We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
CHAPTER 15
Elihu Root Interprets the League
TODAY the whole world-wide question of internation cooperation for keeping the peace is such a burning issue that any light which can be thrown upon it by earlier attempts might be welcome. Since many of the League of Nations problems were similar to those of today's U.N.— including the leading role of our own nation— it has seemed to me that Elihu Root's study of that earlier plan might have bearing today. It is closely related to this autobiographical story because it was an integral part of the Republican party's campaign activity, and of what we considered our obligation to the public.
Throughout the treaty-making at Versailles, the great majority of Americans were much of one mind regarding the necessity of a peace treaty, with or without reservations already under consideration by the Senate leaders, as the day-by-day events at Versailles were reported by the press correspondents.
On July 10, when Wilson presented the results of Versailles to the Senate, the ordinary man probably considered the differences between the treaty and the reservations relatively small. His understanding of the subject, however, needed considerable clarification. In order to remedy this, and long before the treaty came into being, we made an endeavor to get before the public the best possible interpretation of the initial draft of the Covenant of the League of Nations. This was part of the Republican plan to keep the peacemaking as far as possible out of politics. The plan to capitalize Mr. Root's judgment was originated by Henry L. Stimson and myself.
On March 18, 1919, Mr. Stimson called on me while on the way to keep an appointment with his uncle, Elihu Root, in whose firm he had learned the practice of law. He told me that he thought the time had come for Mr. Root to get into action concerning the treaty. I had just returned from a trip throughout the West, sounding out public opinion, which I believed had reached the point of accepting some league, but not this League.
Meanwhile Senator Lodge and Root had exchanged letters on the general theme of the Versailles conference. The senator's letter indicated