Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-11-28
sALvAGING THE COVENANT,

s'Save the Treaty of Peace" is the
slogan sent out to New Mexico from
the inner temple. where worship of
the pact goes on The soft pedal is
to be down during the chant with
which it is hoped TO revive the in
animate remains.
There is to be Dussyfoot publicity
pleading instead of boasts and conf
dent assertions by Senator Hitchcock
and dcnunciation by Wilson of sena-
tors as men of pigmy mind; no more
declarations by w H, Taft that they
are not to be trusted overnight.
OF the fifty saviors of the treaty
New Mexico has been assigned one
"a staunch democratic supporter of the
covenant-which, probably in his
opinion, should have gone through
without adding an ink dot; an astute
lawyer who knows, in losing case
before a jury, that it is best to seek
for a compromise or sympathetic YER
dict.
The Journal today gives on another
page the statement of this committee
man for New Mexico, in pursuance of
the policy of letting readers judge for
themselves of public movements, and
allowing a hearing to all.
But it is well in this connection to
note that at the psychological moment
Tor compromise the Wilson force of
thirty-nine voters stubbornly refused
to accept the compromise reservations
unanimously reported by the commit
tee on foreign relations. Senator
Hitchcock secured a ballot on a mo-
ton to raufy the treaty as written in
Paris and could get but thirty-nine
votes for it. after all the strenuous
and spectacular campaigning, when
sfXty-four were necessary for ratifica-
ton. Not all democrats voted for
ratification.
Then he placed before the senate
a set of reservations as substitutes for
the committee reservations, and was
again turned down.
Next he and his thirty-nine sup
porters turned around and defeated
the modified treaty, leaving nothing
before the senate They accomplished
this by joining witt the most RADICAL
opponents. who desired to have no
covenant of a league of nations. or
else to form one less binding and
complicated, separated from a peace
treaty with the enemy country
AS the treaty appeared to be buried
Senator Lodge then renewed the Fall
/ esolution, which goes over to the
coming session. to declare that a state
of peace exists. as in reality it does,
so as to formally allow resumption of
certain business relations with the late
enemy country.
But the advocates of the covenant
are now playing to revive the treaty
they helped radical opponents to lay
out in the morgue, 1t is the purpose
of the salvage movement, now an
nounced, to again bring up a Hitch
Cock-brand of reservations warranted
to be lust as good"
The statement given out by the New
Mexico committeeman claims that the
people need more time to understand
the treaty, though heretofore the
clamor of its supporters has been for
quick action, under the sweeping
claim at the White House. and from
Hitchcock, Cummings, ct al, that
everybody was "rarin'" to have i'm
mediate action, and fully understood
the whole matter; that by no posi-
biIity could any important change or
/ observation be made in the senate.
and the treaty would be ratified in
its entirety beyond the shadow OF
doubt Now 1t is proposed to talk to
the people some more and seek to
have senators convinced that the folks
at home are for surrendering to those
who wanted the treaty as it is, and
in lieu Of that, to be now allowed to
soften the reservations, just as the
Germans who begged for an armistce
wanted to write the terms to suit
tn elnSelNeS.
1t is not intimated that the lovers
of the treaty desire to take a short
cut by bringing over some of the few
treaty champions needed to pass the
reservations reported by the commit
tee. The motion TO ratify the modi-
fled treaty did not pass, But it re-
ceived a larger vote than the propo-
sition to swallow the unchanged pact.
The easiest way out would appear
to be to adopt the pending resolution
and then arrange upon what terms
America will enter the league of ma
tions, which will be quite ready to
talk turkey in order to have the
United States as an associate.
The suggestion is respectfully re-
ferred to the salvage committee.