The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1919-08-01
(Harvey's Weekly.)


a mere scrap of paper? If not. why
did he deliberately violate one of its
most important provisions within a
/ fortnight after he. as president Of the
! United States" and Mr.. Lansings, as
Secretary of State of the United
States, attach their official signatures
Z I othe agreement?
That he did that every thing there
can be no question. Article of the
4 Treaty reads:
"The present Treaty Will be sub
nitted to the Senate OF the United
States at the same time as the Treaty
Of Versailles is submitted 10 the SEN
ate for its advice and consent to rati-
fication'
Submitted by whom BY the Presi.
dent himself. of course. who alone is
empowered TO submit treaties. who
/ alone with the Secretary Of State has
right TO sign them and who with
/ the Secretary of State did sign this
one And il was as President of the
United States OF America" that he en-
! tered into this engagement with the
I duly authorized representatives of the
French Republic and gave in writing
under the great seal of this honorable
( Nation that solemn pledge
Did he keep it? He did not This
/ is what he said and all he said re re-
specting the Treaty on July 10, when
, he submitted the Treaty of Versailles
to the Senate.
/ shall presently have occasion TO la y
before you special treaty with Franco.
whose object is the temporary protec-
ton of France from unproNoker aggres-
sion by the Power with whom this
treaty OF peace has been negotiated. It's
terms link it with this treaty I take
the liberty, however. of reserving it for
/ special explication on another occasion.
He did not submit the Treaty, he
did not divuge its terms. he did not
even summarize it; he simply took
the liberty of violating II.
/ Why? There must have been some
reason for the Incorporation OF that
particu ar Dr. ,ision in the Franco
American Treaty. There Is none such
in the arco-Bri1ish Treaty. wherein
Article provides merely that the
present Treaty shall before ratihca
ton by Els Majesty be submitted to
Parliament for approval" not coinci
IDENTIFY with the submission OF the
Treaty OF Versailles nor at any other
specified time.
How can this marked difference be
accounted for We can only conjec
ture. Of course. but it is surely fair
presumption that the provision was
not inserted at the instigation OF the
! President, who would hardly have
gone out OF his way to bind himself
unnecessarily 10 do a certain thing
upon a certain day. Seemingly. then
the idea must have originated in the
French Government.
But why should NJ. Clemenceau have
desired so particularly that the two
+, treaties should be placed before the
Senate simultaneously Again we can
only guess. but is it not reasonable to
surmise that he. being aware OF the
co-equal treaty making powers of the
I Senate. felt that all interests. especial
" those of France, would be best
served by presenting 10 that body both
agreements as embodied in the two
treaties at one and the same time. and
thus enable it TO consider and act upon
each with fun knowledge OF what The
/ other contained
Such procedure would possess at
least the merit of frankness and open
dealing and could not fail to impress
the Senate favorably II. seems
strange that the Premier should not
have taken for granted that the Presi-
dent would take this natural course.
but beng old and wise and prudent
he apparently preferred to take no
chances. so he put it in black and
white. and the President signed the
commitment
Why he subsequently broke his
pledge is matter OF speculation. Per-
haps he feared that one OF the treaties
might run crosswise to the other, or
that the Senate might think that. II
one were ratified. the other need not
be. Then there was the question OF
the need of a special pact if the
League were anything more than a
( shell. Discussion. involving close
! analyses and striking contrasts. al
any rate would be better averted if
possible: so all of NJ. Clemenceau's
painstaking caution went for naught.
and the preservation of full informa
ton to the Senate which he thought
was assured was not made after all
Or it may be that there were things
in the separate treaty itself which the