THE BONUS NEXT?

Congratulations to the Senate are now in order; it has ratified the Four Power Treaty. Of course two and a half months may seem a long period of deliberation, but then the Senate never hurries even when dealing with the simplest problems. The Versailles Treaty was debated for nine months so we need not strain at a mere two and a half.

In the process of ratification the Senate leaders have discovered a valuable bit of legislative phychology. Mark Twain once told of a Missouri steamboat with a six inch cylinder engine and an eight inch cylinder whistle, so when the captain blow the whistle everything else, had to stop. Our Senate is constructed on an amazingly similar plan. But when the leaders shut down on the whistle by setting the time for the vote, the senators at last disposed of the treaty.

The immediate benefits of the ratification are three. The word of the executive will pass once more at par in international circles. Diplomats will know that when the government is harmonious and the negotiating tactful there is a possibility at least that the United States Senate will ratify. Second, constitutional provision for a two thirds vote on treaties is still workable. And, finally, most important of all, the other treaties in the Senate are now sure to pass, and a better understanding in regard to the Pacific is assured. That alone makes the conference a success and the fight for ratification worth while.