REJECTION OF THE PEACE TREATY
The Senate Fails to Ratify the Treaty of Versailles With the Revised Lodge Reservations by a Vote of 49 to 35
The Treaty of Versailles with the Covenant of The League of Nations was signed on June 28, 1919, by Germany and by the representatives of the Allied and Associated Powers, with the exception of China.
It was ratified by the German National Assembly on July 10th; by the British Parliament on July 25th, and by King George on July 31st, by the King of Italy on October 7th, by France on October 13th and by Japan on October 27th.
On the day the Treaty was signed President Wilson sailed for New York, and on July 10th he addressed the Senate and submitted the Treaty to that body, which under the Constitution is empowered to give its "advice and consent" to treaties negotiated by the Chief Executive. Opposition to the Covenant of the League of Nations had previously developed in the Senate, especially on the part of the Republican majority. The Foreign Affairs Committee, of which Senator Lodge of Massachusetts was Chairman, was from the start unalterably opposed to the Treaty unless it contained as amendments or as reservations clauses which, it was claimed, would safeguard American interests and institutions. In February the President, who had made a hurried trip from Paris in order to acquaint the American people with the details of the Treaty as it affected this country, conferred at the White House with the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House, on which occasion there was a frank and comprehensive discussion, a complete stenographic report of which was published in the press. On March 3rd Senator Lodge presented a resolution signed by 39 Republican Senators and Senators-elect protesting against the Covenant of The League of Nations, as it stood. As it required a two-thirds vote of the Senate to ratify, these 39 opponents of the treaty would be sufficient to reject it, and the virtual effect of this resolution was to give warning to the President that the Treaty unless it were to be "Americanized" would fail of ratification.
The President on March 5th sailed from New York and returned to Paris to take up his work at the Peace Conference, remaining there until the Treaty was signed.
On July 15th, the Foreign Relations Committee took the Treaty under consideration and conducted hearings on it. One of these, continuing for several days, was for the purpose of exposing what the Committee regarded as the unjust treatment of China in respect of the cession to Japan, under the Treaty, of the German rights in Shantung (Kiauchau).
On August 19th, the Foreign Relations Committee again conferred at the White House with the President, and on September 3rd the President started on a tour of the country to win support for the Treaty and The League of Nations.
On September 10th the Foreign Relations Committee reported the Treaty to the Senate with 45 amendments and four reservations.
On September 26th, owing to a nervous breakdown, the President at Wichita, Kansas, gave up his tour of the country and returned to Washington.