The Washington herald., 1921-04-15
"Where Do We Go From
Here?" Is Query Fol-
lowing Message.
HUGHES TOWER OF
STRENGTH AND HELP
Is Charged with Untang-
ling APPALLING
Chaos.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

treaty. the league, and our foreign
affairs altogether. has spent the
past three days in a mood Of Well.
where do We go from hereg"
Nobody knows exactly where we
are going. or by what route we are
going TO get there. but they have
perfect confidence in the captain.
The unmistakabIe mood Of Wash
ington is one Of the atmosphere
having been cleared. Of cheerfulness
and optimism, Of new-found conf
dence.
The base Of this confidence is the
solid personality of Charles T.
Hughes. There is no aspect Of our
present history more important
than the daily-increasing sense Of
reinsurance and security in Mr..
Hughes. He radiates strength.
La Very Tower Of Strength.
There is the air Of strength in the
stride with which he goes about
his work. and in the quickly-smiI-
ing openness Of his countenance.
One gets comfort even from th-
physical appearance Of strength
that he has-the viriIe whiskers
and big teeth-and from the clear,
straightforward, and gentle blue
eyes, which will seek Justice for
the other side OF a controversy as
surely a. for his own.
Hughes has an appalling chaos TO
untangle. He must FIRST get the
assurance from the allies that the
treaty can be opened up. That as
surance presumably will come in
the shape OF the replies to the Yap
note. Thereafter Hughes must per
form the most complex Job Of sur
gerry ever attempted by the hand OF
! mantle separating OF those parts
or the treaty Of Versailles in which
we say We have an interest. from
the parts in which we say We have
no interest.
The Senate is. for the moment. in
mood Of waiting. II you say to q
senator, surely in the whole Of
the hundred thousand words of the
! Versailles treaty there must be at
least FIVE thousand words tbs, Ne
can ratify." the Senator will reply.
Let us FIRST see what five thousand
words you mean"
In the present disposition to give
( the administration a free hama in
working out the treaty tangle and
in this whole tension between the
administration and the Senate. n is
possible TO overlook a good deal thai
can be said for the Senate side
of it.
| Words Were Soft, Rut-
Harding was more peremptory 10
the Senate than is generally real
lied. The urbsnity or the words OF
the speech softened some Of the
substance. II is true, Harding com
pletely buried the league OF nations.
ana to thst extent, pleased and JUS
tined the irreconciIabIes But all
else that he did was extremely un-
palatable.
He said that later on he proposed
TO have an association OF nations.
He said that he proposes to en-
gage" under the Versailles treaty.
and to many OF the irreconcilabIes
the Versailles treaty is just as OBJ
noNious as the league OF nations.
He told the Senste that they could
pass their Knox resolution, but they
must first reduce it TO a mere
shadow of what il was. II must
be merely a Technical peace"
i Knox was told-snd has obeyed
the direction-to shear OF the two
| most important parts OF his resoIu-
tion-the section in which the SEN
ate directed the President to make
a new treaty with Germany. and the
part in which the Senate presumed
to declare the future foreign policy
OF the United States.
There was stern rebuke in Hard-
ing saying TO the very faces of tn.
Senators:
In correcting the failure of the
Executive. in negotiating the most
important treaty in the history OF
the nation, to recognize the con-
stitutional powers of the Senate We
would go to the other extreme.
equally objectionable, IL Congress
or the Senate should assume the
function OF the Executive. Our
highest duty is the preservation OF
the constituted powers of each. and
the promotion Of the spirit Of CO.
operation so essential to our COM
mon welfare.
Carried -StIn NnIIep.-
4 Neither Congress nor lne peophe
I needs my assurance that q request
to negotiate needed treaties Of
peace. would be superhuous and un-
necessary, as Il is technically incf-
fective. and I know in my own
heart there are none who would
wish to embarrass the Executive in
the performance Of his duty. when
we are all so eager to turn disap-
pointment and delay into gratify-
ling accomplishment"
In spite of the inEratiating pad
ding Of the words, that was. in the
Language OF the prize ring, "a stin
waIIop" to be handed to the Senate
by a man who. in the charges Of
his recent opponent for the Presi-
dency. was expected to be the cres-
ture Of a Senatorial oligsrchy."
There is something to be said for
the theory. that the Senate is as ap-
propriate 4 source from which 70
declare the future foreign policy Of
the United States as the Executive.
This constitutional controversy viii
! come up again. and 30 will the con-
troyersy over the Versailles treaty.