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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8124-8.txt b/8124-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e3cc00e --- /dev/null +++ b/8124-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18058 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him, by Joseph P. Tumulty + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him + +Author: Joseph P. Tumulty + +Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8124] +[This file was first posted on June 16, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, WOODROW WILSON AS I KNOW HIM *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Anne Soulard, Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, Robert +Laporte, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +WOODROW WILSON AS I KNOW HIM + +BY + +JOSEPH P. TUMULTY + + + + + + + +To the memory of my dear mother Alicia Tumulty whose spirit of generosity, +loyalty, and tolerance I trust will be found in the lines of this book + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENT + + +In preparing this volume I have made use of portions of the following +books: "The War The World and Wilson" by George Creel; "What Wilson Did at +Paris," by Ray Stannard Baker; "Woodrow Wilson and His Work" by William E. +Dodd; "The Panama Canal Tolls Controversy" by Hugh Gordon Miller and +Joseph C. Freehoff; "Woodrow Wilson the Man and His Work" by Henry Jones +Ford; "The Real Colonel House" by Arthur D. Howden Smith; "The Foreign +Policy of Woodrow Wilson" by Edgar E. Robinson and Victor J. West. In +addition, I wish to make acknowledgment to the following books for +incidental assistance: "My Four Years in Germany" by James W. Gerard; +"Woodrow Wilson, An Interpretation" by A. Maurice Low; "A People Awakened" +by Charles Reade Bacon; "Woodrow Wilson" by Hester E. Hosford; "What +Really Happened at Paris," edited by Edward Mandell House and Charles +Seymour, and above all, to the public addresses of Woodrow Wilson. I +myself had furnished considerable data for various books on Woodrow Wilson +and have felt at liberty to make liberal use of some portions of these +sources as guide posts for my own narrative. + + + + +PREFACE + + +Woodrow Wilson prefers not to be written about. His enemies may, and of +course will, say what they please, but he would like to have his friends +hold their peace. He seems to think and feel that if he himself can keep +silent while his foes are talking, his friends should be equally stoical. +He made this plain in October, 1920, when he learned that I had slipped +away from my office at the White House one night shortly before the +election and made a speech about him in a little Maryland town, Bethesda. +He did not read the speech, I am sure he has never read it, but the fact +that I had made any sort of speech about him, displeased him. That was one +of the few times in my long association with him that I found him +distinctly cold. He said nothing, but his silence was vocal. + +I suspect this book will share the fate of the Bethesda speech, will not +be read by Mr. Wilson. If this seems strange to those who do not know him +personally, I can only say that "Woodrow Wilson is made that way." He +cannot dramatize himself and shrinks from attempts of others to dramatize +him. "I will not write about myself," is his invariable retort to friends +who urge him to publish his own story of the Paris Peace Conference. He +craves the silence from others which he imposes upon himself. He is quite +willing to leave the assessment and interpretation of himself to time and +posterity. Knowing all this I have not consulted him about this book. Yet +I have felt that the book should be written, because I am anxious that his +contemporaries should know him as I have known him, not only as an +individual but also as the advocate of a set of great ideas and as the +leader of great movements. If I can picture him, even imperfectly, as I +have found him to be, both in himself and in his relationship to important +events, I must believe that the portrait will correct some curious +misapprehensions about him. + +For instance, there is a prevalent idea, an innocently ignorant opinion in +some quarters, an all too sedulously cultivated report in other quarters, +that he has been uniformly headstrong, impatient of advice, his mind +hermetically closed to counsel from others. This book will expose the +error of that opinion; will show how, in his own words, his mind was "open +and to let," how he welcomed suggestions and criticism. Indeed I fear that +unless the reader ponders carefully what I have written he may glean the +opposite idea, that sometimes the President had to be prodded to action, +and that I represent myself as the chief prodder. + +The superficial reader may find countenance lent to this latter view in +the many notes of information and advice which I addressed to the +President and in the record of his subsequent actions which were more or +less in accord with the counsel contained in some of these notes. If the +reader deduces from this the conclusion that I was the instigator of some +of the President's important policies, he will misinterpret the facts and +the President's character and mental processes; if he concludes that I am +trying to represent myself as the instigator he will misunderstand my +motives in publishing these notes. + +These motives are: first, to tell the story of my association with Mr. +Wilson, and part of the record is contained in these notes; secondly, to +show what liberty he allowed me to suggest and criticize; how, so far from +being offended, he welcomed counsel. Having this privilege I exercised it. +I conceived it as part of my duty as his secretary and friend to report to +him my own interpretations of facts and public opinion as I gathered these +from newspapers and conversations, and sometimes to suggest modes of +action. These notes were memoranda for my chief's consideration. + +The reader will see how frankly critical some of these notes are. The mere +fact that the President permitted me to continue to write to him in a vein +of candour that was frequently brusque and blunt, is the conclusive answer +to the charge that he resented criticism. + +Contrary to the misrepresentations, he had from time to time many +advisers. In most instances, I do not possess written reports of what +others said orally and in writing, and therefore in this record, which is +essentially concerned with my own official and personal relations with +him, I may seem to represent myself as a preponderating influence. This is +neither the fact nor my intention. The public acts of Mr. Wilson were +frequently mosaics, made up of his own ideas and those of others. My +written notes were merely stones offered for the mosaic. Sometimes the +stones were rejected, sometimes accepted and shaped by the master builder +into the pattern. + +It was a habit of Mr. Wilson's to meditate before taking action, to listen +to advice without comment, frequently without indicating whether or not +the idea broached by others had already occurred to him. We who knew him +best knew that often the idea had occurred to him and had been thought out +more lucidly than any adviser could state it. But he would test his own +views by the touchstone of other minds' reactions to the situations and +problems which he was facing and would get the "slant" of other minds. + +He was always ahead of us all in his thinking. An admirer once said: "You +could shut him up in an hermetically sealed room and trust him to reach +the right decision," but as a matter of fact he did not work that way. He +sought counsel and considered it and acted on it or dismissed it according +to his best judgment, for the responsibility for the final action was his, +and he was boldly prepared to accept that responsibility and +conscientiously careful not to abuse it by acting rashly. While he would +on occasion make momentous decisions quickly and decisively, the habitual +character of his mind was deliberative. He wanted all the facts and so far +as possible the contingencies. Younger men like myself could counsel +immediate and drastic action, but even while we were advising we knew that +he would, without haste and without waste, calmly calculate his course. +What, coming from us, were merely words, would, coming from him, +constitute acts and a nation's destiny. He regarded himself as the +"trustee of the people," who should not act until he was sure he was right +and should then act with the decision and finality of fate itself. + +Of another misapprehension, namely, that Mr. Wilson lacks human warmth, I +shall let the book speak without much prefatory comment. I have done my +work ill indeed if there does not emerge from the pages a human-hearted +man, a man whose passion it was to serve mankind. In his daily intercourse +with individuals he showed uniform consideration, at times deep +tenderness, though he did not have in his possession the little bag of +tricks which some politicians use so effectively: he did not clap men on +their backs, call them by their first names, and profess to each +individual he met that of all the men in the world this was the man whom +he most yearned to see. Perhaps he was too sincere for that; perhaps by +nature too reserved; but I am convinced that he who reads this book will +feel that he has met a man whose public career was governed not merely by +a great brain, but also by a great heart. I did not invent this character. +I observed him for eleven years. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PREFACE + +CHAPTER +I. THE POLITICAL LABORATORY +II. DOING THE POLITICAL CHORES +III. MY FIRST MEETING WITH THE POLITICAL BOSS +IV. COLONEL HARVEY ON THE SCENE +V. THE NEW JERSEY SALIENT +VI. SOMETHING NEW IN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS +VII. THE CRISIS OP THE CAMPAIGN +VIII. THE END OP THE CAMPAIGN +IX. A PARTY SPLIT +X. EXIT THE OLD GUARD +XI. EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP +XII. COLONEL HARVEY +XIII. THE "COCKED HAT" INCIDENT +XIV. WILSON AND THE OLD GUARD +XV. MR. BRYAN ISSUES A CHALLENGE +XVI. THE BALTIMORE CONVENTION +XVII. FACING A SOLEMN RESPONSIBILITY +XVIII. WILLIAM F. McCOMBS +XIX. THE INAUGURATION OF 1913 +XX. MEXICO +XXI. PANAMA TOLLS +XXII. REFORMING THE CURRENCY +XXIII. RENOMINATED +XXIV. THE ADAMSON LAW +XXV. GERMAN PROPAGANDA +XXVI. WILSON AND HUGHES +XXVII. NEUTRALITY +XXVIII. PREPAREDNESS +XXIX. THE GREAT DECLARATION +XXX. CARRYING ON +XXXI. THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD +XXXII. COLONEL ROOSEVELT AND GENERAL WOOD +XXXIII. WILSON THE WARRIOR +XXXIV. GERMANY CAPITULATES +XXXV. APPEAL FOR A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS +XXXVI. THE GREAT ADVENTURE +XXXVII. WILSON--THE LONE HAND +XXXVIII. JAPAN--SHANTUNG +XXXIX. IRELAND +XL. PROHIBITION +XLI. THE TREATY FIGHT +XLII. THE WESTERN TRIP +XLIII. RESERVATIONS +XLIV. WILSON--THE HUMAN BEING +XLV. THE SAN FRANCISCO CONVENTION +XLVI. THE LAST DAY + +APPENDIX + +INDEX + + + + +WOODROW WILSON AS I KNOW HIM + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE POLITICAL LABORATORY + + +My introduction to politics was in the Fifth Ward of Jersey City, New +Jersey, which for many years was the "Bloody Angle" of politics of the +city in which I lived. Always Democratic, it had been for many years the +heart and centre of what New Jersey Democrats were pleased to call the +great Gibraltar of Democracy. The