A Watered-Down Version

President Eisenhower's condemnation of the Bricker amendment (TIME, Jan. 25) was having its effect--and nobody knew it better than Republican John Bricker. Last week the Ohio Senator retaliated by sending a letter to each of his colleagues, asserting that the President had been "misinformed" about the amendment, and had given "wide circulation to ... erroneous charges." On the Senate floor, Bricker went further. Said he: "It would be highly improper for the President of the U.S. to employ extra-legal pressures in an effort to defeat the amendment."

But the ebb tide had set in and John Bricker could not stop it. In midweek, Connecticut's Republican Prescott Bush, one of the amendment's 64 original sponsors, publicly announced a change of mind, indicated he would vote against it. Five others admitted privately to the same change of position. Bricker could no longer count on the necessary two-thirds majority.

Deleted Demands. The Administration, however, still saw no chance to defeat the amendment overwhelmingly, and anything less would invite its resurrection at every succeeding session of Congress. Secretary of State Dulles recommended that the President accept a watered-down amendment which, if passed, would effectively kill off the Bricker amendment. Ike agreed, and Senate Majority Leader William Knowland and Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman Homer Ferguson hammered out a substitute draft.

The substitute would toss out the two most obnoxious Bricker demands: 1) to give Congress the power to regulate all executive agreements, and 2) to make treaties effective as U.S. internal law only "through legislation which would be valid in the absence of a treaty" (the notorious "which" clause, which its opponents--including the President--say would sometimes give state legislatures the right to repudiate the nation's treaties). But the substitute would make it mandatory for all treaties to be made "in pursuance of the Constitution," instead of merely "under the authority of the U.S.," as is now required. It would, therefore, calm the very real fears of many Senators that treaties can supersede the Constitution itself.

Stimulated Stalemate. This week, in a letter to Knowland, the President reaffirmed that he was "unalterably opposed" to the Bricker amendment and, in effect, endorsed the Ferguson-Knowland compromise. Said he: "I am aware of the feeling of many of our citizens that a treaty may override the Constitution. So that there can be no question on this point, I will gladly support an appropriate amendment that will make this clear for all time."

Despite this new counterattack, John Bricker was having no part of the compromise proposal. Nor were the Democrats, at the moment; they were too busy enjoying the fun. The chance for a stalemate, therefore, increased, i.e., after bitter debate, the Bricker amendment would be sent back to committee for "further study," and would emerge from time to time to cause more bloodshed. This was exactly what the Administration did not want. To avoid it, Eisenhower was considering the ultimate step: a TV appeal to the nation.

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