The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-06-18
A SHAMEFUL STORY
OF DISHONOR

"a OLA" ~ Il oiohl
I OF DISHONOR
No matter what cheap subterfuge
we find in the Chicago platform or in
the clap-trap Of convention orators,
the fact remains that the Republican
Senate has made botch Of our for
eign relations, for the purpose of ad-
vancing low partisan and personal in
terests The treaty of peace was
signed on June 28, 1919, after sessions
of about six months. The Senate be-
gan its debates on the treaty long be-
fore the Peace Conference had form
uated. The celebrated "round rob-
in," promulgated by partisan inter
lopers who desired to discredit the
American Peace Commission, because
it had as its head and had been ap-
pointed by a Democratic President,
was near the beginning Of the sena-
torial fiasco. Many of the objections
raised in that document were met by
revisions of the League of Nations
covenant. Taft, Root and Hughes
suggested seventeen amendments, all
of which in some form or another,
but with the spirit and intent pre-
| SCINCu, Wtlt tlllDDultN III IilO llGW COW
enant. Still the Republicans were not
satisfied. Lodge was challenged by
DR.. Lowell Of Harvard to suggest
amendments, but refused to do So
He preferred to tear down rather
than aid in upbuilding the structure
of peace. And so it has gone, until
the Senate has consumed twice as long
in killing the treaty as it took to make
it.
The Senate majority has never in
Dictated a sincere desire to meet the
proponents of the League of Nations
in the matter of reservations. When
ever compromise seemed imminent,
or an agreement acceptable to all, one
group or another of the various Re-
publican factions offered objections
all to serve the partisan plot to kill
the treaty. Several Senators, nota-
bly, Mr.. Knox of Pennsylvania, found
falut with the harshness of the terms
imposed upon Germany, despite the
fact that Germany had acquiesced
EThe controversy finally hinged. upon
Article Ten, and at one time it looked
as though Mr.. Lodge had himself hit
upon an acceptable reservation to that
this, he modified his reservation so as
to eliminate every form of obligation,
economic, diplomatic or otherwise, ex-
cept by specific authorization of Con-
gress, thus substituting the whim of
Congress for the common judgment
of the world Mr.. Taft offered res
ervation, but it was doomed in adj
vance, because it was whispered, for
sooth, that the President might ac-
cept it. The Republican Senate lead
ers, those responsible for packing the
Senate Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions against the League covenant,
were bent on destroying the treaty, |
and they had no computations as to |
how they should proceed to do it.
Then, as the final stroke of petty |
partisanship and the decisive blow at |
! American honor, they had the temer-
| ity to offer to the President a reso-
luton proposing to establish peace by |
an indisputably unconstitutional meth |
cd. Meanwhile, the world moves, and |
the civilized nations of the universe |
are entering the League of Nations, |
accepting its covenants, and planning |
for the execution of its obligations. |
A court of justice, founded upon in
ternational law, is being created by
the League Council. We stand aloof-
viewing the great contamination of
the ends for which we entered the war,
without having part in them. To
all practical intent, we are as far re-
moved from our allies today as Ger
many-indeed, we are drifting into a
position, internationally, where we
stand with Germany. Is that the plan
of Republican craftsmanship? Is
that the bent Of these alleged states
men who once were so loudly calling
for unconditional surrender?
There is no more shameful chapterI
in our history than that covering the
duration of the Sixty-sixth Congress.
We have been told that if tomato
vines are pulled up and placed in the
cellar before frost, that the green to-
matoes will ripen. We are also told
that if green corn is cut before frost
and stored away in a shed, that the
corn will remain green until about
Christmas. Pumpkins can be kept for
year, if cared for. You can gather
your pumpkins before they freeze,
leaving the stems, being very careful {
not to bruise. They will keep two (
years but one year is enough. You ,