Evening star., 1944-06-11

mat was an extraordinary SeAlcS VI
conferences which Secretary of State
Cordell Hull, seeking to smooth the way
to Senate acceptance of the administra-
tons peace plans, held with group OF
eight Senators in April and May.
Traditionally, though treaties consti-
tutionally must be made by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate"
there has been sharp separation be-
tween the negotiation of treaties and
the final step ntheir making-ratif1ca-
ton by two-thirds vote in the Senate.
Out of this separation have grown his
toric clashes between the Executive and
the Senate, like that which wrecked
Wilson'S peace settlement after the last
war.
Hull upset tradition, but he had
precedent for interpreting the language
of the treaty-making clause of the Con-
stitution to mean advice" of the Sen
ate during the process of negotiation as
well as afterward. George Washington
so read the Constitution.
washington Rebuffed.
Early in his administration he went
before the Senate to advise with it about
the negotiation of a treaty with the
Cherokee Indians. Evidently thinking
that debate would follow, while he
would answer questions, he handed the
Vice President, John Adams, seven ar
ticles of the proposed treaty. The Sem
ate, however, showed itself reluctant to
discuss the treaty in his hearing and
after some hesitation voted to refer the
matter to committee. Washington felt
that he had been rebuffed.' He arose
and said angrily: This defeats every
purpose of my coming here" Later, he
declared that "he would be damned If
he ever went there again."
More than anything else that has
occurred in our diplomatic history, the
recent conferences between Hull and the
eight Senators Approximate what WASH
ington originally had in mind. Individ-
ual Senators, it is true, have been con-
suited on treaty negotiations but there
has been nothing comparable to this ef-
fort of Secretary Hull's to reach an un-
derstanding with a selected group of key
men In the Senate on peace settlement
yet to be submitted and, through this
understanding, to keep partisanship out
of the debates on the settlement and
avert such tragic defeat as Wilson
suffered in 1890.
The eight Senators comprise four
Democrats-Connally of Texas, chair
man of the Senate's Foreign Relations
Committee; Barkley of Kentucky, the
majority leader; Gillette of Iowa and
George of Georgia; three Republicans
Austin OF Vermont. vandenberg of
Michigan and White of Maine, and one
Progressive, La Toilette of Wisconsin.
There are various opinions among the
eight as to how far Hull succeeded in
his purpose, but apparently all are
agreed that at least, In the cautious
words of one of them, the Senate and
the administration are much further
advanced toward an agreement than
they would have been without the con-
ference.
None of the Senators will permit him.
self to be quoted on what went on in
the meetings. Until few days ago, in
deed, the fact that they were being
held was itself a secret-a secret so well
kept that even while they were in prog
ress, several speeches were made on the
Senate floor which indicated complete
ignorance of the conferences.
Idea Was HulPs.
The idea of the meetings was Hulls,
and apparently he had the controlling
voice in the selection of the conferees.
All are members of the Foreign Rela-
tions Committee of the Senate, though
Austin-one of the Senate's outstanding
champions of world co-operation-was
not on the committee when selected
Hull had already, for nearly two years
past. been talking with individual Sen
ators of both parties, and the repre-
sentatives of various private organiza-
tions, with view to keeping the peace
treaties out of partisan politics.
Starting In April, five forenoon meet
ings were held at approximately weekly
intervals. They were in Hull's ofice in
the State Department Building, and
lasted about two hour each. The atmos-
phere was most informal. Hull sat at