Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1920-02-21
HITCHCOCK DENIES DEMOCRATS DESIRE TREATY IN CAMPAIGN His Statement Starts Wrangle Over Responsibility for
 Matter CREDIT FOR ATTEMPT TO AGREE DISPUTED Can't Keep Treaty Out or Stop Niagara, Says Borah Dis-
 cussing Past as
 Issue

tion of party responsibility for the peace treaty deadlock was thrashed over ln militant fashion on the sen ate floor today with both the repub- llcans and democrats seeking to wash their hands of the senate's failure to act and of any consequences in the political campaign.
 Although both sides professed an earnest desire to compromise and squabbled for the credit for past compromise efforts, there. was q note of hopelessness in the state ment of the treaty's irreconciliable opponents that party leaders said they might as we'll put the question of ratification out of their minds and turn their attention to- legislation. Among other things the debate brought out direct disagreement as to which side originated the bi- partisan conference in which five democrats and four republicans sought to work out an agreement.
 Senator Hitchcock of Nebraska, the democratic leader. started the flare-up by denying that the demo- crats wanted the treaty in the cam paign. He asserted that his party had gone "nine-tenths of the way to a compromise and that the republi- cans had stood solidly for acceptance of their own reservations" without the dotting of an r or the crossing of a 'T.'" n It was the minority, he declared, who had instigated the bipartisan movement and who now had submit te dtwo compromise article 10 reser- vations which many republicans sena- tors believed were identical in sub stance with the Lodge reservations on that subject.
 Borah Grows Weary. Claiming credit for the republicans in the initiation of the bipartisan conference, Senator Lenroot of Wis consin, one of the mild reservat t40if republicans, charge dthat the demo- cratic leaders had stood out against compromise so determinedly that the republicans were driven to agree on the best compromise they could among themselves.
 Senator Borah, republican of Idaho, speaking for the irreconciliables de- clared the two sides were no nearer agreement than they were whn the lague of nations debate began a year ago tomorrow and that furthr dis cussion only was waste of time. The treaty, he said, already was so far in the campaign that "you can no more keep it out than you can stop half way over Niagara"
 Disagreement over what occurred in the bipartisan conference arose when Senator Mcclellan of Tennessee, one of the democratic conferees, as- serted that all the senators except Senator Hitchock and Senator oLdge had virtually agreed to one of the article 10 substitutes formally in. dorsed since by 40 democrats. The statement was denied by Senators New of Indiana Lenroot, republican members of the conference.
 Leaders said tonight that the de- bate probably would be continued to- morrow and that vote might be reached on the first proposed modi- fication of the reservations adopted at the last session of congress. In the midst of debate today Senator France, republican of Maryland, one of the. treaty's irreconcilable oppon- ents, introduced a resolution to de- clare immediately state of peace, to provide for withdrawal of Ameri- can troops from foreign soil and to appropriate $15,0O0, ,00O to pay ex- penses of world conference which would be held in Washington to discuss formation of a peace league.
 Senator Hitchcock, in the course of today's debate after asserting that it had always been the democrats who offered compromise and the re- publicans who refused it, said:
 SWa A% nf, ne s,. the campaign, but we do not pro- pose to be placed in the position of blocking ratification of this treaty If it can be, ratified" he said. "The country demands ratification and it demands that senators yield and compromise. We are ready to com promise.
 "It seems to me that should ab- solve us from any charge that we are blocking compromise and trying to force the issue into the cam paign."
 Senator Lenroot, republican, Wis consin, then declared that up to the moment of taking vote upon the Lodge reservations last November, the Nebraska senator had refused to consider any compromise proposi- tion.
 q hope the senator won't put me in that attitude" Senator Hitchcock interrupted.
 "But it is the truth" was the reply.
 FATHER NOT MOTHER