The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-27
OPPONENTS OF PEACE TREATY
 STILL BITTER
Attempt to Block Display of Little Politics Meets With
 No Success.

Washington, D. C., Oct. 25.-The President baiters in Congress have
 evolved a new method of tormenting
 the chief executive. The latest plan,
 1t is charged, is to upset a long es-
 tablished precedent and subject the
 President to a renewed batting by
 those senators who have developed q
 chronic case of i-Wilsonitis in
 their attempt to defeat the Peace
 Treaty and the League of Nations.
 It Is possible that Republican leaders
 may be ah2e to block this latest ex-
 hibition of little politics, but the
 Democrats declare their intention of
 making it plain to the nation at large
 what they interpret the nation to
 mean.
 Representative John Rogers of
 Massa chusetts, Republican, introduced
 a, joint resolution at the request of
 the State Department authorizing the
 President to call an international
 conference in Washington to arrange
 for regula tions for international com
 munications by telegraph, telephone,
 cable, wireless telephone and wireless
 telegraph, and providing a fund of S75,000 for the expenses of the con
 vention, the importance of which is
 obvious.
 This was referred to the committee
 on foreign affairs and apparently there were no obstacles to its prompt approval by committee and House. i Then the small politics began to ap- pear. Representative Walter H. New ton of Minnesota, Republican. offered an amendment so that when the
 President should appoint the United States commissioners to the confer ence it would be ''by and with the advice and consent of the Senate" "
 The Democratic members of the com mittee immediately smelled a mouse, cited cases of similar conferences as precedents. and even went further to show that in few instances had any
 President even submitted the names of peace commissioners to the Senate, such action not being required by the
 Constitution. The Democrats were outvoted and will carry the battle to
 the floor.
 This amendment was put in by the Republican majority solely for
 the purpose Of taking a slap at the President" commented Henry D. Flood of Virginia, ranking Democrat on the foreign affairs committee.
 There Is nothing in the Constitu-
 ton or the laws of the United States that requires or even justifies the provision in a bill authorizing the President to call an international con ference that the American delegates must be confirmed by the Senate. The contrary has been the practice of Congress, and certainly no such at tempt was ever made under Messrs.
 Hit, Perkins, Cousins or Foster. who were Republican chairman of the ! House foreign affairs committee under Presidents Mckinley, Roosevelt and put in any such bill during the ad- ministration of President Wilson. "Even in the appointment of com missioners to negotiate peace trea- ties the vast majority of instances will show that it was done without reference to the Senate. There have l been cases when the President asked for confirmation, but in 400 such cases the names of the United States representatives were not sent to the Senate. There were some instances in the early days of the republic 1 when names were sent to the Senate i for confirmation, but there were many named during the same period 1 without reference. In the last 100 years there have been few cases when ] the Senate was asked to confirm. t& 50 1t seems to the Democrats of | the committee that there Is no re- | uuirenent for such an amendment ! The precedents are overwhelmingly against 1t, and the only purpose of it's l insertion was political"