Mr. Pepper, Reconciled

Four weeks ago when Senator George Wharton Pepper of Pennsylvania was picked by Senator Lodge as a new member .of the Foreign Relations Committee it was generally noted that another irreconcilable had been added--another opponent of President Harding's proposal for participation in the International Court. Politicians all noted that Mr. Pepper had been one of the outstanding opponents of the League--a strict isolationist. As might have been expected, Senator Lodge knew what he was doing.

Senator Pepper last week completely altered his attitude. He is not only prepared to accept the World Court, but also the League with reservations. Said he: " In my judgment, as the discussion of the International Court proceeds, a sentiment for something bigger and more definite is likely to develop. . . . The League of Nations is being crystalized into the kind of association which the United States can enter." Critics are inclined to comment that it is Senator Pepper and not the League who has " moved over." This is the man who, as Vice President of the League for the Preservation of American Independence, led the fight against the League.

Senator Pepper added, however: " The question will not be an issue in the 1924 Presidential campaign." The leaders of both parties, with the exception of ex-Governor James M. Cox, former Supreme Court Justice John H. Clarke, and ex-President Wilson (who has said nothing on the subject recently), are of this opinion with regard to the League in 1924. Concerning the World Court there is some difference of opinion.

The indications are that many Republicans will informally approve the plan for participation in the International Court, but will flatly decline to make an issue of it.