The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1922-03-31
MR.. LODGE PLEADS

the Senate on Wednesday Of the Unit
ed States "as the hope of the world"
taken in connection with his own rec
ord of the last four years, he dis
played fine brand of hypocracy, not
| in keeping with his high reputation
as a scholar and statesman. He is
deeply concerned now lest 1--WE con-
tinue to preach suspicion and hatred
of other nations" and decline to deal
with them, believing that "they all
are actuated by the basest of mo-
tives." But why was Mr.. Louge
party to the senatorial tiurries that
brought about the rejection OF the
Versailles treaty, and which were
characterized by similar suspicious
and distrust?
Mr.. Lodge says:
"Are we to sink back into sullen
solitude, a prey to dark suspicious, a
hermit nation armed to the teeth and
looking forward always to wars as in
separable from the existence of man
kind upon the earth?
This is a splendid thought, indeed,
quite worthy of better men than
Lodge, but what was he doing during
the period when we were sinking back
"into a sulIen solitude, a prey to dark
suspicious" when Republican Sena-
tors. orators and editors were telling
the country that we should stand aloot
from world agreements, and, with
drawn into our shell, become a hermit
nation in fact? Mr.. Lodge was en-
couraging and fostering such senti-
ments, playing upon the dlstrust,
feeding the suspicious and pulling at
the coattails of those who wanted to
go forward. Now, the narrow partl-
sanship of the man is illustrated. He
! speaks of the arms conference as
sour venture" "our undertaking., and
; the treaties resulting as "our trea-
1 ties" 1t is now believed that the
Arms Conference was intended to
i place the Harding administration in
: more favorable light before the
world, and, if possible, redeem itself
for the rejection of the world agree
: ment adopted at Versailles. The
agreements it brought forth are weak
n and puny substitutes for the greater
instrument, and in many instances
are so wholly without merit that they
S ought never to have been suggested
e Mr.. Lodge now finds himself between
S two fires. He helped to kindle one
:. and the sheer inadequacy of the trea'
- ties he now sponsors in the Senate
:. kindles the other. Neither the advo
Gates of the league of nations, MOI
their extreme opponents can meet up
on the wavering sands Mr.. Lodge of
fers as common ground"
y Lodge warns of the effect Of re
= iecting the four-power treaty, which
!. he says would endanger the treaty
II for the limitation of naval ornaments
y If the four-power treaty is so sim
~ pie and artless a document, merely al
y agreement to sit down and tall
"a things over with France, Great Bri
:, tain and Japan, should trouble aris
I. in the Pacific. why would its failure
- imperil anything? Besides, there ar
" many who view the arms Limitation
agreement as itself fraud, proposing
to do away with ships that are obso
i lete and worse Shan useless, all TO
~ the sake of pretending that the worlt
l. reduces ornaments.
IS Lodge says the defeat of the four
- power treaty would mean the failur
e of the conference, and asks tina
- "there be no illusion on that point.
10 If we may Judge the condition in thu
70 world today, that conference is al
ready a failure-so significant fail
!. ure that Europe is preparing to gath
= err itself together regardless of tn
n nations on the western hemisphere
u and undertake to devise it's own sal
~ walton without consideration of on
70 interests and concerns. If the con
~. ference accomplished anything sub
y stantial, aside from the presumabl.
,s beneficial atmosphere created by an.
,r international gathering, meeting il
20 comfy and outward harmony, W
v have yet to see it.
Is The conference was simply a Re
in publican subterfuge, cheap apollo
% gy for the sins of the Lodges, tn
IN Shoots, the Hardings, the Branda
20 gees in the Senate. AS such, it's fail
% ure, while regrettable, in its larger as
q poets, yet is still not thing to great
! for the Senate to revive and ratif,
the treaty of peace, and, if the Sen
J. ate was sincere in its support of tn
ID Lodge reservations, they could re
!, adopt them and even then accomplish
a. ten times as much as the Washing
- ton conference might ever have ha
in the heights of its mightiest dreams
h The sum Of the whole matter is tina
IL the advocate of American participa
Of lion in world affairs, upon a generou
IL and high-minded basis, do not loo
1t With favor upon limited co-operatiol
Is with three or four nations as a fai
= ;;:;; fc~ c~id wide cSrcc-.e.,.
They are gradually coming to the pc
is sition that the four-power treaty j
nc lot step toward world cooperation
nc rs SOME had thought it was, but is
a move calculated to divide the worl
IS into new system of alliances an,
balances. Those who oppose an
form Of American participation, hay