Republican farmer., 1920-04-02
BLAME NEWBERRY FOR DEFEAT OF
 PEACE TREATY
Convicted Senator Enabled Republicans to Gain
 Majority.

Washington, D. C., March 3o-In connection with the conviction Of Senator Truman H. Newberry, of Michigan for conspiring to commit election fraud and the imposition of a sentence of two years in prison, it is now a matter of comment in Wash ington that defeat of ratification ef the peace treaty was due to the pres ence of Senator Newberry in the Sen ate.
 The slender majority gained by ! Senator Newberry's presence in seat the Michigan court has adjudged | him guilty of criminal practices in i gaining, enabled the Republicans to organize the Senate and gain control | of all the committees It enabled Sen 1 ator Lodge and other Republicans to | pack the Foreign Relations com mittee against the peace treaty and 1 President Wilson, and thereby made l it possible to load down the treaty and the League of Nations covenant l with destructive reservations which, | after many months of wearying de- ! bate, resulted in the defeat of ratifi- | cation. Had not Senator Newberry 1 participated in the organization of the | Senate, the Democrats would have re- | tained control of the committees, Senator Hitchcock would have con- tiuued as chairman of the Foreign Relations committee, the treaty would have been reported out many months ago, unquestionably would have been ratified in reasonable time and the country have been at peace, business would have been stabilized and in
 dustry again in it's normal channel.
 In this connection, it will be inter esting to watch the course of the Re publican Senate, holding a slender | majority of but two votes, in the | Ford-Newb contest Attorneys for Henry Ford are urging prompt , action by the Senate, but the neces- sity, for partisan reasons, of main taining this slight but effective major ity will probably serve to keep the Republican majority from taking any
 prompt action to clear it's presence Of
 a member, even though the stigma of conviction of crime is upon him. l | Nor is it expected that Newberry will
 resign, certainly not before his sen tence is affirmed by higher court, for l though he will not likely appear in
 the senate and participate in it's de 1 Alterations, he will be paired in his l absence and under Senate custom, a
 pair is as effective as a vote.
 Newberry is the third member oi = the Senate in the last thirty years tc o be convicted of criminal practices
 
 O were Senator John H. Mitchell, O. |, Oregon, who was a member of the | Senate for twenty-six years, and Sen l. ator Joseph R. Burton, of Kansas
 Both were Republicans. Both were
 convicted of using their influence a: n Senators before Government Depart
 ments at Washington for corrup 6 purposes, Senator Mitchell in gainins
 contracts for a constituent and Bur
 ton for accepting a fee for appearin: e as attorney before the Postoffice De l. partment Mitchell never served an h of his sentence, nor did he resigl II. from the Senate, his death occurin
 in Portland, Ore, in 1905 before hi
 term of imprisonment began. Burto iS served a term of six months. H
 did not resign from the Senate unti 5, his prison term began.
 -h i The most recent Senatorial inveSti
 gation, of course, was in the Lorime 70 case, from Illinois. Lorimer wa
 expelled in 1912 when the Senat
 adopted a resolution declaring f'ths B. corrupt methods and practices wer ot l employed in his election, and that th
 election therefore was invalid