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Show i Escaping National Peril f i ( , BY SCOTT C. BONE. . When Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, brought ick from Paris llio Pence Treaty, with the League of Nations, covenant. j- fee peremptorily demanded Its acccptanco and ratification without th' jj ' H 'ttotllun of an 1 or the crossing of a t. 1 I .W. ' J -SiBn hero" was. In ertcct, the white Houso doereo. . . fLv. J 7T,C European-made document was submitted as a perfect piece of W diwork, tho product of Infallible minds breathing brotherly lore V n It every lino and guaranteeing to a harried and harrassed world an f itSuring peace. J. . ', j mind followers of the President hailed It as alt but foreshadow- -jd , '1 . ttjiK the dawn of the mlllonlum and there ensued an Insistent outcry !BE Y irar Imuiedlato concurrence In tho provisions of tho pact. , i Hut America possessed stnteomen who wore not to bo swept off ' A JTJr feet by popular clamor Hepubllcan statesmen. '( I; '. J There wcro those who paused to think and read. , ' Blihu floot, tho omlnent Secretary of State In Roosovelt's cabinet, Iwan no of tho first of theso to discover defects in the proposed eovo- ,. , nit. A firm bcllover In the principle of a League of Nations, ho was l hi Jjci-k to see, nevertheless, that tho treaty to which tho President stood f . ' i (cvmralttod required mlich more than the crossing of a t or the dotting I & -" t it Wan I. In order adequately to protect America It must carry impor-l ICj ? "' ; fait reservations and he submitted scvoral. i SKa ' Charles E. Hughes, distinguished' Jurist of national and Interna. X ? n& , Clenl repute tho Republican standbearor In 116 likewise voiced i"- f Jlrifei criticism of the document and also outlined reservations which hej i4 , Mecmcd Imperative. A " ' j Bubsequently, William Howard Taft, formoi President of the v ' . f' I? X"ViStd States and foremost champion of the League of Nation Idea, un It l '. ' ('Mi' (o give unqualified approval to tho treaty In Its original form., n! ' i k .-" .aawntcd to tho need of reservations, taking issue with Messrs. Hoot T J jl, 'fwwJ Hughes only as to tho form of theso reservations. gv ,' a (jKt1 'Meantime tho Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Henry ' J 'Csbot LoiIro, Clinlrman, had taken up the Versailles pact and proceeded. !'&', o gho It the laborious and analytical attention it deserved as Involv.l ' ' . B ' . '!: tho most Important problems that had come before the United - I k 'talra Senate the Joint treaty-making power In all the history of 8 $ that body. Unmoved by the still persistent clamor and outcry un- b I, kalTrctcd by White House pressure Senator Lodge and his Republican k f .rulleaguos kept at their work untlt, mastering Its Intricacies and ratnlfl- j A VnrfJons, they had Americanised tho treaty through and throagh pre- ft .. 4aerving to Congress, by reservation, the constitutional right to declare4 i f 1 Jw-r. reaffirming the Monroe Doctrine and otherwise safeguarding the .1 ' N Republic's institutions beyond possibility of peril. I Save' ' AnJ 0' tnnk ,0 ,no Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, &S um Peace Treaty, with Its League ot Nations covenant. Is todny in form H j for ratification. B S .1 But action halts. t- -r flP ' Wh3,r ! m Because a dwindling Democratic minority still refuses to recog-j ffli'' righteous defeat and fain would save by phraseology the feelings jE Sp ( the President. i fli 'V 2 What a change has come over the country! It Is striking In the, lh ,,. '. iwtreme. No longer Is a solitary voice heard from any quarter In sup-' H Hp frt of the covenant without reservations. ( P Jfc . Whatever the outcomo of the struggle at Washington, whether H S -America is to have a part In tho League of Nations or not. It Is clear D BNS 'now to everybody everybody outside tho White House that but for IT f i fidelity to duty and the courage of a Republican Senate America, W 1 Hwrould have been committed to untold folly fof which many generations K S: come would have been called upon tp pay. , JAB r |