Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-08
LARGE ATTENDANCE
HELD TREATY HELP
Presence of SO Senators at
Special Session Was
Unexpected.
By MARK SULLIVAN.

The presence of So Senators, 9 more
than quorum, as the Senate special
session begins consideration of the ma
val treaty Is, under the circumstances,
little short of sensational. Literally, no
one OF the Senators in position to have
thu best information and no observer
expected as many as So Senators, The
expectation, not very confident, was that
perhaps as many as 50 Senator'S might
turn up after the session has been under
way for a day or two. To the friends
OF the treaty the surprisingly large num-
Der present from the beginning is agree
able. To the opponents it is extremely
discouraging.
The universal assumption is that the
only danger Of rnisadventure to the
treaty lies in the possibility Of not
enough Senator'S being present. either
now or later. The fact that so MANY
are present at the beginning is ac-
cepted as meaning that probably at no
Time VIII the treaty fail because of
lack OF q quorum, 40, or because of
Willingness of tired Senators to adjourn
Ii the treaty does not fail for that rea-
son 1t Will not fail at all.
=, 1t Is universally taken for granted
tnat the opponents of the treaty Cannot
peat It by a straight vote in the SEN
ATE. The assumption held by literally
everybody is that the opponents can
achieve nothing except postponement
until Fail and that postponement can
Come ABOUT only under One or two con-
dltions. II some hot Gay should find
no quorum present, or IL the tired
irlends OF the treaty should be willing
20 vote 10 adjourn until Fall in either
OF tnese events the opponents would
lake the only trick that is in the cards
Tor them at this session.
No Quorum Expected.
1t was thought that no quorum would
De present at the opening, and that II
would take at least a day or so for the
1rlen0S OF the treaty to nfobOlize A mIo-
rum. BY the presence of q confortahle
margin over q quorum at the opening
the friends of the treaty gain dsv
nterally ana much more than a day
psychologically.
The presence on the opening dAv of
at least 10 more Senators than were ex-
pected rehects strength of the friends
OF the treaty and something besides. It
means that the Senators who are COM
paratively Indifferent to the treaty. are
concerned for the standing of the Sem
ate before the country. They realize
that If this special session should merely
peter out into adjournment because of
absence of half or more of the Senate,
the spectacle would not be one to in
crease the country's esteem for the
Senate
1t seems reasonable now to take 1t for
granted that at least quorum of the
Senate will be present daily until the
treaty hight Is concluded. If that as
sumption is correct, the length of the
session may be abbreviated. If the op-
ponentS OF the treaty should be really
convinced that quorum of the Senate
will be here continuously, the opposition
might readily throw up its hands and
permit the vote to come early. Literally,
all the hopes Of the opponents must
necessarily look to delay and postpone
ment. Among observers there is no Sc
rious expectation Of the conversion of as
much as one Senator TO the side Of the
opposition.
The estimated present number of OPP
ponents is IA, of whom two are absent.
This present estimate itself reflects
ebbing strength. At one time the OPP
position was expected to have Slightly
more than 20 votes. 1t seems fair to
judge that all the struggle made by the
opponents so far has not added one
Senator to their ranks.
Only 10 Foes Present.
The number of opponents present IN
the special session, IL out Of 96, happens
by coincidence to be the same as the
number of senatorial opponents of
President Wilson, whom he described as
"a little group of wilful men," With
only IL votes against the treaty, "a votes
in favor would make the necessary two
thirds majority. This is subject, how
ever, to the qualification that no vote
can be taken unless quorum, 40, Is
present. The presence Of comfortable
margin over a quorum on the opening
day means present disbursement and
probably ultimate defeat for the opposi-
ton. Expressed from the point of view
of the other side, 1t means that friends
of the treaty plus friends of the prestige
of the Senate have united to prevent the
special session from ending futilely
through default OF q majority Wiling
to go on.
It is inherent in the situation that the
opponents of the treaty may be diScoiIr-
aged by the present and probably con-
tinued presence of more than quorum:
1t is conceivable the encouragement OF
the opponents might lead to a quick
wind-up Of the fight and success for the
treaty. If that should not happen, delay
with ultimate postponement could arise
in one of several ways. Long speeches
can make for delay. Fol the most part,
the long speeches will be confined to
the opponents. The treaty's friends exc
pect to make enough speeches at the bee
ginning to explain the treaty to the pub
Tic adequately. Thereafter probably the
treaty's friends will restrict themselves
to making such brief speeches as they
may deem necessary to point out what
they regard as defects in the arguments
of the opponents. Delay could also be
achieved by the treaty's opponents If.
they should insist upon separate dis
cussion of each of the % articles that
the treaty contains. Yet another pos
sible means of bringing about delay
would be to Introduce many reservations,
each of which would need to be debated
and voted upon.
1CopyriEht. f9sO)