Evening star., 1944-12-17
Senate Treaty Role
Again Under Attack
Multiplying Power of Minority
Has Long Been Challenged
Bv william II. Harrison

game of golf to the New World, but a
century passed before the idea caught
on and became one of Americas most
popular institutions Similarly, but in
somewhat more august field, he was
far ahead of his time in his notions re-
garding United States Senators: He
believed that they should be elected by
the people and not chosen by State Leg
islatures-a view which his country
finally accepted in 1918. when 1t adopted
the 18th amendment to the Constitution.
1t does not seem inappropriate at this
time, now that many people are cam
paigning to do away with the provision
requiring two-thirds Senate vote for
treaty ratification. to note that James
Wilson's ideas-including several that
later served as the basis for some of
Chief Justice Marshall's most important
decisions-thus appear to have had
way Of ultimately triumphing. For this
great but poorly remembered American
one Of the finest political scientists Of
his day, co-author of the final draft of
the Constitution and q member of the
first Supreme Court-was one of the
very few at the Federal Convention in
1887 who strongly objected to giving
third of the Senators the power to
Illustrate or embarrass the Government
in negotiating international pacts
Instead James Wilson favored the
idea of those who today would amend
the Constitution to make treaty ratifl-
cation conditional only on a majority
vote of both houses of Congress. Essen
TALLY, If he could speak again, his argu-
ment would probably be much the same
as the current one: If a congressional
majority Is all that Is needed to declare
war, why should more than that be
needed to make a peace or to support
bilateral or multilateral international
accords designed to serve the well-being
and interests Of America? The present
arrangement is dangerously lopsided.
Under it, theoretically at least, mere
handful of obstructionist Senators, rep
resenting less than 10 per cent of the
population of the United States-about
10000, 900 out of 1875 ,000, ,000-can do great
mischief In the world by rendering it
impossible for the executive branch Of
the Government to work out any great
understandings with other nations, even
though the overwhelming mass of the
people may want such understandings.
At the Federal Convention James
Wilson's argument was not strong
enough to overcome the deep-seated
feeling that existed at that time against
powerful executives. There was a very
real fear that foreign influences might
be able to "seduce' American negotia-
tors, and so, to be doubly on guard, the
Convention, contrary to all precedent
established by other governments, re-
fused to regard a majority congressional
vote as suficient check, but insisted
that the ratification power must rest in
the Senate alone, with the added re-
quirement of a two-thirds vote. The
Senate was chosen because of the belief
then existing that its members-care-
fully selected by the Legislatures for a
term of six years-would be superior in
judgment and experience to the popu-
larly elected members of the House,
who might tend to cater to the whims
and passions of their constituents in
order to be reelected every two years
1t was thought, too, that in dealing
with treaties the compact Senate would
be more efficient mechanism than the
much bigger House.
In large measure the views that thus
prevailed in James Wilson's day do not
carry great weight now. but the Senate
apparently is as intent as ever upon
keeping to itself its exceptional and
exclusive power. Defenders of the pre-
rogative declare that 1t has not in the
least interfered with over two thirds of
the treaties negotiated in our history
and that from the beginning of the
Republic up to the present, only 10
treaties commanding majority support
have been defeated as a result of it.
The other side of the argument, how
ever, is that among these 10 have been
such crucial treaties as the Versailles
treaty and that many other accords
have died aborning because Senators SO
amended them as to make them unac-
ceptable to foreign governments. Sew
eral Presidents and Secretaries of State
have complained bitterly on this score,
one of them being John Hay, who in
1899 declared:
We have five or six matters now .
demanding settlement. I can settle
them all honorably and advantage
ously and I am assured by
leading men in the Senate that not
one of these treaties, If negotiated,
will pass the Senate. / should have
majority in every case, but mall
content third would dish every one
OF them. To such monstrous shape
has the original mistake of the Con-
stitution grown in the evolution of
our politics.
1t has been because of such difficulties
as John Hays that executive agree
ments have been resorted to in in
creasing numbers. Out of total of
more than 1000 of them, over TOO have
been negotiated since 1917, but many
OF the more famous of them-including
the Louisiana Purchase-date back far
In our history. A good number of them
some going into effect without any con-
gresSional action and others with merely
majority vote of both houses-are
indistinguishable in substance from
treaties, and indeed several of them were
deliberately worked out after treaties
covering the same subjects had been
rejected by the Senate Actually, since
the Constitution doas not do6pa ~ ~