Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 193, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1919 — TREATY MAY BE RATIFIED [ARTICLE]

TREATY MAY BE RATIFIED

TWENTY REPUBLICANS SAID TO FAVOR PACT WITH RESERVATIONS. Washington, Aug. 15.—Negotiations between democratic and republican senators, looking to ratification of the peace treaty with reservations, reached a more definite stage today while President Wilson and the foreign relations committee were getting together on unprecedented measures to give the public all the details of- their discussion of the treaty next Tuesday at the white house. Democratic leaders, feeling out sentiment on the republican side, were told that the treaty could never be ratified without qualification, but that more than twenty republicans desired to see it accepted in the near future with reservations along the line of those agreed on by seven senators of that party some days ago. This information came from members otf the group of seven after completion of a poll begun Wednesday on receipt of the first democratic overtures. The twenty needed by the democrats to make the necessary ratification majority of sixty-four had not accepted the proposed reservation, program in exact form, it was asserted, 'but had given their assent to its general provisions.

Afterward Senator Hitchcock, the democratic leader, went to the white house and is understood to have laid the whole senate situation before the president. He made no formal announcement after the conference, but indicated that the administration stand for unreserved ratification remained unchanged. Some of the seven reservation republicans, however, insist that they (have had information assuring democratic assent to their program. A new draft of reservations was shown to several republicans during the day by Senator Lodge, the republican leader. It is understood to cover the four points embraced in the program agreed on by the seven senators and to include also a provision that the appointment of the American representative on the league council must have senate approval. The other four provisions relate to the Monroe doctrine, withdrawal from membership, jurisdiction over purely domestic questions and the right of congress to declare war under article 10 of the league covenant. Although it began discussion of proposed amendment to the treaty today, the committee decided to vote on none of them until it had talked with the president. There will (be no meeting tomorrow and most of next week probably will be devoted to hearing the five additional witnesses summoned yesterday. The question of how soon the committee would report to the senate, was one of the subjects most earnestly discussed in the many conferences held among senators during the day. While the_deanocratic leaders said they believed twenty republicans would exert their influence for early committee action, it was made clear by the reservation republicans that they had not promised any republican votes for a motion to take the treaty out of the committee’s hands. After his white house conference Senator Hitchcock mid the committee might report within ten days or two weeks. He made it clear that getting the treaty into the senate as soon as practicable was the present concern of the administration.