WORTHLESS.

On its face, Senator Knox's peace resolution seems to be exactly the medicine that we need--"guaranteed to cure within twenty-four hours after taking."

It is only after a more careful examination that we begin to see its defects. The Senator's arguments that we are already at peace by virtue of the armistice and the change of government in Germany are without foundation in either international law or common sense. Even more senseless is his contention that we are at peace because we negotiated a treaty which we left to our Allies to ratify. Somewhat more reasonable is his view that we are at peace by reason of the "silent cessation of hostilities." But even here there seems to be some incompleteness, in view of the intolerable muddle still existing in our foreign relations, for which Senator Knox and his colleagues are certainly not exempt from blame.

It is wholly unprecedented for Congress to use a Joint Resolution for terminating a state of war. Such a method will only serve to draw up into an even worse tangle than now exists. The most serious, however, is that which is entailed by the final rejection of the League. The League with all its acknowledged imperfections, is the only great piece of international construction which the war has produced. It is an experiment which aims to produce in time a better order, and its acceptance is demanded by an overwhelming majority of our people.

Having destroyed the original Treaty, the Senate seems bent on providing us with "something just as good." But if the Knox resolution is passed by Congress, it is almost certain to be vetoed. Even in the almost inconceivable event of its final success, it can only land us in hopeless confusion at home and abroad. To attempt to employ such a substitute as this argues more than the usual degree of Senatorial unreason. As a piece of political juggling, it is altogether admirable; as constructive statesmanship, it is beneath contempt.