Evening star., 1919-09-24
PRES|DENT'S-F|G
HAS JUST BEGUN
LAWRENCE WIRES
Will Fight Reservations
Which Alter Treaty Mean
ing to a Finish.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE,

l. BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
| Special Dispatch to The Star
| EN- ROUTE TO CHEYENNE. wyo.,
september 24.-The fight has just be-
gun. Convinced that so per cent of the
American people are for a league of
| nations and would rather see the pro-
posed league established than none
at all. President Wilson means to
! carry to a finish his fight against
reservations that would alter the
n Gaming of the treaty.
He told his audience at Ogden. Utah,
that it did pot make any difference
| to him how long the fight would be;
he would fight until it was won.
| Coming on top of disQuieting news
dispatches telling first of the defec-
tion OF Senator Thomas of Colorado
and then of the intention of eight
democrats led by Senator Ashurst to
! amend the treaty and send it back
to conference. Mr.. Wilson's brief
speech at Ogden gives an idea of the
attempts to amend the treaty at this
time. So does his speech at Salt Lake.
| Former Disloyal Are Blamed.
| Perhaps it was ,he news from Wash
! ington or the consciousness that he
must no longer be too supersensitive
Ct senatorial feelings, but the Presi-
lAtEents which tended toward disloyal
| ty during the war are against the
league" and that so far as he was
concerned he meant to see the thing
| through and not betray the men who
fought for the establishment of a con-
/ cert of power that would make fur
| ther war unnecessary.
! Mr.. Wilson feels intensely on the
subject because public manifestations
have just been Enthusiastically in his
favor as he has traverSed the Pacific
| coast states. His reception in Nevada
was enthusiastic. The support being
1 democratic newspapers in Utah is also
! significant of the trend of popular
! opinion.
Would Sway Senators.
/ How, then, can the Senate be made
/ responsive? That question has been
asked dozens of times during the trip
! as the states of the men who are op-
! posing the treaty have been invaded
by the President, and editorial as well
as vocal expression has been in favor
! of the Presidents viewpoint. Should
| the President appeal to his audiences
| to write their senators? Do people
! ordinarily take the trouble to write
| letters about public questions to their
representatives in Washington? AS
a rule organized propaganda alone
/ strikes Washington. and it would not
!, be difficult for either side to handle
/ the mechanics in such fashion as to
enable them to claim a preponderance
of opinion on their respective sides.
What Tactics Will Avail.
What tactics will avail then? Will
I, the Senate go so far as to adopt
amendments that mean the resub-
mission of the document or virtually
it's rejection? Judging by the edi-
! torialS we have seen along the line,
there are many newspapers that fa-
vor clarifying reservations. but again
. and again they have stated thai they
would not support obstructive reserva-
tions-those that would require new
conference of the powers in Paris.
! AS between such a contingency and
especially the consequence of a fur
ther delay to the proclamation of
peace throughout the world, most of
these newspaper editors with whom
I we have talked give it as their con-
elusive judgment that the people would
rather see the covenant unqualified
and America undertake to amend it
later on when the league is estab-
lished, than to see the work of the
/ Versailles conference thrown into
confusion and chaos again by hand
full of senators.
1t was republican chairman at
Reno. New, who exclaimed that he
| denied the right of a few republican
senators at Washington to commit
his party to course of opposition
to the league of nations.
Foresees Serious Climax.
Certainly, the President thinks mat
ters would be brought to a serious
climax if the amendment fostered by
Senator Johnson and requiring a
change in the number of votes in the
assembly were to pass. Senator
Johnson has argued that America
should have six votes If Great Britain
has six; the President has replied
constitutes veto against Britain s
six IN the assembly, for the latter
body IS a debating society, while the
. former is a body which originates
, action.
lie has said that the British en-
pre being composed of self govern
: ing nations like Canada, New Zea-
land. Australia. India and South
have those states participate in the
debates of the league by sending a
delegate TO represent each dominion.
Mr. Wilson argues that the sacrifices
made by those colonies in the late
5 war as well as their close kinship
, with America argue that they would
: be as apt to concur in the views of
America as disagree. hut that in any
: event, since an Affirmative vote by
the United States in the council is
l needed to make the assembly's opin-
ion valid, it does not matter how
many delegates any country has
t Senator's Followers Claim.
. So the Johnson followers have said
that America should have six, too
, The basis of representation, however
, has been Self-governing nations. and
the foreign policy of the British col