The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-12-13
'5-5-3 IVA wy RATIO TO BE ACCEPTED BY LAPS:
 .PARLEYMOVES SWIFTLY
BOrah and Reed, Un- able to Restrain Themselves Longer, Open Fight in Senate on Four-Power Pact
By Associated Prens

Washington, December 12-The Senate got its first taste today of the fight promised by several sem ators on the new four power Pacific treaty. The pact was both denounced and defended in the course of two hours of discussion.
 At the opening of the long fight on the treaty of Versailles and it's League of Nations covenant, prac- tically all of the new quadrupie treaty was read into the Congress sional Record in advance of formal submission.
 The attack today came from two "irreconcilables" in the Versailles covenant controversy, Senator Borah, republican, Idaho, and Reed, demo- crat, Missouri. Breaking the silence he had maintained since the treaty was laid before the world, MT. Borah spoke more than an hour, devoting his attention to Article two of the new treaty, which he compared to Article ten of the Versailles covenant. He declared that the treaty compelled the armament conference to make real disarmament" an actuality or make the treaty "straight-out military alliance"
 Mir. Borah explained that his atti- tude toward the treaty would be governed to an extent by progress Of the conference toward real dis disarmament" and settlement of Chinese questions, the work of the Washington conference, he said. would be "discouraging" if it ad- journed without barring, by terms Of the treaty the use of submarines, poisonous gases and other bar porous" weapons of warfare. Whole Question Opened
 Defense of the pact. conducted largely by Senator Poindexter, re- pL blican, Washington, resulted In the opening of the whole question or what obligations were entailed upon the United States by the new agree ment. Senator Poindexter told the Senate that some seemed unduly alarmed about the pact and declared that Article two could not be con strued as the equivalent of Article ten.
 Senator Reed, breaking into the debate at this point, said Senator Poindexter's statement meant that new treaty was worth little as a binding agreement. He added that if the United States was not going to ODScTNt US 1l0Idi oDiiBdAiOHS ohbh as he contended were contained in the treaty the country would become the laughing stock of the whole .world.r s.-.4l-s
 Mr. Borah said he regarded the moral obligations of Article two as compelling the use of force as strongly as did Article ten of the League and in this he was supported by Senator Robinson, democrat, Arkansas. who declared that taken together Articles one and two of the treaty were even stronger" than Article ten. Mir. Robinson added. however, that he was entering no objection to the pact.
 How would they oppose an ag- gressive policy on the part of some nation, for instance" interrupted MT. Reed. "ln event the conference of the four powers decided they should oppose it?'
 By force, of course" replied Mir Robinson.
 Fears Moral Obligation
 Continuing. Mir Borah said that while sponsors of the treaty de- clared there were no provisions to use military force lurking in or about the treaty" the moral obliga- 
 while American delegates to any conference provided for under the treaty could not legally bind the President or Congress. the obliga- tions to carry out the decision of the conference still remained.
 ''In the language of Napoleon, then" Senator Stanley. democrat, Kentucky. interrupted. these four powers intend to have peace under the treaty even If they have to fight for it."
 Senator King, democrat, Utah, in- quired of MT. Borah whether the four power agreement did not con- tain more possibilities of war than did the League of Nations covenant.
 "I'll discuss that and some other provisions of this treaty later" MT. Borah replied.
 The work of Secretary Hughes in presentation of the American naval reduction program was commended by Mir. Borah, who said that by the "concise and bold' methods em- ployed by the state department head he had won the right to be placed "among the great premiers and sec retarles of state of history" The program of naval reduction was de- scribed by MT. Borah as worthy of praise, but he added that the con ference "so far as the public has been informed' has not dealt with the weapons with which the next war will be fought"