ward in which I lived was made up of the +plainest sort of people, a veritable melting pot of all races, but with a +predominance of Irish, Germans, and Italians, between whom it was, like +ancient Gaul, divided into three parts. + +My dear father, Philip Tumulty, a wounded soldier of the Civil War, after +serving an apprenticeship as an iron moulder under a delightful, whole- +souled Englishman, opened a little grocery store on Wayne Street, Jersey +City, where were laid the foundation stones of his modest fortune and +where, by his fine common sense, poise, and judgment, he soon established +himself as the leader of a Democratic faction in that neighbourhood. This +modest little place soon became a political laboratory for me. In the +evening, around the plain, old-fashioned counters, seated upon barrels and +boxes, the interesting characters of the neighbourhood gathered, +representing as they did the leading active political forces in that +quaint cosmopolitan community. + +No matter how far back my memory turns, I cannot recall when I did not +hear politics discussed--not ward politics only, but frequently the +politics of the nation and the world. In that grocery store, from the lips +of the plainest folk who came there, were carried on serious discussions +of the tariff, the money question, our foreign relations, and all phases +of the then famous Venezuelan question, which in those days threatened to +set two continents on fire. + +The make-up of the little "cabinet" or group which surrounded my father +was most interesting. There was Mr. Alexander Hamill, the father of +Congressman Hamill of Jersey City, a student of Queen's College in Ireland +and who afterward taught in the National Schools of Ireland, a well-read, +highly cultured, broad-minded man of affairs; and dear Uncle Jimmie +Kelter, almost a centenarian, whose fine old gray hair gave him the +appearance of a patriarch. Uncle Jimmie nightly revelled in the recital to +those who were present as ready listeners, his experience when he was +present at a session of the House of Parliament in London and heard the +famous Irish statesman, Daniel O'Connell, denounce England's attitude of +injustice toward Catholic emancipation. He loved to regale the little +group that encircled him by reciting from memory the great speech of +Robert Emmett from the dock, and excerpts from the classic speeches of the +leading Irish orators like Curran, Sheridan, and Fox. + +While these discussions in the little store wended their uneasy way along, +a spark of humour was often injected into them by the delightful banter of +a rollicking, good-natured Irishman, a big two-fisted fellow, generous- +hearted and lovable, whom we affectionately called "Big Phil." I can see +him now, standing like a great pyramid in the midst of the little group, +every now and then throwing his head back in good-natured abandon, +recounting wild and fantastic tales about the fairies and banshees of the +Old Land from whence he had come. When his listeners would turn away, with +skepticism written all over their countenances, he would turn to me, whose +youthful enthusiasm made me an easy victim upon which to work his magic +spell in the stories which he told of the wonders of the Old Land across +the sea. + +I loved these delightful little gatherings in whose deliberations my dear +father played so notable a part. Those kind folk, now off the stage, never +allowed the spirit of provincialism to guide their judgment or their +attitude toward great public affairs. I recall with pleasure their +tolerance, their largeness of view, and fine magnanimity which raised +every question they discussed to a high level. They were a very simple +folk, but independent in their political actions and views. Into that +little group of free, independent political thinkers would often come a +warning from the Democratic boss of the city that they must follow with +undivided allegiance the organization's dictum in political matters and +not seek to lead opinion in the community in which they lived. Supremely +indifferent were these fine old chaps to those warnings, and unmindful of +political consequences. They felt that they had left behind them a land of +oppression and they would not submit to tyrannous dictation in this free +land of ours, no matter who sought to exert it. + +In this political laboratory I came in contact with the raw materials of +political life that, as an older man, I was soon to see moulded into +political action in a larger way in the years to come. I found in politics +that the great policies of a nation are simply the policies and passions +of the ward extended. In the little discussions that took place in that +store, I was, even as a youth, looking on from the side-lines, struck by +the fine, wholesome, generous spirit of my own father. Never would he +permit, for instance, in the matter of the discussion of Ireland--so dear +to his heart--a shade of resentment or bitterness toward England to +influence his judgment in the least, for he believed that no man could be +a just judge in any matter where his mind was filled with passion; and so +in this matter, the subject of such fierce controversy, as in every other, +he held a judgment free and far away from his passionate antagonisms. I +found in the simple life of the community where I was brought up the same +human things, in a small way, that I was subsequently to come in contact +with in a larger way in the whirligig of political life in the Capitol of +the Nation. I found the same relative bigness and the same relative +smallness, the same petty jealousies and rivalries which manifest +themselves in the larger fields of a great nation's life; the same good +nature, and the same deep humanity expressing itself in the same way, only +differently apparelled. + +One of the most interesting places in the world for the study of human +character is the country store or the city grocery. I was able as a boy +standing behind the counter of the little grocery store to study people; +and intimately to become acquainted with them and their daily lives and +the lives of their women and children. I never came in contact with their +daily routine, their joys and sorrows, their bitter actualities and deep +tragedies, without feeling rise in me a desire to be of service. I +remember many years ago, seated behind the counter of my father's grocery +store, with what passionate resentment I read the vivid headlines of the +metropolitan newspapers and the ghastly accounts of the now famous +Homestead Strike of 1892. Of course, I came to realize in after years that +the headlines of a newspaper are not always in agreement with the actual +facts; but I do recall how intently I pored over every detail of this +tragic story of industrial war and how, deep in my heart, I resented the +efforts of a capitalistic system that would use its power in this unjust, +inhuman way. Little did I realize as I pored over the story of this +tragedy in that far-off day that some time, seated at my desk at the White +House in the office of the secretary to the President of the United +States, I would have the pleasure of meeting face to face the leading +actor in this lurid drama, Mr. Andrew Carnegie himself, and of hearing +from his own lips a human and intelligent recital of the events which +formed the interesting background of the Homestead Strike. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +DOING THE POLITICAL CHORES + + +For the young man who wishes to rise in the politics of a great city there +is no royal road to preferment but only a plain path of modest service +uncomplainingly rendered. Of course, there seem to be exceptions to this +rule. At times it is possible for the scion of a great family to rise to +temporary distinction in politics without a preliminary course in the +school of local politics, for as a Democratic boss once said to me: "Great +family names are fine window-dressers," but in my own experience I have +seen the disappointing end of careers thus begun and have found that +sometimes after a great name has been temporarily used to meet certain +political emergencies, the would-be politician is quickly thrust aside to +make way for the less pretentious but more capable man. There is nothing +permanent or lasting about a place in politics gained in this adventitious +way. Of course, there sometimes come to high office men from military +careers, or men, like the distinguished subject of this book, from fields +apparently remote from practical politics, but such successes are due to +an appealing personal force, or to exceptional genius which the young +aspirant had better not assume that he possesses. The general rule holds +good that a political apprenticeship is as necessary and valuable as an +industrial apprenticeship. + +My first official connection with politics was as the financial secretary +of the Fifth Ward Democratic Club of Jersey City. My father had told me +that if I intended to play an active part in politics, it would be +necessary to begin modestly at the bottom of the ladder, to do the +political chores, as it were, which are a necessary part of ward +organization work. I recall those days with singular pleasure, for my work +gave me an unusual opportunity to meet the privates in the ranks and to +make friendships that were permanent. + +The meetings of the Club were held each week in a modest club house, with +part of the meeting given over to addresses made by what were then +considered the leading men in the Democratic party. It is queer how the +average political worker favours the senator, or the ex-judge, or the +ex-Congressman, as a speaker on these occasions. Ex-Congressman Gray, of +Texas (I doubt whether there ever was a congressman by that name), would +often be the headliner and he could be depended upon to draw a crowded and +enthusiastic house. The knowledge and experience I gained at these +inspirational meetings were mighty helpful to me in the political life I +had carved out for myself. I found that when you had convinced these +plain, everyday fellows that, although you were a college man, you were +not necessarily a highbrow, they were willing to serve you to the end. It +was a valuable course in a great university. It was not very long until I +was given my first opportunity, in 1896, to make my first political speech +in behalf of Mr. Bryan, then the Democratic candidate for President. I was +not able at that time to disentangle the intricacies of the difficult +money problems, but I endeavoured, imperfectly at least, in the speeches I +made, to lay my finger on what I considered the great moral issue that lay +behind the silver question in that memorable campaign--the attempt by +eastern financial interests to dominate the Government of the United +States. + +After my apprenticeship, begun as secretary of the Fifth Ward Democratic +Club, an incident happened which caused a sudden rise in my political +stock. At a county convention I was given the opportunity of making the +nominating speech for the Fifth Ward's candidate for street and water +commissioner--a bricklayer and a fine fellow--who was opposing the machine +candidate. It was a real effort on my part and caused me days and nights +of worry and preparation. Indeed, it seemed to me to be the great moment +of my life. I vividly recall the incidents of what to me was a memorable +occasion. I distinctly remember that on the night of the Convention, with +the delegates from my ward, I faced an unfriendly and hostile audience, +our candidate having aroused the opposition of the boss and his +satellites. While I felt that the attitude of the Convention was one of +opposition to our candidate, there was no evidence of unfriendliness or +hostility to myself as the humble spokesman of the Fifth Ward. When I +stood up to speak I realized that I had to "play up" to the spirit of +generosity which is always latent in a crowd such as I was addressing. I +believe I won, although my candidate, unfortunately, lost. My Irish +buoyancy and good nature brought me over the line. I felt that the +audience in the gallery and the delegates on the floor were with me, but +unfortunately for my cause, the boss, who was always the dominating +influence of the Convention, was against me, and so we lost in the +spirited fight we made. In this first skirmish of my political career I +made up my mind to meet defeat with good grace and, if possible, +smilingly, and no sore spot or resentment over our defeat ever showed +itself in my attitude toward the men who saw fit to oppose us. Evidently, +the boss and his friends appreciated this attitude, for it was reported to +me shortly after the Convention that I was to be given recognition and by +the boss's orders would soon be placed on the eligible list for future +consideration in connection with a place on the legislative ticket. + +One lesson I learned was not to be embittered by defeat. Since then I have +seen too many cases of men so disgruntled at being worsted in their first +battles that their political careers ended when they should have been just +beginning. