North Carolina Newspapers

I The news in this pubiica* tion is released for the press on receipt. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA NEWS LETTER Published weekly by the University ci North Carolma for its Bureau of Elxtension. MARCH 19,1919 CHAPEL HEX, N. C. VOL. V, NO. 17 «aiorial Board i E. C. Branson, J. G. deB. Hamilton, L. B. Wilson, D. D. Carroll, G. M. McKie Entered as second-olass matter November 14, 1914, at the |Postoffloe at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of August 24, 1912. WILL THE LAWYERS LEAD7 It pleases us exc«‘edingly to find that the most informing document afloat on the Peace League plan to put an end to war in the world or to reduce the chances of war to a minimum, comes from the pen ■of a North Carolinian. It is an address ■by Honorable A. W. Mcl.,ean, of Lum- berton, before the North Carolina Bar Association in 1918. It ought to be in the hands of every aian and woman in this state who is capa ble of reading, thinking, and leading at this critical moment in the world’s history. Mazzini was right w'hen he said, The morrow of victory Ls more perilous than the eve. America played an heroic part in winning the war and played it grand ly; but if America now chooses to follow the lead: of fleuator Keed, nhen she is likely to play a coward's part. We believe with President Wilson that the heart of the people beaks true upon the issue that now hangs trembling in the balance. But the people must be reached and informtxl and aroused down to the last household, and it must be done with dispatch and thoroughness. The lawyers of the state are trained in the niceties of interpretation. They are in a position of leadership at a critical time. We sincerely hope that they will step into leadership-in a thousand com munities in North Carolina, and hold the thousand Peace League congresses that are needed to reach and stir the popular mind to prompt and intelligent utterance on this matter. The party that supposes that it can safely oppose a peace-league plan to end war will be wise to consider the congres sional election in the twenty-second dis trict of Pennsylvania the other day. For the first time in fifty years complete par ty reversal was effected. The successful contestant ran on a platform of support for the Peace League Covenant. That’s why. THE WAR AGAINST WAR The Peace League Covenant against War unanimously agreed upon at Paris is now being debated in the parliaments of one billion two hundred million people in fourto.n countries of tlie world. The doc ument under review is submitted not for ■adojition at present but for review, dis- -cuasion, critical analysis, and amendment wheicver necessary. When finallj' re- sb»(K*l and embodied in tlie Peace Treaty, it will i)e returned to these fourteen nat- ionai t-cgislatures for ratification. Its ratification by the I’nited States "wUI rciiiiire sixty.seven votes in our Fed eral .Senate. Whicli is to say, thirty-four vokw in tlie negative will defeat the treaty ■of peace. Tlie Associated Press reports today tiiat tliirty-tlin'e senators of the new ceagfcss are already signed against the Pe*« Uiagne Covenant in its pre.sent form ,'iiid that four more senators have dwlared against it. It i« time for the country to wake up to (Ac mighty issues involved in the de bate that lias ju.st ended in the Senate of till*. United States, and tliat will be liotly reuawod in the next congress. Kspecially is if. necessary in the 25 states in which thr>e-dftli3 or more of tiie voters are ru ral. 8o far, the 54 million country peo ple of the United States know little about th ‘ 1‘eace lAiague Covenant against M ar. I'bey are uninformed and unaroused. They need to Ixi throughiy instructed, and • ithey must speak out in thunder tones. The need is urgent. Conimnnitiea in North Carolina tliat want light on this vital issue can call on (lovemor T. W. Bickett, state ciiairman of the l asagne to enforce Peace, or on the Uuivorsity Bureau of Extension. Sjieak- jni will be promptly supplied and the cost SSI unnal will cover traveling exi^nses and xiotliing Uiore. Peace League Congresses There have been nine great regional 5071 (vresae.s held in the United States dur ing tiie last month by the League af Na- tiorm to Enforce Peace, under the leader ship of Mr. Taft—the last in Atlanta the other day. I'.lsewhere we are giving the resolutions aloptod by tlie Atlanta Congress and fii^iiffldfor North Carolina by .ludge R. W. Winston, General J. S. Carr, Bishop T. C. Darst and Mrs. Katherine P. Arring ton. These resolutions represent the convictions of a thousand or more dele gates from eight Southern states and of audiences that four times filled the vast auditorium of Atlanta—which means sev en or eight thousand people. They are the convictions that come out of a thor ough discussion and understanding of the twenty-six articles of the proposed Con stitution of the League of Nations against M’ar. But we need multiplied thousands of little congresses on this subject—one in every community—while this vital issue hangs trembling in the balance. Surely we can have them everywhere in North Carolina. The Objections Urged