SPEECH OF HON. MORRIS SHEPPARD. THE WORK OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. Mr. SHEPPARD. Mr. President, I am opposed to the pending treaty because I believe that it is the duty of this Nation to ratify the treaty of Versailles and join the League of Nations. This belief has been strengthened by a study of the accomplishments of the league. I desire to lay before the Senate and the country a recital of its record before a vote is taken on an instrument in which we again assert our separation from it. Mr. President, one of the most widely read books of the year outlines the advance of mankind from the earliest eras to the present. It concludes with a chronology of the principal events of history, the latest of which it describes as the first meeting of the League of Nations in 1920. The league has been in operation nearly two years. Neither the American people nor Congress have had anything approaching an adequate account of its proceedings. Handicapped as it has been by the failure of the United States to become a member the league has more than justified its existence. In proof of this assertion I propose to review its work. An insight into its growth, its habits of thought and action, its aims and achievements requires an almost literal reproduction of much that was said by the representatives of the nations composing it as they proposed and discussed its various policies and enactments. It is hardly practicable or desirable for the purposes of this statement to repeat everything that has been said in the league's deliberations or the details of all that has been done. Nothing should be overlooked, however, which would contribute to a correct impression of the league's development. It is well to begin with the initial session. As a mark of honor for the American soldier and the American people it was provided in article 5 of the league covenant that the first meeting of the council and the assembly should be summoned by the President of the United States. The hope of the world for a better existence rested on the belief that the common spirit which had brought victory to the allied and associated arms would survive to translate that victory into a higher civilization-a civilization over which would not hang the shadow of another catastrophe like that of 1914. It seemed fitting to the nations with whom we had fought for universal democracy that the Republic which had contributed so much to the cause of liberty in its darkest hour should continue to direct the way. These nations ratified the league and treaty in due season, accepting article 10 without question, but postponed formal approval in the hope that the United States would join them. Conditions throughout the earth continued, however, to drift from bad to worse, and it became necessary to proceed with the United States out. FIRST SESSION OF THE COUNCIL. On January 10, 1920, the league and treaty came into force. A few days later the President of the United States, in accordance with the terms of article 5 issued a call for the first meeting of the council of the league at Paris on January 16, and on that day the world saw the beginning of the most practical effort humanity has yet made to substitute right for force in the settlement of international disputes. In an imposing structure on the banks of the Seine a distinguished company assembled at the appointed hour to witness the initiation of the momentous undertaking. As the sunlight flooded the council chamber of the nations it threw across the table where were gathered the representatives of the participating countries the shadow of an empty chair-the chair that should have been occupied by a representative of the United States. To this day the nations of the league have kept that chair vacant, waiting and praying for our help and comradeship. Venizelos, representative of Greece, proposed that Bourgeois, of France, should be the first president of the council. This proposal was seconded by Lord Curzon and carried unanimously. Representative Bourgeois took his place as president. He then stated the objects of the league, as recited in the preamble of the covenant. He said further: To-day, gentlemen, we are holding the first meeting of that council, convened by the President of the United States on January 13, 1920. The task of presiding at this meeting and of inaugurating this great international institution, which opens so wide a field of hope for humanity, should have fallen to President Wilson. We respect the reasons which still delay the final decision of our friends in Washington, but we may all express the hope that these last difficulties will soon be overcome and that a representative of the great American Republic will occupy the place which awaits him among us. The work of the council will then assume that definite character and that particular force which should be associated with it. He said that January 16, 1920, would go down in history as the date of the birth of the new world; that the decision taken on that day would be in the name of all States adhering to the covenant, and would be the first decree of all the free nations leaguing themselves together for the first time in the world to substitute right for might. He said that the league had been allotted two distinct functions, the first belonging to the present, the second to the future; the first being the execution of the treaty of peace, the second the establishment of international justice, peace, security, disarmament. He said that the first function was to be performed immediately in order to make possible the development of the second, that "in order to build on strong foundations the structure of to-morrow we must first remove the ruins accumulated by the war." THE SAAR RIVER BASIN FRONTIER DELIMITATION COMMISSION. He referred to the fact that article 48 of the treaty of Versailles required the appointment by the council of a commis sion of five members charged with the delimitation of the territory of the Saar River Basin within 15 days after the treaty came into force, one to be appointed by France, one by Germany, and three by the council. Lord Curzon, Great Britain, then spoke, opposing the idea that the league was a superstate or supersovereignty, saying that the very title "League of Nations" should be sufficient to dispel that misconception, that the league did not interfere with nationality but rested on the fact of nationhood. He added: Whilst I am in entire agreement with all that Monsieur Bourgeois said, I should wish especially to express my full concurrence in his observations as regards the United States of America. The decision must be her own, but if and when the United States elects to take her place in the new council chamber of the nations the place is vacant for her and the warmest welcome will be hers. Senator Ferraris, Italian representative, addressed the council, stating that his country's aim was to have done with the past of suspicion and distrust among nations and to strive for the relief of suffering humanity; for the reconstruction of homes destroyed; for the ideal of universal brotherhood of governments and peoples; for social peace and progress, security, and well-being of States and citizens. He said that throughout the centuries Italy had been ready to embrace the idea of the League of Nations; that the league represented the fundamental principle inherited from doctrines of Roman law, handed down through priests and students of the Middle Ages to the philosophers and statesmen of the last century; that humanity was looking to the league for the solution of the tremendous problems arising out of the war. He stated in conclusion that the wise handling of these matters would convince the suffering nations how real and durable was the value of the league which was now being laid on the altar of history and consecrated to the triumph of justice over brute force the advancement of social peace. An address was then delivered by Representative da Cunha, Brazil, who said that Brazil, faithful to her history, would devote herself with persistent eagerness to the cause of peace and brotherhood among the nations; that she would aid with heart and soul in enabling the league to realize the ideal set before it-the organization of justice through victory; that the advent of the league marked a turning point in history, the dawn of a new era in human life; that he felt great happiness in speaking for the whole American Continent, inasmuch as his was the only American country represented. President Bourgeois then suggested that the council proceed to select three nrembers of the Saar Basin Delimitation Commission in accordance with article 48 of the Versailles treaty of peace. The three unanimously selected were Col. Wace, British Empire; Maj. Lambert, Belgium; Maj. Kobayashi, Japan. RESULTS OF FIRST INTERNATIONAL LABOR CONFERENCE. The secretary general announced that he had received the deposit of authenticated copies of the six draft conventions and of the six recommendations adopted at the first session of the International Labor Conference at Washington late in 1919, the conference authorized by the Versailles treaty to operate, not as a part of the league itself, but in connection with it. These conventions and recommendations were: |