The Washington herald. [volume], February 14, 1920, Image 1

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THE WEATHER
Fair today and tomorrow ; colder to
day. Detailed weather report ?rill be
found on editorial paje.
THE WASHINGTON HERALD
rVESTERMAlSTS
"Sketdsw Fron Life" ?mar treaty Em
day in Tbe Wa-haiinlnii Herald; ?
of droll "
NO. 4.356 WASHINGTON. D. C. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 19.20. ONE CENT fcaggtSiM
LANSING RESIGNS ON PRESIDENTS DEMAND
ACCUSED OF USURPING EXECUTIVE POWERS
RAILWAY MEN
' PONDERING ON
WILSON'S FIAT
._
Door Locked Pending De
cision on Proposed
Settlement.
SUBST/ANCE IS SECRET |
LafcoT Chiefs See President
And Receive Written
Proposition.
""?resident Wilson's counter propo
sal to the demands of the railroad
(brotherhoods for a wajre Increase
' was the subject of considerstion by
representatives of the men at a ser
le-? of conferences which beiran
shortly after their visit to the White
House and which were still in ses
sion last night
The brotherhoods' representatives
are not expected to reach a decision
before today. and until they do
reach a decision and revisit the
White House, the President's propo
sition will not ke made publi? . The
only intimation yesterday as to Its
contents was that it wa? "based on
justice to all interests."
For fifteen minutes thi? forenoon
the President conferred with Timo
thy Shea, acting president of the
Brotherhood of Firemen and En
iiinemen: B. M. Jewell, president of
the railway department of the
Amoratan Federation of Laabor. and K.
J. Manion. president of the Order or
Railway Telegrapher?.
Save for a short conference the
OnSTIM'ICD ON TAGB THRBi.
DEFICIT CLOSES
* NIGHTSCHOOLSi
Vacation ForcecHr* 10,000
{jeden ts by Appropria
tion Delay.
- ?
Fubiic night school* in the ?? ?- _
trict. which are being attended by j
10.000 pupil.?, will ciotte Monday.
with the exception of I.usines* High,
night achool, which will close Tuea- ?
t
day.
Prohibitory statutes prevent the
District Commissioner? from allow- ?
in? the schools to continue with- j
out appropriations, it was decided j
late yesterday afternoon by Dis- {
trict Auditor Daniel J. Donovan.
The night schools, which are.
awaiting passage of a deficiency :
bill providing1 $2t?,000 for carrying
? ?n the work until June, must take
a "vacation" for a week or ten
days, or until the deficiency appro
priation is passed, the Commission
era stated last night after a con
ference with the auditor.
"It is deplorable that such action
is necessary, bot we are confronted
with a law which specifically ties
our hands." Commissioner Brown
tow declared.
Superintendent of Schools Ernest ?
I?w Thurston had requested the |
Commissioners to allow the night
schools to continue their sessions,
m anticipation of favorable action >
by Congress on the appropriation ,
measure now before it.
Auditor Donovan pointed out to
the Commissioners that the law
prohibits accepting services of de
partments of the government with
out authorized appropriations being
available therefor and provides a
fine for violations by officials of the
government.
STOCK MAN PREDICTS
$5 BUTTER, SIMM
?- ?
Butter at IB a pound and milk at ;
$1 a quart Is the cheerful predir- :
lion of John Bullock, of Black Hill?, I
S. Dak.
Bullock, who i? president of the j
Livestock Grower? 6f the Little
Missouri River ?e-ction. arrived in I
Washington yesterday to find out I
what has become of the govern- ?
ment's campaign against the high !
cost ot living.
"Cattle, sheep snd hogs Lave
dropped rapidly ?Ince last August."
he said, "and consumer? have noth
ing to look forward to but modi
higher prices than now prevail."
France Advances Clock
Hour to Conserve Light
Paris. Feb. 11.?France will put
the clock ahead one hour tomorrow,
and the aew daylight saving Is ex
pected to reduce national expendi
tures by at least ?O.'Mlo.eoO francs
(normally ???.??F.????. It Is cal
culated Frshce will ?"*? -.on,???
of etui ?^,??. S
tons of coal XV -a*-,-,*??' > per
?est electricity. an?lA' ,,t
th? usual gas production.
