Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-07-17
Dotted rs and
Crossed rs
rom the New York World.

Falsehood has attended American op-
position to the treaty Of peace 80 every
stage. The covenant has been boldly mis-
represented in all it's parts and practi-
cally everything that the Presider has
said or done in regard to il has been
deliberately beIied.
One Of the most persistent Htruths
now widely accepted as fact is the
legend that on his return from Europe
the President insisted that the treaty
must be accepted as written, without the
dotting Of an i or the crossing q (. :"
This fabrication has been go many times
repeated that il has passed unto current
history AS proof Of Mr.. Wilson die ta tcrial
spirit, and il hes been believed in spite
of records open to AL showing a willing
ness on his part 20 make any eonces-
sions honestly proposed that did not
invalidate the treaty itsef.
Landing at Boston, Feb. "a, 1919,
from his first visit abroad As q Peace Com
missioner, the President spoke at length
Of the work then IN progress at Paris but
had nothing To say Of the terms Of the
treaty. He had IN his possession q copy
of the covenant Of the League Of Nations
as tentatively adopted, and after his
arrival in Washington he summoned 20
Foreign Affairs Of Both Houses Of Cong
ress At this conference there WIS a
frank discussion Of the covenant result
ing in several suggested changes, all Of
which were made when the President
resumed his labors in France.
Mr.. Wilson's second Homecoming was
on the Sth Of July 1919 Landing IN
New York, he delivered brief address,
refraining ~ before from discussing the
treaty, although il was now complete.
Two days later he presented a copy Of
the document 10 the Senate in person
and made an admirable address in which
there was not q word that could be con
strued as dognatic or otherwise offensive.
On the 10Th Of August the memorable
meeting between the President and the
Committee on Foreign Relations Of the
Senate took place at the White House
On this occasion Mr.. Wilson said plainly
in his opening statement that there
could be mo reasonable objection To IN
terpretations accompanying the act of
ratification, provided they do not form
part Of the formal ratification itself, I
distinguishing in this way between IN
terpretations and amendments which
would have amounted 10 rejection.
At that time and afterward. especially
on his Western tour the President dwelt
upon the fact that most Of the reserva-
tions over which such hullabaloo had
been raised embodied nothing more than
the plain meaning Of the covenant as
drawn. and therefor were wholly super
fuous He let il he known however,
that Article x was the very backbone Of
the covenant" without which the
League would be<hardly more than an
influential debating society" From that
day forth Senator Lodge and all his fol-
lowers concentrated their energies upon
the evisceration Of Article x, and on
that point alone the President WIS at
first uncompromising.
Last February a non-partlsan agree
ment that promised the ratification Of
the treaty was arrived at, and when the
reservations we're reported by Senator
Hitchcock TO the President his response
was, Il am glad To say that / can accept
them as they stand, his only criticism
being that the wording Of the reserva-
ton IS 10 Article X was uni rtunate
W hen this agreement became known 20
the bitter-enders they Threatened Sena-
tor Lodge with q thIrd-party movement,
and az his purpose all along had been 70
defeat the reaty. he amended the COM
promise reservation as to Article X N
such a way as 70 make il unacceptable
TO the President Thereupcn all negotla-
tons failed and the treaty was rejected.
No falr-nInded person can review the
events Of the past year without reaching
the conclusion that the President from
first to last went as far as he could to
meet the wishes Of Senators and others
who honestly wished to safeguard
American interests. The trouble AWAY
was that he never could satisfy the men
like johnson and Borah, who openly
sought to XIII the treaty, and the men like
Ledge and his followers, who secretly
sought its destruction but wished to place
the blame upon the President.
At various times during the progress
Of this dispute former President Taft,
Elihu Root, George VI. Wickershan.
Charles Z. Hughes, Herber5 c. Hoover,
Thomas w. Lamont, Rev. DR.. Henry Van
Dyke, DR.. 4. Lawrence Lowell, Dr..
Charles W Eliot and many other emil
nent Republicans, 10 say nothing Of
great religious, educational, CONNER
cial and labor bodies, took occasion to IN
dorse the compromises which In one form
or another Mir. Wilson had expressed =
willingness to accept but they Jared no
better than be- Such is the situation
which has made falsehood 50 necessary 10
the Senatorial Junkers who now control
the Republican party, nominate its can