National Affairs: Treaty Session

At the call of the President the Senate met in special session last week to debate the London Naval Treaty. To the surprise of Republican Leader Watson, 58 Senators—nine more than the necessary quorum—answered the first roll call. He thought the Senate would dispose of the Treaty favorably in a fortnight, provided a quorum could always be mustered to resist adjournment motions by the opposition, Senator Hiram Johnson of California commanding. So eager was President Hoover to maintain a quorum that he asked Senator Reed Smoot, only three days a bridegroom (see p. 61), to forego a Honolulu honeymoon and return immediately from Salt Lake City to Washington and, with new Mrs. Smoot, make the White House his home during the Treaty session. Senator Smoot obeyed his President and party leader. President Hoover sent an 1,800-word message to the Senate explaining the Treaty’s diplomatic virtues, asking speedy ratification. Chosen to describe and recommend the Treaty in detail was Senator Claude Swanson of Virginia, No. 1 Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. Declared the President: “This Treaty does mark an important step in disarmament and world peace. . . . The only alternative is the competitive building of navies with all of its flow of suspicion, hate, ill-will and ultimate disaster. . . . Every solitary fact which affects judgment upon the Treaty is known and the document itself comprises the sole obligation of the United States.”