Woodrow Wilson as I Know HimTumulty, Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick)
History
Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him
Tumulty, Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick)
Presidents -- United States -- Biography; Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
"Article XI is the favourite article in the Treaty so far as I am
concerned. It says that every matter which is likely to affect the peace
of the world is everybody's business; that it shall be the friendly right
of any nation to call attention of the League to anything that is likely
to affect the peace of the world or the good understanding between
nations, upon which the peace of the world depends, whether that matter
immediately concerns the nation drawing attention to it or not. In other
words, at present we have to mind our own business, under the rules of
diplomacy and established custom. Under the covenant of the League of
Nations we can mind other people's business, and anything that affects the
peace of the world, whether we are parties to it or not, can by our
delegates be brought to the attention of mankind. We can force a nation on
the other side of the globe to bring to that bar of mankind any wrong that
is afoot in that part of the world which is likely to affect the good
understanding between nations, and we can oblige them to show cause why it
should not be remedied. There is not an oppressed people in the world
which cannot henceforth get a hearing at that forum, and you know what a
hearing will mean if the cause of those people is just. The one thing that
those doing injustice have most reason to dread is publicity and
discussion. At present what is the state of international law and
understanding? No nation has the right to call attention to anything that
does not directly affect its own affairs. If it does, it cannot only be
told to mind its own business, but it risks the cordial relationship
between itself and the nation whose affairs it draws under discussion;
whereas, under Article XI, which I had the honour of advocating, the very
sensible provision is made that the peace of the world transcends all the
susceptibilities of nations and governments, and that they are obliged to
consent to discuss and explain anything which does affect the good
understanding between nations."
Sir Frederick Pollock, in his valuable work on the League of Nations,
comments pointedly on this privilege:
Various Irish writers, including some who deserve serious attention,
have raised the question whether the standing problem of Irish
autonomy can come before the League of Nations. There is only one way
in which this could happen—namely, that the Government of the United
States should declare Irish-American sympathy with unsatisfied
nationalist claims in Ireland to be capable of disturbing good
understanding between Great Britain and the United States. That is a
possible event if a solution is not reached within a reasonable time,
but it is more likely that a confidential intimation from the United
States would not only precede a formal reference to the Council, but
avoid the necessity for it.
The friends of Ireland in this country have often asked me the question:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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