The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-03
COLBY WILL DEFEND
 WILSON'S RECENT ACTION

Washington. October 2.--(SpeclaL)- -- Foreign relations in other respect than that involving the League of Ma I tions 1orges to the front as an em- l bryonfc campaign issue.
 ThesPresident ignores section 34 of the Jones Merchant Marine act. That i isection contains instructions to the 1 lchief executive to abrogate all treaties, to which the United States is part, which make it impossible for ths gov ernment to grant a subsidy or subven- l tion to goods imported and exported | in American bottoms.
 The issue seems to be we'll joined. 1 The republicans contend that the Pres ident in ignoring an act of Congress, seeks to arrogate to himself all powers of government. Representative Ed
 monds of Pennsylvania, without talk ing deep thought, it is indicated , threatens to impeach the President as soon as Congress is again in session Other of the Edmonds ilk, including the Hearst newspapers of the United
 States, insist that the President is moved in his present attitude through his great love for England.
 The mystery in the entire situation, is why the President signed the bill. His friends in Washington explain that
 the bill was enacted just prior to the
 adjournment of Congress last June, land that had it been vetoed, it could
 have been re-enacted. Despite Section
 34, the bill contains many excellent features of the greatest importance to
 the United States. It is said that the
 President, while signing, had in mind
 an intention to ignore Section 34-that he considered sush future course wise
 in view of the fact that only by such
 course, the valuable clauses of the bill could be reserved.
 The President has accepted the :hal-
 lenge of the author of the bill Sem ator Jones of Washington, the repub-
 lican nominee for President, Senator Harding of Ohio, and other republicans of considerably smaller calbre. He has stated simply that existing treaties contain no provision for their abroga-
 tion by the method that Congress con- templated. He has intimated that the initiation of any enterprise involving treaties was a function of the chief executive and that in Section 34 of the Jones act, Congress was in fact attempting to intrude on the peroga- tives of the President.
 Furtehrmore, it is stated on what is considered very excellent authority that the President intends through Sec- retary ColDF, to defend h1S acton or lack of action before the people. The secretary of state, who is an advocate of exccptiona, merit, intends in the inn mediate future to take the stump for the Cox-Roosevelt ticket. In the course of his speeches, he will contend that the President, in remaining true to the obligations of this country to the other coul tries of the world. has pursued a nationally idealistic and unselfish rolicy--that the United States could not in honor have done other than ob- serve the strict letter of that which it had in writing agreed to do.
 When the Jones bill was pending, the state department served notice on it's author and his colleagues that the sec retary of state was of the opinion -hat the enactment of the bill inclusive of Section 34 would disturb relations of this country and the other countries of the world. But the author of the bill was not to be moved, and in the tur- moil attendant on the final sessions of Congress, was able to put his measure across. At that time Great Britain sent emissares to the United States