The New York herald., 1922-02-02

existed in conference circles over the
successful conclusions reached after
many difficulties, both real and
fancied, Secretary Hughes and Mr..
Balfour, who have filled the most i'm
portant and arduous roles, were be-
ginning TO show the wear and tear
on their none too robust physical
machinery.
The fact is that the manifold contro-
Versies over comparatively unimport-
ant issues seemed to have been getting
on the nerves of all the delegates in
the last week. With nine-tenths Of
the work finally disposed of, these
delegates and their technical advisers
to-day acted a good deal like crowd
OF sophomores who had just beaten
The midwinter exams by a narrow
margin
While the audience which filed the
1900 seats on the floor and the gal
leries of Continental Hall was as
sembling. Mr.. Hughes Mr.. Root, Sena-
tors Underwood and Lodge acted as
hosts in receiving the foreign dele
=
south of the flag girted and brilliantly
lighted council chamber.
The delegates with their military
and naval escorts arrived in automo-
biles. which plowed through three feet
Of snow, but it was not. deep enough
10 prevent crowd of a thousand men
and women from lining the approaches
to the building which the proud
Ia A.. rAIx
erected to commemorate the valor of
their forebears.
The assemblage that gathered to
witness what probably was the most
impressive international event ever
held in the world was most distin-
guished and impressive. In color tone
it was quiet, except for the splashes
OF brightness in the uniforms of the
land and sea fighters of this and other
countries and the elaborate costumes
of the fur clad women whose husbands
are important enough TO justify official
attention.
Every one of the thirty chairs sur
rounding the hollow square of tables
and set aside for the delegates was
occupied with the exception of those
that had been used by NJ. BRAND ana
NJ Viviani, who a little more than a
month ago portrayed the conditions Of
France with the full power of that
Government behind them.
In the rear of Secretary Hughes, the
presiding officer sat the members of
the American advisory committee
Pershing, the uniformed Commander in
Chief of the army; Assistant Secre-
tary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt
jformer Senator Willard Salisbury and
sothers.
Boxes were reserved for the women
relatives of the leading delegates. The
galleries were divided among the
diplomats representing every country
in the world including the German
Charge dAffaires.
Struggled Against Monotony.
No time was wasted in preliminaries
When Mr.. Hughes rose with a sheaf
cf official documents in his hand he
had the air of an attorney about to
present case to a legal tribunal. His
face reflected to some extent the try.
ing ordeal through which he has
passed during the last three months.
1t was gray, drawn and lined Most of
the time that he was in action he
seemed to be suffering from a cold,
though he did not cough, as did per-
haps one-third of the men and women
in the chamber.
The American Secretary has had
some hard jobs before In his career,
butnone that required so much exact
ing and at times tiresome attention to
the written word. He. chiefly Off
ciated as reading clerk and struggled
successfully against the obvious mo-
rotony to make himself absolutely
clear. lucid and explicit.
He started the machinery OF the
conference by reading the resolutions
adopted by the Far Eastern committee
relating to the program for providing
China with a new charter There were
eight resolutions in the string that he
ratified off with slight pause between
each. Consecutively they were the
resolutions pledging all foreign Powers
10 withdraw their post offices and for
eign troops from China; refrain from
discriminatory practice; providing for
the regulations of Chinese radio and
communication, and turning back 20
China the control of her customs SER
vice. AS he read each resolution Mr.
Hughes announced that the United
States assents.' He then called the
roll of the other Powers, beginning
with Great Britain. which also "as.
sented," thereby placing the stamp Of
their approval on the undertaking.
The resolutions are to be embodied
In the nine Power Chinese treaty.
First Ripple of Applause.
The first ripple of applause came
when Mr.. Hughes called up the "open
door" resolution prepared by Mr.. Root
and which were approved by most OF
The heads Of the delegations. But this
was only a futter compared TO the
storm of handclapplng that followed
the next announcement, which was de-
iivered with a smile.
1t was that he felt happy to say
! have been advised by the delegates
of China and Japan that the long
drawn and unhappy controversy over
Shantung has been settled"
The Secretary then read the eleven
articles contained in tire treaty directly
negotiated between the Chinese and