The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-02-22
JOHNSON LIKES
INDEPENDENT
WAYSOF HUGHES
Belieues New Secre.
tary Has Mind of
His Oun.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Especial to The ArTus)

Washington, Feb. 21.-Senator
Hiram johnson, one Of the leaders
Of the 20 called 'irreconcilable"
groop which has opposed the ratifi-
cation Of the Paris treaty in any
form as well as the entrance Of the
United States into the present
League Of Nations, said today that
the appointment Of Charles Evans
Hughes as secretary Of state in the
Harding cabinet was not at all dis
pleasing to him.
The appointment of Mr..
Hughes" remarked the California
senator in q talk with the writer
today, "is by no means unsatisfac-
tory to me. was not one of the
group who opposed the appoint
ment As to international policies,
/ understand that Mr.. Hughes in one
Of his early talks with Mr.. Hard
ing endorsed the tentative policy
which Mr.. Harding has had in
mind for foreign affairs.
!" AS to Mr.. Hughes personally, I
know he is an Independent minded
man. I liked particularly the way
he denounced those Republicans
who expelled the Socialists from
the New York state legislature. Il
liked also the warm way in which
he recently defended the direct pri,
mary system which is SO much
under attack. Acts like these in
the face Of the Republican bosses
show that Mr.. Hughes has a mind Of
his own"
Generally speaking men at the
capitol whether they have any
personal enthusiasm or not for Mr..
Hughes were frank to admit that in
accepting the portfolio of secretary
Of state, Mr.. Hughes had again re-
sponded to the call of service, for
the Republican party and the coun-
try. Everybody here knows that
Mr.. Hughes was reluctant to leave
the supreme court Of the United
States to engage in q political cam
paign and he was Of course not anx-
ious to go into the cabinet which
In q sense means Z resumption OF
political burdens for on no question
ID there just now such bitter feel
ing and sharp division Of opinion
as on foreign policy.
Straight Thinker.
Entirely apart from Mr.. Hughes
exceptional qualifications and pres
tige, the selection Of Mr.. Hughes
has another significance that may
not be Immediately apparent but
which will be revealed after Mr..
Hughes has been in Office a short
time. Mr.. Hughes thinks in
straight lines. He will endeavorso of
course to meet the pledges which
the Republican party gave at Chi
cago but he will work out . foreign
! policy in his own way. The fact
that Senator johnson Of California
is pleased with the selection Of Mr..
Hughes does not mean that the new
secretary Of state has said some
thing or is committed to some pol
! icy which is pleasing to the irrec-
oncilable group in the senate.
On the contrary, an examination
of Mr.. Hugres' utterances on for
eign policy shows that he has main
tained certain f1exibility of view
point which will come in handy
when the many factions Of the Re-
publican party start pulling and
hauling for their own theories
Here, for instance, are the main
points which Mr.. Hughes made on
the covenant indicating the condi-
tions upon which he might favor
the entrance Of the United States
into the present League Of Nations
League Points.
~ Omitting the guaranty in ar
ticle 10. =!
ca Suitable limitation as to the