New-York tribune., 1920-10-29

day we find ourselves with ships that
cost us something in excess Of
$4,000 100000, with no opportunity to
sell them to anybody.
We have permitted England's yards
TO flli up the countries Of the world
with ships, while our own shipbuilders
We're forbidden to sell ships abroad
We have followed this course when
we have had larger shipbuildng ca
paclty than this country has ever
known. The present Congress- passed
reasonable laws. We need adminis+ ra
ton. | believe that one of the first
Problems-one of the greatest prob.
lems that will confront the next a.
mlnlstra'lon Will be to salvage what
Ihey can out Of the colossal loss that
mas oeen suffered through inef1icicncv
VI '"e democratic Shipping Board.
l. s. Has Few Friends Abroad
Another great problem whIch will
race the next Administration is our in.
ternatlonal position. The Democratic
rres'deht mas 80 conducted our FOREIGN
ahaIrs as to leave the nation few
lflends abroad and the ADMINISTRATIVE
1cw supporters a. home When actual
ngh''ng ceased the one great quality
that was needed in the world was toi.
OlUcrpNCp n
OPINION IN the minds of sane men that
one of the first duties of civilization
was to take whatever steps could prop-
cry be taken to avoid repetition of
the terrible catastrophe which had
claimed so heavy a toll in life and
proberty during the last i've year,.
put tolerance was the one great
qualty which our President lacked. He
was lntolerant Of the opinion of our
late allies. Whatever they hal learned
from experience In their centuries of
European politics was as naueht 10
him. tie was intolerant of the opinion
OF his, political opponents at home.
only those whose minds travelled with
ms mlnd were admitted to his counsels
And, finally, he was intolerant of ad
Vice from even his own supporters. as
witness his summary dismissal of Sec
retary Lansing.
As we look back over the last two
years. how clear it must be to us All
that the President has been his own
worst enemy, When he brought back
rom Paris the covenant of the League
Oh Nations he demanded that it be ac-
cepted He was met at Boston by peo-
pie who regarded foreign relations not
as partisan but as American problems.
We welcomed him, desiring to cooper
ate IN making peace as we had in max
ing war. He then addressed u.s. He
gave no hint as to particulars of the
covenant, about which we knew moth
ing. He did say of his fighting blood
that If it is challenged on this occa-
sion 1t wlll be an indulgence, and he
relegated him who should resist to "A
shore so high and barren that it will
seem as if he had been separated from
ms human kind forever
w hat ever the nature OF the obl-
bot +1no i
our people, there can be no doubt that
they were new Obligations, deserving of
the most careful study by the const-
tutional body which was associated
with the President in the treaty-mak-
ing power. |. myself, did not believe
do not believe that the covenant in
tended to create a super government
| believed then and now that it was
intended to be in essence a compact
"Ihe Massachusetts Republican con-
vention Of the fall of 1919 publicly ex-
pressed itself in favor of prompt
ratification of the treaty with uneQuiv-
ocal reservations that would make
clear the unconditional right of the
United States to withdraw from the
league upon due notice, that would pro-
vide that the United States should be
required to send no soldiers abroad
unless Congress should so direct, that
would MAKE clear that all domestic
questions, such as the tariff and immi-
grafton, were under the control Of the
United States and that the United
States should be the sole judge rs to
the Interpretation of the Monroe Doe
trine.
Il was then in favor Of the declara-
ton in that Massachusetts platform
The dominant portion OF the Repub-
licans in the United States Senate
later acted in accordance with this
declaration. But while | held this
view, as did many other Republicans,
| could readily appreciate that others,
both IN the Republican and Democratic
| parties, could in all sincerity believe
that the covenant intended to create a
/ super government. Moreover the form
of the covenant was curiously calcu-
lated to arouse the fears Of the Amer
lean people. The first draft of the
covenant used the word constitution,
which. to Americans familiar with the
great debates between Calhoun and
| Webster; must at once create the prima
facie impression that the instrument
was not mere compact but was the
formation of government In our
American political grammar said
Webster, constitution is a noun sub