The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1919-10-03
Democrats Plan to
Kill Peace Treaty
If it is Amended

OI The reSolutlCH OI Jne TdtllcdCloI
of the ;peace treaty with the cove
nant Of the League of Nations at
tached thereto, if it contains any
binding reservation, is the program
Of the administration leaders in the
Senate. Forty Democratic Senators
have definitely pledged their votes
against the Lodge resolution, con-
tanning the Republican reservations.
Although forty is not a majority
of the Senate, it is seven more than
enough to prevent the adoption of
any resolution Of ratification, which
under the constitution, requires a
two-thirds vote.
When the Lodge resolution has
been defeated it is proposed by the
administration leaders to force vote
upon the Hitchcock resolution for sim
pie and unreserved ratification of
the treaty. It will then be the turn
of the opposition to either prevent
vote on the Hitchcock resolution or
to defeat it through the failure of
two thirds to vote in the affirma-
tive.
Would Mean Resolutions
Defeat of the Hitchcock resolution
would, of course, be final rejection of
the present treaty and league cove
nant. 1t would then be necessary
for the Presidentto open negotiations
with the other powers for a moditi-
cation of the peace terms and the
league covenant of a character sat
isfactory to two-thirds of the Sem
ate. He would have to treat with the
-"middle distaRee''. .reservationists,
which he has thus far refused to do.
The forty democrats who are pledg-
20 vote against the Lodge resolution
have taken this position largely
through olyalty to the President. They
would not object to compromise res
ervations if the President should de-
eide to yield on this point, but they
are likely to stick to the end if the
President sticks.
To state the case b.unt1y, admins
tration democrats have decided that
they will have unreserved ratification
Of the treaty or nothing. They are
taking their cue from President Will
son, who has stated that reservations
of the kind proposed in the Lodge res
olution mean rejection of the treaty.
If they get nothing in the shape of
defeat of both the Lodge and the
Hitchcock resolutions they will await
further instructions from the Presi-
dent. They will have performed their
duty, they believe, and the next move
must be his,
Majority for Reservation.
There is no longer any question that
a majority of the Senate is in favor of
reservations to the league covenant
such as those proposed by Senator
Lodge and a majority of the Foreign
Relations Committee.
The democratic leaders believe they
can defeat the Johnson "six to one
amendment, the long list of Fall
amendments to eliminate the United
States from participation nthe nu-
merous international commissions Gre
ated by the treaty and the Shantung
amendment. But they have no real
hope of being able to defeat the
Lodge resolutions by majority vote.
It is for that reason that they have
decided upon the course of voting
down the whole resolution and run
ming the risk of complete failure of
the treaty and covenant. They have
still the hope before them that if the
Lodge resolution is defeated the
Hitchcock resolution may receive the
votes of many of the mild reserva-
sts"-perhaps a sufficient num-
Der to give the Hitchcock resolution
the coveted two thirds.