Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-06-10
NOTHING BEING "PUT OYER"

ed to Germany become better known the wonder grows why
there was so much hesitancy in making the full text puDhc II
once. President Wilson has explained that he entered mo oil
agreement with the representatives OF the other great powers
not TO make the full text of the treaty public until II had peeh
signed by Germany. He felt that ne should not Dreah ms i''n
with these gentlemen.
We are not familiar enough with the conditions in the
other allied countries to know why it would not have been
proper to publish the full text of the treaty at once but IL Il
apparent that there was no danger as far as this country was
concerned.
The fact is, however, the 12, 900 word summary that was
given out officially fully covers the document as a whole ana
there was nothing important omitted. There was nothing be,
ing put over,' as some of the bitter partlsans In the um'eu
States senate would have the people believe.
Having given out this summary Of az words covering
every phase of the document, it was felt that there was no neeu
of giving the complete treaty, consisting of something ike
rs. 900 words, until il had been finally accepted by Germany,
as there were likely to be changes in the document, as, In iac''
is the case. The alterations being made now make 'he orig
inal text useless as far as an official document is concerned.
Those Wilson haters in the senate who will use the text that
has been published as a basis for fault-fnding and criticism
may find that they have only been MAXIM; fools OF themselves,
as, in fact, they have been, because the features that they may
dwell on may be the very features that have been changed.
AS a matter of fact, the senate is not entitled to the treaty
until the President is ready to present it to them. Even such
a bitter partisan as Senator Lodge admitted this at the time
President Roosevelt was negotiations a treaty In connecuoh
with the Algeciras Conference and the Santo Domingo AFFAIR.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate chamber, senator Lodge'
said on January 24, 1906:
mo one, l think, can doubt the absolute power
of the President to initiate and carry on all nego-
tiations; and after a treaty has been returned to him
with the ratification of the senate, to withhold 1t
from ratification if he sees fit SO to do. There is no
doubt that the senate can by resolution advise the
President to enter upon a negotiation, or advise the
President to refrain from a negotaton; but those
resolutions have no binding force whatever, and the
action of the senate becomes operative and actually
effective only when a treaty is actually submitted
to IL. We have no possible right to break suddenly
into the negotiation and demand from the President
what instructions he has given to his representa-
tives."
YET. the same Senator Lodge who said this IN de-
Tense of Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican President, who was
Withholding information from the senate in regard to a treaty
that he was negotiating, is now railing at Woodrow wilson, a
Democratic President, who is only doing exactly what Senator
Lodge said President Roosevelt had a perfect right to do.
Can it be the fact that Roosevelt was a Republican ana
Wilson is a Democrat has anything to do with the
change in the Massachusetts, senator's attitude? Senator
Lodge NAV be a great statesman, but he is not enough OF a
statesman to put patriotism and the welfare OF the country
above petty politics.
We cannot conceive of any good reason why the full text
of the peace treaty as originally submitted to Germany shouid
NOT have been made public at once, but the fact that 1T wasn't
does not excuse the United States senate, particularly the he
publican members thereof, for the purile spectacle they are
making of themselves, even STOPPING so low as to actually play
Germany's own game in their effort to work out their personal
spleen on the President.
It is one of the most humiliating and ignominlous exhl-
bitions the country has ever witnessed. AT a time when per-
sonal likes and dislkes, and all partisan advantages ought to
be cast aside for the good of the country and the peoce OF the
world. the United States senate grOvels in the mlre or hatred
and malice.