Dr. Reid places side by side
two statements, one by President Wilson when asking Congress to agree to
the Declaration of War: "We shall, I feel confident, conduct our
operations as belligerents without passion, and ourselves observe with
proud punctilio the principles of right and fairplay we profess to be
fighting for"; the other by Senator Hitchcock, when the war was over,
after a day spent with President Wilson in learning the case for
ratification of the Versailles Treaty: "Through the Treaty, we will yet
get very much of importance.... In violation of all international law
and treaties we have made disposition of a billion dollars of
German-owned properly here. The Treaty validates all that."[77] The
European Allies secured very similar advantages from inducing China to
enter the war for righteousness.
We have seen what England and France gained by the Chinese declaration
of war. What Japan gained was somewhat different.
The Northern military faction, which controlled the Peking Government,
was completely dependent upon Japan, and could do nothing to resist
Japanese aggression. All the other Powers were fully occupied with the
war, and had sold China to Japan in return for Japanese neutrality--for
Japan can hardly be counted as a belligerent after the capture of
Tsingtau in November 1914. The Southern Government and all the liberal
elements in the North were against the clique which had seized the
Central Government.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173