WAR AT END, IN FACT AND IN LAW
"As a matter of law and of fact we are at peace with Germany; first, because of the terms of the armistice of November 11, 1918, its amendments and renewals; second, because of the 'silent ceasing' of hostilities; third, because of the disappearance, the extinction of the Government against which we declared war, and fourth, because of the negotiation by us and our allies or associates in the war with the people who were lately our enemies, and the ratification by our allies or associates and our enemies, of a treaty of peace which specifically provides both for the termination of hostilities to be followed by a resumption of diplomatic relations, and also for the status that should exist during our future peace-time intercourse; which treaty is now in force and observed everywhere except in the United States, and has in fact and in international law brought peace to the whole world, including ourselves.
"Having thus in law and in fact international peace, having nothing left but a domestic status of war created by a legislative declaration of war, with no hostilities heretofore or now existent or possible in the territory over which this paper-war status exists, it is not only legally sound, but economically, morally, and patriotically necessary and indispensable that we at once repeal the declaration of war and so immediately end the despotic war powers with which a power-maddened administration continues to misrule this great people.
VERSAILLES TREATY IMPOSSIBLE
"To what end has all this juggling with obvious facts and universally recognized principles been maintained? The answer is easy and known to all. The purpose has been to coerce the Senate to approve the Treaty of Versailles—a treaty that is almost universally discredited in all its parts. The majority of its negotiators concede this. Its economic terms are impossible; its League of Nations is an aggravated imitation of the worst features of the ill-fated and foolish Holy Alliance of a century ago. It promises little but mischief unless recast on such radical lines as will entirely obliterate its identity.
"Wisdom requires the negotiation of a separate treaty between the United States and Germany, which should provide reciprocal rights and obligations between us and that country alone."
KNOX RESOLUTION PASSES BOTH HOUSES
In the course of its consideration in the Senate, the provision of the resolution requesting the President to negotiate a separate treaty with Germany was eliminated, but the request for a treaty with the successors of the Austro-Hungarian government was retained. In its amended form the resolution was brought to a decision in the Senate on May 15th, and adopted by a vote of 43 to 38, three Democrats voting with its supporters and one Republican with the opposition.
As the text of the Knox resolution adopted by the Senate differed from the measure which had been passed by the House of Representatives on April 9th, the House, to expedite matters, dropped its own resolution, and passed, on May 21st, the Senate draft by a vote of 228 to 139, seventeen short of the two-thirds majority necessary to override the expected Presidential veto.