Evening star., 1921-03-28
Editorial Digest
In N. Viyiani's Portfolio.

=
Rene Viviani. former premier of
France, Is welcome in America IL
eGitorial expression from the lime of
/; his proposed visit to the eve Of his
landing may be accepted as the voice
OF the people. Whether or not the
mysterious contents Of his "unoffi-
c!ar portfolio are TO be as cheerfully
to depend largely on how comment
tators feel toward the league of ma
Ions, for most of the newspapers
concerning the league are to be dis
cusced by the French diplomat during
his visit of courtesy"
When NJ. Viviani speaks concerning
The relations between ris country
and ours, the Columbus Dispatcn
tindependenD declares that the
blood scaled tics OF nnnay ba,tlefields
the fields OF white crosses over Amer
icdh graves IN rf~h~eS ~ say nothinS
oi the Traditional m>iIu..-s Ul l..
1ayet,e. VIA assure .n.s nonoreu sue"t
a thoroughly sympathetic hearing"
III Is nttiiiH. the New York tribune
trepuUllcan) believes, for France 20
take this step TO re-establiSh close
relations between the four particular
nations which now are. and tor long
time promise to be. the only powers
in the world able to command peace"
Looking at the visit as hopeful sign.
the st. Joseph News-Press Undepend-
ent expresses the opinion that II
may mark the beginning of the end
OF the anomalous position which the
United States has held for so incredi-
Bile length OF time In regard to the
peace treaty" and the Topeka Capt.
tai Tepublican considers the visit
the --latest incident" in the process
of clarifying "the complicated and
ohscur" question of the league OF
nations.
C'oser cooperation between the
United States and the allied powers s
to be the subject of the discussions
in which NJ. Viviani viii take part,
according to the belief Of the Chicago
Post independently and "he will prob
ably argue that interpretations put
on the league covenant by the coun-
reasons to fear that it infringes on
the rights that President Harding
asserts to be inalicnable."
This line Of reasoning. the Asbury
Park Press independent democratic)
considers. will be looked upon favor
ably by the majority of opinion in
the United States" to which the Bir-
mingham Age-Herald Gndependent)
agrees. 1t continues: "The President
probably realizes, as many other
american citizens are beginning to
do. after holding contrary opinion.
that the formation Of an entirely new
association of nations is out of the
question now. and the quickest way
out Of the difficulty is to enter a
modified league"
The Philadelphia Public Ledger Gn-
henend"nt is not so sure about this
Douhtless. 1t remarks "the admin
istration does not know what 1t will
90 In this. the Roanoke (va) News
(democratic) thinks the Ledger "is
nrohably right" and adds: Perhaps
Vfviani can help the republicans TO
come 70 decision" While entirely
zion. the Springfield Republican in-
aependenD questions "how far Franc.
can act as spokesman of the many
other members of the league who Will
nave something to say finally about
the changes proposed"
The New York Times (independent
hHmocratic) offers a possible explana-
ton OF this problem by suggesting
that other delegations may follow
Mahomet going to the mountain" as
the Springfield Union (republican)
puts ft-and we may presently see "a
KIND OF adjourned peace conference in
Washington"
Looking at the visit and it's purpose
from a more general standpoint, the
ouidlo llnes tdemocratlc) suggests
that it may serve to "shed light on
the deprecatory and. on the whole.
enigmatic expressions of the French
press" and the Baltimore Sun Gnde-
pendent democratic) expresses the
hope that it will clear the rather
murky air OF Franco-American rela-
tions" resulting from the fact that
French policy has been "regretably
unintelligible" to Americans mot in
public life
Not all the newspapers take an en-
tirely optimistic view of the task
ahead of the French envoy. The
Pittsburg Leader progressive repub-
lican) speaks with frankness: The
insistence of the French. just now il
Illustrated by the visit Of the former
Premier Viviani to the United States
to try to convert President Harding
to the French point of view. will be
insufficient for the purpose"
Another pessmistic note is raised
by the Louisville Post Gndependent),
which would not object in the slight
est" to the ratification of a definite
agreement with France" which It
believes is the purpose of the French
mans visit, but predicting that there
ts not the remotest chance Of Con-
gress accepting IT.