The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1919-09-13
SENATOR JOHNSON ON TOUR
OF TRADE.

In a serious effort to leari
something about the argument
Of opponents of the peace trea
ty and the league Of nations W.
took the trouble to wade through
Senator johnson 5 Chicago speech
As the California statesman il
one of the most vociferous foes o.
the treaty, we naturally expected
him to turn loose a destructive
fire on the document but we were
deeply disappointed. Even al
this distance we can still hear the
reverberations of the senator s
explosions and can see the huge
smoke clouds arising. We can
see the perspiration flood
ing the speakers face and behold
him mopping his dripping brow
between frenzied gestures. but af-
ter examining the treaty careful
ly we fail to perceive single
point whore it was punctured and
hcnee we must conclude that the
big gun was loaded only with
powder
That the senator created big
hullabaloo, we are free to confess
aod as he is an emotional orator
par excellence. he aroused The
feelings of the unthinking por-
ton of his crowd to a high pitch,
but enc looking for light on the
treaty will sean his speech in
vain. He attacked Article X and
various other features Of the cove
nant with great yigor but it was
all mere assertion, based upon
misrepresentation. Reasoning
from false premises it was impos-
sible for him to reach any correct
conclusions. 1t really was not an
attack on the treaty but was
merely an assault on a bogie man,
product OF the senator feyered,
partisan imagination.
Although Mr.. johnson failed to
produce any valid arguments
against the treaty, fairness forces
us to admit that as TRADE
against President Wilson his
speech was a bowling success. He
raked the president fore and aft,
pouring out a vast volume Of Wit
riolic c'iticism, and we note that
he continues to pursue the same
course as he proceeds ON his tour.
The fact that the outstanding fea-
lures Of the senator S speeches are
wholesale attacks on the man who
acted in behalf of America in
making the treaty and the abb
sence of any effective arguments
against the document itself, makes
the motives of Mr.. johnson and
his co-conyulsionists perfectly
clear. Their one mission in life
at this particular moment is to
discredit the work of Mr. Wilson
and to carry out their plans they
are willing to iuggle with the
welfare of the entire nation. Ap-
parently blind to all the new cor,-
dltions which the country faces
as result Of the war. they offer
not a single constructive sugges-
tion; they would have lis believe
that they want to restore the pre-
war status from which they well
know the relentless progress of
events has swept the nation as Car
away as from colonial days. To
take the place of the league Of
nations as a means of preventing
war they offer nothing except to
bark back to the past. with all It's
possibilities of world caiastro-
phes. such as the one from which
we have just emerged. In lien of
the constructive statesmanship
which is the need of the hour.
johnson and his crowd offer us
only carping criticism Of the for
ward-looking man who in coop
grafton with the great statesmen
IF many nations worked ont a
program of world peace and ius-
fice. johnson s tour Of trade
cannot cause any thoughtful
American TO change his ideas
about the treaty.