Text of Correspondence
Between President and
Ex-Secretary of State
The White House.
Washington, February 7, 1920.
: My dear Mr. Secietary:
Is it true, as I have been told, that during my illness you have
??frequently called the heads of the executive departments of the gov
1 crnment into conference? If it is, I feel it my duty to call your at
| tention to considerations which I do not care to dwell upon until I
learn from you yourself that this is the fact. Under our constitu
tional law and practice, as developed hitherto, no one but the Presi
dent has the right to summon the heads of the executive departments
into tonference, and no one but the President and the Congress has
the right to ask their views or the views of any one of them on any
public question.
I take this matter up with you because in the development of
every constitutional system, custom and precedent arc of the most
serious consequence, and I think we will all agree in desiring not to
lead in any wrong direction. 1 have therefore taken the liberty of
writing you to ask you this question, and I am sure you will be glad
to answer.
1 am happy to learn from your recent note to Mrs. Wilson that
your strength is returning.
Cordially and sincerely yours,
WOODROW WILSON.
Hon. Robert Lansing,
Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State,
Washington, February 9, 1920.
My dear Mr. President:
It is true that frequently during your illness I requested Ihe
heads of the executive departments of the government to meet for
informal conference.
Shortly after you were taken ill in October certain members of
the Cabinet, of which I was one, felt that, in view of the fact that
we were denied communication with you, it was wise for us to confi'r
informally together on interdepartmental matters and matters as to
which action could not be postponed until your medical advisers per
mitted you to pass upon them. Accordingly I, as the ranking mem
ber, requested the members of the Cabinet to assemble for such in
formal conference; and in view of the mutual benefit derived the
practice was continued. I can assure you that it never for a moment
entered my mind that I was acting unconstitutionally or contrary to
your wishes, and there certainly was no intention on my part to as
sume powers and exercise functions which under the Constitution
arc exclusively confided to Ihe President.
During these troublous times when many difficult and vexatious
qu?tions have arisen and when in the circumstances I have been de
prived of your guidance and direction, it has been my constant en
deavor to carry out your policies as I understood them and to act in
all matters as I believed you would wish me to act. If, however, you
think that I have failed in my loyalty to you and if you no longer
have confidence in me and prefer to have another conduct our foreign
affairs, I am of course ready, Mr. President, to relieve you of any
cmbarrassiiu 11I by ??lacing my resignation in your hands. I am, as
alwavs, Faithfully yours,
ROBERT LANSING
The WUite Hot.?*, .'- t
Washington, February 11, 1920.
My meet Mr. Secretary:
I am very much disappointed by your letter of February 9 in
1 reply to mine asking about the so-called Cabinet meetings* Vou
kindly explain the motives of those meetings and \ find nothing in
your letter which justifies your assumption of Presidential authority
1 in such a matter. You say you "felt that, in view of the fact that
you were denied communication with me, it was wi^o to confer in
formally together on interdepartmental matters and matters as to
which action could not be postponed until my medical auvisvr? |??.
mitted me" to be seen and consulted, but 1 have to remind you,
Mr. Secretary, that no action could be taken without me by the
Cabinet, and therefore there could have been no disadvantage in
awaiting action with regard to matters concerning which action could
not have been taken without me.
This affair, Mr. Secretary, only deepens a feeling that was grow
ing upon me. While we were still in Paris, I felt, and have felt
increasingly ever since, that you accepted my guidance anil direction
on questions with regard to which I had to instruct you only with
increasing reluctance, and since my return to Washington I have
been struck by the number of matters in which you have apparently
tried to forestall my judgment by formulating action and merely
asking my approval when it was impossible for me to form an inde
pendent judgment because I had not had an opportunity to cxaii-jiu'
Ihe circumstances with any degree of independence.
I, therefore, feel that I must frankly take advantage of your kind
suggestion that if 1 should prefer to have another to conduct our
foreign affairs you are ready to relieve me of any embarrassment by
placing your resignation in my hands, for I must say that it would
relieve me of embarrassment, Mr. Secretary, the embarrassment of
feeling your reluctance and divergence of judgment, if you would
give your present office up and afford me an opportunity to select
someone whose mind would more willingly go along with mine.
