...
...and a scramble of international politics results such as the world has never seen...
...since whoever secures the majority of votes controls the league and rules the world...
...To achieve the blessings which membership in the league would bring us, we must take from congress the power to declare war and, by treaty, bind ourselves and our children to wage war anywhere on earth that the majority of the league decides to be necessary...
...Moreover we would take part in the settlement of every European, African and Asiatic question...
...We must cease to be masters of our own fate...
...None...
Vol. 10 • June 1918 • No. 6
