The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-12-22
SENATE May
Be GUIDED BY
HARDING VIEW
Difference in Interpretation Of
Scope Of Four Power Treaty
Likely to Be Brought up
Again.
NOTHING PUT OVER
BY MARK SULLIVAN

with what is referred to roughly, as
the Harding g-Hughes-Japanese home
land" episode.
In official quarters, and in confer
ences between the officials and the
newspaper men, there is for the pres
ent a disposition to say nothing more
about it. but In the private converse
tions of politicians. senators and news
paper men it is the one subject.
] suspect it will come TO the front
again very soon in public and Off
cial sense, for it is obviously in the
interest of the Japanese, as well as in
the interest of the general situation
for the Japanese, to say nothing about
IT. In any event, if not Immediately,
the subject is certain TO compose the
burden of the debate when the senate
begins to discuss the treaty.
For making the incident clear to the
general public, the best method is a
chronological attempt. Just a week
ago today. some of what we have
learned to call humorously 1.-The COM
mahounds" smelled out in the four
power treaty the fact that the
language is such as to cover the home
land of Japan in the same sense that
u covers the main islands of the
Pacific.
Caused Sensation
This caused something of a sensa-
tion, for the general assumption had
been that the treaty was meant to
cover merely the smaller islands of
the Pacific. The discovery was print
cd broadcast in the newspapers.
The newspaper men asked the men,
bers of the American delegation about
1t, and the members of the American
delegation said that it was quite true;
that ii was meant to be so, and that
the only incorrect thing about it all
was the disposition to make a sensa-
tion out of it by attributing to it i'm
plications broader than the actual
language of the treaty really conveys
With these explanations the matter
died down until Tuesday at ! o'clock
In the newspaper conference with
President Harding that takes place at
that hour. some of the newspaper men
asked President Harding whether he
felt that the treaty covered the home
land of Japan He replied that, in his
judgment, it did not. This reply ere
ated another sensation, for practically
every newspaper man in the room
had been told by one or more of the
American delegates that the treaty
does cover the homeland of Japan;
that it had been framed with the in
tention of covering it; and that all
the delegates knew everything about
it,
Point Out Discrepancy
During the afternoon this discrep-
ancy of point of view between the
delegates to the conference and Presi-
dent Harding personally was called
TO the presidents attention, and late
in the afternoon he issued a formal
statement, saying that the difference
in view could not be permitted to en-
barrass the conference or the ratifica-
ton of the agreement. For the mo-
ment, this completed the episode so
far as President Harding is concerned.
II was recognized as a fine thing for
him to make it clear to the public that
his Interpretation of the language of
the treaty would not be permitted to
cause any embarrassment to the dele
gates, who had Intentionally put into
the treaty a different meaning
There was and is a good deal OF
surprise that President Harding had
not learned before just what had been
intended by the conference in writing
the treaty. The conclusion was clear
Of course, that President Harding not
only had not happened to be familiar
with this particular detail of the work
of the conference, but also had not
happened to read the newspaper dis
cussion about the inclusion of the
Japanese homeland. That is all there
4.
Raise Lodge Point.
Subsequent to all this. the point was
raised as to why Senator Lodge. in his
public speech, when he first introduced
the treaty to the public, and comment
ed on it, had failed to point out tha
the Japanese homeland was included
In several quarters there was a dis
position, either seriously or in humor
to charge Senator Lodge with lack O.
good faith. In this there is nothins
whatever.
Those who don't want to rely OF
Senator Lodges intellectual integrity
can at least rely on his intelligence
There wasn't the faintest possibility o
his slipping something over" in /;
political sense, even if he had wanted
20. He knew perfectly well that tn,
language of this treaty would be mad,
the subject of microscopic examina
tion through long days of senate de
bate.
The present writer heard Senate
Lodges speech, and watched hin
closely as he delivered it. 1t was pei
fectly apparent that he was proud a
a pigeon over the distinction Of read
ing the treaty and making a speecl
about it, and equally apparent tha
the two things he did in the speecl
we're the two things, that are charaC
teristic of him. He used it as an OF
portunitv to take a nasty wallop n
his particular obsession, the leagu
of nations, and as chance to give al
admiring public a glimpse into tn
literary e-udition of which he is no
little proud.
We all have the. laugh on Senate
Lodge now for having given up s.
many lovely quotations from tn
poetry of Browning, and from Steven
son, and Melville. about the beautiful
isles of the Pacific, when a less ornat
man hight have used the opportunit
for a more serious discussion of tn
meaning of the treaty.