Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-01-10


A PRESIDENT who has pcrsistently
"A proclaimed his faith in the people
has gone on record in behalf of program
which seriously runs counter to public
sentiment
| This is the regrettable paradox re-
vealed by Woodrow Wilson'S letter to the
! Jackson Day conclave of Democrats. The
! demand for the prompt passage of the
treaty with Germany, including the
! league of nations covenant, is emphatic
and increasing. Mr.. Bryan, who has been
/ guilty of many illusions in times past,
! labors under no misconcoution on this
subject. 1--WE must face" he told the
Democratic cohorts, "the situation as it
| is. We must secure such compromises
as may be possible
This opposition to the Presidents stand
IS politically interesting. Already it has
brought gee to the Republican camp.
That the future will disclose a profound
I chasm in the Democracy is yet to be
demonstrated.
( But whether the party which has held
| the executive reins for nearly eight years
! is feeling the enervating effects of official
| strain, whether it is facing disruption,
! whether it is weary and inevitably weak
ered after it's monumental war task, are
| presunptions subordinate to the issue of
| the hour The ration. barring familiar
rhalanxes of sordid politicians, incurable
stardpatters and chronic obstructionists,
is sincerely, nay rassionately, anxious for
the adoption of the treaty.
NJ. Wilson's attitude has made imme-
! date pttainment of this goal exceedingly
: IiHSr,,1+ ,1-in hot
/ he has been desnerately provoked The
contention may be granted. and yet the
onus of error will not be taken from his
| shoulders.
To contemplate as he does the submits
sion of the treaty question to the fall
election as an alternative to the ratifica-
ton of the document virtually intact is to
place personal provocation before the ma
tional welfare. To urge such course is
to subscribe to the political morality
or immorality-of Henry Cabot Lodge.
Two wrongs never yet made a right.
In this instance they also constitute
grievous absurdity, for to find Mr.. Lodge,
who has done his utmost to damage the
treaty, rublcv exulting in the course
of the President. who has striven 50 fer
vently to befriend the pact is to discover
q most u''"NO eSNTne anomaly III pOI'IlCS
Sensible Republicans, in impressive
numbers were without sympathy for the
Lodge plan of injecting the international
issue of the treaty into a national cleo
tion camragn. The Wilsonian tactics
are quite as uniustifabe, quite as unre-
Elective of the wishes of the electorate.
The practical aspects of these pro-
posals are disheartenng to consider
phrase. but it is not much more. The
impossibiity of analyzing the worth or
dement's of the treaty in the heat of cleo
tion time, when both parties overstate
their cases, when they both speak in
terms of rigorous partisanship, when
they present long, complex platforms,
not mere single issues, is obvious.
The democracy of America with
small I'd" has mastered many of the fun
damentals of popular government. but it
has neither the superhuman poise nor
the suTerhuman powers of logic to ap-
praise the treaty with dispassionate sin
cerity at such season. 1t would, for
instance, be the height of extravaganza to
link together as issues the pact and
moderate tariff. Broadly speaking, the
| Two SuDJGClS are ulllS4dltu' mere dIb
treaty advocates with free-trade views,
treaty advocates who are protectionists.
What nonsense to compel rigid lineup
on themes so disparate
Furthermore, even in the unlikely
event of the election of Democratic
President, the Senate, which will be in
session next December, cannot be Demo-
cratic. Of the thirtv-two senators whose
terms will expire in March, 1921, fourteen
are Republicans. The wild assumption
of Democratic landslide would prevent
exclusively Democratic action upon the
treaty until full fourteen months from
the present date, providing, Of course,
that an extra session were called.
Fantasies Of this sort are assuredly
unworthy of serious regard.
Mr.. Wilson seeks to justify himself
by expressing faith in the people. There
is both irony and pathos in his stand.
Unquestionably it was the politicians
and not the public which precipitated the
treaty fight. Mr.. Wilson echoed popular
sentiments in espousing a charter of in
tematonal amity, the official termna-
ton of the war with Germany and the
return Of all the forces and activities of
the land to a peace basis. He labored
unceasnglv, spent his strength and for
some months he has been an invalid.
In his time he has promoted partisan
, ! policies, but his espousal of the treaty
cause was not originally of their color
So evidently was it otherwise that lead
ing Republicans like Taft. Wickersham
( and Lowell were bulwarks of enthusiasm
, and energy for the pact.
Now mark the change. The Presiden
) has answered ignoble partisanship with
; a similar article. The people for whom
f he once spoke, not only in word but il
f acts, are repudiated by his present un
D conn., -omising language. Here, indeed, il
/ irony as bitter as any that ever corrodet
: the careers of statesmen.
I Democrats of the Underwood type an,