Omaha daily bee., 1919-10-26
PRESIDENT WILL
DICTATE VOTE
ON PEACE PACT
Administration Leaders Will
j Ask Wilson How to Bal /.
lot on Lodges Americana
zation Proposals.
By JAMES R. NOURSE.
Universal Service Staff Correspondent


Wilson will be asked by his support
ers in the senate to advise them
how to vote if the Lodge reserva-
tons Amcricanizing the treaty are
adopted.
Senator Hitchcock and a number
Of others among the administration
men believe that the president will
tell them to join with the irrecon-
cilable republicans who will vote to
reject the treaty. If a sufficient
number of democrats should vote
in this manner, the treaty probably
will be killed.
The movement toward passing up
to the president the final settlement
of the democratic position with re-
spect to how to vote after reserva-
tions are agreed to was launched
Yesterday at a conference in Vice
President Marshall's office attended
bv the vice president, Senator
Hitchcock. Senator Swanson and
Senator Pomerene. The situation
was discussed in great detail and the
plan finally agreed upon was this:
WilSon VIII Dictate.
Between the time when reserva-
tons are about to be agreed upon
and the calling of the roll on the
question of agreeing to the resolu-
tion containing the reservations,
Senator Hitchcock and the others
will ask the president to tell them
exactly what he wants them to do.
He will be asked to decide whether
The treaty with the republican reser-
vations should be ratified, or wheth-
err it would be better to allow the
treaty to die and be replaced with
a new treaty separately negotiated
with Germany.
A prominent senator among the
democrats exhibited poll showing
80 senator's who will vote to reject
the treaty if the president should
give the word to reject it. On this
POLL appears the names of lS demo-
Gratis and 2l republicans as follows:
Thirty-nine Against Lodge Plan.
Democrats-Culberson, Gray, Har-
ris, Hitchcock, Jones of New Mexi-
co, Kirby, Overman, Owen, Pittman,
Reed, Sheppard. Shields. Smith Of
Georgia, Thomas, Underwood.
Walsh Of Massachusetts,, and Will
bans.
Republicans-Ball. Borah, Brande-
gee, Curtiss, Fall. France, Freling'
huysen, Gronna, Johnson of Califor-
ria, Knox. LaFollette, Mccormick,
Moses. Eewberry, Page, Poindexter,
Sherman, Sutherland, Wadsworth
ind Warren.
The senator who prepared this
list wrote his own name upon it. He
said his information as to how the
individual senators will vote in the
svent the reservations prove too OBJ
noxious to the president was OBJ
tanned by him from conversations
with senator's in the cloak rooms.
He declared moreover, that in his
opinion, this number represented
only the minimum of senators who
will oppose the treaty if the presi-
dent says so. A number of others,
in the opinion of this senator, will
follow the same program, if it
should come from the White House.
Wilson's Stand Problematical.
On the other hand. there have
been some intimations that the pres
ident might take different ground
and issue an appeal Tor ratihcatlon
of the treaty with milder reserva-
tions than those now before the
senate. The effect of such move,
ii it should be made would be
negligible so far as the republicans
are concerned, according to Senator
Lodge.
1t would also be ineffective as to
Senators Reed. Gore, Shields,
Walsh of Massachusetts,, Thomas
and Smith of Georgia, all of whom
~will support strong reservations.
But the votes of the other demo-
cratic senators on the list would
follow the president upon whatever
policy he might adopt, though their
number would not be effective
against the Lodge program.
Reports of the serious turn in the
illness of Senator Thomas S. Mar
tin of Virginia, the democratic
leader, have been received with, con-
siderable interest here. If the vet
eeran senator should fail to recover,
Senator Johnson of California, with
whom Senator Martin is paired,
would be released from that pair
and would be privileged to vote on
all questions relating to the treaty.