Evening star., 1922-03-02
PACTRESERvAT|0N
SURE Of ADOPTION
Brandegee's Proposal Con-
tains Exact Words of Presi-
dent Harding.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

| Senator Brandegee's reservation to
the four-power treaty will be adopted.
1t contains President Harding's exact
words in the address made to the
Senate on submitting the pact. To vote
| down the reservation may be con-
! strued as an affirmation of the arSu-
ment that the four-power treaty is
/ an alliance and obligates America to
go to war.
This is the situation as the debate
! on the four-power treaty begins.
Ratification with the Brandegee reser-
| walton seems assured. Without it.
there is danger of defeat for the
! treaty.
The views Of the most Of senators
who advocate the Brandegee reserVa-
! tion have been given to this corre-
spondent. To understand the reasons
! which actuate them. it Is necessary
| to study the exact text of the treaty
as we'll as the reservation, Wmch
! reads as follows:
| THE United States understands that
! under the statement in the preamble.
/ or under the terms of this treaty, there
| is no commitment to armed force, no
alliance. no obligation to join In any
| defense"
! Interpretation Not Questioned.
First the senator's who favor it make
, it clear that they do not for a moment
(. question Mr.. Harding's Interpretation
| of the treaty, but they want his inter-
pretation made a part of the ratifying
resolution itself so the pest of the
world and future generations will not
misunderstood. At present the inter-
! pretation is merely an executive state
| ment, and the Senate has not yet ut
/ tered it's understanding of the treaty.
4 If the Brandegee reservation is
/ adopted by the Senate. included in the
ne rot ftnr, nd
changed with the other powers who
signed the treaty. and they do not pro-
test that their understanding is differ-
ent. then the other nations never could
:claim that the United States was under
| ANY obligation to join in any defense"
of their rights in relation to their in
sular possessions and insular domin-
ions in the region of the Pacific ocean"
Maintenance Of Rights.
Senators who take this view say
that if the treaty without the reser-
vation means what President Hard
ing claims it does, there can be no
valid objection to letting the treaty
! walton. The preamble of the treaty
declares that one of the purposes for
| which the treaty is made is the
| maintenance of their rights in rela-
tion to their insular possessions" in
the Pacific ocean. Article two says
that 'if the said rights are threatened
by the aggressive action of any other
power, the contracting parties shall
communicate with one another to ar
! rive at an understanding as to the
most efficient measures to be taken,
jointly or separately, to meet the
exigencies of the particular situa-
tion.'
| Now. it is the view of many sena-
tors that when aggressive action"
occurs the conference of powers does
n nj W mo mo n0f a~aI tr,f do
eide whether they shall take any
measures. They communicate only
"in order to arrive at an understand
| ing as to the most efficient means to
be taken.'
Hangs ON Few Words.
On the words most efficient means"
the whole thing turns. There's the
about this subject point out that a
yelled obligation is in that phrase
for If the aggressive action is taken
by a naval attack when an island in
the Pacific belonging to the British
or Japanese empires is encroached
| the only effective measure to meet
that exigency would be Jointly to
| send navy to repel the naval attack.
While the aggression continues. the
do something to help those whose
rights were threatened. That's the
[ opinion of most senator's. Could
| America agree to talk only while
rights were being threatened? Many
| senators would like America to be
| free to use her good Offices in such
controversies without involving naval
or military force and they are unwill-
ing to have the treaty leave the i'm
preston that the United States is
| obligated to go much further.
Want America to BE Free.
! They want America to be free to
Join in the naval measures if she
likes and refrain just as the circum-
| stances Of the case and the judg-
ment of the American people may
dictate. But they do not want for
] eign governments to have the oppor-
tunity to make out case, saying the
| United States has made a scrap of
| want the United States to be able to
| say that at no time did she bind herself
| ito join in any defense"
| Notwithstanding the views of those
| who urge the Brandegee reservation.
| there are some senator's who favor
| the wording of the present treaty be-
cause they want an alliance and be-
cause they think America should Join
| in the common defense of the Pacific.
They interpret the treaty as meaning
| exactly that. In view Of this differ
| ence of opinion among American SEN
| ators, the advocates of the Brandegee
+! reservation say America should say
once and for all now and not in the
future what she understands by the
treaty. Szg4 s.s5s
Copyright. 1927