Every objection to the proposed peace- league plan, heard of late in our Federal Senate, was pa-ssed under review, calmly and competently by ex-president William Howard Taft, Dr. George Grafton Wilson of the Harvard Law School, Dr. Charles E. Brown of Yale, Edward FI. Filene of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, Presi dent A. Lawrence Lowell of Harvard, Bishop Warren A. Candler of the Metho dist Church, Bishop Benjamin J. Kelley of the Catholic Church, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, honorary president of the Nation al M’oman Suffrage Association, Mrs. Philip North Moore, president of the Na tional Council of Women, and Messrs. John P. Frey and Jerome Jones repre senting organized labor, and others. Not one word of abuse or bitterness was heard, although the audience smiled witli the speaker who referred to certain of the senate debaters as aspiring to be ‘ ‘Last in war, last in peace, and last in the hearts of their countrymen.” In the Peace Leage document itself the speakers found convincing answers to the inquiries that have been urged in Congress and the opposition press, as follows: Does the proposed plan of the League of Nations mean: 1. The surrender of our national sov ereignty to the Executive Council of the League of Nations? 2. The abandoment of the Monroe Doctrine? 3. An increased rather than a decreas ed probability of war in the future? 4. Our liability to be called upon to govern former German colonies in Africa or former Turkish territories in Asia? 5. Compulsory arhritration of ques tions affecting our most intimate interests and national honor? 6. The breaking down of our immi gration barriers? 7. The relinquishment of our right to maintain our tarifl' laws at tlie orders of foreign nations, each of which must he swayed by its own commercial interests? 8. Tlie reduction of American arma ments to a point satisfactory to Europe? 9. The practical impossibility of onr ever withdrawing from tlie f.«agup? And the answer is No—in every instance No. President AVilson says No. Ex president Taft says No. Dr, George Graf ton Wilson says No. And no men in America are more intimately acquainted than they witli the conditions under which this unanimous peace-league plan was hammered out in Paris. Nobody in the United States is better able to interpret the language of the document now under discussion. Their utterances liave noth ing to do with party advantages or class interests. Tliey know the constitution and the genius of American institutions (juite as well as the senators wlio are sign ed up to defeat the proposed peace-league plan and to postpone till the last minute the Consideration of every other plan, to league the nations of the world against war and in favor of enduring peace. The voting constituencies of the United States need light. Two things must be done and speedily done: (1) the Peace- l,eaguo document of the Paris Conference must oe gotten into the hands of every thoughtful man and woman, and it must be read intelligently and thoroughly. The very liest answers to the objections that have been urged are to be found in the language of the document itself. Any high school boy would easily find in it an answer to the amazing nonsense that Sen HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE Gov. T. W. BicKett No nation can now live to itself alone. The discoveries of science and the advance of civilization have made nations as well as individuals their brothers’ keepers. The nation that dreams that it can live in security and peace while half the world wel ters in blood or anarchy is living in a fool's paradise. Tlie I.eague of Nations is a frank recognition of this fundamental truth. Moreover, the league guarantees to this nation precisely what we fought for—a world forever free from the menace of militarism. Repudiate the league, and our dead will have died in vain. The league advances rather than abandons the Monroe Doctrine. Thirteen other nations come into a world court and solemnly swear to maintain this doctrine. The hearts of tlie people are in fa vor of the league. In North Carolina all classes of people regardless of pol itics, religion, race, color, or previous condition of servitude, believe that tlie league is the surest guarantee to the future peace of the ninety and nine. The men who oppose it will be swept into oblivion, and if they doubt this let them accept the challenge of the President to submit the issue to all the people. all that America means to ator Reed is talking in his round of speech making. It is high time the folks read the document itself. (2) The issues in volved must be discussed and debated in every community in America. The bur den of responsibility on local leadership is tremendous because no question of greater importance has challenged hu manity in two thousand years of history. Our Leaders Must Lead The time has come for our leaders to lead. If America fails, there can be no I.eague of Nations. If there be no League of Nations, Europe falls into irre trievable chaos, and if Europe falls into chaos, America is inescapably involved. It was impossible for the United States to keep