The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-05
DEMOCRATIC POLICY WINS

DEMOCRATIC POLICY WINS
 However much they may seek to dis guise it under methods of secrecy and indirection, the Republicans are adopt ing in respect to the deliberations of the London conference exactly the policy advocated 'by Woodrow Wilson and the Democratic administration of which he was the head. The great war president clearly perceived that the day of Amer ican isolation was past and that hence forth the nation must take it's proper place in the congress of nations. Inas- much as our participation in world af- fairs was inevitable, Woodrow Wilson earnestly besought his countrymen to oc- cupy the position of leadership among nations, position that was ours by vir- tue of the fortunes of war and the vicissitudes of the other powers. Because of a group of "wilful men," this great vision of alpeerless a statesman was not then realized, and only now in a round- about manner are the Republicans pro- ceeding to perform that world function which no other nation is able to per form, and which we can no longer ignore.
 The Republican administration, reluc- tantly and tardily, has finally been in- pelled, by the very force of circun1- stances that will not be denied, to as- sume the role that the arbiter of human destinies has created for us. As the days of the conference. pass by,- it becomes increasingly apparent that the Americans have the deciding voice and the deciding influence, and that today our diplomats are ushering in the belated period of re- construction which we could have ini- tiated four&years ago, but for the po- litical jealousies and selfish animosities that beset our senate during the closing months of sthe Wilson administration. Although we occupy no recognized posi- tion at the conference, except that of friendly and unofficial observer, yet the grim realities cannot be denied and the Republican administration has been forced to admit the essense where they have denied the form of our inevitable and intimate concern in the welfare of Europe and of all the world.
 Consider the eminent figures that have found it convenient to be in Lon don and in Berlin during this momentous conference session. There is MT. Owen D. Young, outstanding financier and business expert, member of the commit tee of experts which conceived that magnificent plan of European rehabilita- tion which is forming the foundation of the present deliberations. There is Am bassador Kellogg, the highest ranking of all our diplomatic representatives in for eign capitals. There is Ambassador My ron T. Herrick. able envoy to the French capital and of foremost influence among all our diplomats, especially with the French leaders, but held in highest es- teem also at Berlin. There is Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, not officially accred- tied, perhaps, but recognized by the for eign governments as the secretary of our treasury and empowered to speak with the voice of the authority germane to his office. Last, but not least of all, there is Charles Evans Hughes, our sec retary of state and the most able states man in the Republican party. Over there, to be sure, he stands for no party, but for the government of the United States of America. No higher official of our government exists except the presi- dent himself. What does all this array of imposing figures mean except that the Republican administration has finally come to realize the gravity of the world situation and the burden that rests upon us to do !Our part, whether we will or no? C.
 However, informal this congregation of American experts and leaders and of- ficial representatives may appear, it is essentially a Republican equalization to circumstances which the party has for more than, three years sought unsuccess- fully to resist. It means the triumph of Democratic policies, for surely no po- litical triumph could be greater or more complete than for one party to have its principles and it's policies unwillingly em- braced by the opposition because of their sheer merritt Thus the Republicans, in the most graphic and convincing manner, ad- init to the nation and to the whole world that they have been wrong to deny their world responsibilities.
 The principles of Woodrow Wilson have thus come closer to their final tri- umph. The rest of the world was ready to admit their virtue at the end of the war. Wilson's compatriots it was who denied him the qualification of beholding this consummation of the purpose for which he unreservedly gave his last years and his final fighting strength. But right eventually wins, as in this case. The stubbornness of the French has been