The Washington times., 1921-12-15
ratification OF
A-POWER PACT
,|N0W DOUBTFUL
Opposition to Treaty Revealing
l Japan's Intrigue Grows,
IL Says Politicus.
BY POLITICUS.

i, Says Politicus.
~ BY POLITICUS.
Dark clouds are lowering on the
ihirizon Of the Horsepower treaty. The
Storm is gathering intensity. the
o1timism of the Administrator leaders
sssoozing perceptibly under the latest
REGULATIONS of Japanese conference In.
ltrjsue.
Ratification Doubtful.
Within forty-eight hours there has
been drop in the Senate thermome-
tef. and the possibility Of ultimate
ratification is becoming doubtful. At
nd time in the first three months OF
TIP League of Nations fight was there
I'd striking a reversal in the Senate
prospects as there has been in the
laet three days against the adrninis-
TRITON plan.
When Messrs. Hughes and Root
frhmed the quadrilateral treaty they
fe4t certain that, with the signatures
OF Senators Lodge and Underwood,
Il
and obtain an immediate and tubllant
ratification.
The first blow came when President
Harding decided not to send the treaty
J to- the Senate until the conferences had
finished it's task. Secretary Hughes
had favored its Immediate submission,
but wiser counsel prevailed.
U The outspoken opposition Of Seua.
tors Borah, Reed. and La Toilette did
n4t come as q surprise, but the fact
that none Of these intrepid Senators
lcwSs struck by lightning from heaven
tfof his opposition to this treaty seems
to- have disconnected some of the id
j mynistration folk. They have looked
UPON the treaty as something Sacred
in the machinery for peace. and they
cannot understand the fact that the
opposition declarations were received
Z 90 Hospitality In the Senate as well as
IN the press.
Opposed by Democrats.
The greatest blow. however, has
bone in the cold attitude Of the Senate
Democrats. With Senator Underwood
sssfely in tow, the Hughes Root comb.
nation believed that the Democrats
were all accounted for. Now they
find that this is but a dream. Senator
Glass Of Virginia has stirred an in
',cipient revolt and is responsible for
the fact that the Democrats have
been careful not to pledge themselves
to vote for the treaty. Behind this
many observers see the hand Of Wood
row Wilson.
All Of this means that it will require
several months before the Senate can
be put on record. 1t is not likely that
the treaty itself will be in the Senate
hands before the first week of Janu-
AIRY. II then. Even with ordinary ex-
petition IL will spend at least two
weeks In the Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations.
Six Weeks Of Debate.
Then II ought to be good for at least
six weeks of debate on the Senate
fl6or. This period may be even length.
eried by the necessity for the trsnsac-
ton of more pressing Senate business,
and delay is fatal to the treaty pros
poets.
In the meantime the public reaction
against the treaty has been a grievous
disappointment to the White House.
There was a fond hope that the people
Would acclaim the treaty with nation.
wide unanmity as great step to-
WSrd peace. Now this reclamation
has been accorded only by the chief
Observation-Disclosures and pro-British
newspapers. Skepticism has been
growing into genuine opposition in
large circles of the press, the public
and Congress.
This Is the moro dangerous to the
treaty ss tho conference has now
reached Q point where the real char
acter OF the Pacific situation Is becoT,.
inx apparent. Japan has been bag.
cling over the naval ratio In q way
that has convinced onlO0lxeyB that she
II playing for an inside position In the
n6xt war. More than that, there
seems no longer any doubt that Japan
ia trying to fortify her position in
China BY some kind OF official sane
ti&n by the United States not unlike
President Wilson'S recognition OF the
British pr0tectorate In Egypt.
The Shantung difficulty with China
ls5in a critical situation and there is
Iittle prospect that Japan will yield.
Japanese encroachments In Siberia
have not even been touched. There
are inklings Of a disposition to lose
them from the agenda of the confer
erce. For the Japanese position in
Russia is even less defensible than her
position in China.
II Japan wins on these points, the
axadrilaterh treaty will be tsntA.
mount to an American sanction of
everything that has been won by Japa-
nese aggression. Such q rey eiStiOn
wSuId Be sufficient alone TO wreck all
Administration hopes Of treaty ratifi-
cation.
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