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MY FIRST MEETING WITH THE POLITICAL BOSS + + +After serving my apprenticeship as a ward worker, devoted friends from my +home ward urged my name upon the Democratic leader, Mr. Robert Davis, for +a place upon the Democratic legislative ticket for Hudson County. I had +grown to have a deep regard and affection for this fine old fellow. While +he was a boss in every sense, maintaining close relations with the Public +Service Corporations of the state, he had an engaging human side. He never +pretended nor deceived. With his friends he was open, frank, generous, and +honourable in all his dealings, and especially kind to and considerate of +the young men who became part of his working force. With his political +enemies he was fair and decent. Many a time during a legislative session, +when I was a member of the House of Assembly, word would come to us of the +boss's desire that we should support this or that bill, behind which +certain corporate interests lay. The orders, however, were clean and +without a threat of any kind. He took no unfair advantage and made no +reprisals when we failed to carry out his desires. + +While a member of the New Jersey Legislature, the name of Woodrow Wilson +began to be first discussed in the political world of New Jersey. It came +about in this way: By reason of the normal Republican majority of the +state the nomination by the Legislature in those days of a Democratic +candidate for the United States senatorship was a mere compliment, a +courtesy, a very meagre one indeed, and was generally paid to the old war +horses of democracy like James E. Martine, of Plainfield, New Jersey; but +the appearance of the doughty Colonel Harvey on the scene, at the 1907 +session of the New Jersey Legislature, gave a new turn to this custom. A +request was made by Colonel Harvey and diplomatically conveyed by his +friends to the Democratic members of the Legislature, that the honorary +nomination for the United States senatorship at this session of the +Legislature should be given to President Wilson of Princeton. It may be +added that I learned years afterward that Mr. Wilson was not a party to +Colonel Harvey's plans; that once he even sent a friend as an emissary to +explain to the Colonel that Mr. Wilson did not believe that the use of his +name in connection with political office was a service to him or to +Princeton University. + +The suggestion that Woodrow Wilson be given the nomination was hotly +resented by young men like myself in the Legislature. Frankly, I led the +opposition to the man I was afterward to serve for eleven years in the +capacity of private secretary. The basis of my opposition to Mr. Wilson +for this empty honour was the rumour that had been industriously +circulated in the state House and elsewhere, that there was, as Mr. Dooley +says, "a plan afoot" by the big interests of New Jersey and New York to +nominate Woodrow Wilson for the senatorship and then nominate him for +governor of the state as a preliminary start for the Presidency. I +remember now, with the deepest chagrin and regret, having bitterly +assailed Woodrow Wilson's candidacy in a Democratic caucus which I +attended and how I denounced him for his alleged opposition to labour. In +view of my subsequent intimacy with Mr. Wilson and the knowledge gained of +his great heart and his big vision in all matters affecting labour, I +cannot now point with pride to the speech I then made attacking him. I am +sure the dear doctor, away off in Princeton, never even heard of my +opposition to him, although in my conceit I thought the state reverberated +with the report of my unqualified and bitter opposition to him. In my poor +vanity I thought that perhaps what I had said in my speech of opposition +to him had reached the cloisters of Princeton. As a matter of fact, he +never heard about me or my speech, and afterward in the years of our +association he "joshed" me about my opposition to him and would often make +me very uncomfortable by recounting to his friends at the White House how +even his own secretary had opposed him when his name was first under +consideration for the United States senatorship in New Jersey. + +To me was given the honour of nominating at a joint session of the Senate +and House Assembly the candidate opposed to Woodrow Wilson for the Senate, +the Honourable Edwin E. Stevens. I recall the comparison I made between +the claims of Colonel Stevens, the strict party man, and those of Woodrow +Wilson, the Princeton professor. The speech nominating Woodrow Wilson at +the joint session of the Legislature was the shortest on record. It was +delivered by a big generous fellow, John Baader, one of the Smith-Nugent +men from Essex County. When Essex County was called, he slowly rose to his +feet and almost shamefacedly addressing the Speaker of the House, said, +tremulously: "I nominate for the United States Senate Woodrow Wilson, of +Princeton," and then, amid silence, sat down. No applause greeted the name +of the man he nominated. It seemed as if the college professor had no +friends in the Legislature except the man who had put his name forward for +the nomination. + +Colonel Stevens won the honorary nomination and Woodrow Wilson was +defeated. Colonel Harvey, disgruntled but not discouraged, packed up his +kit and left on the next train for New York. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +COLONEL HARVEY ON THE SCENE + + +Although the intrepid Colonel Harvey was defeated in the first skirmish to +advance the cause of Woodrow Wilson, he continued to pursue his purpose to +force his personal choice upon the New Jersey Democracy. The approaching +gubernatorial election in 1910 gave the Colonel his opportunity and he +took full advantage of it. + +Rumours began to circulate that the machine run by Davis, Smith, and Ross, +the great Democratic triumvirate of the state, was determined to nominate +the Princeton president at any cost. Young men like Mark Sullivan, John +Treacy, and myself, all of Hudson County, representing the liberal wing of +our party, were bitterly opposed to this effort. We suspected that the +"Old Gang" was up to its old trick of foisting upon the Democrats of the +state a tool which they could use for their own advantage, who, under the +name of the Democratic party, would do the bidding of the corporate +interests which had, under both the "regular" organizations, Democratic +and Republican, found in New Jersey their most nutritious pastures. At a +meeting held at the Lawyers' Club in New York, younger Democrats, like +Judge Silzer of Middlesex and myself, "plighted our political troth" and +pledged our undying opposition to the candidacy of the Princeton +president. As a result of our conferences we set in motion the progressive +machinery of the state in an intensive effort to force the nomination of +Judge Silzer in opposition to that of Woodrow Wilson. + +As soon as the Democratic boss of Hudson County, Bob Davis, one of the +leaders in the Wilson movement in North Jersey, was apprized of the +proposed action on our part, he set about to head it off, and as part of +his plan of opposition he sent for me in an effort to wean me away from +the Silzer candidacy. I refused to yield. Upon being interrogated by me as +to his interest in Woodrow Wilson, Boss Davis stated that if we nominated +Woodrow Wilson there would be a big campaign fund put up for him by Moses +Taylor Pyne, a trustee of Princeton University. Never before was the +ignorance of a boss made more manifest. As a matter of fact, at that very +time there was no more implacable foe of Woodrow Wilson in the state of +New Jersey than Moses Taylor Pyne, who headed the opposition to Mr. Wilson +in the Princeton fight. + +Years after this incident the President and I often laughed at what must +have been the surprise and discomfiture of Boss Davis when he finally +learned the facts as to Moses Taylor Pyne's real feelings toward Woodrow +Wilson. Previous to the gubernatorial campaign I asked Boss Davis if he +thought Woodrow Wilson would make a good governor. His reply was +characteristic of the point of view of the boss in dealing with these +matters of moment to the people of the state. "How the hell do I know +whether he'll make a good governor?" he replied; "he will make a good +candidate, and that is the only thing that interests me." + +Shortly after, those of us who banded together to oppose the bosses in +their efforts to force Doctor Wilson upon us began to the feel pressure of +the organization's influence. Many of our friends left us in despair and +in fear of the power of the machine. The movement toward Woodrow Wilson in +the state was soon in full swing. The Davis-Smith-Nugent-Ross machine was +in fine working order on the day and the night of the Convention. + +I was not even a delegate to the Convention, but I was present and kept in +close touch by contact with my friends with every phase of the convention +fight. Colonel Harvey was again on the scene as the generalissimo of the +Wilson forces, quietly and stealthily moving about, lining up his forces +for the memorable battle of the morrow. There was bitter but unorganized +opposition to the favourite son of the state machine, Woodrow Wilson. The +Convention itself presented an unusual situation and demonstrated more +than anything I ever saw the power of the "Old Gang" to do the thing its +masters had in mind. As I look back upon the great event of this +convention, the nomination of Woodrow Wilson for the governorship of New +Jersey, I feel that destiny was inscrutably engaged there, working in +mysterious ways its wonders to perform, working perhaps through strange, +incongruous instrumentalities to bring the man of destiny into action, led +by those who were opposed to everything Woodrow Wilson stood for, opposed +by those who were yearning for and striving for just the dawn of political +liberalism that his advent in politics heralded. The conflict of the +Trenton Convention about to be enacted was an illustration of the poet's +line, "Where ignorant armies clash by night." The successful side of the +Convention was fighting for what they least wanted; the defeated against +what they most wanted. Here in this convention, in truth, were in +aggressive action the incongruities of politics and in full display were +witnessed the sardonic contrasts between the visible and the invisible +situations in politics. All the Old Guard moving with Prussian precision +to the nomination of the man who was to destroy for a time the machine +rule in New Jersey and inaugurate a new national era in political +liberalism while all the liberal elements of the state, including fine old +Judge Westcott of Camden and young men like myself were sullen, helpless. +Every progressive Democrat in the Convention was opposed to the nomination +of the Princetonian, and every standpatter and Old Guardsman was in favour +of Woodrow Wilson. On the convention floor, dominating the whole affair, +stood ex-Senator James Smith, Jr., of New Jersey, the spokesman of the +"highbrow" candidate for governor, controlling the delegates from south +and west Jersey. Handsome, cool, dignified, he rose from the floor of the +convention hall, and in rich, low tones, seconded the nomination of the +man "he had never met," the man he would not "presume" to claim +acquaintance with, the man whose life had lain in other fields than his. +Very close to him, "taking his orders," and acting upon every suggestion +that came to him, sat Jim Nugent, grim, big-jawed, the giant full-back of +Smith's invincible team, the rising star of machine politics in New +Jersey. Down the aisle sat the "Little Napoleon" of Hudson County, Bob +Davis, wearing a sardonic smile on his usually placid face, with his big +eyes riveted upon those in the Convention who were fighting desperately +and against great odds the effort of the state machine to nominate +President Wilson. Across the aisle from me sat "Plank-Shad" Thompson, of +Gloucester, big and debonair, a thoroughly fine fellow socially, but +always ready to act upon and carry out every tip that came to him from the +master minds in the Convention--Davis and Smith. + +These were the leading actors in this political drama. Behind the lines, +in the "offing," was the Insurgent Group, young men like Mark Sullivan and +John Treacy of Hudson, stout defenders of the liberal wing in the +Convention, feeling sullen, beaten, and hopelessly impotent against the +mass attack of the machine forces. What a political medley was present in +this convention--plebeian and patrician, machine man and political +idealist--all gathered together and fighting as leading characters and +supernumeraries in the political drama about to be enacted. + +Not three men outside of the leading actors in this great political drama +had ever seen the Princeton professor, although many had doubtless read +his speeches. I watched every move from the side-lines. The bosses, with +consummate precision, moved to the doing of the job in hand, working their +spell of threats and coercion upon a beaten, sullen, spiritless body of +delegates. One could easily discern that there was no heart in the +delegates for the job on hand. To them, the active forces in the +Convention, the Princeton president was, indeed, a man of mystery. Who +could solve the riddle of this political Sphinx? Who was this man Wilson? +What were his purposes? What his ideals? These questions were troubling +and perplexing the delegates. Colonel Harvey, the commander-in-chief of +the Wilson forces, when interrogated by us, refused to answer. How +masterfully the Old Guard staged every act of the drama, and thus brought +about the nomination of the Princeton president. The Convention is at an +end. Wilson has been nominated by a narrow margin; the delegates, bitter +and resentful, are about to withdraw; the curtain is about to roll down on +the last scene. The chairman, Mr. John R. Hardin, the distinguished lawyer +of Essex, is about to announce the final vote, when the clerk of the +Convention, in a tone of voice that reached every part of the hall, +announces in a most dramatic fashion: "We have just received word that Mr. +Wilson, the candidate for the governorship, _and the next President of the +United States_, has received word of his nomination; has left Princeton, +and is now on his way to the Convention." Excellent stage work. The voice +of the secretary making this dramatic statement was the voice of Jacob, +but the deft hand behind this clever move was that of Colonel Harvey. This +announcement literally sets the Convention on fire. Bedlam breaks loose. +The only sullen and indifferent ones in the hall are those of us who met +defeat a few hours before. For us, at least, the mystery is about to be +solved. The Princeton professor has left the shades of the University to +enter the Elysian Fields of politics. + +At the time the secretary's announcement was made I was in the rear of the +convention hall, trying to become reconciled to our defeat. I then wended +my weary way to the stage and stood close to the band, which was busy +entertaining the crowd until the arrival of Mr. Wilson. I wanted to obtain +what newspaper men call a "close-up" of this man of mystery. + +What were my own feelings as I saw the candidate quietly walk to the +speakers' stand? I was now to see almost face to face for the first time +the man I had openly and bitterly denounced only a few hours before. What +reaction of regret or pleasure did I experience as I beheld the vigorous, +clean-cut, plainly garbed man, who now stood before me, cool and smiling? +My first reaction of regret came when he uttered these words: + + I feel the responsibility of the occasion. Responsibility is + proportionate to opportunity. It is a great opportunity to serve the + State and Nation. I did not seek this nomination, I have made no + pledge and have given no promises. If elected, I am left absolutely + free to serve you with all singleness of purpose. It is a new era when + these things can be said, and in connection with this I feel that the + dominant idea of the moment is the responsibility of deserving. I will + have to serve the state very well in order to deserve the honour of + being at its head.... Did you ever experience the elation of a great + hope, that you desire to do right because it is right and without + thought of doing it for your own interest? At that period your hopes + are unselfish. This in particular is a day of unselfish purpose for + Democracy. The country has been universally misled and the people have + begun to believe that there is something radically wrong. And now we + should make this era of hope one of realization through the Democratic + party. + +I had another reaction of regret when he said: + +"Government is not a warfare of interests. We shall not gain our ends by +heat and bitterness." How simple the man, how modest, how cultured! +Attempting none of the cheap "plays" of the old campaign orator, he +impressively proceeded with his thrilling speech, carrying his audience +with him under the spell of his eloquent words. How tense the moment! His +words, spoken in tones so soft, so fine, in voice so well modulated, so +heart-stirring. Only a few sentences are uttered and our souls are stirred +to their very depths. It was not only what he said, but the simple heart- +stirring way in which he said it. The great climax came when he uttered +these moving words: "The future is not for parties 'playing politics' but +for measures conceived in the largest spirit, pushed by parties whose +leaders are statesmen, not demagogues, who love not their offices but +their duty and their opportunity for service. We are witnessing a +renaissance of public spirit, a reawakening of sober public opinion, a +revival of the power of the people, the beginning of an age of thoughtful +reconstruction that makes our thoughts hark back to the age in which +democracy was set up in America. With the new age we shall show a new +spirit. We shall serve justice and candour and all things that make, for +the right. Is not our own party disciplined and made ready for this great +task? Shall we not forget ourselves in making it the instrument of +righteousness for the state and for the nation?" + +After this climax there was a short pause. "Go on, go on," eagerly cried +the crowd. The personal magnetism of the man, his winning smile, so frank +and so sincere, the light of his gray eyes, the fine poise of his well- +shaped head, the beautiful rhythm of his vigorous sentences, held the men +in the Convention breathless under their mystic spell. Men all about me +cried in a frenzy: "Thank God, at last, a leader has come!" + +Then, the great ending. Turning to the flag that hung over the speakers' +stand, he said, in words so impressive as to bring almost a sob from his +hearers: + + When I think of the flag which our ships carry, the only touch of + colour about them, the only thing that moves as if it had a settled + spirit in it--in their solid structure, it seems to me I see alternate + strips of parchment upon which are written the rights of liberty and + justice and strips of blood spilled to vindicate those rights and + then--in the corner--a prediction of the blue serene into which every + nation may swim which stands for these great things. + +The speech is over. Around me there is a swirling mass of men whose hearts +had been touched by the great speech which is just at an end. Men stood +about me with tears streaming from their eyes. Realizing that they had +just stood in the presence of greatness, it seemed as if they had been +lifted out of the selfish miasma of politics, and, in the spirit of the +Crusaders, were ready to dedicate themselves to the cause of liberating +their state from the bondage of special interests. + +As I turned to leave the convention hall there stood at my side old John +Crandall, of Atlantic City, like myself a bitter, implacable foe of +Woodrow Wilson, in the Convention. I watched him intently to see what +effect the speech had had upon him. For a minute he was silent, as if in a +dream, and then, drawing himself up to his full height, with a cynical +smile on his face, waving his hat and cane in the air, and at the same +time shaking his head in a self-accusing way, yelled at the top of his +voice, "I am sixty-five years old, and still a damn fool!