President Wilson has sent what is practically an ultimatum to the Allies. If they persist in their course on the question of Jugoslavia and Italy, the United States is to withdraw her ships from the Adriatic and remain aloof from further European negotiations.
The treaty is once more in jeopardy. A similar situation occurred when the president was in Paris. The Shantung controversy made a call for the George Washington necessary. The Treaty hung in the balance and in the end, the President was forced to compromise. His point, a good one, had to give way for the sake of the treaty as a whole.
Mr. Wilson now occupies a very strong position. He can by a single action place the League, the Treaty, and the Anglo--French treaty in the category of the impossible. A compromise may not be necessary on this point.
But if a compromise is necessary to save the Treaty, it should be made. The Treaty cancelled means disorganization; the breaking down of that delicate structure so laboriously built up. If a compromise is the price of the Treaty no matter how imperfect that Treaty may be rendered, the great stepping stone toward international morality is well worth the price.
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SECRETARY ROOSEVELT ARRAIGNS GOVERNMENT