Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-06-22
Editorial Digest
Detour on the Road to Peace.


Between the Knox resolution. re-
peating the declaration Of war On
Germany. and the Porter resolution
declaring 1t ended, the newspapers as
whole find little choice. The ma
Ejority Of writers point out that AFTER
all the important thing is to sign
teaty, and critics of. the administra-
time.
Admitting that I'VE must have a
peace resolution" the Baltimore News
have it In short order" for we have
lhad all the talk we need and good
deal more" The Asheville IN. CO
Times (republican) champions Repre-
sentative Porters measure. wnlch, II
believes, is "a more sincere enort 10
remove the technical state of war.
than Senator knox's. IF the Knox
resolution would be reputation OF
the war" says the Springfield RepuD-
lican Independently, without furtner
committing itself. then the actioh
of the lower house may be taken as
a search for the minimum action that
could offer any promise OF peace.
one merit in the resolution the chi
cago Post independently suggests Is
the fact that having passed the reso-
lution 1.-The Legislative branch. OF the
government Is removed from our II.
ternational negotiations by the
most harmless and humane route
practical"
That the method is HARMLESS" the
New York Post Independently agrees.
with the adverb now. There was
a time when 1t might have been mis-
chievous," the Post. points out. for
had a separate peace resolution been
enacted before our representatives
were ordered to go into the supreme
council. the council OF ambassadors
and the Preparations commission. there
would have been trouble. Germany.
with her unhappy gift for m!sunder-
standing things. would have misun-'
derstood our motives and our posi-
ton"
The resolution SETTLES nothing" the
Indianapolis News independently de-
clares. for before there can be peace
is. echoed by the Atlanta Journal
(democratic) and the Hartford Times
{denocratie), and all three offer as
sole solution. either directly or by I'M
plication, acceptance OF the Versailles
pact. In the opinion of the Cleveland
Plain Dealer independent democratic)
both peace measures tend to com
plicate rather than to simplify our
relations with the defeated powers,
| and while such action may be better
than none at all, the Plain Dealer feels
| that we would have been farther
proceeded Gin the usual way to ne
eotiate a treaty" himself. This must
! be done, says the Duluth Herald Gn-
sdependent), lin the ordinary. consti..
! tutional manner by the executive,
for neither resolution does away
with the making Of treaty.
J Representing a sentiment generally
felt. IL not as emphatically expressed,
| by newspapers of all political coiors.
the New York Globe independently re-
marks: Which Of the two resolutions
prevails IL a matter of profound indif-
| sional politicians. but the possibili :
ties that the declaration Of formal
peace may drag along for many weeks
! and that the negotiations or the nee
I essary treaties with our former enc
mics may take months longer IS dis
heartening and disgusting
l All the discussion that has preceded
| the passage of the resolutions and
the efforts to come in the conference
represent to the Utica Observer
(which win not have achieved any
thing in particular" because the
| real business of arriving at war set
| Elements will still remain to be done
| MEANWHILE, says the Baltimore Sun
! independent democratic), there will
l
national or international relations.
The danger that turks in such action
by Congress. the Milwaukee Journal
| independently believes. lies In the fact
| that It may prejudice the rights and
interests Of the United States" for 1T
| is yet to be shown that we can re-
serve rights under a treaty that we
never ratified" Indeed. we are left,
the Louisville Courier-Journal demo
| cratic) declares, Just where we were
| before we fought; for we could have
| easily got separate peace with Ger
| many on her own terms before we
| fred q shot"
| To the Newark News independently
| which believes that all paths to peace
must lead through Versailles, the
| resolutions look very much as de.
tours" do to the motorist. Having
tried the Knox route and discovered
the sign Treaty Ahead" Congress ha.
turned back on the Porter high
way" which, according to the White
House Blue Book. does not lead any
closer to peace" Now both houses
ARE to have their conference COM
| mittees search their maps for a ye
| undiscovered road that does not rur
through the bottleneck of the Yer
| sailles treaty"