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE NEW JERSEY SALIENT + + +No campaign in New Jersey caused so great an interest as the gubernatorial +campaign of 1910. The introduction of a Princeton professor into the +political melee in New Jersey had given a novel touch to what ordinarily +would have been a routine affair. The prologue to the great drama, the +various scenes of which were now to unfold before the voters of the state, +had been enacted at the Democratic Convention at Trenton under the +masterly direction of the members of the Democratic Old Guard of the +state. New Jersey had long been noted throughout the country as the +"Mother of Trusts", and the nesting place of Privilege. Through their +alliance and partnership with the political bosses of both parties the so- +called corporate interests had been for many years successful, against the +greatest pressure of public opinion, in blocking the passage of +progressive legislation. + +Liberal-minded men in the state had for many years been carrying on an +agitation for the enactment into law of legislation that would make +possible the following great needs: + + 1. The passage of a Direct Primary Act. + 2. The passage of an Employers' Liability Act. + 3. The regulation of Public Utilities. + 4. The passage of a Corrupt Practices Act. + +These were matters within the scope of state legislation, and to these was +added an agitation for a fifth reform, which, of course, could be +accomplished only through an amendment to the Constitution of the United +States, the election of United States senators by vote of the people. + +In the old days in New Jersey, now happily gone, the days when the +granting of special corporation charters was the vogue, a sort of +political suzerainty was set up by Railroad and Public Service interests. +Every election was, in its last analysis, a solemn referendum upon the +question as to which corporate interest should control legislation-- +whether the Pennsylvania Railroad, whose master mind was the Republican +leader of the state, United States Senator Sewall, or the Public Service +interests, whose votaries and friends were Senator Smith of New Jersey, +and Milan Ross, Sr., of Middlesex County. + +While these corporate interests fought among themselves over the matter of +a United States senatorship or the governorship of a state, they were at +one in their unrelenting, bitter, and highly organized opposition to the +passage of what in this day we call by the highly dignified name of Social +Welfare Legislation. The voices of those liberal-minded men and women of +the state, who, year after year, fought for this legislation, were like +voices crying in the wilderness. An illustration of corporate opposition +was the unrelenting attitude of the Special Interest group of the state to +the passage of the Employers' Liability Act. Every decent, progressive, +humane man in the state felt that the old, barbaric, Fellow-Servant +doctrine should be changed and that there should be substituted for it a +more humane, wholesome, modern doctrine. Nearly every state in the Union +had already recognized the injustice of the old rule, but the privileged +interests in New Jersey could not be moved in their bitter and implacable +opposition to it, and for over half a century they had succeeded in +preventing its enactment into law. Progressives or New Idea Republicans, +high in the councils of that party, had fought with their Democratic +brethren to pass this legislation, but always without result. At last +there came a revolt in the Republican party, brought about and led by +sturdy Republicans like Everett Colby of Essex, and William P. Martin of +the same county; George Record and Mark M. Fagan of my own county, Hudson. +Out of this split came the establishment in the ranks of the Republican +party itself of a faction which called itself the New Idea branch of the +Republican party. The campaign for humane legislation within the ranks of +the G.O.P. was at last begun in real fighting fashion. It was the +irrepressible conflict between the old and the new, between those who +believed human rights are superior to and take precedence over property +rights. The conflict could not be stayed; its leaders could not be +restrained. These men, Colby, Record, Martin, and Fagan, were the sowers +of the Progressive seed which Woodrow Wilson, by his genius for leadership +and constructive action along humane lines, was soon to harvest. His +candidacy, therefore, admirably fitted into the interesting situation. + +When the convention that nominated Woodrow Wilson had adjourned, a +convention wholly dominated by reactionary bosses, it seemed as if +progress and every fine thing for which the Progressives had worked had +been put finally to sleep. Behind the selection of the Princetonian and +his candidacy lay the Old Guard who thought the Professor could be used as +a shield for their strategy. The Progressives, both Democratic and +Republican, had witnessed the scenes enacted at the Democratic Convention +at Trenton with breaking hearts. They were about to lose hope. They did +not know that the candidate had at the outset served notice on the Old +Guard that if he were nominated he must be a free man to do nobody's +bidding, to serve no interests except those of the people of the state; +but the Old Guard had not published this. + +The Republican candidate, nominated at the time Woodrow Wilson was +selected, was a most pleasant, kindly, genial man from Passaic, Mr. Vivian +M. Lewis, who had just retired as banking commissioner for the state. By +clever plays to the Progressives he had, at least temporarily, brought +together the various progressive elements of the state. This movement +apparently was aided by the Democratic candidate's reluctance in the early +days of the campaign to speak out boldly against the domination of the +Democratic party by the bosses or the Old Guard. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SOMETHING NEW IN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS + + +Woodrow Wilson opened his gubernatorial campaign with a speech in Jersey +City, my home town. It was a distinct disappointment to those who attended +the meeting. His speech in accepting the nomination had touched us deeply +and had aroused in us great expectations, but after the Jersey City speech +we were depressed in spirit, for it seemed to us that he was evading the +real issues of the campaign. I was most anxious to meet the candidate and +give him, if he invited it, my impressions of this speech. A dinner given +to complete the ceremonies attendant upon the purchase of the Caldwell +residence of Grover Cleveland gave me the first opportunity to meet the +president of Princeton in an intimate way. Mr. Wilson's first wife, a most +delightful woman, made the introduction possible. As I fondly look back +upon this meeting, I vividly recall my impressions of the man who had just +been nominated for the governorship of the state in a convention in which +I had bitterly opposed him. + +The democratic bearing of the man, his warmth of manner, charm, and kindly +bearing were the first things that attracted me to him. There was no +coldness or austerity about him, nor was he what the politicians would +call "high-browish." He impressed me as a plain, unaffected, affable +gentleman, who was most anxious to receive advice and suggestion from any +quarter. He made us doubly welcome by saying that he had heard a great +deal of favourable comment about the work of Judge Sullivan and myself in +the Legislature. This made us feel perfectly at home, and this frank +manner of dealing with us opened the way for the suggestions we desired to +make to him as to the attitude we younger Democrats thought he should +assume on what we believed were the vital, progressive issues of the +campaign. + +When he was informed that I was present at his first meeting a few nights +before in Jersey City, he came over to me and in a most friendly way said: +"What did you really think of my speech?" For a moment I was embarrassed, +and yet the frankness of the man was compelling and so I said: "Doctor, do +you really desire an honest opinion of that speech? I really want to serve +you but I can do so only by speaking frankly." He replied: "That is what I +most desire." "Well," I said, "your speech was most disappointing." I +stopped suddenly, feeling that I had done enough damage to the Professor's +feelings. But he urged: "Please tell me what your criticism is. What I +most need is honesty and frankness. You cannot hurt my feelings by +truthfully expressing your opinion. Don't forget that I am an amateur at +this game and need advice and guidance." Encouraged by this suggestion, I +proceeded to tell him what I considered the principal defects of his +opening speech at Jersey City. I told him that there was a lack of +definiteness in it which gave rise to the impression that he was trying to +evade a discussion of the moral issues of the campaign, among them, of +major importance, being the regulation of Public Utilities and the passage +of an Employers' Liability Act. Briefly sketching for him our legislative +situation, I gave him the facts with reference to those large measures of +public interest; how, for many years, in face of constant agitation, the +Old Guard had prevented the enactment of these measures into law, and how, +therefore, his failure to discuss these matters in his first speech had +caused a grave feeling of unrest in the progressive ranks of both parties +in New Jersey. + +[Illustration: + + The White House + Washington + + Cornish, N. H., + July 3, 1915 + + My dear Tumulty: + + I am heartily obliged to you for your telegrams. It is characteristic + of you to keep my mind free by such messages. I am really having a + most refreshing and rewarding time and am very thankful to get it. I + hope that you are not having depressing weather in Washington and that + you are finding it possible to make satisfactory arrangements for the + family, so that we can have the pleasure of having you with us at the + White House when I get back. + + With warmest messages from us all, + Affectionately yours, + + (signed) + Woodrow Wilson + + Hon. Joseph P. Tumulty + Washington, D.C. + +This letter reveals the warm personal relations between the President and +his secretary.] + +He listened with keen attention and then modestly remarked: "I value very +highly this tip and you may rest assured I shall cover these matters in my +next speech. I meant that speech to be general." + +In my ignorance of things past I did not know that the candidate had +himself written the platform adopted by the Trenton Convention, and in my +ignorance of the future I did not then know that one of the boldest and +most remarkable political campaigns in America was to be conducted on that +platform, and that after the election and inauguration of the nominee the +chief business of the legislation was destined to be the enactment into +law of each of the planks of the platform, a complete and itemized +fulfilment of preëlection promises, unusual in the history of American +politics. At the time of my first conversation with the nominee I only +knew that the Convention had been dominated by the reactionary elements in +the party, that under this domination it had stolen the thunder of the +progressive elements of the party and of the New Idea Republicans, and +that the platform had been practically ignored by the candidate in his +first campaign speech. In these circumstances, and smarting as I was under +the recollection of recent defeat, it is not strange that I thought I +detected the old political ruse of dressing the wolf in sheep's clothing, +of using handsome pledges as a mask to deceive the gullible, and that I +assumed that this scholarly amateur in politics was being used for their +own purposes by masters and veterans in the old game of thimblerig. + +The candidate soon struck his gait and astonished me and all New Jersey +with the vigour, frankness, and lucidity of his speeches of exposition and +appeal. No campaign in years in New Jersey had roused such universal +interest. There was no mistaking the character and enthusiasm of the +greeting the candidate received every place he spoke, nor the response his +thrilling speeches evoked all over the state. Those who had gathered the +idea that the head of the