The Columbia evening Missourian., 1922-01-25
Combination of Circumstances
Prevents Harding's Accept.
ance of Allies In
vitation.
ISOLATION BLOC ACTIVE
Senate Organization Might Op-
pose Ratification of Re.
cent Treaties Made
at Washington.
BY DAyIs LAWRENCE
Copyright, 1922

conference 10 be held at Cenoa IN Marc
is for the moment the most inieresiin
story in the capital No one reason bl
a combination of circumstances have pr,
vented President Harding from acceptin
on behalf of the United States the inv
tation recently extended by the Allie
10 help reconstruct Europe and indirecil
she economic situation Of the Who'll
world.
First. the Isolation bloc in ,h
United States Senate have served motto
that if the administration insists on g
ing to Genoa, it can expect serious op
position TO ratification OF the treatie
and conventions adopted at the Washing
ton Conference on Armament.
Second. the administration is discour
aged over the refusal of France to dis
cuss reparaiions at Genoa. an adjust
ment of which is regarded as essentia
TO economic recuperatior everywhere.
Third. unless the United States gov
ernment can make good the promise.
and agreements entered into by the ex
ecutive branch Of the governmer: anc
present to the world fully ratified
treaties, Americas word at international
conferences in the future will be of little
avail.
Ever since the return Of Senator Hiram
johnson from a trip to California, the
isolation bloc, consisting of the orig.
inal ''irreconcilables" who fought the
Versailles Treaty, plus few others from
the Democratic side Of the chamber. have
constituted an opposition formidable
enough to prevent ratification of the
-Four Power Pacific Treaty as well as
other pacts adopted by the Washington
Conference. Mr.. Johnsop's announced
opposition has stiffened the backs of
some Of his wavering colleagues. Senat.
or Brandegee. an original irreconcilable,
told the White House the feeling against
meddling in Europe's affairs was still
strong in the Senate and that ii was CO.
ing to be difficult getting a treaty
through which dealt with Pacific affairs.
HARDING EvADEs QUESTION
President Harding will not, of course,
say publicly that he is refusing to 60
10 Genoa because Of the situation in
the Senate, but he is saying that until
the Washington Conference has COM
plcied its work, there's no use talking
about other International conferences.
BY completing its work is not meant
merely the adjournment of the main
conference. That's only the beginning.
Il mcane ratification of the treaties by
the Senate. For when the Washington
Conference ends it will have reached
merely the same point as the Versailles
Peace Conference.-The critics then be-
gin their work of dissection and analy.
sis. The Senate is keeping quiet till
the whole set Of treaties is submitted.
Then the biggest question Of all will be
answered-whether the executive branch
Of the government under Republican
administration can do any more in hand
ling the Senate on foreign policy than
a Democratic administration. The drive
for ratification has not begun, but the
first victory has been wor. by the isola-
tion bloc which has already obtained the
approval Of the White House to its plan
for the consideration Of domestic af.
fairs first and treaties afterwards.
No matter how enthusiastic Mr.. Hard
ing or Mr.. Hughes might be for partici-
patton in the Genoa Conference. they
cannot send official representatives if
they wait until after the treaties are rat
died because the Genoa Conference will
be under way and probably adjourned
before the Senate gets through discussing
the treaties. The expectation now is
that the treaties will follow the enact
ment Of bonus bill and tariff bill. !
This involves indefinite delay but the
administration has not yet interposed any
objection to that order Of business.
L. 5. EXPECTED To ATTEND
The administration told the delegates
at the Washington Conference that it
was favorably disposed toward an econ.
omic conference. Premier BRAND went
away with the conviction that America
would attend. Prime Minister Lloyd
George was convinced the United |
States was at last coming TO the aid of
Europe. British flexibility and com.
plisnce with American wishes at the
Arms Conference was based almost en-.
iirely upon the belief that cooperation
with the United States at this time
meant closer cooperation on economic
affairs later on.
But Mr.. Harding did make it clear
that the United States wouldn't take
the initiative. Europe. had to do that
and the United Staies would consider
the agenda or program carefully before
committing herself to participation. In
the midst Of this situation the BRAND
was overthrown and the first
thing Premier Poincare did was TO abol
ish the Supreme Council and decline to
permit French delegates at Genoa to dis.
cuss German reparations. These two
external developments gave the Harding
an opportunity to avoid
giving domestic reasons As the excuse
lot DECLINING the iu,itation IN Co,., |