The daily times., 1921-08-09
SECRECY ENvELOPS
ACTIVITIES
NOW IN PROGRESS
SOMETHING HAPPENED.
There is Every Indication that
The State Department Will
Negotiate Treaty With
Germany and Then Send it
to the Senate Which Will be
Urged to Accept 1t.
SOMETHING HAPPENED
(By David Lawrence)
Copyright, 1921, by The Daily
TimeS.)

Washington, Aug. S.-More than
a month has passed since Congress
by joint resolution tried to declare
state of peace with Germany but for
reasons which have thus far been
clouded in secrecy neither a procla-
nation of peace has been issued nor
has the American public been told
officially by the Department of State
or the White House what the Amer
lican commissioner in Berlin and the
about.
The Senate Foreign Relations
Committee has not been given a draft
of the memorandum now in the
though it is known the German Reich
stag committee has for weeks had
the same under consideration
1t was in the Senate that the Will
by failing to consult that body in
the making of peace and Republi-
can Senators have been wont to say
that the policy of secret diplomacy
ember. That's why there is a growing
impatience over the extreme secrecy
of the present negotiations with Ger
many.
I Secretary Hughes who usually dis
cusses foreign policy frankly and in
much more detail than any of his
predecessors has declined repeatedly
to say anything about the converse
the German government. The State
Department has on the other hand,
insisted that most of the published
reports are seriously inaccurate
The Wilson Administration used to
argue that international custom and
international politics made it necess-
ary to negotiate privately but the
Harding Administration is keeping
the negotiations within the realm of
secret diplomacy because of domestic
politics. fear of certain elements
in the United States Senate which
might attempt to criticise the pro-
posals if made public.
Indeed, the Department of State
gives every evidence of intending to
follow the Wilson footsteps by ne
gotiating a treaty with Germany and
then sending it to the Senate which
will be urged to accept it without
qualification The chances are the
Senate will have to take the treaty
without the crossing of st" or the
dotting of an 'i''. The Democrats
aren't particularly disturbed over
THAT prospect for they defended it un-
der the Wilson Administration but
the elements in the Senate which de-
Inounced the Wilson methods as un-
justified are showing signs Of res
| tiveness over the fact that open di-
plomacy has again gone by the
boards. Their chief fear is that Sec
retary Hughes is establishing pre-
cedent for the Harding Administra-
tion which will be used to keep the
1 press OuL O1 lu0 COh1Oi
lence and give out formal statements
similar to the colorless announce
lments made daily at Paris while the
lreal agreements and negotiations
Iwere kept secret and are still being
handed to the public in piecemeal
fashion in books by those delegates
who participated in the peace con
ference.
But if the mystery over the con
duct of the negotiations with Ger
lmany is unexplained it is no less OF
Iconcern2sto Capitol Hill than the
} reason why a peace proclamation
isn't issued. Congress expected thai
) lpeace would be established by join
-tresoIution. The State Department
didn't seem to think proclamation
CONTINUED on page 81