great university would appear pedantic and stand +stiff-necked upon an academic pedestal from which he would talk over the +heads of the common people were forced, by the fighting, aggressive +attitude of the Doctor, to revise their old estimates. The campaign had +only begun when the leading newspapers of the country, particularly the +large dailies of New York, were taking an interest in the New Jersey +fight. + +Those of us who doubted Woodrow Wilson's sincerity and his sympathy for +the great progressive measures for which we had been fighting in the New +Jersey Legislature were soon put at ease by the developments of his +campaign and his sympathetic attitude toward the things we had so much at +heart. + +No candidate for governor in New Jersey had ever made so striking and +moving an appeal. Forgetting and ignoring the old slogans and shibboleths, +he appealed to the hearts and consciences of the people of the state. His +homely illustrations evoked expressions of delight, until it seemed as if +this newcomer in the politics of our state had a better knowledge of the +psychology of the ordinary crowd than the old stagers who had spent their +lives in politics. His illustrations always went home. + +For instance, speaking of progress, Doctor Wilson said that much depended +upon the action of the one who is supposed to be progressive. "I can +recall," he would say in trying to make his point, "the picture of a poor +devil of a donkey on a treadmill. He keeps on tramping, tramping, +tramping, but he never gets anywhere. But," he continued, "there is a +certain elephant that's tramping, too, and how much progress is it +making?" And then, again, he would grow solemn when he spoke of the +average man. Turning aside from the humorous, he would strike a serious +note like this one: + + You know that communities are not distinguished by exceptional men. + They are distinguished by the average of their citizenship. I often + think of the poor man when he goes to vote: a moral unit in his lonely + dignity. + + The deepest conviction and passion of my heart is that the common + people, by which I mean all of us, are to be absolutely trusted. The + peculiarity of some representatives, particularly those of the + Republican party, is that when they talk about the people, they + obviously do not include themselves. Now if, when you think of the + people, you are not thinking about yourself, then you do not belong in + America. + + When I look back at the processes of history, when I look back at the + genesis of America, I see this written over every page, that the + nations are renewed from the bottom, not from the top; that the genius + which springs up from the ranks of unknown men is the genius which + renews the youth and the energy of the people; and in every age of the + world, where you stop the courses of the blood from the roots, you + injure the great, useful structure to the extent that atrophy, death, + and decay are sure to ensue. This is the reason that an hereditary + monarchy does not work; that is the reason that an hereditary + aristocracy does not work; that is the reason that everything of that + sort is full of corruption and ready to decay. + + So I say that our challenge of to-day is to include in the partnership + all those great bodies of unnamed men who are going to produce our + future leaders and renew the future energies of America. And as I + confess that, as I confess my belief in the common man, I know what I + am saying. The man who is swimming against the stream knows the + strength of it. The man who is in the mêlée knows what blows are being + struck and what blood is being drawn. The man who is on the make is a + judge of what is happening in America, not the man who has made; not + the man who has emerged from the flood, not the man who is standing on + the bank, looking on, but the man who is struggling for his life and + for the lives of those who are dearer to him than himself. That is the + man whose judgment will tell you what is going on in America, and that + is the man by whose judgment I for one wish to be guided--so that as + the tasks multiply and the days come when all will seem confusion and + dismay, we may lift up our eyes to the hills out of these dark valleys + where the crags of special privilege overshadow and darken our path, + to where the sun gleams through the great passage in the broken + cliffs, the sun of God, the sun meant to regenerate men, the sun meant + to liberate them from their passion and despair and to lift us to + those uplands which are the promised land of every man who desires + liberty and achievement. + +Speaking for the necessity of corporate reform in business, he said: + + I am not objecting to the size of these corporations. Nothing is big + enough to scare me. What I am objecting to is that the Government + should give them exceptional advantages, which enables them to succeed + and does not put them on the same footing as other people. I think + those great touring cars, for example, which are labelled "Seeing New + York," are too big for the streets. You have almost to walk around the + block to get away from them, and size has a great deal to do with the + trouble if you are trying to get out of the way. But I have no + objection on that account to the ordinary automobile properly handled + by a man of conscience who is also a gentleman. I have no objection to + the size, power, and beauty of an automobile. I am interested, + however, in the size and conscience of the men who handle them, and + what I object to is that some corporation men are taking "joy-rides" + in their corporations. + +Time and time again men were reminded of the great speeches of Lincoln and +thought they saw his fine spirit breathing through sentences like these: + + Gentlemen, we are not working for to-day, we are not working for our + own interest, we are all going to pass away. But think of what is + involved. Here are the tradition, and the fame, and the prosperity, + and the purity, and the peace of a great nation involved. For the time + being we are that nation, but the generations that are behind us are + pointing us forward to the path and saying: + + "Remember the great traditions of the American people," and all those + unborn children that will constitute the generations that are ahead + will look back to us, either at those who serve them or at those who + betray them. Will any man in such circumstances think it worthy to + stand and not try to do what is possible in so great a cause, to save + a country, to purify a polity, to set up vast reforms which will + increase the happiness of mankind? God forbid that I should either be + daunted or turned away from a great task like this. + +Speaking of the candidate who opposed him: + + I have been informed that he has the best of me in looks. Now, it is + not always the useful horse that is most beautiful. If I had a big + load to be drawn some distance I should select one of those big, + shaggy kinds of horses, not much for beauty but strong of pull. + +On one occasion, when he had been talking about his and Mr. Lewis's +different conceptions of the "constitutional governor", and telling his +audience how he, if elected, would interpret the election as a mandate +from the people to assist in and direct legislation in the interests of +the people of New Jersey at large, he paused an instant and then in those +incisive tones and with that compression of the lips which marked his more +bellicose words, he said curtly: "If you don't want that kind of a +governor, don't elect me." + +Excerpts from the speeches cannot do justice to this remarkable campaign, +which Woodrow Wilson himself, after he had been twice elected President of +the United States, considered the most satisfying of his political +campaigns, because the most systematic and basic. As Presidential +candidate he had to cover a wide territory and touch only the high spots +in the national issues, but in his gubernatorial campaign he spoke in +every county of the state and in some counties several times, and his +speeches grew out of each other and were connected with each other in a +way that made them a popular treatise on self-government. He used no +technical jargon and none of the stereotyped bombast of the usual +political campaign. He had a theme which he wanted to expound to the +people of New Jersey, which theme was the nature and character of free +government, how it had been lost in New Jersey through the complicated +involvements of invisible government, manipulated from behind the scenes +by adroit representatives of the corporate interest working in conjunction +with the old political machines; how under this clever manipulation +legislators had ceased to represent the electorate and were, as he called +them, only "errand boys" to do the bidding of the real rulers of New +Jersey, many of whom were not even residents of the state, and how free +government could be restored to New Jersey through responsible leadership. +He was making an application to practical politics of the fundamental +principles of responsible government which he had analyzed in his earlier +writings, including the book on "Congressional Government." Beneath the +concrete campaign issues in New Jersey he saw the fundamental principles +of Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence +and the Constitution of the United States. His trained habit of thinking +through concrete facts to basic principles was serving him well in this +campaign; his trained habit of clear exposition in the Princeton lecture +hall was serving him well. People heard from him political speaking of a +new kind; full of weighty instruction and yet so simply phrased and so +aptly illustrated that the simplest minded could follow the train of +reasoning; profound in political philosophy and yet at every step +humanized by one who believed government the most human of things because +concerned with the happiness and welfare of individuals; sometimes he +spoke in parables, homely anecdotes so applied that all could understand; +sometimes he was caustic when he commented on the excessive zeal of +corporations for strict constitutionalism, meaning thereby only such +legislation and judicial interpretations as would defend their property +rights--how they had secured those rights being a question not discussed +by these gentlemen; sometimes, though not frequently, there would be +purple patches of eloquence, particularly when descanting on the long +struggle of the inarticulate masses for political representation. + +One of the surprises of the campaign to those who had known him as an +orator of classic eloquence was the comparative infrequency of rhetorical +periods. It was as if he were now too deeply engaged with actualities to +chisel and polish his sentences. Of the many anecdotes which he told +during the campaign one of his favourites was of the Irishman digging a +cellar, who when asked what he was doing said: "I'm letting the darkness +out." Woodrow Wilson told the people of New Jersey that he was "letting +the darkness out" of the New Jersey political situation. "Pitiless +publicity" was one of his many phrases coined in the campaign which +quickly found currency, not only in New Jersey but throughout the country, +for presently the United States at large began to realize that what was +going on in New Jersey was symbolical of the situation throughout the +country, a tremendous struggle to restore popular government to the +people. Since the founders of the Republic expounded free institutions to +the first electorates of this country there had probably been no political +campaign which went so directly to the roots of free representative +government and how to get it as that campaign which Woodrow Wilson +conducted in New Jersey in the autumn of 1910. