The Cordova daily times., 1921-12-29
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1921
NO PERIL LURKS IN FOUR POWER
 PACIFIC PACT

The four power Pacific treaty is not an aii- ance. It is not a league or assocIaton of nations It does not cntangle the United States in issues or conditions not fundamental v American It decreases rather than in crcascs the menace of war involving th"I United States In all this the treaty differs fundamentally with the covenant of the League" of Nations.
 This compact does not differ in character from treaties this nation has hitherto executed. IL represents no departure from American tra- ditions. While the benefits to the arrangement may in some quarters be Over-cstmatcd, there are mo pcriIs lurking in the treaty Justtylng the opposition of those who refused to approve the League of Nations, because it involved American cntangIcmrnt in ''thc comSlons and illusions of European politics."
 In his speech presenting the proposed treaty at the Washington conference, Senator Lodge, who led the fight on the un-AmcricmiZcd covenant of the League of Nations, said
 "There is no provision for the usc
 of force to carry out any of the terms
 of the agreement, and no military or
 naval sanction turks anywhere in the
 background OF under cover of these
 plain and direct clauses"
 If there were any reason for doubts on this point. the declaration of Senator Lodge. ln theI presence of those who formulated this treaty., would remove it. Such declaration, made a part of the records of the proceedings of the conference is as much a binding mterprc tation of this compact President Wilson 's| pledge to the Rumanian premier that thc United States was bound to send troops to| Europe in case of another European war, was of Article X of the League of Nations.
 There could be no serious objection to' a Senate reservation providing that the United States government shall not b2 permitted or| required to use military or naval force in the execution of the terms of the treaty except upon the affirmative action of the Congress of the United States. Such a reservation would not change the situation, far as this country is concerned, because Senator Lodge has already made that definite delcaration a part of the official record, but it would destroy whatever plausibility may attach to the state ment of some foes of the treaty that it binds this nation to the decision of other powers as to when we shall go to war
 This treaty can be ntclligcntly interpreted only in connection with the goJapanesc treaty, which it superscdes, and the agree ments which have been reached at the Wash ington conference providing for the prcscrva- tion of the sovereignty and territorial intcg- rity of China.
 By the termination of the AngoJ Japanese treaty Japan is deprived of the prospect off strong European support in case of conflict with the United States. The British govern ment was anxious to be rid of the obligations of this treaty because of its intense unpopu- larity in Australia and Canada, the only two important British possessions in which there has been recently no serious unrest There was nothing altruistic in the desire of Eng land to terminate the obligations of this com pact, which could neither be renounced nor continued without great embarrassment On the other hand the United States could regard