nst the League. Article X guaranteeing
against external aggression the political independence and territorial
integrity of the members of the League was subjected to a specially
heavy fire; while the treatment accorded to China and the sections
affecting American internal affairs were likewise attacked as "unjust
and dangerous." As an outcome of their deliberations, the Republicans
proposed a long list of reservations which touched upon many of the
vital parts of the treaty. These were rejected by President Wilson as
amounting in effect to a "nullification of the treaty." As a deadlock
ensued the treaty was definitely rejected, owing to the failure of its
sponsors to secure the requisite two-thirds vote.
[Illustration: EUROPE]
=The League of Nations in the Campaign of 1920.=--At this juncture the
presidential campaign of 1920 opened. The Republicans, while condemning
the terms of the proposed League, endorsed the general idea of an
international agreement to prevent war. Their candidate, Senator
Warren G. Harding of Ohio, maintained a similar position without saying
definitely whether the League devised at Paris could be recast in such a
manner as to meet his requirements. The Democrats, on the other hand,
while not opposing limitations clarifying the obligations of the United
States, demanded "the immediate ratification of the treaty without
reservations which would impair its essential integrity." The Democratic
candidate, Governor James M. Cox, of Ohio, announced his firm conviction
that the United States should "go into the League," without closing the
door to mild reservations; he appealed to the country largely on that
issue. The election of Senator Harding, in an extraordinary "landslide,"
coupled with the return of a majority of Republicans to the Senate, made
uncertain American participation in the League of Nations.
=The United States and International Entanglements.=--Whether America
entered the League or not, it could not close its doors to the world and
escape perplexing international complications. It had ever-increasing
financial and commercial connections with all other countries. Our
associates in the recent war were heavily indebted to our government.
The prosperity of American industries depended to a considerable extent
upon the recovery of the impoverished and battle-torn countries of
Europe.
There were other complications no less specific. The United States was
compelled by force of circums
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