I need not tell you with what reluctance I take advantage of
your suggestion, or that I do so with ihe kindliest feeling. In mat
ters of transcendent importance like this the only wise course is a
course of perfect candor, where personal feeling is as much as possi
ble left out of the reckoning. Very sincerely yours,
WOODROW WILSON.
Hon. Robert Lansing, ?
Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State,
Washington, February 12, 1920
My dear Mr. President:
1 wish to thank you sincerely lor your candid letter of the nth
in which you state that my resignation would be acceptable to you,
since it relieves me of the responsibility for action which I have
been contemplating and which 1 can now take without hesitation as
it meets your wishes.
I have the honor, therefore, to tender you my resignation as
Secretary of State, the same to take effect at your convenience.
In thus severing our official association I feel, Mr. President,
that I should make the following statement which I had prepared
recently and which will show you that I have not been unmindful
that the continuance of our present relations was impossible and that
I realized that it was clearly my duty to bring them to an end at the
earliest moment compatible with the public interest.
Kvcr since January, 1019, I have been conscious o? the fact that
you no longer were disposed to welcome my advice M matters per
taining to the negotiations in Paris, to our foreign service, or to
international affairs in general. Holding these views I would, if I
had consulted my personal inclination alone, have resigned as Secre
tary of State and as a Commissioner to Negotiate Peace. 1 felt,
however, that such a step might have been misinterpreted both at
home and abroad, and that it was my duty to cause you no em
barrassment in carrying forward the great task in which you were
then engaged. Possibly I erred in this, but if. 1 did it was with the
best of motives.
When I returned to Washington in the latter part of July, 1919,
my personal wish to resign had not changed, but again 1 felt that
loyally to you and my duty to the Administration compelled me to
defer action as my resignation might have been misconstrue?J into
hostility to the ratification of the .treaty of peace or at least into
disapproval of your views as to the form of ratification. I, therefore,
remained silent, avoiding any comment on the frequent reports that
we were not in full agreement. Subsequently your serious illness,
during which 1 have never seen you, imposed upon me the duty?at
least I construed it to be my duty?to remain in charge of the
Department of State until your health permitted you to assume again
full direction of foreign affairs.
Believing that that time had arrived, I had prepared my resigna
tion, when my only doubt as to the propriety of placing it in your
hands was removed by your letter indicating that it would be entirely
acceptable to you.
I think, Mr. President, in accordance with the frankness which
has marked this correspondence and for which I am grateful to you,
that I cannot permit to pass unchallenged the imputation that in
calling into informal conference the heads of the executive depart
ments I sought to usurp your Presidential authority. 1 liad a? such
28 DEMOCRATIC
SENATORS SIGN
TREATY PLEDGE
Lead by Hitchcock. They
Agree to Support Either
Of Two Reservations.
CONFIDENT OF FORTY
Irreconcilable Republicans
Expected to Join Lodge
On Final Vote. m
._
j TJie objection of the administration
?Senators to the Ix>dge r?servation on
?Article X and the proposed mod iti
?cation of it were reduced to writing
land signed yesterday by twenty-eight
.D?mocratie Senators under the leader
ship of Senator Hitchcock.
The "round robin" pledges the
Democrats to suport either the Taft
?reservation or the one which was
I proposed in the bi-partisan confer
Jence.
j Senator Hitchcock declared that he
i wa? confident at least forty Senators ?
?will attach their names to the pledge. |
(This number Joined to the fourteen
; irreconcilable? would be sufficient to
(vote down any pro|K>sed modifications
?of the I ?oil.: e reservation, and would
[bring the tinsi test on the acceptance
?or rejection of the original I?tod?e
reservation us voted upon last No
I ? ember.
UIMfUWflD on ?a?? five.
PANlMASTATE
RULER KILLED
L . Ordered Arrested. JS
Governor of Chiriqui As
sassinated by Son of Man
.?
!
I
The governor of the province of
? Chiriqui. Panama, was assassinat ?<l
Thursday Riefet in the city of Pana
;ma.* the State Department was Ad-j
'vised yesterday. "The governor's name
I
?was Saturnine Perigault.
