Republican farmer., 1919-09-05

 Hits PaCt
 Opponents
Asserts Foreign Relation Comm. Seeks to Kill
 Treaty Entirely.
MIXTURE or FOLLY
 AND POLTROONERY"

] OOIlIlilLtS Ill1J OrlLE m allCltllS tIlH i peace treaty was to kill the treaty ! entirely and that such a course would | be suicidal to the United States. Sen ator Hitchcock, of Nebraska, Demo- cratic leader, asserted in a Senate speech today that the majority of | the Senators would never accept any i Of the committee changes
 The treaty opponents, he said, crawl on the ground with a micro ! scope searching for pitfalls" in the | League of Nations and overlook sub 1 stantial benefits which the treaty would bring the nation. The pro- | posaI of Senator Knox, Republican, ! Pennsylvania, that the treaty be re- l jected and a separate peace made ! with Germany was characterized by ] the speaker as pure folly. Those who talk th.s way evidently have no ! conception of the enormous benefits
 which the United States derives from 1 the ty. Hitchcock said.
 ] "In article 23l, Germany is com i pclIed to accept full responsibility for l the damages caused by the war. Does i anyone think if we undertook to ne | gotiate a separate treaty with Ger i many, Germany would make any l such concessions to the United Statesr | Germany might say she had never de- ] clared war on the United States l that 1t was the United States which
 forced war upon her
 Take the matter of German prop I erty in the United States Under this ! treaty all acts of the United States and of the alien property custodian i with regard to that property are vali- i dated unless Germany can show ac- tuaI fraud. Is anyone insane enough 1 to suppose that Germany will volun- l tariIy make that concession to it's if we lose the hold upon her which this | treaty gives? Suppose Germany 1 points to the treaties of 1799 and { 1928 under which we agreed to re- i spect the private property of German
 nationals in the United States. This treaty creates a commission l called the reparations committee. i Unquestionably it will be the most powerful international body over ere l ated. It receives from Germany all
 reparatfons paid and distributes them | to the various nations. Docs any one think under the circumstances the United States can afford not to l have a representative on the repara- l tiOns COmmissiOn2
 ITO my mind it would be suicidal to throw away the advantages and ! benefits provided in this treaty It would be disastrous commercially and ] financially.
 Defeat of the treaty by means of ! proposed amendments to it is the real 1 program and hope of the majority of the committee on foreign relations.
 It is for this purpose that the treaty has been locked up in cold storage for
 So many weeks They have felt justi- fled in retaining tho treaty in mix
 ture of polt@ooEery and folly.' l By vote of nine to eight said i Senator Hitchcock, 'the committee on
 foreign relations is to bring squarelE l before the Senate the question of de- l featinE the pending treaty. Sunpose ] the Senate should vote in favor of the ] ShantunE amendment or any other?
 What would happen2
 Either the President would refuse Ito go further with tho treaty or he would submit the amendment to the nations associated with the United
 States. Does anyone believe they would accept it? Does anyone be-
 Meve that Great Britain. who has al-
 ready ratified the treaty and is also
 under a pledge -, Japan with regard . to ShancunE. would accerr the shan itung amendment? Does anyone think ttha- France. also under a pledge to Japan, would ratfy this changer Does iany-ore suppose that Japan herself wouIt submit to this humiliation be 1 fore the eyes of the wOrld2
 T cannot conceive of any intelligent
 and candid man who would assume
 such a thing as possibility. It would be met by an instant refusal to accept . the amendment and then where would the United Statts find itself in this interna tionaI settlement? We would l find ourselves out iH the cold. isolated i from the rest of the world The work i of "a tifying the treaty would proceed without us.
 The treaty itself provides that when three nations in addition to Ger 1 many have signed, it shall go into ef- l feet. It :s easy to see the enormous | benefits which Great Britain and | France will derive from this treaty. l They will not take any chances. It
 is preposterous to suppose that Japan will delay it's ratification. The result
 is beyond all question.
 What then will the United States ] do? Some say that Congress can pass a joint resolution declaring l state of peace with Germany. Others
 say committee. holding helpless hear | ings and making moves to defeat the treaty.
 l "A few, a very few. have declared | they would vote against the treaty | because of the League of Nations, but l it has remained for Senator Knox to l declare boldly against our participa- 1 tion in the peace settlement. To say ! that he has amazed the country is 1 to put it mildly. He has shocked l the country. He formerly favored l taking the League of Nations out of the treaty and ratifying the peace set | clement with Germany. Now he 1 suddenly changes front.
 What has become of the high | professions of last year. Last Octo- | Der, when Germany sought terms for | the armistice, the Senators now seek | ing to kill this treaty shouted for un- l conditional surrender. They de- | manded terms of peace dictated to | Germany. They insisted that the | United States should to the last l maintain the closest cooperation with 1 the allied governments. They said | 1t would be a breach of faith if we | failed to stand by Poland and other 1 nations, deformed by the war. Now what change! The treaty has
 been negotiated. Germany has sIEned