The Treaty of Versailles
Speech of Hon. Philander Chase Knox of Pennsylvania
Delivered in the Senate of the United States
Friday, August 29, 1919
Mr. President, I wish at the outset to make my own position perfectly clear, that reason or excuse for misunderstanding or misinterpretation may not exist. No one more abhors Germany's lawlessness, her cruelty, her gross inhumanity in the conduct of this war than do I. No one is more determined than I to make her pay the full penalty for the great wrongs she has inflicted on civilization and on the world whose equipoise she has by her iniquities well-nigh destroyed. It must not seem to be profitable for anyone to violate the great eternal laws, of right, and we must vindicate them now against Germany if we are to save ourselves from chaos. The observations I shall make are therefore dictated by no maudlin sympathy for Germany, the felon who must suffer the penalty incident to his crime.
But I am vitally concerned in the peace of this world, and peace we must have if it be attainable. But, Mr. President, I am convinced after the most painstaking consideration that I can give, that this treaty does not spell peace but war—war more woeful and devastating than the one we have but now closed. The instrument before us is not the treaty but the truce of Versailles. It is for this body—the coordinate treaty-making power of this great neutral Nation of ours—to make of the document a peace treaty if possible, or if that be impossible, then we must put this Nation in such relation to the treaty and to the powers of the world that our voice may hereafter as heretofore be always raised for peace.
It is to be regretted that the whole matter has been so unfortunately managed, that there has been so much of needless secrecy, so many times mere partial disclosure when the whole truth could and should have been told, so much of assumed mystery in the whole affair, that it has become impossible for any of us not in the confidences to tell when we have arrived at the whole of any matter. It is no fault of mine if the facts themselves shall speak an impeachment of the wisdom, the purpose, or the result of the negotiations.
"1029205753"
Delivered in the Senate of the United States
Friday, August 29, 1919
Mr. President, I wish at the outset to make my own position perfectly clear, that reason or excuse for misunderstanding or misinterpretation may not exist. No one more abhors Germany's lawlessness, her cruelty, her gross inhumanity in the conduct of this war than do I. No one is more determined than I to make her pay the full penalty for the great wrongs she has inflicted on civilization and on the world whose equipoise she has by her iniquities well-nigh destroyed. It must not seem to be profitable for anyone to violate the great eternal laws, of right, and we must vindicate them now against Germany if we are to save ourselves from chaos. The observations I shall make are therefore dictated by no maudlin sympathy for Germany, the felon who must suffer the penalty incident to his crime.
But I am vitally concerned in the peace of this world, and peace we must have if it be attainable. But, Mr. President, I am convinced after the most painstaking consideration that I can give, that this treaty does not spell peace but war—war more woeful and devastating than the one we have but now closed. The instrument before us is not the treaty but the truce of Versailles. It is for this body—the coordinate treaty-making power of this great neutral Nation of ours—to make of the document a peace treaty if possible, or if that be impossible, then we must put this Nation in such relation to the treaty and to the powers of the world that our voice may hereafter as heretofore be always raised for peace.
It is to be regretted that the whole matter has been so unfortunately managed, that there has been so much of needless secrecy, so many times mere partial disclosure when the whole truth could and should have been told, so much of assumed mystery in the whole affair, that it has become impossible for any of us not in the confidences to tell when we have arrived at the whole of any matter. It is no fault of mine if the facts themselves shall speak an impeachment of the wisdom, the purpose, or the result of the negotiations.
The Treaty of Versailles
Speech of Hon. Philander Chase Knox of Pennsylvania
Delivered in the Senate of the United States
Friday, August 29, 1919
Mr. President, I wish at the outset to make my own position perfectly clear, that reason or excuse for misunderstanding or misinterpretation may not exist. No one more abhors Germany's lawlessness, her cruelty, her gross inhumanity in the conduct of this war than do I. No one is more determined than I to make her pay the full penalty for the great wrongs she has inflicted on civilization and on the world whose equipoise she has by her iniquities well-nigh destroyed. It must not seem to be profitable for anyone to violate the great eternal laws, of right, and we must vindicate them now against Germany if we are to save ourselves from chaos. The observations I shall make are therefore dictated by no maudlin sympathy for Germany, the felon who must suffer the penalty incident to his crime.
But I am vitally concerned in the peace of this world, and peace we must have if it be attainable. But, Mr. President, I am convinced after the most painstaking consideration that I can give, that this treaty does not spell peace but war—war more woeful and devastating than the one we have but now closed. The instrument before us is not the treaty but the truce of Versailles. It is for this body—the coordinate treaty-making power of this great neutral Nation of ours—to make of the document a peace treaty if possible, or if that be impossible, then we must put this Nation in such relation to the treaty and to the powers of the world that our voice may hereafter as heretofore be always raised for peace.
It is to be regretted that the whole matter has been so unfortunately managed, that there has been so much of needless secrecy, so many times mere partial disclosure when the whole truth could and should have been told, so much of assumed mystery in the whole affair, that it has become impossible for any of us not in the confidences to tell when we have arrived at the whole of any matter. It is no fault of mine if the facts themselves shall speak an impeachment of the wisdom, the purpose, or the result of the negotiations.
Delivered in the Senate of the United States
Friday, August 29, 1919
Mr. President, I wish at the outset to make my own position perfectly clear, that reason or excuse for misunderstanding or misinterpretation may not exist. No one more abhors Germany's lawlessness, her cruelty, her gross inhumanity in the conduct of this war than do I. No one is more determined than I to make her pay the full penalty for the great wrongs she has inflicted on civilization and on the world whose equipoise she has by her iniquities well-nigh destroyed. It must not seem to be profitable for anyone to violate the great eternal laws, of right, and we must vindicate them now against Germany if we are to save ourselves from chaos. The observations I shall make are therefore dictated by no maudlin sympathy for Germany, the felon who must suffer the penalty incident to his crime.
But I am vitally concerned in the peace of this world, and peace we must have if it be attainable. But, Mr. President, I am convinced after the most painstaking consideration that I can give, that this treaty does not spell peace but war—war more woeful and devastating than the one we have but now closed. The instrument before us is not the treaty but the truce of Versailles. It is for this body—the coordinate treaty-making power of this great neutral Nation of ours—to make of the document a peace treaty if possible, or if that be impossible, then we must put this Nation in such relation to the treaty and to the powers of the world that our voice may hereafter as heretofore be always raised for peace.
It is to be regretted that the whole matter has been so unfortunately managed, that there has been so much of needless secrecy, so many times mere partial disclosure when the whole truth could and should have been told, so much of assumed mystery in the whole affair, that it has become impossible for any of us not in the confidences to tell when we have arrived at the whole of any matter. It is no fault of mine if the facts themselves shall speak an impeachment of the wisdom, the purpose, or the result of the negotiations.
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The Treaty of Versailles
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940161317129 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Ravenio Books |
| Publication date: | 03/02/2019 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 84 KB |
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