The Washington herald., 1920-03-04
FATE OF TREATY.
AGAIN PIVOTS ON
W7LSOVDECZSION
Word from White House
Now Awaited With Ex-
pectancy on All 81 des.
DESPAIR IN SENATE
Pressure Brought oNBear
For and Against Rati
hcation. \
nv ROBERT T. BARRY.

Washington awaits with new
expectancy word from the
White House on the treaty Of
Versailles.
Once more the center of inter
est in the great conflict has
shifted from the Capitol to the
Executive mansion. The fate of
the treaty rests not with the Sen
ate, but with President Wilson.
The Senate despairs OF ratifca-
ton. A word from the President
en- swing the balance, and he is
being subjected to unprecedented
pressure to speak that word.
For him to yield means rstihca-
tion. Should he remain obdurate
no worthwhile prediction OF its
ultimate fate can be made.
Grave Problem Presented.
Washington makes no mistake
about the gravity of the problem
now being sreconsidered by Mr.. Will
son. To save the treaty from a
further condition of suspended ami
nation, he must bow to the ma
jOrity of the Senate. He must agree
to deposit a ratification embodying
the Lodge reservations on Article y
and the Monroe Doctrine.
II would be a surrender, but the
White House already has acknowl-
edged virtual capitulation in the
Endorsement of the bipartisan res
crvation on Article Y. and the
friends OF the. treaty believe that
MIR. Wilson, in arriving at his mo-
mcntous decision, will view the
matter more from the standpoint
OF surrender to the best interests
Of the American people and the
world at large than from the angle
81 the personal siyry that Senator
, IIAnrX Cabot Irdss would gain as
victor Il, the hsh .-.-
n - Driy~s Ia Congress. 49,
~ tEHs AhtsES oiC ui-
rected against the White House as
the Senate approaches another roll
call on ratification. a futile vote un-
less the President releases Demo-
cratic Senators from their pledges
to stand with him to The bitter end.
The first and more vital is that
of men high in the councils of the
Democratic party. men whose ac-
tivities are not confined to the po-
litical atmosphere of the Capital.
with it's extreme partisanship and
its faulty gauge OF popular thought
They are political managers of
long experience. They have felt
the public pulse and they are re-
porting to Washington that the
people have very little knowledge
and no interest whatever in the
hair-splitting debates over the Ian
guage of the Lodge and Hitchcock
reservations.
They are arguing that the Presi-
dent would prove bigger in accept
ing the Lodge reservations than in
pocketing the treaty if ratified
with them. They are dwelling upon
tho fact that some of the strongest
editorial support accorded the
President on the treaty and the
league of nations has forsaken him.
Several important Democratic and
independent newspapers have with
in the last fortnight come out for
ratification with the Lodge reserva-
tions. and it is known that Mr..
Wilson attaches weight to the
opinions of several of these pub
lications.
Slight Hope Diseerued.
To many a substantial element
in Washington the new pressure on
the President is regarded as prom
ising slight hope for success. The
majority opinion is that he will
stand pat. This view is based. to
a large extent. on his attitude of
less than a week ago when a prom
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