The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-04-11
CONGRESS HAS
BIG QUESTIONS
ON ITS SLATE
Will Enact Important Laws to
Assure Industrial Normalcy
and to Fix Foreign Policy
Await Harding's Speech.
TAKE UP OLD TREATY
PALLADIUM NEWS BUREAU

WASHINGTON. April 11.--As con-
gress assembled today in extra ses-
sion cloakroom discussions in both the
senate and the house centered about
the message President Harding will
deliver personally at the joint session
of the two houses tomorrow. That
this message will contain strong dec
larations concerning both domestic
and foreign policies is an accepted
fact and congress rejoices.
Refreshed by an absence of a month
from their duties the nations lawmak
ars are ready for work and the ma
jority leaders confidently predict that
by the time the special session ad-
journs, probably late in the summer.
many important laws required to as
sure industrial normalcy will have
been written upon the statute books
and that a strong foreign policy will
have been inaugurated.
Treaty to Come Up.
1t is generally understood that the
much discussed Columbian treaty will
be brought up in the senate for imme-
diate consideration, to be followed by
the Knox peace resolution.
The Colombian treaty provides for
the payment of $25,000,000 by the
United States to the republic of Col.
! Ombia in settlement of the controversy
resulting from the building of the
Panama canal
The Colombian treaty was negotiat-
ed by the Wilson administration. 1t
has been pending before the senate
| for several years. 1t has always met
with determined opposition, the sen
ators who opposed it insisting that its
ratification would be an acknowledge
| ment that the United States acquired
the canal site by questionable meth
DDS. 1t has been referred to as a
"blackmail'' treaty by it's opponents.
May Resurrect Letter.
Gossip now has it that letter writ
ten by the late Theodore Roosevelt,
who was president when the United
States took over the canal site, writ
ten in 1917 to the then Senator Fall,
, now secretary of the INTERIOR on the
subject of the treaty. has been resur-
rected and that the advocates of the
treaty e1epct to use it in the fight to
! get the treaty ratified.
| Proponents of the treaty have re
! ferred to the letter as a document
which will "overthrow opposition. and
| kill belief that Roosevelt opposed the
pending treaty"
| However, the letter indicated Roose-
welt was solely in favor of new and
satisfactory treaty. The correspond
ence, it is said, was initiated by
Senator Fall. who outlined to Colonel
! Roosevelt what he thought would be
! q proper treaty with Colombia He
| made ct 81 a.,
Payment Of compensation to Colombia
for its loss Of that territory which is
now the republic OF Panama. Fall pro
posed an entirely new treaty which
would establish relations with Colom
/ bia upon friendly terms and define
what commercial and other rights this
country would be granted
Text Of Letter.
Roosevelt's reply reads, in part:
II feel exactly as you do about the
} type of treaty we should have with
these Latina American countries. Root
takes substantially your view. He is
going down to Washington, l under
stand, not long hence, and I think II
would be well for you to see him II
possible.
You keep in touch with Lodge and
Kellogg do you not? If some such
treaty as you suggest could be nego
tiated it would be a capital thing. 1t
seems to me that Lodge and kellogg
could help you work it out They feel
very strongly that the administ ration
may get through a new treaty if some
of the Objectionable matter is eliminat
| ed. and. of course. | would have much
preferred some kind of a treaty that
was good enough to warrant our sup
porting 1t, as would bo emlnently
the case if your suggestions were
adopted"
The forces for and against the pend
t ing Colombian treaty are lining Up 70,
! a bitter fight which is to start al
once.