Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1919-08-28
WILSON ANSWERS
SENATE QUERIES
Saws He Sees No Reasonable OBJ
lection to Reservations Con-
corning League of Nations.
Conference At WHITE HOUSE
President Asserts United States Sur
renders No Powers and May
Withdraw at viii.

! latiOnS committee of the senate met at
the White House Tuesday to discuss
the peace treaty.
The president opened the discussion
by impressing on the senator's the
urgency of prompt ratification Of the
| treaty without amendments and with
out reservations that would require
resubmission of the treaty Q<the other
signatories, especially Germany.
The president said that the interest
OF every class of people-the farmers,
industrial workers and employers-de-
handed prompt ratification to the end
that stable conditions of industry, ag-
riculture and employment be re-estab-
lished. The presidents address, which
was in effect an address to the cOun-
try, follows:
81 hope that this conference will
serve to expedite your consideration of
the treaty Of peace. beg that you will
pardon and indulge me if I again urge
that practically the whole task of
bringing the country back to normal
conditions of life and industry waits
upon the decision of the senate with
regard to the terms Of the peace.
II venture thus again to urge my
advice that the action of the senate
with regard to the treaty be taken at
the earliest practicable moment be-
cause the problems with which we are
face to face in the REIMBURSEMENT of
our national life are Of the most press
ing and critical character, will re-
quire for their proper solution the
most intimate and disinterested
cooperation Of all parties and all in
terests, and cannot be postponed with
out manifest peril to our people and
to all the national advantages we hold
most dear.
'The copper mines of Montana, Ari-
IONA and Alaska, for example. are be-
ing kept open and in operation only at
great cost and loss, in part upon Dor
! rowed money; the zinc mines of Mis-
b souri,, Tennessee and Wisconsin are be-
ing operated at about one-half their
capacity; the lead Of Idaho, Illinois
anG Missouri reaches only a portion
| Of it's former market; there is an I'M
mediate need for cotton betting, and
also for lubricating oil which can
of trade are barred by war when there
is no war. The same is true Of raw
cotton, of which the central empires
alone formerly purchased nearly four
million bales. And these are only eX-
amples There is hardly a single raw
material, a single important foodstuff,
or single class of manufactured goods
which is not in the same case. Our
full, normal, profitable production
waits on peace.
"Our military plans Of course, wait
upon it, We cannot intelligently or
wisely decide how large a naval or
military force we shall maintain or
what our policy with regard to mill
tary training is to be until we have
peace, not only peace, but also until
we know how peace is to be sustained,
whether by the arms of single nations
or by the concert of all the great peo-
pies. And there is more than that
difficulty involved. The vast surplus
properties of the army include. not
food and clothing merely, whose sale
will affect normal production but great
manufacturing establishments alsO
which should be restored to their for
mer uses-great stores Of machine
tools, and all sorts of merchandise
which must lie idle until peace and
military policy are definitely deter
mined.
'The nations that ratify the treaty
such as Great Britain, Belgium and
France, will be in a position to lay
their plans for controlling the markets
of central Europe, without competition
from us, if we do not presently act.
We have no consular agents, no trade
representatives there to look after our
interests.
"There are large areas of Europe
whose future will be uncertain and
questionable until their people know
the final settlements of peace and the
forces which are to administer and
sustain it. Without determinate mar
k0tS our pTOuuCLIOu Cd1uOI pIOCcCu
with intelligence or confidence. There
can be no easy OR normal industrial
credits because there can be no con-
fident or permanent revival of bust
less. There can be no sterilization
Of wages because there can be no set
tied conditions Of employment.
''Every element Of normal life
amongst US depends upon and awaits
the ratification of the treaty of peace;
and we cannot afford to lose single
summers day by not doing all that
we can to mitigate the winters SUI
fering. which, unless we find means
to prevent it, may prove disastrous to
a large PORTION of the world, and may,
at its worst, bring upon Europe con-
| ditions ever more terrible than those
brought hy the war itself.
Nothing. am led to believe, stands
in the way of the ratification of the
treaty except doubts with regard to
the nearing and implication of GER
min articles Of the covenant of the