Natick High School - Sassamon Yearbook (Natick, MA)

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gg ' 1 4, ,QQ-.I - 1 N Lthr ff!! L Y lf Me vt ,sv- ,A cl' r L , 2 ,X 1: 1 illlif l E, o g THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS Ever since man has made war on man the necessity of finding some means for establishing world peace has been recog- nized. The greatest effort that was made in the direction of world peace before the W'OI'ld War was the round table confer- ence. This was made up of members from all the leading countries who met to- gether for the purpose of settling their differences by discussion and arbitration. The Hague Court of International Ar- bitration was estabished in 1907 for the purpose of applying judicial procedure to international relationships. The World War ended for a time all efforts toward peace. At the end of the war the desire for a permanent state of world peace was strongly manifested by every nation that had given its life and blood to the want-on destruction which had been centered in Western Europe. lfresident Wilson expressed the desire of the whole world in his fourteen points presented as a basis for armistice 11ego- tiations. The final paragraph of his pro- position which stated: A general association of nations must be established under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guar- antees of political independence and terri- torial integrity to great and small states alike, led to the establishment of The League of Nations. The League. although it was established upon the plan offered by President. Wilson, did not win the favor of the Uni- ted States. This unusual state of affairs must have had some explanation, because it is not natural that a country built upon principles of freedom, equality, and jus- tice, should reject a plan for bringing about the peace of the world. It was not the majority of people in the United Sta- tes who opposed the League, but a com- paratively small group in the legislative department of the government at Wash- ington. When the covenant of the League was submitted to this body for approval, they refused to accept any part of it that was binding upon the rights of the United States, and then, after all the concessions that could possibly have been made were agreed upon by the other countries, the United States still refused to sign. The people of the United States were never given a chance to vote yes or no on the League and the ruling forces of gov- ernment kept most of the proceedings private. The attitude of the Fnited States to- ward the League was bound to have no small effect upon the other nations. France and England being left with no one to act as an arbitrator between them have gradually become cooler toward one another. The smaller nations have taken advantage of the unreasonable demands of the United States in an attempt to gain their own individual ambitions. The pre- PAGE THIRTEEN

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' x x T110 Q.-iQS7flfWQ!V S 1933 SALUTATORY Parents. Teachers. and Friends: It is 3 most gratifying privilege which bids me welcome you, in behalf of the Class of 1933, to our commencement exercises. Today is indeed a day of superb happi- ness for us. It signifies a victory won, a goal attained. one brick safely deposited in our wall of life. But amidst our rejoicing for having successfully com- pleted our school term, reality suddenly brings to mind the predicament of our younger brothers and sisters who will sc-on stand before you in our places. NVith the multiple efforts turned towards elimi- nating all supposedly unneii-ess,1ry courses and activities in public schools, will they be forced to return finally to the long- predominant theory of learning, be com- pelled to undergo the monotony of study- ing only the three R's? Let us hope that this evil condition may never again con- front us and irritate the more progressive minds of our country. For after all. we do not come to school merely for book learning. Books alone are required for tltat. lt is the social contacts which we encounter, learning tempered with well conducted activities, becoming familiar- ized with the Heccentricities of existence which give the experience to fortify us against the workings of the world, Instead of the abolition of entireties, as Benjamin Franklin said, Use moderation in all things, in this case by their modi- fic-ation. And so at this, our last gathering as an integral class, let me say that we, long the beneficiaries of opportunities made possible by you. trust that you will not deprive the commonwealth of future grad- uates of the same advantages, for, as lliogenes proclaimed. The foundation of every state is in the education of its youth. FRANCIS ANN HALPIN VALEDICTORY And now, dear friends, we have come to the parting of ways. During the past twelve years we have journeyed along the same road, and tonight, at the cross- roads, wc arf- about to resume our jour- neys sepsnratcly, each i11 the path that he l'.XGl'I 'l'XVl'Il,Yl'I has chosen to follow. Varied are our destinies, and diversified the tasks which lie ahead of us. What we need most to ac-complish these tasks is a strong deter- mination of purpose. The important thing is to know where we are going and then be on our way. A definite plan to follow and confidence in ourselves will go far toward attaining success. Vile should pause now, and seriously take account of ourselves. Let us delve deeply into the recesses of our hearts and minds and see what we have gleaned from our twelve years of schooling. Have they fitted us for the years that lie ahead? The true and first aim of education is character development, whether it be in the elementary school or in the institu- tions of higher learning. It is not the mere filling of the youthful mind with in- teresting fa-cts of history, of science, of language and mathematics. It equips the growing youth to meet life on its own terms and fight it out to a finish. Equal- ly important to the actual knowledge which we have acquired under the guid- ance and direction of our good teachers, is the benefit derived from tour inter- acting influence on one another in social and recreational activities. We have studied not only to learn the things we did not know, but to learn how to find out things for ourselves. Now is the time for initiative and self- expression. VVhether our schooling ends today or whether we are to advance to higher fields of education, eaich should find out his best line of work. and go about it earnestly and with no throught of failure. Let us not fritter away years which are of tremendous importance in our lives, for there is too much traffic on the Road to Success to permit loiter- choose for ourselves the ourselves the problems working intensively and always with the end in ing. VVe must way, solve for which we meet, whole-heartedly, view of becoming useful citizens of our great country. Therefore, with ia deep feeling of gra- titude and responsibility to our parents, our teachers, and our townspeople, let us go forth determined to do our best in whatever pathway our future lies. We, the Class of 1933, say farewell to Natick High, fond memories of which will long dwell within our hearts. Eleanor McCormick

