New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-08-19
TRYING To MAKE
Up LOST YEARS
AMERICA UNDERTAKING TO DO
WHAT WAS PROVIDED FOR
IN VERSAILLES TREATY.
REALIZED IN WASHINGTON
Ratification Of Pact in 1919 Would
Have Speeded Recovery From War
Effects snd Spared Present Admin
istration Much Trouble.
By EDWARD 3. ClARk

BY EDWARD q. CLARK.
WashingIon.-The new administra-
ton is reminded every day that rati-
tication Of the Versailles treaty by the
United States senate in 1919 would
have relieved the administration Of a
lot of trouble. Everyone Of the
leading questions relating to interna-
tioEaf affairs that are now up would
+. have been answered by ratification.
There is a general agreement that II
the treaty had been disposed OF with
in Il couple of months AFTER 1t was
submitted to the senate Oh July TO-
1919, the world would, by this time.
have been well on the road to recOv-
cry from the effects of Il great war.
The President, the secretary of state
and The attorney general are still try
Ing to find out what Il congressional
technical peace resolution means. Ii
The treaty had been ratified. no such
resolution would ever have g pro-
posed, for ii would not have been nee
essary, and the new administration
would have been spared all the worry
II has taken On over the problem OF
what to do with this resolution now
that ii has Il.
Limitation Of Armaments.
Public sentiment at honne and
abroad has compelled the new admin
istration to take the initiative in a
movement for limitation of arma-
ments. Obviously, if the Versailles
treaty had been ratified, the United
States would not have been put to the
necessity of inviting the principal al
lied powers of the world TO meet IL In
a conference on limitation of arina-
ments. The men WHO wrote the treaty
saw clearly that limitation of arIla.
ments must ON If the wo.ld was 10
be spared a greater burden of taxation
than it could bear, and If effective
steps toward preserving world peace
were to he taken, and so The treaty
made provision for taking up The sub
ject of disarmament or limitation of
urmanlch,,.
The representatives of other na-
tions here while giving the plan for
limitation of ar1nnmeufs their cordial
support, remark that il the United
States had ratified the treaty in the
fall Of 1919, Limitation of armarnents
would, in. all probability, he effective
today. Ii is reasonable to assume,
these diplomats point out, that iimi-
tation Of ornaments would have been
one of the first steps taken by the
League of Nations. Indeed, the coun-
Gil did take up this subject NJ It's first
meeting. but because the United
States senate had not ratified the
treaty, the council did rot deem it
wise to undertake to commit the other
powers Ia any plan for limitation.
Then there is the association Of ma
lions, which the new administration
has promised the world. Ii presents
n hard problem-a problem that prom
Uses 10 give the new administration
as much trouble as constitutional
pence with the central powers OF Eu-
rope or limitation Of rmamen or
course, IL the Versailles treaty had
been ratified the new administration
would not lie engaged In trying TO plan
an association of nations equally as
good" as the League of Nations.
Trying to Catch Up.
The truth H. that the United States
is today trying to make up for almost
two years of lost time in international
affairs. In -four months and n half
a.. N.n n.l..afnf @ ,nr L.. 10.
that the work of the Paris
conference WAS not. after All. wholly
bad. The frenzy in lis present form
can never he accepted by the United
States, the administration says-par.
ticularly that portion of the treaty pro
viding for the League Of Nations-but
this government realizes not only the
Importance but the necessity of the
world doing things which the Paris
conference said il should do, and for
that conference made provision
In the treaty.
The principle underlying the foreign
policy OF the Harding administration
Is almost Identical with the princIple
which guided the Wilson ,admiDlstra-
ton in dealing with world affairs. The
former administrator advocated an
nfter-the-war policy Of world cooper
ntion. The peace conference at Paris
undertook To bring about that coon
through a League Of Nations.
The Harding administration seems dis
posed TO go as far rs its predecessor ,
In urging world cooperation. IL has
a way Of its own in approaching inter. !,
national subjects: it takes up things
the former administration ham,
lied and ename them, but IL is striy-
ing to attain the same ends which the
administration sought TO at
].
War Weapons Developed Rapidly. ,
While the immediate purpose of the t,
i've great powers in limitation Of 1
ornaments is to save money, the ulti- !
object Is. of course. to save 4
human lives. Every one Of the powers I
hat will be represented in the con-
here is concerned over the
-apid development Of destructive