The pjaaagaaln was the ?on of Vederi- j
CO Sajel. who had been ordered taken !
to the capital of Chiii-.ui under er- i
rest. The governor, the new criminal ?
Judge and the prosecuting attorney '
?went to Panama several days ago to \
(investigate local conditions.
The governor had ordered Sajel to *
I give bond for some offense, whi'h ?
Sajel refused to d?. The governor or- |
deriftg him pWced under arrest.
I The order was about to be carried j
:out when the governor was killed. ?
'while at dinner. The assassin is in f
t I
?jail, the State Department advice*?, I
'said. j
-
Weighed 505 Pounds;
Special Casket Is Made
I N? walk, H. -?-. Feb. DL?A special
j coffin was constructed tor the funeral ;
I of Mrs. Rose M e rola here today. She
j weighed Mi pounds. The coffin was
'fi feet 4 inch's long, S inches wide an?!
?.
inches deep.
Six professional pallbearers, three
piano movers and three risers, moved
the body, removing a casement from a
third floor window anil lowering the ?
casket with block and tackle.
CHIEF RESENTS ATTEMPTS
TO "FORESTALL JUDGMENT"
ROBERT LANSING
\?Udri/im
mi
/mm
U ?
Comment Heard in Capital
On Lansing's Resignation
r ?
Comment on the resignation of Robert Lan-?mg as Secre
tary of State included the following statements made to rep
resentatives of The Washington Herald:
Vice Pr?sident Marshall:
I have nothing at all lo M. It
is nono of my business."
Senator Gilbert M.# Hitch?cock, Ne
braska. .Democrat:
"1 am not authorized to make any
f-talement relative to the resignation
ef Set-r-etar> Lansing. I know nothing
About the matter further than the
fa?t of his resignation."
Senator William M. Calder. Republi
can, New York:
"I think that when the Anu-i?cai.
people come to fully appreciate the
service Secretary Lansing rendered
the nation in the difficult day* of the
Prt'sident's illness, the whole country
irtll feel an obligation to him. His
ening is a distinct loss to the
country."
Senator William ? B-uah. Id?h< .
Republican:
? would not have been mii pris?*d
if the resignation of Mr. l.ai.s n?
!iad taken place some timo ago, but
confess my surprise that it took
place Just at this time and under
such circumstances. It was not en
tirely unexpected to anybody, but
then. I don't like to say too muth
about somebody's family row."'
I intention, no such thought I believed then and I believe now that,
the conferences, which were held, were for Ihe best interests of your,
' Administration and of the Republic, and that belief was shared by ?
others whom 1 consulted. I further believe that the conferences?
were proper and necessary in the circumstances and .that I would1
have been derelict in my duty if 1 had failed to act as I did.
1 also feel, Mr. President, that candor compels me to say that I
cannot agree with your statement that I have tried to forestall your
judgment in certain'cases by formulating action and merely asking
your approval when it was impossible for you to form an independent
? judgment because you had not had an opportunity to examine the :
?circumstances with any degree of independence. I have, it is true,'
? when I thought a case demanded immediate action, advised you ?
I what, in my opinion, that action should be, stating at the same time ?
? the reasons on .which my opinion was based. This I conceived to be
a function of the Secretary of State and I have followed the practice)
for the past four years and a half. I confess that 1 have been sur-1
'prised and disappointed at the frequent disapproval of my sugges-1
tions, but I have never failed to follow your decisions, however dif
ficult it made the conduct of our foreign affair?
I need hardly add that I leave the office of Secretary of State
with only good will toward you, Mr. President, and with a sense of
profound relief.
Forgetting our differences and remembering only your many
kindnesses in the past, I have the honor to be, Mr. President,
. Sincerely yours,
ROBERT LANSING.
The President,
The White House.
The White House,
Washington, February 13, 19.20.
I My dear Mr. Secretary:
Allow me to acknowledge with appreciation your letter of Feb
ruary ii. It now being evident, v Secrc ry, that we have both of I
us felt the embarrassment or^k it"?"?'1 relation*, with each other,;
I feel it my duty to accept ?W?"' .nation, to take effect at once;
at the same time adding lhac I r.opc that the future holds for you ?
many successes of the most gratifying sort. My best wjshes will I
always follow you, and it will be a matter of ? gratificai ion lo niel
always to remember our delightful personal relations.
