The sun., 1919-10-30
BY All Means Call Colonel House.

BY All Means Call Colonel House.
Our correspondent In Paris quotes
as typical of the present French View
of American reluctance to accept with
out change or question the covenant
Of the League of Nations this utter
ance by lie GdnIois:
1T seems impossible that = ma
jority Iof the Senatel will disavow
the work Of the Conference, which
was above ali. let US not forget. the
personal work OF President WILSON.
The political differences which exist
In America cannot affect America's
International engagements"
The misunderstanding here Is OBJ
vious The source of that misunder-
standing is not yet quite so clearly
apparent. sss,
The French newspapers mistake
proceeds from the notion that the per-
sonal work of President WILSON
while abroad completed an interna.
tional engagement on the part Of the
American Government
1t Is unnecessary to explain to any
body familiar with the Constitution
Of the United States that 1t was not
in the power Of any American partici-
pant in the deliberations of the Peace
Conference, no matter how eminent
his official position or how firmly
fixed his personal conviction that no
was representing an actual II unas-
certained sentiment among the peo-
pie Of his country, to conclude on his
own responsibility any international
engagement binding upon America.
This Is as true Of small affairs as Of
great. Our Republic does not make
treaties that way.
Unfortunate in the extreme. as at
fecting the fulness Of the understand
Ing between the people and the Gov
eminent of the United States and
the peoples and Governments Of the
friendly Powers associated with us In
the war against a common enemy. was
the steady growth of a contrary opin-
ion during the months between the
Presidents first arrival In Europe
and his final departure for home. The
entirely false conception of our con-
stitutional process of concluding inter
! national engagements which has
arisen in the minds of intelligent for
eigners is illustrated by the foregoing
remarks of the Paris newspaper.
OF course the responsibility for the
Misunderstanding is individual and
not national so far as the United
| States Is concerned. To a certain ex.
tent the individual responsibility for
II has already been determined by the
record of those addresses by the Presi.
| dent when abroad which created In
the first place the mistaken impress
sion as to the extent Of his power to
commit this Government. But there
ere many things the Senate does moi
yet know regarding the genesis and
exact character Of these so-called ''in
ternational engagements" or commit
tails in the absence of power to com
nit. The Senate will not have done
Its full part as the ratifying authority
until 1t has exhausted every possible
source of accurate Information on this
vital subject.
For that reason the declared inten
ton Of the Committee on Foreign Re
istions to widen its knowledge Of wha
really occurred on the other side o.
the Atlantic by examining Colonel Ed
WARD NJ. HOUSE is both reasonable ant
expedient. On account Of Colone
HousE's close personal relations with
the President and his prolonged ant
important, If unofficial. participation
} IN the negotiations preceding the for