The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-01-27
LODGE IS FACING
CRITICAL TIMES
IN TREATYFIGHT
Continued Fr0r, v,rst Page,


l-sders on both sides IN the face.
FOR he present President Wilson Is
N me background. To many friends
or the peace treaty he has seemed an
other kind Of irreconciIable, but his
marty has gone ahead without his
sanction and entered into negotiations
for compromise, not only on the as
sumption that he will accept what they
negotiate but that public opinion will
compel him TO do it,
So Senator Lodge must choose be-
tween two groups. To many persons
Who have followed the treaty fight
closely from the beginning, the choice
he must naturally make is on the side
Of the treaty. He debated with former
PRESIDENT Lowell of Harvard and ar
gued that he was for a league OF ma
tons, but with reservations. Those
reservations were finally proposed in
Ihe senate and tfiey failed because the
Democrats were not satisfied.
Promises Long Fight.
Yet even those reservations were not
supported by the Republican irreconcil-
sbles. They said they would not vote
against the treaty with or without res
ervations--they would fight to the Bit
Ter end against the whole thing.
Senator Lodge could, therefore, afford
TO lose the support Of these 10 or IL
Republicans and get enough of his own
party and the Democrats to put through
the, senate the compromise which now
is being negotiated,
The question of whether the presi-
dent would accept would come up sep
arately and subsequently and, If Mr.,
!. Wilson refused, the country would know
+ definitely and finally where to place
the responsibility. And unquestionably
. the president would make clear his rea
sons in any case.
Rat whathpr Or mt n has hepn
essary, the fact is, the compromise
which is being negotiated at present
+ has been kept confidential matter.
Z The public doesn't know what has been
4 conceded or added by either side. From
i the fact that the irreconcilable Repub-
leans have threatened to bolt the Re
publican party, it is known that Mr..
Lodge has made some concessions, but
4whether they are objected to because
they are substantial in character, or
because they simply make compromise
with the Democrats easier, and, there
4 fore, become equally Objectionable to
those who really want to keep the treaty
from being acted upon, is hard to say
Jill the details are revealed.
Hateful Hour Here.
The fateful moment, however, for
leadership on the Republican side to ex-
press itself has come. Will Senator
i the Republican party does not object
to league Of nations properly safe
guarded by eservations-which has
been the position Of prominent Republi-
cans from the beginning-or will Sen
ator Borah and Senator johnson pre-
vail and thus actually become the true
Headers Of the Republican party in the
Senate?
One inclines to the view that Senator
lodge will win out and will stand his
l&Funs, simply because talk of revolt has
Nbeen heard before and has amounted to
nothing, and while Senators Borah and
ssJohnson might secede, it is doubtful
whether tried old party men like Sem
iators Brandegee, Mccormick, Fall, Knox
D and others in the irreconcilable group
would care to produce a split that
e might hand the next presidential con-
test to the Democrats on a platter, very
much as the progressive Republicans
u cid in 1912.
Compromise has been delayed II
weeks, but the hour is at hand when
the country will know finally II the
treaty is to be gotten out of the way,
or forced into the campaign by both
sides as, a cloak TO domestic questions
and grater consequence which both
sides are unwilling this presidential year
! 10 tackle.
Copyright, 1920, by David Lawrence