Sincerely yours,
WOODRpW WILSON.
Hon. Robert I .?ui-in?.-, j
Secretary of Siale. |
?m
?Senator Philander C. Km ?, Penn
sylvania, Republican:
"It is a personal matter ab'jt
which I prefer to make no -om
ment"
Senator Claude A. Sv-unson. \ ir
ginia. Democrat:
"The news comes as a surprise to
me. G???? I ha? a chance to hear
further particulars. I would not like
to make any comment."
Repr?senta live Stephen G Porter,
chairman of House Committee on For
eign Affairs:
"It is an infernal outrage! Secretary
l.?unsing has loyally subordinated him
self to the views of the President and
T?as shown that loyalty by remaining
in offlce and doing his duty to the na
tion in the face of affronts that ho
might well have resented. He ha*
given to the ?Department of State the
best efforts of a loyal man of high
intelligence, and a thorough grasp of
international affairs. It has been
known that he Ti?*i little co-operation
from the President, but for him to be
thus coldly dismissed is nothing short
of a brutal outrage."
Representative W. \C. Mason, Illi
nois, Republican:
"I am not surprised, except that the
lesignation has been so long deferred,
it? view of President Wilson's atti
tude."
Representative Dickinson. Iowa, Re
publican:
l cmmMk a great mistake is being
made by the administration in allow
ing a man of Mr. laansing's ability to
go. The Department of State loses a
S? ci-etary well versed in its affairs
Mnd possessed of much reliable infor
mstion as to foreign affairs."
Senator Joseph K. Ransdell.
??ou islana. Democrat :
"This Is indeed news to me. I
have not heard even an intimation
of Secretary Lansing's ? ??si gnat ion
in the Senate, and usually such
matters are the subject of cloak
room gossip several days before
they are made public. I am sorry
to hear of this, and think the seri
ous difference shown in the corre
spondence is unfortunate."
Representative C. II. Hudspeth.
Texas. Democrat:
"I have always regarded Mr.
I ?ans Ing as a very strong man. I ?
am sorry he is ffoins out and hope ?
a man as strong will be apointed I
as his successor."
Senator Charles I* McNary, Ore- ?
ron. Republican:
"News of Secretary Lansing's j
resignation comes as a complete
surprise to me. 1 did not know
there was any serious friction be
tween him and President Wilson
The effect on. public sentiment is
something 1 would rather not an
ticipate st this time"
?0NT1M tCD ON P-AU?
Summoning Cabinet
To Informal Session
Big Cause of Break
Called to Account on Charge of Assuming
Prerogatives of Nation's Head, Premier
Defends Course as in Best Interests of
Country, Declares Readiness to Quit
Post, and Wilson Accepts Resignation,
Effective Today, to End "Embarrass
ment of Our Recent Relations."
Robert Lansing has resigned as Secretary of State.
Mr. Lansing left office because be was charged by President Wil
son with assuming the prerogatives of the Chief Executive during the
last four months in calling and presiding over meetings of the Cabinet.
His resignation, tendered in a letter to the President under date of
February 12. was accepted by the latter yesterday and became effective
at once. Undersecretary of Stale Frank Polk is the ad interim head
of the State Department and may be named as Mr. Lansing's successor.
CORRESPONDENCE MADE PUBLIC.
The entire correspondence between the President and Mr. Lan?ing wa?
made public last night at the State Department. The letters, because of the
gravity of the charge brought again?t Mr Lansing by the President, con
stitute tint of the most amazing chapters in the history of an adminisra
tion of the republic Never before in the history of the coontrv has a ""resi
dent accused a Secretary of State, the leading officer of the Cabinet, of
attempting to usurp Presidential ntremcatiw?
In bis letter ending hU re-is-natton, Mr Lansing said he conld not
"permit to pa?s unchallenged the imputation that, in calling into informal
conference the heads of Ihe executive department?. I ?ought to usurp vour
Presidential authority" He explained that he believed the Cabinet con
ferences were for the be?t intersct? ?>f the administration and of the republic.
