Evening star., 1920-02-04
Sacred Precedent of DipIo-
macy Said to Have Been
Disregarded.
DRASTIC ACTION TAKEN
FOR OFFENSE IN PAST
Fuss" Not Anticipated, However,
to Follow Present
Situation.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

ed In tradition and the SacredneSS OF
precedent, has taken advantage of the
topsy turvy conditions in internation-
al affairs to cast off its meticulous
regard for the official personality OF
the President of the United States, tc
whom ambassadors are accredited.
Unable to reach Woodrow Wilson
either because of his illness or his
stubborn refusal to enter into parleys
with foreign governments concerning
a compromise on the treaty before the
American Senate. European govern
ments have sought and successfully
maintained line of communication
direct from their foreign offices tc
the lobbies of the United States SEN
ate.
True Story Is Now Told.
The true story of what has been
| generally known in Washington fol
many months, but which has been
confined to whispers Of surprise and
astonishment, but no open protest
can now 1be told.
The fact that Prime Minister Lloyd
George sent cabiegram to Viscount
| Grey, which the latter Is said by Sena-
| tor Borah to have shown to one or
two senators, advising them that reser-
| vations to the peace treaty would be
| acceptable, is not less a subject of spec
| ulation and interest than the coincident
| effort of Premier Clemenceau similarly
| to get in touch with Senator Lodge and
other republican leaders a few weeks
| ago.
The Massachusetts leader has himself
refrained from mentioning the names
of any distinguished foreign statesmen
who he has insisted have assured him
| that reservations would be accepted by
the allies. but it is an open secret that
Senator Lodge and Viscount Grey have
been in conference and that Mr.. Lodge
has discussed the treaty with the diplo-
matte representatives of other countries.
| Senators Were Sought.
| But so has Senator Hitchcock, the
| democratic leader, and, in fairness
to these senator's, it must be said
having responded to the initiative of
| the foreign Ambassadors, and not
| sought the conferences themselves.
| Diplomacy, however, has estab-
lished severe precedents whereby it
is considered a diplomatic impro-
| priety of the first order for an am
bassador or minister accredited any
| where to enter into communication
directly with the Legislative branch
of any government without first OBJ
| tanning the permission of the foreign
| office or department of state.
| For the mere mention of internal
politics in the United States in a
letter to a friend. which subsequently
| became public. Lord Sackville-W West,
British ambassador to the United
States. was sent home by President
| Cleveland. Similarly, the Colombian
| minister to the United States was a
few years ago ordered home by Sec
retary Knox because he said the pro-
| tary of State to his country probably
| would not be very welcome.
Spring-Rice Complained.
| remember we'll how the late Sir Cecil
| Spring Rice, the British ambassador
here during the war. used to complain
| of the activity of Count Won Bernstorff,
the German ambassador, in his ''social'
conferences with members Of the Ameri-
can Congress. Sir Cecil often held it to
have been a gross improperly for the
| United States to permit Count Won
Bernstorff to stay in Washington, be-
cause in 1913 the latter tried to influence
senators to vote against the repeal of
| the Panama canal tolls act, which was
| favored by Great Britain, but feared
! by the German foreign office as the be-
| ginning of too good an understanding
between the United States and Eng
land.
| 1t also is a fact that when Francois
Bouillon. chairman of the committee
on foreign affairs of the house of
| deputies of the French parliament,
| was quoted in Paris newspapers and
| in cables to America as having advo-
Gated a direct link between the French
parliament and the republican party
| in the American Senate, the United
| States government made unofficial in
quiry and satisfaction was given in
the form of an official denial. which.
| however. American correspondents
who heard the speech took with a
| grain of salt.
Anxiety in Situation.
| But the situation in recent months
/ in Washington has been one of deep
anxiety for European governments.
| Ambassadors here could not get in
touch with President Wilson. They
| could visit with Secretary Lansing,
to talk about the treaty except to say
it was the Presidents business
Desperate because they could get no
satisfaction at the White House, for
eign ambassadors invited senators to
| their homes and invariably through
the we'll known medium of social oc-
casions, so often used in Europe the
ambassadors got line on the situa-
| tion here.
Strictly speaking. there is nothing
| illogical in their course. They saw
the Senate as the powerful factor in
| the situation and they were being
pressed from European foreign offices
| for accurate information as to what
| was happening. Moreover, they were
urged to express discreetly to Ameri-
can senators the European viewpoint
and do all they could to forward a
compromise.
No "Fuss" Anticipated.
Just how much of this informal dip
| lomatic negotiation has been revealed
! to President Wilson is not definitely
| known yet, while persons fond of dip
| lomatic precedent may be astonshed
| at the unusual course of procedure
made inevitable by the conflict be-
tween the executive and Legislative
branches of our government there is
| little likelihood that the Department
of State or White House will stand
on it's rights and make a fuss over
what has happened.
There are those who think that out
of the present series of incidents may
come new precedents--namely, the
sending of unofficial ambassadors or
ministers to sit in the lobbies Of the
United States Senate and make clear
| the European viewpoint. This would
entitle the United States to send a
commissioner or unofficial envoy to
sit in the house of commons or the
| French parliament with analogous
privileges.
| There are those who think laws on
| the statute books of the United States
some phases of open diplomacy-free
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