The Washington herald., 1921-12-22
Obstacles to 4-Power Pact
Seen in Proposed
Reservations.
BORAH AND M'NARY
PLAN RESOLUTIONS
Reed Makes Sarcastic
Reference to "White
House" Incident.

Unforeseen obstacles 10 pro'npt
ratification of the four-power Pa
cific treaty matcrialiZed in the SEN
ate yesterday as a result OF Presi-
den Harding's misapprehension OF
the intent Of the negotiations Of the
pact.
Although the administration min
imizes the Importance OF the inct-
dent. which II regards as closed Dy
the Presidents acceptance Of the
Hughes construction making the
treaty guarantees applicable to ia
pan proper. and does not "ontem-
plate formally recording this inter-
probation, a movement developed in
the Senate for clarification Of the
pact, which on its face appeared 20
Mr.. Harding TO exclude the prin-
cipal islands of Japan from its pur-
view.
Various Reservations Proposed.
Various reservations already are
being proposed. One excludes ia
pan proper from the treaty guaran-
tees. Another eliminates the use
of force from the commitments.
II Japan proper should be eN-
cluded from the scope of the treaty.
Tokyo would have ground TO object
to the inclusion of the Hawaiian
Islands. Washington insists upon
exempting these from the agree
ment to maintain the status quo OF
Pacific fortifications on the ground
that they constitute a part of the
United states proper.
Borah Plans Resolution.
Senator Borsh proposes a resoIu-
ito which provides:
mo action of the high contract
ing parties. acting under article :.
shall commit any action. either le-
gally or morally, 10 use force IN
meeting an eNigency-"
Senator McNary, OF Oregon, Re-
publican, proposes a reservation
which provides that nothing con-
tained in the pact shall be con-
strued as applying to the Japanese
mainland and will ATTEMPT clearly
to confne the scope OF the treaty
to xlands outside of the japanese
home land"
.Treaty One-sided.-
II never dreamed" said Senator
MCNdTN. lHdN INC NiCaNg
the homeland of Japan. l did not
think that it could be so one-sided.
Ii constitutes q contract without a
consideration. II we protect Japan,
we must protect Great Britain,
France and the United States. do
not say that ] will oppose. the
treaty, but / will look with SYM
pathy upon any clarifying rescrva-
tions In my opinion the pathway
of the treaty has been made much
harder and stonier. l do not want
our soldiers and sailors to be sent
away TO fight for the Japanese or
any other nation. That was the
chief objection to Article Y. II the
construction indicated is put upon
this treaty, il places il upon the
same footing as Article n"
Senator Hitchcock, OF Nebraska.
who led the fight in the Senate In
behalf Of the league of nations.
also EXPRESSED surprise at the con-
ricting interpretations. He had
previously declared himself in ia
vor of the four-power pact. To-
day he was not 50 certain Of his
position.
IT am in favor OF applying Ar
ticle y to the whole world, but I
doubt the wisdom Of confning its
application to one nation and the
islands of the Pacific"
Reed Makes Attack.
Senator Reed, of Missouri, Demo-
crat "irreconcilsble," made sar-
castle attack upon the divergence
of opinion between President Hard
ing and the American delegates as
to the meaning of the pact He
advocated open sessions of the con-
ference throughout, in order, he
said, that president Harding
might learn what was going on"
He told of President Harding's first
Interpretation that the treaty did
not apply to the Japanese homeland,
and then read the subsequent state
ment issued from the White House.
Senator Reed charged that the
treaty was drafted with the idea
Of "fooling the people Of the United
States" and declared the Job was
so successfully done that even the
President was deceived"