The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-09-21

III II founded claims ever put se- | W riously before the public is inc published charge that President
 Harding deliberately played shrewo [ trick on the democrats in Congress l by designating Senator Underwood
 the minority leader, to be member | of the American delegation to the
 disarmame conference.
 The absurdity of that claim IS
 shown by the Presidents Sfaking at
 the same time, Senator Lodge, the leader of the republican majority in the Senate, for the same service. II
 the democratic party was greatly
 weakened hy removing Senator Un- i 9erwood from the Senate to the dis | armament conference room, how
 much was the republican party weak
 ened by the transfer of Senator 1 Lodge? If it was a political trick to get Underwood out of the Senate while important legislation was
 bending, what was the trick bahind the busting of Lodge from the Sem l ate?
 l These criticisms of the President for appointing Senator Underwood | and of Senator Underwood for ac- cepttng the appointment curiously 1 eroush, cmanate from three sources | the Louisville Courier-Journal, the
 New York World and David H. Law
 renee. the we'll known newspaper
 syndicate writer The World, the
 Courier Journal and MT. Lawrence have one interest and one record Tn common-each not only supported the League of Nations but each vigorous l ly advocated the methods adopted by presldent Wilson in helping to form the League and in trying to secure its approval by the Senate.
 The incidents which marked the progress of the fight for and against the league are so recent that tney must be fresh in the minds of news paper readers. First. and his decis- | ion bears upon the present argument, President Wilson determined mot to appoint any member of the Senate | to a place on the American deiega- tion. Every delegation previously sent to foreign shores to negotiate treaties contained members of the Senate. Presidents who were in the executive chair prior to the adminis- | tration of President Wilson had named representatives of the Senate | found it reassuring to have two or | three senators on the floor who hao | helped to form the treaty and who would defend and advocate the treaty
 which they had helped to make. 1 The Senate, which had the right 10
 ratify or reject treaties, came to re- gard participation in treaty making as it's right. When President Wilson determined to name a delegation of men with minds which ran along with his" declined to put any sen ator. democrat or republican upon it, he established d precedent-breaking 1 an old custonL is to be judged as i policy by it's results. After the re- lection of the treaty of Versailles by | the Senate. after the bitter contro- versy in Congress upon it. and after | the democratic party had been turned | out of power in a campaign in which
 the controversy loomed large, the
 calm dispassionate Judgment of his l tory, records that in its practical re- | suits the decision of President Wilson was a mistake. If he had called into
 conference any democratic senator
 in whom he had confidence. that senator would have urged him not
 70 make thatinistake. If he were
 patriotic, unselfish man, that sena-
 tor would have said to the President; By all means name senator. Don't appoint me--that's not the
 question. But by all means put a senator or two of them on the delega-
 ton"
 The republicans, it will be recalled,
 raised the refusal of the President to
 name q senator to the Paris confer ence to the dignity of political is-
 sue, both in the controversy in the i Senate and ip the controversy in
 the presidential campaign. Presi- dent Harding, by his own stand and I by the stand of his colleagues, was
 morally pledged to name represen- tative of the Senate on any delegation
 which was to negotiate a treaty. | He is but doing and doing in dig
 nified way what he and his asso- l ciates in the re republican party de-
 clared should be done, promised
 should be done where they returned ! ui~ .olAct;H- h1kf.