Lodge, with
his customary mental infidelity, caressed at one time and spurned
at another.
When the treaty with Spain was before the Senate (that was when Mr.
McKinley was President, and I mention it merely as an historical
fact) it was attacked by some of the Democrats. To silence these
criticisms Mr. Lodge said, "We have no possible right to break
suddenly into the middle of a negotiation and demand from the
President what instructions he has given to his representatives.
That part of treaty making is no concern of ours."
The Democrats attempted to defeat the ratification of the treaty,
and if that was done, said Mr. Lodge, "we repudiate the President
and his action before the whole world, and the repudiation of the
President in such a matter as this is, to my mind, the humiliation
of the United States in the eyes of the civilized world." The
President could not be sent back to say to Spain "with bated
breath" (even in his most solemn moments Mr. Lodge cannot resist
the commonplace) "we believe we have been too victorious and that
you have yielded us too much and that I am very sorry that I took
the Philippines from you."
But that was precisely what Mr. Lodge demanded should and must be
done when Mr. Wilson brought back the peace treaty. Inconsistency,
as I have before remarked, Mr. Lodge cares nothing about, but his
patriotism and partisanship are so inextricably intertwined that it
is always difficult to discover whether in his loftiest flights it
is the patriot who pleads or the partisan who intrigues.
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