Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-24
EUROPE MUST
COME To {.
FOR PARLEYS
Cannot Expect America
to Take Hand Unless
Meet Is on This Side.
Harding Profits by Ex-
p~erience Of Wilson in
Treaty of Versailles.
By ROBERT r. SMALL
Special CORRESPONDENT of Great Falls Tribune
fConvripht 1890 Ry Great Falls Trib,,nef

Special CORRESPONDENT OF 6THaf FGif tTtDusi1
Copyright. 1922, BY Great Falls Tribune}
Washington, Dec. 23.-Any confer
ence in which the United States
actively participates, looking to a set
Element of affairs in Europe, must be
held in this country, preferably in
Washington.
President Harding will not go to
Europe nor will he send any repre-
sentative with plenary powers to
Europe.
The president believes that if Amer
lea goes in." her incursion must be
made in the midst of the widest pos
sible publicity. That publicity only is
possible in this country. The president
further believes that the American
people will give their support to plans
for assistance only if they know all
about those plans. The American
people are suspicious of European con
ferences. These conferences smack OF
old world diplomacy.
Washington, on the other hand. is
entirely free from the atmosphere OF
intrigue and diplomacy. There are
diplomacy straits which do not flourish
here, even if imported.
/. Would Control Participation
1t is the belief in administration
circles that in q Washington confer
euce the extent to which America
might participate in European affairs
would be under better control than if
the conference were held IN Europe
and cable exchanges were necessary.
Mr.. Harding would want to be in I'M
mediate touch with such a conference,
as nothing could drag him overseas in
emalation of Woodrow Wilson. The
statesmen of Europe must come TO
this country II the conversations now
in progress lead TO a point where a
conference is fully called. 1t is admit
ted in Europe that help, both moral
and financial, can come to that striker
continent from the United States. For
the past three years the people of the
United States, however. have been
harangued with direful forecasts of the
evil that would come out of a
from America TO participate in
European affairs The halls of con-
gress. especially the senate, have been
running with sonorous denuneiations
of Europe and all her works. The
people have been warned that any
move in the direction of European aid
would mean loss of American in
%fluenee.
Must Overcome Propaganda
Word has gone from the White
House that the United States, after
all, cannot be unmindful of what is
going on in Europe and there is
objection TO a great and prosperous
people lending q hand. It will take
49, -o-1r4bAiaS, 70 ntr,a ant
the effects of much of the propaganda
of the isolation which has been
preached so long and it is held here
that one of the best methods of doing
this is to have the conference ON
to Washington. The psychological eff
feet of holding the conference in this
ountry upon the people of this coun-
try cannot be overestimated. The
American people felt they knew all
about the conference from beginning
10 end: they felt that in n way it was
their own particular conference and
they were ready whoIe-heartedly to
approye any scheme that came out of
that conference. IL the gathering had
taken place in London or Paris or
Rome there always would have been
suspicion in the minds of the American
people that Europeans were putting
something over" again.
Wilson's Trouble Recalled
The experience President Wilson had
with the United States senate over
the treaty of Versailles is still fresh
in the mind of President Harding.
Therefore. if there is to be a radical
change in American foreign policy,
possibly in voting a treaty or agree
ment Of some kind. the president wants
the senate to know all about the
negotiations. He wants the conference
held SO that the senator's and repre-
sentatives In congress as well. can at
tend its sessions whenever they see fit.
A number of senators wanted to go
70 Paris during the negotiation of the
Versailles treaty but President Wilson
let II be known he objected strongly
to such a plan
1t was not carried out The senators
remained mt home and began to
denounce the pending treaty and the
majority of the senate remained hostile
to the end.
Mr.. Harding may continue to send
observers to Europe, may ever permit
Americans to sit on some of the
European committees, but when Il