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE CRISIS OF THE CAMPAIGN + + +The crisis of the campaign came when George L. Record, Progressive leader +in the ranks of the Republican party in Hudson County, uttered a ringing +challenge to the Democratic candidate to debate the issues of the campaign +with him. The challenge contained an alternative proposition that the +Democratic candidate either meet Mr. Record in joint debate in various +parts of the state or that he answer certain questions with reference to +the control of the Democratic party by what Mr. Record called the "Old +Guard." Mr. Record's letter and challenge created a profound sensation +throughout the state and brought hope and comfort to the ranks of the +Republican party. + +Record emphasized the Old Guard's control of the convention at which +Wilson was nominated, basing most of his questions upon this character of +political control, and openly challenging Wilson, the Democratic +candidate, to say whether the elements that were dominant at Trenton in +the Convention would be permitted by him, in case of his election, to +influence his action as governor. + +For several days after the letter containing the challenge reached the +Democratic candidate, there was a great deal of apprehension in the ranks +of the Democratic party lest the candidate should decide to ignore the +Record challenge, thus giving aid and comfort to the enemies of +progressivism in the state, or, on the other hand, that he would accept it +and thus give Mr. Record, who was a most resourceful public speaker and a +leading exponent of liberalism in the state, a chance to outwit him in +public debate. The latter practically demanded of the Democratic candidate +that he repudiate not only the Old Guard but the active management of his +campaign which had been taken over by James R. Nugent, one of the leaders +of Essex County, who daily accompanied the Democratic candidate on his +tour of the state. For a time it looked as if Doctor Wilson would ignore +entirely the Record challenge. It was plainly evident from all sides that +what appeared to be his reluctance to take a stand in the matter had +turned support away at a time when the sentiment of the state was rapidly +flowing his way. + +I accompanied the candidate on an automobile tour of the state and in our +little talks I sought to find out, in a diplomatic way, just how his mind +was running on the Record challenge and how he intended to meet it. In the +automobile with us on this tour was James R. Nugent, then the state +chairman of the Democratic Committee. I ascertained that even he knew +nothing about the Princetonian's attitude toward the Record challenge. A +significant remark which the candidate dropped "between meetings" gave me +the first intimation that the Democratic candidate was, to use a baseball +expression, "on to the Record curve" and that he would answer him in so +emphatic and overwhelming a fashion that the Republican campaign would +never entirely recover from the blow. + +One day while we were seated in the tonneau of the automobile discussing +the Record challenge, Mr. Wilson pointed his finger at Jim Nugent and +said, very significantly: "I intend to reply to Mr. Record, but I am sure +that it will hurt the feelings of this fine fellow." + +A few days later, without consulting any one, Mr. Wilson replied to +Record's challenge. It was a definite, clean-cut, unequivocal repudiation +of the Old Guard's control of the Democratic party, and a convincing +answer to every question that had been put to him. It rang true. Old-line +Republicans, after reading this conclusive reply, shook their heads and +said, regretfully, "Damn Record; the campaign's over." + +It was plainly evident that the crisis of the campaign had been safely +passed and that Mr. Wilson was on his way to the governorship. + +In his challenge Mr. Record had addressed to Doctor Wilson nineteen +questions. Mr. Wilson's reply was in part as follows: + + You wish to know what my relations would be with the Democrats whose + power and influence you fear should I be elected governor, + particularly in such important matters as appointments and the signing + of bills, and I am very glad to tell you. If elected I shall not + either in the matter of appointments to office, or assent to + legislation, or in shaping any part of the policy of my + administration, submit to the dictation of any person, or persons, + "special interests," or organizations. I will always welcome advice + and suggestions from any citizens, whether boss, leader, organization + man, or plain citizen, and I shall confidently seek the advice of + influential and disinterested men representative of the communities + and disconnected from political organizations entirely; but all + suggestions and all advice will be considered on its merits and no + additional weight will be given to any man's advice because of his + exercising, or supposing that he exercises, some sort of political + influence or control. I should deem myself for ever disgraced should + I, in even the slightest degree, coöperate in any such system. I + regard myself as pledged to the regeneration of the Democratic party. + +Mr. Record also inquired: "Do you admit that the boss system exists as I +have described it?" "If so, how do you propose to abolish it?" + +Mr. Wilson said: + + Of course I admit it. Its existence is notorious. I have made it my + business for many years to observe and understand that system, and I + hate it as thoroughly as I understand it. You are quite right in + saying that the system is bipartisan; that it constitutes "the most + dangerous condition in the public life of our state and nation to- + day"; and that it has virtually, for the time being, "destroyed + representative government and in its place set up a government of + privilege." I would propose to abolish it by the reforms suggested in + the Democratic platform, by the election to office of men who will + refuse to submit to it, and who will lend all their energies to break + it up, and by pitiless publicity. + +Still hoping to corner the Governor, Mr. Record named the bosses: + + In referring to the Board of Guardians, do you mean such Republican + leaders as Baird, Murphy, Kean, and Stokes? Wherein do the relations + to the special interests of such leaders differ from the relation to + the same interests of such Democratic leaders as Smith, Nugent, and + Davis? + +Mr. Wilson, answering this, said: + + I refer to the men you name. They [meaning Baird, Murphy, Kean, + Stokes] differ from the others in this, that they are in control of + the government of the state while the others are not, and cannot be if + the present Democratic ticket is elected. + +In reply to Mr. Record's question: "Will you join me in denouncing the +Democratic 'overlords' as parties to a political boss system?" Doctor +Wilson replied: "Certainly I will join you in denouncing them--or any one +of either party who attempts any outrages against the Government and +public morality." + +At this time I was in close touch with the managers of the Wilson +campaign, including Smith, Nugent, and Davis. While they admired the fine +strategy that lay back of the Democratic candidate's reply to Mr. Record, +they looked upon it as a mere gesture upon the part of Mr. Wilson and +scorned to believe that his reply to Mr. Record constituted a challenge to +their leadership. They did not show any evidences of dismay or chagrin at +the courageous attitude taken by Doctor Wilson. They simply smiled and +shrugged their shoulders and said: "This is a great campaign play." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE END OF THE CAMPAIGN + + +The final meeting of the gubernatorial campaign was held in a large +auditorium in Newark, New Jersey, where the last appeal was made by the +Democratic candidate. It was a meeting filled with emotionalism such as I +had never seen in a campaign before. The Democratic candidate, Woodrow +Wilson, had covered every section of the state and it was easy for even +the casual observer to note the rising tide in his favour. The campaign +had, indeed, become a crusade; his eloquence and sledge-hammer blows at +the opposition having cut our party lines asunder. I was present at the +final meeting and took my place in the wings of the theatre or auditorium, +alongside of Senator Smith, the Democratic chieftain who a few weeks +before had, in a masterful fashion, manipulated the workings of the +Convention at Trenton in such a way as to make the Doctor's nomination +possible. Mr. Wilson's speech on this occasion was a profession of faith +in the people, in the plain people, those "whose names never emerged into +the headlines of newspapers." When he said in a delightful sort of banter +to his audience, "I want you to take a sportsman's chance on me," there +went up a shout of approval which could be heard as far as the hills of +old Bergen. + +The peroration of his final speech, spoken in a tone of voice that seemed +not only to reach every ear but, in fact, to touch every heart, was as +follows: + + We have begun a fight that, it may be, will take many a generation to + complete, the fight against privilege; but you know that men are not + put into this world to go the path of ease. They are put into this + world to go the path of pain and struggle. No man would wish to sit + idly by and lose the opportunity to take part in such a struggle. All + through the centuries there has been this slow, painful struggle + forward, forward, up, up, a little at a time, along the entire + incline, the interminable way which leads to the perfection of force, + to the real seat of justice and honour. + + There are men who have fallen by the way; blood without stint has been + shed; men have sacrificed everything in this sometimes blind, but + always instinctive and constant struggle, and America has undertaken + to lead the way; America has undertaken to be the haven of hope, the + opportunity for all men. + + Don't look forward too much. Don't look at the road ahead of you in + dismay. Look at the road behind you. Don't you see how far up the hill + we have come? Don't you see what those low and damp miasmatic levels + were from which we have slowly led the way? Don't you see the rows of + men come, not upon the lower level, but upon the upper, like the rays + of the rising sun? Don't you see the light starting and don't you see + the light illuminating all nations? + + Don't you know that you are coming more and more into the beauty of + its radiance? Don't you know that the past is for ever behind us, that + we have passed many kinds of evils no longer possible, that we have + achieved great ends and have almost seen their fruition in free + America? Don't forget the road that you have trod, but, remembering it + and looking back for reassurance, look forward with confidence and + charity to your fellow men one at a time as you pass them along the + road, and see those who are willing to lead you, and say, "We do not + believe you know the whole road. We know that you are no prophet, we + know that you are no seer, but we believe that you know the direction + and are leading us in that direction, though it costs you your life, + provided it does not cost you your honour." + + And then trust your guides, imperfect as they are, and some day, when + we all are dead, men will come and point at the distant upland with a + great shout of joy and triumph and thank God that there were men who + undertook to lead in the struggle. What difference does it make if we + ourselves do not reach the uplands? We have given our lives to the + enterprise. The world is made happier and humankind better because we + have lived. + +At the end of this memorable and touching speech old Senator James Smith, +seated alongside of me, pulled me by the coat and, in a voice just above a +whisper and with tears in his eyes, said: "That is a great man, Mr. +Tumulty. He is destined for great things." + +It did not seem possible on this memorable night that within a few days +these two Democratic chieftains would be challenging each other and +engaging in a desperate struggle to decide the question of Democratic +leadership in the state. