New-York tribune., 1920-07-30
Truth and the League
Three Letters From Senator Lodge
rs. Democratic Missiatemcnis
e Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Confronting assertions in the
San Francisco platform and in the
convention, speech which was sup
posed to sound the keynote for the
1920 Democratic campaign-assertion
whose authors took great risks as to
compromising veracity--a plain state
ment of the Republican attitude on
matters the President declares must
be submitted, on a referendum, to the
general electorate seems to be de-
mandcd.
The President doubtless assumed
that those questionable assertions
were true, especially the charge that
the Republican Senators were respon-
sible for failure to ratfy the league
covenant and the treaty as drafted at
Versailles. Notwithstanding that the
official records show that the Rcpus-
lican Senators, with twenty three
Democratic, including Senator Under
wood, the new minority leadcr--in all,
a large majority, but less than two
thirds of the Senators present-voted
to ratify with the Lodge reservations,
and that twenty~nine Democrats, led
by Senator Hitchcock, obeyed the be-
hest of the President and voted no and
defeated ratification, newspapers and
orators, flying in the face of the facts,
have proclaimed, Justify and noisily,
that the Republicans were to blame
for it all, and, noteworthy, your
neighbor "The Times" protesting in
dependence and political neutrality,
persistcntly has construed every act of
Senator Lodge-no doubt including his
successful motion to recall the treaty
and covenant back to the Senate for
further conaidcration--as evidence of
set purpose on his part to defeat
the league principle. Without pausing
to inquire whether that cause, per-
sistcntly followed, exemplifes high
Journalistic ethics, | wish to submit,
as am permitted to do, extracts from
three letters written to me by Senator
Lodge, as indicative of what his pur-
pose steadily has been. I quote from
these in the order of their dates:
From letter of February 23, 1920:
"The treaty can be ratified whenever
the minority are willing to accept the
reservations which a majority of the
Senate feel are absolutely necessary to
safeguard the United States, and you
know, of course that it was on my mo-
tlon that the treaty was again brought
up for consideration. There may be
some changes of wording to meet certain
objections which have been made, but
there can be no change of principle in
any of the reservations adopted by the
Senate last November The decision
rests with the minority, and what the
final outcome will be no one can pre-
dict at this time
From letter of June 25, 1920:
Senator Harding was made member
of the Foreign Relations Committee in
May, 1919, at the first session of the
present Congress, and I earnestly de-
sired that he should be on the committee
| can only say that he and l have been
in full agreement throughout the long
contest over the league. He and were
in full agreement as to the position
took and as to the reservations, and no
one could have given me a more cordial
support in what l was trying to do Of
course, under these conditions, we have
1icr,ccoI ~,
tions and every aspect of the case again
and again, and shall undoubtedly con-
tinue to do so before election"
From letter dated July /, 1920:
1.-THE passage you quote from my let
ter (i. e., passage quoted from letter of
July % above) represented my position
! then and represents my position now.
have never changed it. The proof that
| was ready to ratify the treaty is that
voted twice to ratify it with reserva-
tions. As for meeting all the charges
the Democrats make, of course that is
perfectly useless. One can only trust
to the facts, which is what I do Of
course, the reservation about the league
III Jul pIdtlorH uoeS not Tepudlate What
we have done before. 1t sustains the
Senate in its attitude 1t makes no
promises for the future"
submit the foregoing quotations in
the interest of manliness and fair play.
as a rebuke to an obvious determination
to distort incontrovertibe facts and in
cidentally to camouhage certain great
moral issues.
GEORGE r. BISHOP.
New York, July 20, 1920
Curing Prisoners