The Signing of the Pact
[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Monday August 27, 1928
[/font][font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Today the flags are flying in Paris in honour of a great event, the German flag among them and a German Minister steps to the table to sign the Pact that outlaws war. Some minds will go back to that day, not ten years ago, when the pen was forced into the protesting hand of another German Minister and a document was laid before him which seemed on every page to wound his pride and crush his hopes for the future of his nation. We talked then of peace, but it was peace at the point of the bayonet; Germany had to sign lest a worse fate should befall her. Today Germany, France, and England meet as equals, constrained by no force but the longing of mankind, to sign the Pact renouncing war. That is a great event, but there is another aspect of today's proceedings that is not less significant. The pact is the work of American statesmanship. Mr Kellogg's signature stands not only for peace but for her readiness to co-operate with Europe. It symbolises her decision to re-enter the distracted world her withdrawal from whose concerns added so much to the difficulties and the dangers of mankind. [/font]
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