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'LQ'-.fT557 fWQN Z 1933 valent attitude of the whole world has been one of distrust to any general dis- armament. The nations say to one ano- ther. Disarmament is a fine idealg you disarm first though, and I'll follow glad- ly. This deadlock having been reached, nothing more is done. The purpose of the league is stated in the preamble: To promote international cooperation and achieve international peace and security by acceptance of obli- gations. not to resort to war, by prescrip- tion of open. just and honorable relations between states, by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of c-onducts among governments. and by maintainance of jus- tice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one another. The organization, detailed powers and its principal specific aims are stated in twenty-six articles. The covenant of the League was revised and signed June 28. 1919. It became a part 'of the Treaty of Versailles, January 10, 1920. The League is organized in the same manner as the government of any of the larger countries. There is the secreta- riat. made up of a secretary-general ap- pointed bythe council and approved by a majority of the assembly, and five hun- dred men and women of all nations who keep the records of the League and record all treaties, agreements, etc., which are made between countries. The council is composed of one repre- sentative for each of the five permanent members, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany. and Japan. and nine non-per- manent members chosen every year by the assembly. The assembly has three members from each country belonging to the League. Each country has but one vote. The council and assembly both consider questions of international importance. New states are admitted to the League with the consent, of two-thirds of the as- sembly. Vkiitbdrawal from the League re- quires two years notice and a fulfillment of all obligations. l'AGI'I i Ol'HTlCIGN All questions which arise must be de- cided by unanimous consent. Out of the League there has grown ano- ther organization which, although it gains its power from the League, will do more than anything else to really establish everlasting peace. This body is the World Court. It was organized for the pur- pose of applying judicial procedure to questions of international importance that involve legal rights. Its judiciary con- sists of fifteen judges, each selected for a nine year term, from a list of nominees submitted to the court of arbitration es- tablished by the Hague peace conferences. It meets at the Hague and its method of procedure is very much the same as that of the Supreme Court in the United States. The League has been constantly occu- pied since its inception with settling dis- putes which might otherwise have led to war. All members are bound to submit all questions which tend to cause armed conflict to the League and if the League fails to reach a unanimous decision on the subject the parties concerned are free to act according to their own judgment. The League has operated successfully on all questions up to the Chinese-Japanese affair. This affair is likely to become the acid test for the League of Nations, and upon its decisions now will rest the future of world peace. The League has been blocked in its ef- forts toward disarmament by the refusal of the United States to join the organi- zation. The various administrations which have taken office in this country have tried to bring about disarmament by conferences outside the circles of the Lea- gue. The greatest weakness of the League has been the non-partisanship of the Uni- ted States in its affairs. The second weakness is the lack of power to enforce its decrees. The Japanese situation has pointed out the need of force in keeping the member nations of the League in strict accordance with the laws of the co- venant. The inability of the League to use force in preserving peace must be