Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-03-09
NO TREATY CHANGES
WILSON INSISTS IN
LETTER TO SENATE
President Insists That Article x
Would Nullify Our Entire
Obligation.
NO COMPROMISE
BAR

Washington, March 9.---Prcsident Will
son reiterated Yesterday his unqualified
opposition to any attempt by the United
States to evadc obligations under Article
X of the League covenant.
In letter to Senator Hitchcock the
President made il clear that to his mind
''there is no escaping the moral obligations
which are expressed in positive terms in
this article of the covenant that the
doctrine of Article X is "the essence of
Americansm. We cannot rcpudiate or
weaken it without at the same time re-
pudiating our own principles" and that
1--WE should enter the League fearlessly,
accepting the responsibility and not
fearing the role OF leadership which we
now enjoy or we should re
tire as gracefully as possible from the
great concert of powers by which the world
was saved"
The President swept aside all the .reser-
vations to Article X which withhold ac-
eeptance of the moral obligation, and to
the minds of most Senators, took his
stand upon the ground OF ratification
without any reservation to Article Y ex-
cept the most obvious Interpretation, or
no ratification Mt oil.
81 have been struck by the fact" wrote
the President, "that practically every So
called reservation was in fact rather
sweeping notification of the treaty itself =
And again, he said: 81 am sorry to say
that the reservations that have come under
my notice are almost without exception
not interpretations of the articles to which
it is proposed to attach them, but IN
effect virtual notifications of these ar
ticles."
SOME SEE WAY LEFT oFEN.
There were some Senators, however,
who professed to read in thePresdent' let
Ter warrant for continuing their efforts
to arrange compromise on Article y.
For that reason the negotiations which
have been going on between Senator
Simmons, representing the Democrats
and Senator Watson representing the
Republican were continued after the re-
ceipt of the letter. These negotiations
il was stated, had almost reached the
point of an agreement when the letter
was received by Senator Hitchcock.
1t is too early to state what the ulti-
mate effect of the letter upon these
negotiations will be. Obviously there is
no use negotiating If the letter makes 1t
impossible for the necessary number of
Democratic Senators to agree to the pro-
posed compromise. In the opinion of
those dir ectly concerned in the compro-
mise efforts, the letter does not do this,
but they have not heard from the ones
whose votes must be depended upon TO
consummate the compromise.
The hope of the compromise was
pinned upon this paragraph in the Pres
ident's letter:
There can be no objection to ex-
planning again what our constitutional
method is, and that our Congress alone
can declare war or determine the causes
or occasions for war, and that it alone
can authorize the use of the armed
forces of the United States on land or
the sea. But to make sucn q dectara-
tion would certainly be work of SUI
perception
BACK BIFARTTsN BAsIS.
Those seeking compromise believe that
TIE reservation they have in mind sim
ply explains the constitutional method.
as the President puts it, in going to war,
The reservation which the eompromisers
are considering reads:
The United States assumes no OBJ
legation to employ Its military or naval
forces, its resources, or the economic
boycott to preserve the territorial ir-
tegrity or political independence of
any other country under the provisions
of Article y, or to employ the military
or naval forces of the United States
under any other article OF the treaty
for any purpose, unless in any particular
case the Congress, which. under the
Constitution, has the sole power to
declare war, shall, by act or joint resolu-
tion, so provide.
This Is the bipartisan conference reser-
vation with the addition OF the words
''its resources in the enumeration of
means not to be used in fulfilling an OBJ
legation without the approval of Congress.
That there is some warrant, according to
one view, for the assumption by Demo-
Gratis that this reservation comes within
the terms of the President $ definition of
an Interpretation or an explanation is
maintained from the fact that forty Demo-
cratic Senators agreed to support the
reservation; that they did so after Sena- |
tor Glass recent visit to the White House |
and that Senator Hitchcock today, after |
reading the Presidents letter, said he |