The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-03-09
LODGE STARTS
HEATED DEBATE
upon TREATIES
Senator Reed Pins Him tc
Facts and G. O. P. Leader
Admits Secrecy.
BY POLITICUS.


Senator Lodges long-awaited speech
on the four-power treaty has started
the deluge Of treaty oratory in the
Senate. No one is willing to fore.
cast how long II will last. From now
on, most Of II will be in opposition
to the treaty. The men who favor the
alliance have little to say and are
far from anxious to say 1t.
Senator Lodges own speech was
q short one. shedding no new light
on the treaty itself or on its making.
But the Massachusetts Senator sur
prised his colleagues by the extent
to which he went in his endeavor to-
prove that the four,power treaty
was as meaningless and innocuous as
words could make II.
Imposes No Obligation.
that II constituted an extension Of
the Anglo-Japanese alliance, Senator
Lodge sought to demonstrate that
1t bound none of the signatories to
anything further than a discussion,
to the results of such a discussion;
that 1t imposed no obligation Of any
kind; that it contained no penalties
for its violation. He even went 80
far as to declare that an attack by
Japan upon the Philippine islands
would not be Controversy" such as
to bind England and France to di.s-
cuss II with the United States.
"A war Is not controversy" ex-
claimed the Massachusetts Senator
under the prodding inquiries of Sen
ator Reed Of Missouri.
But a war would be a violation
OF the treaty itself" interposed Sen
ator Bran6egee Of Connecticut, for
whom the Lodge argument seemed
too strong. 1.-The treaty binds Japan
to respect our rights in the
Philippines and such an attack
would be a violation"
But there is no penalty for it,
declared Senator Reed.
There is not" admitted Senator
Lodge.
Then what becomes Of Senator
Poindexter's declaration that this
four-power treaty added to the pro-
lection Of our Pacific casts?" asked
Senator Watson of Georgia.
Reed Flags Delegates.
Senator Lodge declared that in the
treaty making he and his colleagues
questions involved.
I'll warrant you no Japanese
statesmen here was stupid enough to
give no consideration to strategic
questions" retorted Senator Reed. II
agree with you that our representa-
tives gave no consideration to these
questions, yet they agreed to disarm
us, to deprive us of our Notifications
n
and Guam and to leave these islands
at the mercy of an enemy. This is
the much boosted guarantee of the
peace of the Pacific. This is the hope
of the world. Let that go to the
country-then it will show what a
farce has been enacted here"
That is a sample of the running
fire Of yesterdays debate which Sen
ator Lodges address started. At
times IL was bitter; at all times II was
vigorous. The speech of the Senator
itself contained nothing to throw
light on the genesis of the treaty
itself. The Massachusetts Senator
made no effort to reveal the discus
sions that had led up to 1t. Pressed
for information concerning the copies
of the various drafts of the treaty
that had been made, he professed
ignorance whether they were still in
existence or whether they had been
destroyed by Secretary Hughes. In
stead, he sought to fill this aching
void in his argument by reading long
tables of the population and area or
the various Pacific islands.
To Senator Hitchcock's charge OF
secrecy in the framing of this treaty,
Senator Lodge declared that all OF
the meetings of the delegates on this
subject were well known to the
press"
Admits Press Knew Nothing.
This was a startling bit OF informa-
ton. Pinned into a corner, the Massa-
chusetts Senator admitted that all
the press knew of the meetings was
the fact that they had been held and
that nothing was divulged to the
men as to the transactions
or discussions OF these sessions.
As a matter of fact, even this
was an exaggeration.
The newspaper men at the arms
were not even permitted
to know that meetings were being
held on the four-power treaty and
the first intimation the American
public received came in cablegrams
from Tokyo and London.
Senator Lodges explanation Of
the publicity of these sessions was
an insult to the Senate" declared
n Senator after the session.
But his troubles have only begun.