He also declared that his belief "wa? shared hy others whom I consulted*
Cabinet Members Silent.
Mr Lansing'? declaration that he consulted with other? ? meaning other
memlters of the Cabinet ? before summoning them into conference gave rise
? to the thought that all members of the Cabinet who participated in the meet
ings might feel it incumbent upon them to tender their resignations to Mr.
! Wilson
Efforts to determine ?nether or n? I ;.m of the other members of the
I President's Cabinet took this view ?ere unav.-iling last night, as all those
! approached on the ?uh.icct. with the exception of Secretary of Labor Wilson.
! ?ho has been in attendance at all the "outlaw" ??-???<. preserved silence.
| All that Secretary WiNon ?.mid -at land le would talk only through a
?third party) ?as thai "he kne? nothing whatever of anything pertaining
to the entire situation "
Against the view that the President might he tendered a sheaf of
resignations, however hi? the fact that onlv a few weeks ago the Presi
dent appointed Secretary of Agriculture Houston ?ho ?a' likewise in
? attendance al the "outlaw" meeting?. Secretary of the Treasury to succeed
Carter Class Thi? action by Mr Wilson make? it apparent that he hr
lieve? Mr. Lansing to Ik* the one guilty party, and the one on whom all
the responsibility rest?
Knew of No Meetings.
It wa? recalled thai all during the period of the President's ?eculsion
there ?raa an intense de?ire in Congress to ascertain whether or noi he ?a?
competent to perform the duties of hi? office lief ore the Senate had
acted niton the Fall resolution, requesting the President to withdraw rec
ognition of Mexico, the Senate Foreign Relation? Committee ?ent two of
its members?Senati r Fall and Hitchcock?to the White Hou?e to confer
?ith the President and report hack to the committee. o?tfnsiblv his views
on the Mexican situation, but in reality ?hat wa? wanted wa? a report on
the President's mental and physical conditon.
The Pre?ident. in hi? correspondence with Secretary Lansing, not only
admits that he did not know ?hat the Cabinet wa? doing, b- ? charges
Secretarv Lansing ?ith having usurped ?ome of the prer -gativc? of the
President.
Talk of Investigation.
In vie? of this admission and charge, there ?as a g-wd deal af gossip
last night lo the effect that the Senate might possibly think it advisable
to appoint a committee to investigate all the circunstantes surrounding
the past four month? and all the grounds <?? the charge of u?urpation.
To ascertain the possibility of such a step, half a do/en of the leadins
Repuhlicatt Senators were communicated with tonight. With an exception
or so they ?ere loathe to comment on Mr. Lansinis resignation for pub
lication, hut all declared they did not think an insuiry would be undertaken.
They took the vie? that i twas no? too late for an invesigalion.
The most surprising feature to the Senat? t? ?a- the President's prac
tical confession of incompetence for a period of four month?, during all
f which time Cabinet meetings were held almost every week. Another
reaction eyperienced by the Senators was the thought that Mr. 1 rinsing,
because of the manner in which he ?a? treated at Paris and since hi? return
to the United States by the President, should have resigned a long ime ago.
Interference Considered Unlikely.
On the ?hole, though, they lielieved that the difference ??-tween Mr.
Wilson and the ranking memlier of his Cabinet were ?neh that they could
only be settled privately liei ween ihe two men, and that the Senate had no
right to interfere. Some sympathy was erpresscd for Mr Lansing
The correspondence between the President and the Secretary of the
State is remarkable for the undercurrnt of anco and bitterness between the
two men
The President has come to a pattina of the way with many of his
Cabinet officers in the past?indeed, there are today only fhree men in the
Cabinet who were with him when he came int?? office in ???.??but never
before has he, or has a Cabinet officer, dwell with snrh malrvi-te*-*
meticulousness on the matters at issue between them.
There is a wealth of material, in th? Pre-idenl ? letter? especially, to
show that while the callini of ?he Cabinet meeting? bv Mr l.an?mg ??
ostensibly the reason for hi? banishment, ii ha? merely -rrved a? a vehide
ior the Present * wishef in ridding the Cabinet o? tbe Secretary o? Sute.
4