out of the war just ended—a war that has cost us fifty billion dollars all told and-fifty thousand of our boys dead on the battle field. If we let things drift it will be just as impossible to keep out of the next war, and every other till the end of recorded time. It is childish to think that America can ever again play Puss-in-a-cor- ner, and leave tlie big wide world to wag as it will. M^e can elect to steer clear of wliat Jett’erson—not M^ashington by the way—called ‘ ‘entangling alliances’ ’. M’e can wave Europe aside and wash our hands of it, Pilate-fasliioii. We can leave the world to drift into war and then go in with a big stick to club disturbing na tions into peace. We can choose a cliildish policy of that sort," or we can put away childish tilings and step out into the open like men and say to the universe, “We stand for the Betlilehem peaci’-meassge to men. We bid wars to cease and, so far as it is lui- manly possible, we mean to have it so. AVe mean to make an end to war in the world or to reduce tlie chances of- war to a mininum.” Four years ago AVinston Churchill said ‘ ‘This war is a race against revolution’ ’ The war has been won but the world is still running a race with revolution. AVithout a League of Nations anarchy seems to be inevitable in Europe, and witli Europe ablaze America would he sorry insurance risk. Franh Sitnonds tack upon them. If the league of nations and the idea of the league of nations collapses, the ele ments of hojie will be withdrawn from the European situation and the people that have the great task of reconstruc tion to undertake may yield to despair. In sum, the simple fact is that Europe has accepted Mr. AVilson as the spokes man of America. It has welcomed him as no other public man has ever been welcomed here before. He was the dele gate of that America whose services were in the minds and hearts of millions of people. It has, to an incredible ex tent, risked all its future hope upon Mr. Wilson, not as an individual, but as President of the United States; and if the country repudiates what Mr. Wilson has done here for domestic or political rea sons, which are wholly comprehensible to every American, the European tragedy will be stupendous. The European has known no other Amer ican view than that of President AAhlson. It has accepted his view because it be lieved it to be the American view, and today it stands literally aghast in the presence of the possibility, at least sug gested by fragmentary dispatches, that ] tlie real view of America is something en- ; tirely different from the President’s. I have talked with many republicans who are here, all of whom see the situa tion clearly, substantially as I have pre sented it here. I AVithout exception, they recognize the greatness of the American opportunity and duty in Europe; with no dissenting voice they assert that to abandon the league of nations with its European re sponsibilities now' will be little less than the abandonment of those w'ho died in Europe to establish American ideals in the world. No country could deserveithe admira tion America receives in Europe today, and no country could afford to surrender that position in the world which had been won for it by devotion and achieve ment, by unselfishness unparalleled in world history; and towithdraw'from Eu rope now would be to sacrifice what seems to be the greatest opportunity|for human service that has ever come to any single people.—Syndicated Press Letter. Says 1 cannot adequately describe the degree oi apprehension and dismay which re cent political events ip the United States have occasioned. And this dismay arises primarily out of a feeling that America as a whole may desert Europe, may leave to permanent misery the millions it has temporarily saved. The attack upon Pres ident AVilson’8 league of nations’ formula seems to these peoples in Europe an at- GETTING BEHIND CONGRESS Affirming that the league of nations is m accord with American ideals and es sential for the welfare of the United States, yet cannot be formed unless the United States is a patty, resolutions were adopted by the 1000 and more delegates to tlie recent Atlanta Peace League Congress and by the hundreds of others present, jiledging the active support of the body to securing tlie approval by the Senate of the tentative draft of the Paris convenant. The document w'as prepared by the platform committee, composed of repre^ sentatives from every state in the south east, and w'as enthusiastically received. The text of the resolutions reads as follow's: The deteat ot German militarism by the united power of the free na tions has opened the way for the tri umph of tlie ideals of popular gov ernment in the world. The will of free people is that there shall be no more war and that the rule of justice shall prevail among nations. The league of nations plans to se cure justice between the nations, pre serve tlieir independence, and by peaceably settling dift'erences between them, prevent needless resort to war. Such a league, powerful enough for the purpose, cannot be formed unless tlie United States is a party. The constitution or covenant for the establishment