The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1920-02-10
EARL GREY'S LETTER
ON PEACE TREATY

TO 'WllS - tiiG Iui' IN ~ '-'>
letter 'ritten by aMb&ssa ic: Grey to
the London Times CT the peace
treaty ratification ii this country. an!
which has caused SO muc!l discussion
here:
"Sir:
Nothing, it seems to ne. is more
desirable in international politics than
a good understanding between the
democracy of the United States on
the one hand ard democN..tc Great
Britain and her self-g~verni2g Dc
ninions, and, / he, We m2y acu
Ireland, on the other. Nothing
would be more disastrous than mis-
understanding and estrarGSnent.
There are some aspectS Of tie
position in the United States with re-
gard to the League of Nations which
are not wholly understood in Brittle.
I am in the hope that as result OF
nv recent stay in Washington / may
be able to make the position better
understood. I venture to offer the
following observations They repre-
sent only my own personal opinion;
nothing more. They are given SIM
ply as those of private individual.
Impatience on Both Sides.
..J, croa+ Rritian and the allied
countries there are naturally lmpa-
tience and disappointment at the de-
Law of the United States in ratlfylng
the peace treaty and the covenant OF
the League of Nations. 1t IS perhaps
not generally recognized here that
there are also great impatience and
disappointment in the United States.
Nowhere is the impasse, caused by
the deadlock between the President
and the senate, more keenly regret
ted than in the United States, where
there is strong, even urgent, desire
on the part of public opinion to see
way out of that impasse found which
will be both honorable to America
and helpful to the world.
cit would be well to understand
the real difficulties with which the
people of the United States have been
confronted. In the clear light OF
right understanding what seemed to
be disagreeable features Ct tii2e SIC
ton VIII assume a more fa:'yl@,,2 ID
intelligible aspect. let - m ct
rid of one n'isunderg,as.1,,-
''No charge Of bad "a - Q
diating Signatures e.
against the action q
States.
"The senate, by TIE An.s~;o-
stitution, is an inde1enjo 21c's,,..,---9.2
independent element u -
making power. is refna@] to va =
the treaty cannot exnose ei.har itsc-f
or the country to CHARGE Of 1Sa
faith or Of reputation, "or g : E2.r
to represent the United States as
holding up the treaty solely from
motives of party politics, +here5T
sacrificing the interests of other ma
tions for this petty consideration.
Politics Not the Sole Reason.
cit is true that there are party
politics and personal animcsities IN
the United States. Party politics and
the personal animosities arising out
of them operate in every demo-
cratic country. They are factors al
ways more or less active, and they
operate upon every public question
which is at all controversial. They
are, however, not the sole or even the
prime cause of the difficulty in the
United States about the League OF
Nations. Nor is it true that the
United States is moved solely by self
interest to a disregard Of higher
ideals. In the United States, as IN
other countries, there are cross-cur-
rent sand backwaters in national lie
and motives. It would be well, there
fore, for reasons both Of truth and
expediency, to concentrate on the real
underlying causes of the senate's res
ervations in ratifying the covenant
of the League of Nations.
''There is in the United States
conservative feeling for traditional
policy, and one of those traditions,
consecrated by the adv'ce OF
Washington, is to abstain from
Europeon entanglements. Even for
nations which have been used to
European alliances, the League OF
Nations is left to be something OF a
new departure. This is still more
true for the United States, which has
hitherto held aloof from al outside
alliances. The League OF Nations IS
not merely plunge into the unknown
but plunge into something which