Norwich bulletin., 1919-10-13
WILSON'S SECRE TIVE POLICY
 ATTACKED BY BRANDEGEE
Charged Domestic Application Being Made of the Same pol
 icy That Has Marked All International Dealngs-Un- able to Make Administrations Methods Cibe With Pro- fessed Belief In Pitess PublicityAttack Made During Discussion of the Shantung Features of the Treaty Peace.

and take its records. sequester them in his department and then say: I de- cline 10 give them to the senate be- l cause l have not approved them and
 do not think it is in the public inter-
 est "
 Il did not quite understand the sen ator. il~rupted Senator Penrose l (Pa), whether this was actually the
 presidents own signature on this com
 mnica ton. I am little curious to T know whether he signed it himself. T am not an expert in handwriting, '' irepiied Senator Brandegee. nor famil- i far with the presidents signature. l laid not see the signature alleged l sigma ture to the response to the sen ate resolution. I do not know whether it was the presidents signature or not. IA message came yesterday or the day tbetore from the president and I do nots know whether it. contained his sigma ture or not. do not know
 hirl during his absence in Europe con- tanned bis Signature, but the president arrived here Sept. 29 and was immes ldiately taken charge of by his physi- 1 cisn and has been i'll ever since. It seems to me the president could not really have given this matter the thorough consideration which ne states over his signature he has given 1 | assume that if the president signed ithc reply the state department sent II l to him for signature and he sl2ned IL as routine matter. He could not have | had time to read the repart ana give l it thorough consideration.
 1 Does the senators recall when the | report was made2" asked Senator i Hitchcock tNeb-)- Tt IS quite possl- i ble that the report has been in the l been read by the president at his ! leisure. It seems to me little reck- | Iess for a senator to question 1act l officially stated over the president $ I m ff . ln. l 1uiries as to tn circumstances.
 i T may be very reckless gentle l man." retorted Senator Brandegee, l though I do not feel reckless at this 1 moment
 | If the report was of the importance l suggested it is quite likely that the 1 president had discussed it with the 1 secretary of, state" replied Senator 1 Hitchcock.
 "AI things are possible" replied Senator Brandegee. Il have formed no conclusive judgment about this mat ter I have stated that I do not know the date of this report or when 1t was filed in the Department of Com merce. I understand MT. Whitman IS now in China. I do not know that while the report was in the Depart ment of Commerce. 1 learned 1t was there from a gentleman who had read i, it and who told me, as l recoIlect- that it showed the extent to which the Ja panese were penetrating China and controlling it's avenues of transporta- ton, and proposing a way to neutrahze the transportation system of China so that the policy of the open door for all nations could not be defeat ted put in peril by Japan or any other nation My informant was not allowed to make copy of the document. but re- auired to stay there and read it at the department. He told me another gen tIeman had been allowed to see it and gave me the address of that other. I wrote to this second gentleman asking him the general purport of tn report. He informed me that it was a magnifi- cent document stating the true situa- tion about Chinese transportation and what was happening to it. who was controlling it and what it meant to the commerce and future interests of this country, but he said do not want to be drawn into this matter. Fl have not the report and while l think it of vial interest that it may be made public. 1 cannot say anything public ly about t.
 '+The facts stated by the senator" suggested Senator Hitchcock. testify that the administration Is very alert in protecting its interests of the open door and of China It appears that the administration has sent an able repre-
 sentative to China, who has made an able and conclusive report showing that Japan is attempting to control the Chinese railways and presenting methods by which they can be neu- tralized. It is evident that nothing the senate can do will aid in. that matter. It is purely an executive affair at the --0sent time. It seems to me that if the executive says it's publicity would .--s II.-.IAIcaI to the public interest, that is conclusive statement.
 .The president and the administra tion' replied Senator Brandegee "un- til it's diplomatic head got hold of this
 matter, was doing it's duty. but when our partner in the treaty making bus mess. our senior and guiding and pre-
 dominant-I will not say silent or wicked. but exclusive-partner, got on
 the trail and found there was in formation that would nlumine this benevolent assimilation of China, he had the report placed under lock and key. How much vigilance that indi- cates in a desire to inform the senate an. dthe country, I do not know
 "Is it not true that the suppression of the report is directly in the inter- est of Japan?" asked Senator Lodge.
 If the report contains what I sus- pect, its suppression is in the interest of Japan" replied MT. Brandegee. The State Department upon its own judg- ment approve the tendency of the re- port declines to give the report to the se-ate. of Shantung bear to the railways of China are not matters for speculation" said Senator Knox Pa). That had nassed beyond. the realm of specula- to the Chinese government, testified that this was tn key to the existing situation ad potential transportation system of China"
 That is true.." replied Mr. Brande- gee. T do not suppose many sena tors have read that testimony Many of the minority senators thought it was all foolishness to- have any testimony at all They were all ready to swallow the treaty, and do not want to know what is in it. As Mir. Lansing said to MT. Bullitt: If the codntry only knew what was in it and what it let them in for" it would be repudiated But, knowing this. the demand is that we swallow it without knowing what is in it nd that anything tending to make anybody hesitate about voting for it should be suppressed Let not the light s5Z-tie D1-cre men.