Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-09-17

PACT FOES IN
TWOCLASSES
Draws Line Between
Those Who Seek It's
Defeat and Others.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

especial 10 The Argus
EnrOutn with President Wilson
to San Francisco, Cal. Sept II
President Wilson has again chang
cd his tactics or rather he has re-
moved the inference that he con
sidcrs all the men who have been
CriticizinE tho treaty as affiliated
with amazing ignorance The
president still avOws that he
hasn't any respect OF all for somo
Of the senator's. by which he means
those who plainly wish to defeat
the treaty of peace, but for most
or them he has reason to have rc-
spcot, he says, and they arc as
good Americans as | claim to be. ~
Draws Line Between Foes.
Indeed. the president has at last
drawn the line between the ma
joritv of his opponents in the sen
ate and the small minority Of ir
roconcilablo like the BOrahs and
tho JOhnsons and the Reeds who
arc making the most noise and
saying tho most bitter things about
the president in public debate. Mr..
Wilson has proceeded on the as
sumption that inasmuch as this
element was the most COnspicu
Gus while the so-called mild reser-
vatiOnists were not out on the
stump trying TO beat the treaty, it
was his duty to confine his argu-
ment to the group of senators who
STantATo sssgzs slgg-rresity and league
disrupted.
But eviden accumulatcs
through editorial expression and
otherwise that some of the so
called mild reservationists have
imagined that Mr. Wilson was put
ting them in the same category as
the others. To be sure, Senator
KenyOn's passionate eutburst just
after Mr.. Wilson visited Iowa was
said to be due to remarks of the
president about opposition sena
tors.
Generalization Ends.
So Mr.. Wilson has drawn the
line between the men in the senate
who are friendly to the League of
Nations. but are not yet convinced
that it should be adopted without
qualifications and reservations ,
and the men who are outspOken
against any league whatsoever.
The presidents tactics thus far
have been characterized by a tend
ency to generaliZe which some OF
his friends have thought unwise
and strategically doubtful. They
are better pleased by his recogni-
ton of the conscientious character
Of those men on the Republican
side who no longer say they want
"a league of nations and not this
league" but who fully recognize
that unless the covenant which Is
now interviewer in the peace treaty
is taken as a basis for correction
or revision in the future. the op-
portunity to get any league of na- /
tinns established may go a-Slim-
mering.
Pariisanship Cast Aside.
The president has incidentally /
thrown aside all the passion of /
craftsmanship which, on past occa- !
,ions has embittcred the Republi- /!
cans to such an extent that disiH- /
.erested observers have wondered /
how much this phase of the con /
.roversy was responsible for the |
prolonged discussion and delay. |
That Mr. Wilson realizes the ma
lure of this criticism was appar- |
ant in his Spokane speech. when Z
he said he hoped no personal bit |
-erncss would stand in the way Of }
in achievement by America of a /
great world enterprise. He sought I
o deprive himself of any special /
share in the making of the cove |
1ant and gave the leaders of the !
Republican party of past decades /
he credit for advancing the idea I
If a world organization. 1t was a /
welcome note to the many Re
1ublicans who feel still some meas
Ire of poignant regret at the par
isan character of his election ap /!
zeal last fall and the Indifference
o leading Republicans in his
.hoice of peace commissioners to
20 to Paris.
But the presidents stress on the
force" of the Repub
lean party made the deepest i'm
preston of all for it was only A
ew years ago that Mr.. Wilson,
,pcakinc at a Democratic gather
ng at Indianapolis, upbralded the
Republican party for not having
lad "a constructive idea in 20
cars"
Ready 10 ~Get Right
Ono might think the president
IisIikes to be called inconsistent
Perhaps he docs. But Lc also
Ioesu't hesitate ito get right" if he
links he is wrong. And he un-
lesitatingly admits upon occasion
he error of his ways, Don't let
acts get you" is the advice he