President Wilson in a letter read at a Democratic Party
festival last week advised the party not to compromise with the Republicans over the Peace Treaty, but to make the Covenant the leading issue of the coming Presidential election. He did not, he said, object to any reservations by which the Senate sought to express the " undoubted meaning " of the Treaty. But the Treaty could not be rewritten, and must be accepted or rejected. It is significant that Mr. l3ryan, who spoke after the President's letter had been read, strongly disapproved of the President's proposal. Mr. Bryan said that it would delay the Treaty till March, 1921, when the next President takes office, and that even then there might still be a hostile majority in the Senate. He urged the Democratic Senators to come to terms with the Republicans and dispose of the Treaty. It must be remembered, however, that while the President cannot ratify the Treaty without the Senate's approval, the Senate cannot ratify it without the President's signature. Nothing can be done unless the President and the Senate agree.
