Evening star., 1920-02-27
PRESIDENT REALLY
RECEDES ON F|UME
QUESTION IN NOTES
Apparently Willing to Abide
by Solution of Italy and
JugosIavia.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE:

On the surface. President Wilson
appears to be standing pat" on the
Fiume issue. Actually. however. he
settlement between Italy and Jugo-
slavia
Stripped OF diplomatic phraseology
and legal discussions. the exchange
of notes just made public places the
President Of the United States on rec
ord as being willing to accept any
solution which the two most inter
eSted parties-Italy and JugoSlavia-
may reach, provided the settlement
does not prejudice the interests OF
Albania, circumstance that Is not
difficult of adjustment.
The President. moreover. backs
down on his threat to withdraw the
treaty and American membership in
the league Of nations if the memo
randum of December is not accepted.
for. since that proposal was rejected
by Italy, Jugoslavia has appeared
ready to negotiate new settlement;
The question of American withdrawal
really. turns upon whether or not the
United States is to be consulted. The
allies have given assurance that tney
will consult the United States. What
they forgot was that, although the
United States has not Yet become a.
member of the league of nations.
American amba sSadors abroad should
have been kept informed OF what was
going on in respect OF questions
growing out of Il treaty signed by the
President American diplomats in
Europe. however, being anxious not
to offend the Senate, have refrained
from meeting with the allied premiers
in formal meetings of the league
something that has confused foreign
governments and led to the present
misunderSta anding.
Responsible for Divergence.
Secretary Lansing seemed to take
the view that imperfect means of com
municatiOn was responsible more than
anything else for the divergence of
the allies from the viewpoint sought
to be established by the President. and
it is a fact that Mr.. Lansing urged
Mr. VIA not to at1ix a threat to his
note to withdraw the treaty Mr..
Lansing felt that matters had not yet
reached so critical stage. and that
an ultimatum of that kind might have
a serious effect on the status of the
treaty in the Senate. where it might
be construed as justification OF the
ideas Of the irrecOncilables. who all
along have been contending that
partnership with European govern
ments was an association with terri
torially ambitious and selfish nations.
The President. however. took en-
phatic issue with Mr.. Lansing and in
rather summary fashion ordered the
note sent, threat and all. The notes
sent TO the allies were therefore not
the work of Secretary Lansing. but
were written by some of the experts
who accompanied President Wilson to
the peace conference. The documents
We're however, revised by the Presi-
dent, wto is not yet strong enough to
write diplomatic note of such length
without outside assistance.
The allies contend that they dis
carded the memorandum of December
largely because it was Objectionable
to Italy and Jugoslavia and that they
started anew. They are admittedly
In an embarrassing position because
of the treaty of London, but the CEN
tral fact brought out in the exchange
of notes is that Great Britain and
France were ready to yield to practi-
cal expediency in the Fiume affair to
appease Italy, while President Wilson
was quite sure this would only mAap
n temporary calm.
Healthy Return to Pri~4Anea.
From the viewpoint VI liberals,
President Wilson'S stanch refusal to
allow expediency to govern him in the
Adriatic settlement is healthy return I
to the fundamental principles which |
so many of his critics wished he had |
Rhineland. both of which settlements |
were defended on the ground of ex- |
pediency. Mr. Wilson's readiness to
take the world into his confidence on |,
the diplomatic correspondence over |
Fiume opens a new era in diplomacy, |
too. 1t has raised among liberals here /
the question of how much more the !
President might have accomplished by |
adopting a course of pitiless publicity |
on some of the other items on the |
Paris settlement. For while the Fiume |
was variously inter-
preted on Capitol Hill. where opponents
Of the treaty saw confirmation of their /
that the treaty means in
in European tangles. others
saw the possibilities of the league of |
nations projected forcefully on the in |,
screen. Much comfort was
derived out of the recognition. more
over. by the allies that the treaty of
Versailles was not to remain un-
changed, and that one OF the articles
Of the covenant providing for revision
was not inserted as an empty promise.
but might be actually invoked
Friends of the President have here
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