of such a league drawn up by the delegates of the United States and the allied nations at Paris, is the first instance in which a proposal of' such far-reach ing significance for the well-being of mankind has, before adoption, been submitted to the people for consider ation, and it may well prove to lie the most important act of human history. AVe, the delegates constituting the Southern Congress of the league to Enforce Peace, assembled at Atlanta from the states of Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississip pi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida, hereby declare our belief that the establishment of a league of nations is in accord with American ideals and is essential lor the welfare of the United States and of all man kind. AVe pledge our active support to se cure the approval of the tentative draft of the Paris covenant for a Ijeague of Nations and call upon our fellow-citizens throughout the coun try to organize to this end, and upon our representatives in the United States senate to maintain American traditions among the nations by its prompt ratification when finally sub mitted. Our Silent Multitudes. A glowing tribute to the people who live in the rural sections of the United States was paid by E. C. Branson, professor of rural economics and sociol ogy, University of North Carolina, in his address at the Friday afternoon session of the Atlanta congress for a league of nations. The country people, he said, number fifty-four millions, nearly exactly half of the total population of the country. He pointed out that of these fifty-four mil lions more than 50 percent live in the sixteen states of the south. The speaker paid them tribute as being “sound in wind and limb, body and brain, fine and wholesome through and through. The record of our sixteen hundred thousand farmer-soldiers in the w'ar zone and on the battle front is am ple proof'of it. “In humanity’s self-defensive war against the Teuton they fired a shot heard round the world and the silence of their countryside homes must now be broken if the world’s constructive war against war is to be won in these perilous times of peace.’ ’ They Are Half Our Jury The country people, declared Mr. Branson, are important because they are half the American jury that is now mak ing np a verdict upon the peace league covenant of nations. They are important because the faintest growl of country de mocracy sounds like thunder in our leg islative halls. And—save for the lonely call of faithful sentinels here and there— our country multitudes are silent. The full cry of the pack needs to rise on the air. “It will not be safe to leave the coun try people of America uninformed, indif ferent, and silent about the most moment ous issue that humanity has faced in two ■thousand years of history. They need to think straight. They need to find a voice, and it needs to be heard in AVash- ington like the roar of a rushing mighty wind. ‘ ‘The social insulation of the country people of America is unique. There is nothing else like it in Christendom. The country people of Europe dwell in farm villages; in America our country multi tudes dwell in solitary homos. They are liard to reach; how hard we never real ized until we tried to get to them with our great war campaigns of organization and support—our Liberty loan, our Red Cross campaigns and the like. ‘ ‘And they never were reached down to the last household, except by the army draft and the food-production drive. Tlien tliey responded—responded silent ly, grimly and grandly. Silently they fed the world, silently they moved into the front-line trenches and over into No Man’s Land, silently they fought and silently they died ttie death of heroes. In silence tliey played their great part in the fields of war, and the country people of America must now play an equally great part in the peace-time struggle to make an end of war in the world. Shall They Die in Vain? “But it is a part that cannot be played in silence. Tlie victory to be won will be won by sixteen-inch opinions and not by sixteen-inch guns, AVhatever the bores, the peace-time weapons of democracy must be vocal in our country regions. Si lence in the countryside is a sign of de feat. Our country multitudes must speak out, or the chances are their hoys will have died in vain across the seas. “It will be stupid to allow them to tie ill-informed, or mis-informed, and mis led for purposes of party advantage or class-interest,” said the speaker. “The fateful choice we are making is the choice between the end of war or the end of civilization. AA’ar must be outlawed or civilization is on its way to the scrap pile. Entile or not, the heart of human ity is passionately set upon peace on earth and good will among men. AA^hat men have called an iridescent dream is now a consuming desire that will brook no denial. “Our country people must be fully in formed and thoroughly aroused. They must be led to think wisely, to feel deep ly, and to apeak out with mighty unmis takable emphasis on the most moment ous issue since Calvary. It will be fatal, said the speaker, to overlook them or neglect them.—The Atlanta Journal.