Hullabaloo

Following the President's speech, newspapers published a deluge of reports about its political reaction. Partisan papers flew into headlines. One side published " Harding's Speech Splits Party." The other side (notably The Christian Science Monitor] ran " President Finds His Court Policy Backed by Public."

The truth is that as yet neither of these things has happened. The only two prominent Republicans who openly voiced their opposition to the President's remarks were Senators Borah and La Follette. A larger number of Republican Senators--Smoot, McKinley, Sterling, McNary and others--came out openly in favor of the President's proposal. Several important Republican leaders kept scrupulous silence--and in some cases it was a silence of disapprobation. Senator Moses, chairman of the Republican Senatorial Committee is in Europe--but an irreconcilable. Representative Wood, chairman of the corresponding House committee, is known to be opposed to the World Court. The same is understood of John T. Adams, National Chairman, whose only remark was that the President's speech had " clarified the situation." Senator Lodge', chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, remained nominally on the fence, but in a letter to Governor Hyde of Missouri the only part of the President's remarks which he thoroughly approved was the declaration that we would not enter the League. For the rest Mr. Lodge refers several times to the " League Court" and to " the court proposed and chosen by the League"--phrases that are hardly calculated to convey the same impression as Mr. Harding's speech.

There is another group of Republicans who take their cue from that part of the President's speech in which he said: " I would not have it thought that I hold this question paramount to all others confronting our Government. I do not hold it a menace to the unity of any political party. It is not to be classed as a party question." Among this number is Senator Watson, another member of the Foreign Relations Committee. His chief comment on the World Court is that party dissension will " be smoothened out."