New-York tribune., 1920-02-16
Issue
Aids Lodge in
Treaty Fight
Republican Opposition Is
Ssiffened and Morale of
democrats Is Undermined
by Secretary's Ousting
Reservations Up To-day
X and Voting Power
Still Remain the Greatest
B lock TO Ratification

From The Trtbune's Washington bureau
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.-Formal
discussion of the peace treaty will be
reopened in the Senate tomorrow for
the first time since November 10, when
the Senate voted to reject the treaty
both with and without reservations.
The outlook of a speedy compromise
and ratification is not thought to be
bright by any Of the groups Of Seaa-
tcrs interested. The difference on
Article X seems as wide tonight as Mt
almost any stage of the proceedings,
the Republican opposition to further
concessions from the text Of the Lodge
reservations growing stronger and
stl longer.
1n this connection the oustlng of
Secretary of State Lansing from the
Cabinet has stiffcned Republican op-
position to further concessions just
little and at the same time has under
mined determination of some of the
Administration Senators to stand by
the President. 1t is not great
change, nor one likely to produce q
speedy crumbing up of the Wilson
Hitchcock leadership, but it is evident.
The Foreign Relations Committees
formal report, including the Lodge
reservations, which We're approved by
the Senate just before the votes on
ratification were held, will be taken up.
Notifications of the reservations will
then be attempted by the Administra-
tior Senators and substitutes prob
ably will be offered by the mild reser-
vationists."
In addition to the reservation on
Article X, which for long time has
been the main stumbling block, much
@oI
reservation. This is the one which
was accepted by the Senate after it had
rejected the johnson amendment. 1t
has developed since that the johnson
amendment which would have given
the United States six votes in the
league of nations assembly, or an equal
vote with the British Empire would
have been far more acceptable to
Britain than the Lenroot reservation,
which virtually disfranchises the
British dominions by providing that
By any vote in which one nation OR en-
pirc casts more than one vote. The
recent observations of A. J. Balfour
as to the difficulty of this reservation
reinforced many private comments
about this reservation made by Wis
count Grey when he was here as Am
bassador to the United States.
AS matter of fact, it Is recognized
by many Senators that this reservation
is unnecessarily harsh and it does
things which many OF them are not at
all anxious to accomplish. Behind
the reservation, however, is all the sem
timent built up during the long fight
for the johnson amendment. The res
ervation, curiously enough, does not
satisfy all OF the proponents of the
johnson amendment
A further fight for this amendment
will be made by Senator Hiram John
son as soon as he is physically able
to come to the Senate, and he will be
stoutly backed by nearly all of the
men who voted for the Johnson amend
ment in the first test. 1t is regarded
as probable that the Lenroot reserva-
ton may be softcned little by prac-
tically rewriting the johnson amend
ment as reservation and substituting
1T for the Lenroot reservation.
This is said by many Senators who
have considered the question, includ-
ing Senator Lodge, to be impossible
because it would amount to nothing
unless formally accepted by the other
nations, being..in fact, real amend
ment to the constitution of the league
whether it is called an amendment or
not.
Due to the disposition shown by the
British and French to accept the Lodge
reservations, however, it is thought
that possibly the mechanical Difficult.
ties in the way might be smoothed over