Omaha daily bee., 1919-07-20
Seek Mean Ground
on League Covenant

|
necessitate renegotiation, encourage
other nations to make reservations,
cause delay and confusion, and
finally endanger the whole plan.
President Wilson is said, in talking
with senators, to have described
the present political status OF
Europe as a field in which it may
be very difficult to carry on such
a renegotiaton.
To that end the administration
forces are deemed to make fight
for unreserved ratification. Senator
Pittman of Nevada, democrat, OF
the foreign relations committee,
outlined this position to the senate
recently and will speak on the legal
aspects of reservations next week.
He takes the position that the
treaty must be considered in the
light of a contract and that not
word can be added or erased with
out the consent of the other par
ties.
Opposing that view, some Of the
republicans generally favorable to
! league take the stand that the
treaty procedure is a less exact sci
encc than contract law, and that
reservations merely calculated to
set forth the senate's Interpretation
of certain clauses could be attached
without sending the covenant back
and reopening negotiations.
May Secure Assent.
The possibility of securing the as
sent to reservations by other powers
before hand has been discussed
among republicans and democratic
senator's, but if any steps have been
taken in that direction it is without
the knowledge of some of those
most interested in the reservation
problem. Some of the presidents
republican callers say they do not
think it beyond the range of pos
sibility that he may secure such an
assent and then discontinue opposi
ton to such reservations as do not
in his opinion vitality weaken the
league In his conference with SEN
ator Hitchcock, Mr.. Wilson is
known to have expressed strongly
the feeling that it was only neces-
sary to clear up misunderstanding
in order to reach solution of the
senate situation. Some senator's in
terpretcd this position taken after
seeing seven republicans as suggest
ing that the president might have
in mind some definite plan to bring
together the administration senators
and those republicans who are for
interpretative reservations.
Such a plan would not appeal to
the group of republicans led by Sen
ator Borah, republican, Idaho, who
advocate eliminating entirely some
features which the pres dent thinks
vital. The exact extent of reser-
vations favored by such senators as
Chairman Lodge of the foreign re-
lations committee and Senator
Knox, republican, Pennsylvania,
never has been revealed.
The Shantung provision, which |
has aroused storm of senate pro-
test, confidently is expected by
some of the presidents recent cali
ers to be the subject soon of
White House declaration in the
form of a public statement or
message to the senate. Some of |
the republicans believe this declara-
ton will change the aspect of this !
provision, though none has an
nounced he would support it.
The senate was not in session to-
day and the foreign relations COM
mittee also took a rest in its pre-
liminary reading of the treaty text.
Both will meet Monday. On Tues
day President Wilson is expected to
see more republican senators at the
White House