The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-10
NEITHER PARTY WANTS LEAGUE AS AN ISSUE

Washington. February 9.-(Special Jon the eve of the renewal in the Senate O. the fight for and against the League
 of Nations it is interesting to announce that the great majority of the members Of the Senate desire immediate ratidca- tion for the specific reason that they do not desire the injection of the league into the national campaign.
 The republicans even more than the democrats are determined that it shall not be an issue in the struggle before the people to be determined next November
 For were it an issue the republican
 party would be split wide open William
 Howard Taft retains his hold on Ve lheartstrings of large percentage of the republicans of the nation. That large percentage, like it's spokesman, Mir. traft, would have nowhere to go, unless into the democratic camp, were the stubornness
 of Lodge, republican leader in the sen
 ate. to necessitate the hurling into the campaign of the League of Nations. I No one more clearly than Wilt H. Hays, chairman of the republican national com
 mittee, has seen the handwriting on the
 wall. The idea obtains that the demo- cratic party is striving to secure ratifica- ! tion, and that the republican party is | striving to prevent ratification. There is
 admittedly a preponderance of national favor on the side of ratification. not nee
 essarily without certain explanatory res
 ervations, and Mir. Hayes dares not en- ter a campaign with the treaty an is-
 sue. So insistent was he that the treaty
 be ratified that when last in Washington i his urging became so obnoxious to Sem
 ator Lodge that the nervous Massachu- setts erudite forgot his nicety of language
 to such exteent as to tell the chairman to
 mind his own business.
 1 The democrats do not want the treaty | a In fbiG a thaN dO
 not align themselves with Bryan. For
 the object of the Nebraskan is regarced
 as palpabe Were the treaty the issue
 he would not be the man to make the
 campaisn So obvious is this 10 Bryan
 that he has advised the democrats of
 the Senate to suffer republican ma jority to become a two-thirds majority, even if in doing so the democrats must slink out of the Senate and brand then- selves as towards. running in the face i ot the enemy.
 And the democrats. in desiring ratifca- l tion do not desire to take issue with 1 President, Wilson. who has declared preference for a fight before the people rather than the ,aceeptance of such terms
 as Lodge would offer The democrats I incidentally do not hold. even In secret I that the Presidents suggestion that the flight be carried to the people was born os his desire to lead that fight For there 1 is nothing clearer iB Washington snun lthat the President will not and would r,ot 1 be a candidate for a third term, and even if he desired 10 be his physical con- dition would make it impossible for him to be-
 The main reason why the democrats de- sire immediate ratification is that refer cree to the people would mean d delay of 14 months at the end of which the sue cess fo the league fight mignt stiu be a ' Tt ..- l.I 1 tray al of no secret to say that the demo- crats are not at ease regarding the af- fairs of business of the country. SoTe | of the best posted democratic leaders see l danger ahead, an unsettled condition
 which might be termed ''panicy. They believe the continuation of state Of war between the United States and Ger many is contributing faction to q growing unrest. For that reason they
 want peace. through the ratification of the treaty, if that be possible, if not by means of a concurrent resolution of lpeace.
 One of the main obstacles in the way
 of ratification has been the apparent desire of Senator Hitchcock on the oue hand, and Senator Lodge on the other tc make it appear 10 the country that they are the ''entire works" that neither has been gout generated by the other, that t is impossible for one to put anything over on the other. The democratic conference Saturday heard intimations to this ef- fest. and perhaps Senator Hitchcock took Inctice The conference. irrespective oi V hat has been published, spoke in effect in favor of ratification. of yielding tc the republican majority to point not in-
 consistent with honor, Rather pointedly it was suppected that every senator must submerge his ego, and go to work with the idea of serving the party the coun- try and the world.
 But the point is that. on the eve of the
 renewal of the long and bitter struggle neither party wants tho I,eagne of Ma
 tions in the impending campaign.