The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-01-17
If the Senate Does Not Act
Soon This Recourse is
Open
PRECEDENTs SEEM TO
BE NOT LACKING
Same Thing Was Bone When
Texas and Hawaii Were An.
nexed-Expect No Trouble

Washington, Jan. 13.-Is there any
way to solve the tangle over the peace
treaty, if the senate continues to fan
to act, without putting the matter
before the American people until
enough senators can be elected who
will vote for the document with rat
ifcations which are acceptable to the
president?
In talk with Repre- sentative Hen
ry D. Flood, Of Virs inia, ranking
Democratic member Of the house
committee on foreign affairs and it's
chairman turing the war period. the
correspondent of The News and CourS
Ter was told that there is another way,
and q very direct one, and that Mr..
Flood himself and q number OF 9TH
er members Of congress favorable to
such alternative action to cut the Cor
dian knot.
Mr.. Flood has had thc matter under
discussion with officials and with col
leagues for sometime, but has re.
Trained from proceeding with the sug-
gestion because it has no. yet been
approved by the administration. This
ministrat:on officials who have to- do
with the matter are opposed to the
alternative method, b,.t the president
has not given his sanction.
Representative Flood considers it
entirely competent for congress, by
majority vote. to pass a bill making
the peace treaty and tho league.sof
nations pact a statute law Of the Unit
ed States. Such reservations as con-
gress regarded as essential in the
way of interpretation could be includ-G
ed in this law. Then the matter would I
go straight to the president for his
signature.
Mr.. Flood was asked if there are
any precedents for adopting tpeat5s5s
as statute laws in cases wheres they
failed to get through the senate III
their technical shape as treaties. The
virginian replied that there were
such precedents. and very good ones:
First, he cited the treaty annexing
the republic of Texas to the United
States. The senate refused to adopt
this. and in 1915 the document was
turned into a joint resolution and
was passed by both houses Of congress
and signed by President Tyler.
Second Mr.. Flood cited the law7an-
nexins the territory Of Hawaii. Pres
ident Mckinley endeavored to take I'm
Hawaii by the method Of treaty 4,
1898, but the approval Of the senate
was not obtained though the treaty
was never brought to an outright
vote. Rather than wait longer on the
senate or allow the senate to defeat
the treaty, the proposition was put
into joint resolution form and enacted
by congress. 1t now sands as part
of the law Of the land precisely as if
it had been put on the books in treaty
shape.
The parallel as to Hawaii is spe-
cially pat, inasrluch as the Mckinley
administration did not wait for the
senate to vote the treaty down. butsex-
pedited matters by adopting the route
Of majority congressional action IN
which both houses participated.
1t has been clearly shown that a.
decided majority Of the senate is in
favor Of ratifying the present peace
treaty with reasonable reservations.
There is no question that the senti--
ment of the senate is duplicated in
the house. with perhaps an even
larger majority for ratification in the
latter body.
Mr. Flood, therefore. does not doubt
that if suitable joint resolution
making the treaty and pact law
should be put up to congress, it would
pass.