New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-12-28
The Constitutions Part in the Treaty Deadlo
Europe Will Be Chary of Enter
ing Such a Conference Again
With the United States

war has brought about
change in the importance Of sors;,s
affairs, so far as the United c.
Is concerned. We may or nav
have an effective league Of n.sa ~
in the end. We may or may no, ~
enlisted in terms to serve IN w.
capacities, but inescapably our ~. Nv
tons with the other countries Of Il.
world are becoming closer ~,
closer. We shall have to enter NJ.
new agreements, undertake ~.
duties, which must be fixed bv y
ternational conferences. We h,..
in the larger sense permansr.s
emerged from our isolation. ".
did it on the day we sent troon, =,
Europe for the first time.
A Remedy Needed
Such being the fact. we car,,
have our relations with the uo,,.
fatally handicapped by defecs,.
machinery which permits one o, a,.
branches Of government, each h,,,
ing power of death, il only ons h,
of life, over foreign negotiations !.
destroy what the other may do, b.
paralyzc it and TO paralyze our n.
tercourse with other nations and,
as in the present case-postpoo.
peace indefinitely.
We cannot expect to fare we'll IN
foreign negotiations while this de.
feet prevails, for the cost to En-
ropean countries Of their first I'd.
venture with American treaty-mak.
ing on a large scale has been almost
prohibitive. 1t will not suffice TO
blame the President for doing what
he had the right to do but what hi,
critics believe he should not hsw'
done. The stronger the personality
Of the President the more likely 4
is in the future, as it has been m
the past, that he will exercise rights
which cannot be questioned in law
however debatable In policy.
Nor will it do any good to CRIT.
cize the Senate. Its rights are at
least equally clear, its duties no ea
enjoined by an oath of office. The
likelihood that the Senate will in
the future prove as jealous Of It's
rights and as vigilant in the defense
of what it conceives to be American
interests is unmistakable.
To argue that because the thing
did not happen before 1918 it can.
not happen again is to argue illogi.
cally. The truth is that the very
character Of the war, the destruc.
ton and the changes incident to It
have produced q condition which
must lead to many international con-
ferences Of a sort unlike those Of
the past. We cannot be unmindful
Of international gatherings whose
decisions may lead to new world
wars, since the last conflict demon
strated that a world war cannot be
escaped, just as the experience Of
our country, still in its infancy In
the period Of the Napoleonic up
heaval, proved the same thing.
To me the struggle between tn
Senate and the President SEEM
something far more significant thai
a battle between persons or par
tisans. Perhaps the President /
he had been William Mckinley In
stead Of Woodrow Wilson, nigh
have placated the Senate. Perhaps
the Senate, had it been composed d
those we are accustomed to call "th'
fathers" would have risen allow
personal or partisan consideration
Frankly, | doubt this, but the fact Il
that two parts of the government
operating we'll within their rights
have come into collision, blocked TIL
world road to peace and demon
strated a Fundamental defect in oul
governmental system, Immediate!
expensive for the whole world AM
calculated, if it is not remedied, Il
do incalcula bic harm to America
neTOtiatOrs in the futl1re