Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-02
WHEN IS PEACE%
MAY BRING CLASH
Will Huns Ratification Do or
Is Senate's O. K. Essential,
Is Question.

President Wilson and the Senate are
going to bump on another phase of
the peace treaty, according to all
the administration hackers are lining
up to sustain the President in the
Senate and in the executive branch.
This other head-on collision is over
the question, practically. of when is
peace?'
The answer to the question depends
altogether upon the motive of the
asking. in the Administrations analy-
sis. II the propounder is an exporter,
intent upon sending goods to Ger
many az soon as the embargo is lift
ed. he is advised that peace is peace
only after the Senate has ratified the
treaty AT least that is Attorney Cen
eral Palmer's view of it, although
State Department officials were re-
ported last Monday as saying that
business with Germany will COM
mence as soon as the German legisla-
tive body ratifies the treaty. 1t is as
sumed on Capitol Hill that the State
Department officials who were re-
ported as taking that view will
promptly about-face and coincide with
the Attorney General, leaving the Sen
ate to fight it out
See Plan to Hurry Senate.
The administrators stand, as it is
construed at the Capitol. is for the
purpose of bringing pressure to bear
from business interests on the Senate
and speed up ratification of the treaty
and acceptance of the covenant of the
league of nations without change
BY many senators an entirely op-
poslte construction is placed upon the
status of peace. They read the terms
of the modified treaty of peace, an
nounced in cabled dispatches from
Paris last Monday. to the effect that
the embargo will be lifted when Ger
many ratifies, and they concurred in
the view reported to have been taken
Monday by the State Department that
trading by all the allies and 'asso-
ciated powers" Chats us) would be-
gin when Germany ratified.
Anyhow, these senator's say it is
incredible to them that the President
could leave American business in
position. knowing, as
he does, the Constitution of his coun-
try. which demands ratification of a
treaty by the Senate, and, approaching
as he must, the condition in the Senate
promising thorough discussion of his
league of nations with consequent de-
lay. These senators declare that if
American business is shut out while
the allies participate in reopened COM
merce, the business men should hold
the President responsible. Moreover,
they resent what they term an appar-
ent attempt to coerce. them into ILL
advised action upon the treaty.
President Has Whip Hand.
OF course. the administration is |
recognized as having the whip hand
in one sense; the customs officers. !
acting upon arbitrary orders from j
could refuse clearance
papers to ships destined for German |
ports. and not propeller could turn. |
The after effect of any such dicta i
torial method might be very disas-
should sustain the view held by such |
as Mr.. Knox of PennSyl- !
vania as to the termination of the |
war. Il
treaty itself determines when the !
war is ended and the end of the war !
nullifies the restrictions of the trad !
ing with the enemy act, under the |
many is now prescribed. Senator
Knox pointed out the ridiculous and |
spectacle which would be |
presented by England. France and |
Italy DelnS at peace Win 1eTHlany,
their lands. of course. closed to opera |;
tons of our troops against Germany. /
while the United States was still at
war with Germany-on paper.
Senator Knox contends that after
the armistice had been established |
and Germany had acknowledged its
defeat. as the vanquished nation Ger
many had the right to know when
she would be able to obtain a state
Of peace ut is undoubtedly in recog-
milton of this right that the peace
having imposed all neces
sary conditions upon Germany, and
obtained from Germany a solemn
agreement to accept these conditions,
declared that peace should then be es-
tablished between Germany and all
the nations when the notifications as
described were deposited" he holds.
Compromise Conferences Ahead.
During the weeks recess of Congress
between the administration
of the league Of nations cove
lant and the proponents of reservations
20 the covenant will be held in efforts to
each a compromise. II possible, which
would admit of reservations being
adopted and the treaty speedily ratified.
Several prominent democrats are dis