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A PARTY SPLIT + + +All the prophecies and predictions of the political seers and philosophers +of New Jersey, many of them of course feeling their own partisan pulse, +were annihilated and set adrift by the happenings in New Jersey on the +first Tuesday in November, 1910. Woodrow Wilson, college professor, man of +mystery, political recluse, the nominee of the most standpat Democratic +convention of many years, had been chosen the leader of the people of the +state by the unprecedented majority of 39,000, and was wearing the laurels +of victory. The old bosses and leaders chuckled and smiled; they were soon +to have a Roman holiday under the aegis of the Wilson Administration. + +There were many surprises in the Wilson victory. The Democrats awoke on +the day after the election to find that they had not only won the +governorship of the state, but their joy was unbounded to find that they +had captured the Lower House of the Legislature that would have the +election, under the preferential primary system just adopted, of a United +States senator. Therein lay the fly in the ointment. Never in their +wildest dreams or vain imaginings did the leaders of the Democratic party +believe that there was the slightest chance even under the most favourable +circumstances of carrying a majority of the vote of the state for the +Democratic choice, James E. Martine, of Plainfield. + +The suggestion that it was possible to elect a Democrat to the United +States Senate was considered a form of political heresy. The nomination +for the Senate had been thrown about the state until torn and tattered +almost beyond repair; it was finally taken up and salvaged by that sturdy +old Democrat of Union County, Jim Martine. Even I had received the offer +of the senatorial toga, but the one who brought the nomination to me was +rudely cast out of my office. The question was: What would be the attitude +of the new Democratic leader, Woodrow Wilson, toward the preferential +choice, Martine? Would the vote at the election be considered as having +the full virtue and vigour of a solemn referendum or was it to be +considered as Senator Smith would have it, a sort of practical joke +perpetrated upon the electors? Soon the opinion of the people of the state +began to express itself in no uncertain way, demanding the carrying out of +the "solemn covenant" of the election, only to be answered by the +challenge of Senator Smith and his friends to enter the field against +Martine, the choice at the election. + +This business pitchforked the Governor-elect prematurely into the rough- +and-tumble of "politics as she is," not always a dainty game. As I review +in retrospect this famous chapter of state history, which, because of the +subsequent supreme distinction of one of the parties to the contest, +became a chapter in national history, I realize the almost pathetic +situation of Mr. Wilson. He had called himself an amateur in politics, and +such he was in the practical details and involutions of the great American +game, though in his campaign he had shown himself a master of political +debate. In the ordinary course of events he would have been allowed two +months between his election and inauguration to begin an orderly +adjustment to the new life, to make a gradual transition from the comely +proprieties of an academic chair to the catch-as-catch-can methods of the +political wrestling mat, to get acquainted with the men and problems of +the new career. But the Smith-Martine affair gave birth prematurely to an +immediate occasion for a fight. + +As president of Princeton, Doctor Wilson had proved that he was not averse +to a fight when a fight was necessary and when it was distinctly his +affair, but he may well have paused to consider whether the Smith-Martine +business was his affair. One of his favourite stories in later years was +of the Irishman who entered a saloon and seeing two men in a tangle of +fists and writhing legs and bloody heads on the floor at the rear of the +saloon, turned to the barkeeper and asked: "Is this a private fight, or +can anybody git into it?" A more politic man than Woodrow Wilson and one +less sensitive to moral duty, might well have argued that this contest was +the business of the Legislature, not of the Governor. Many a governor- +elect would have avoided the issue on this unquestionably sound legal +principle, and friends in Princeton were in fact advising Mr. Wilson to +precisely this course, the course of neutrality. It would not be strange +if neutrality, aloofness, had presented a rather attractive picture at +times to Mr. Wilson's mind. Why should he gratuitously take a partisan +position between the factions which would inevitably win for him the +enmity of a strong element within the party? Which would also win for him +the unpleasant reputation of ingratitude? For though he had at the first +overtures from Senator Smith and his friends made it as clear as language +can make anything that he could accept the nomination only with the +explicit understanding that acceptance should establish no obligations of +political favours to anybody, it would be impossible to make it appear +that opposition to Smith's darling desire to become senator was not an +ungracious return to the man who had led the forces which had nominated +Wilson at Trenton. + +On the other hand, there was his distinct pledge to the people during his +campaign, that if they elected him governor he would make himself the +leader of the party, would broadly and not with pettifogging legalism +interpret his constitutional relationship to the Legislature, would +undertake to assist in legislative action, and not wait supinely for the +Legislature to do something, and then sign or veto the thing done. +Moreover, he had insisted on the principle of the preferential primary as +one means by which the people should participate in their own government +and convey an expression of their will and purpose to the law-making body. +The people had voted for Martine. The fact that Senator Smith had scorned +to have his name placed on the ballot, the fact that human imagination +could picture a stronger senator from New Jersey than genial "Jim" Martine +did not affect the argument. A great majority had voted for Martine and +for nobody else. Was the use of the preferential primary for the first +time in the selection of a United States senator to be ignored, and all +the arguments that Candidate Wilson and others had made in behalf of the +system to be taken "in a Pickwickian sense," as not meaning anything? + +There was a real dilemma doubtless much more acutely realized by the +Governor-elect than by the hot-heads, including myself, who were clamorous +for an immediate proclamation of support of Martine, on progressive +principles, and for an ultimatum of war-to-the-knife against Smith and the +old crowd. + +It seemed as if Mr. Wilson were hesitating and holding off, reluctant to +accept the gage of battle thrown down by the challenge of the Smith wing. +The leading Democratic and Independent journals of the state were most +insistent that immediate proof be given by Governor-elect Wilson of his +leadership and control over the party and that a test should be made as to +which influence, reactionary or progressive, was to control the destinies +of our party in the state. Those of us who had followed the candidate +throughout the campaign and who had been heartened by his progressive +attitude were sorely disappointed at his failure immediately to act. It +was painfully evident to us that behind the scenes at Princeton the new +governor's friends, particularly Colonel Harvey, were urging upon him +cautious and well-considered action and what mayhap might be called "a +policy of watchful waiting," picturing to him the insurmountable +difficulties that would lie in his path in case he exercised his +leadership in the matter of Martine's selection to the United States +Senate. They suggested that the vote for Martine had no binding force; +that it was a mere perfunctory expression of preference in the matter of +the United States senatorship which the Legislature was free to ignore. +The only man, therefore, who could make the vote effective was the +Governor-elect himself. What he would do in these circumstances was for +days after the election a matter of perplexing doubt to his many friends. +Disappointment and chagrin at the candidate's silence brooded over the +ranks of the progressives of the state. In my law office in Jersey City I +tried to convince those who came to confer with me regarding the matter +that they must be patient; that, ultimately, everything would be all right +and that Doctor Wilson would soon assert his leadership over the party and +take his proper place at the head of those who worked to make the +preferential vote an effective instrumentality. Frankly, though I did not +give expression to my doubts, I was profoundly and deeply disappointed at +the apparently hesitant, uncertain attitude of the Governor-elect. Feeling +certain that popular opinion would be with him in case he decided to lead +in this struggle, I was convinced that the delay in announcing his +attitude toward the Smith-Nugent "defi" was dampening the ardour and +enthusiasm of many of his friends. + +The progressive Democrats of the state waited with patience the word of +command and counsel from the Princeton professor to initiate the fight +that would settle for all time in the state of New Jersey the question +whether the referendum on the question of the election of United States +senators should be treated as "a scrap of paper," or whether it was to be +upheld and vindicated by the action of the Legislature. No direct word +came to me of the Governor-elect's attitude on this vital question. +Rumours of his position toward Senator Smith's candidacy filtered "through +the lines" from Princeton; various stories and intimations that seemed to +indicate that the Governor-elect would allow Martine's selection to go by +default; that he would not interfere in any way to carry out the mandate +of the election. + +Things were in this unsatisfactory condition when to my surprise I +received a call in my modest Jersey City law offices from the Governor- +elect. Knowing him as I know him, I can see that in his deliberate fashion +he was taking testimony from both sides and slowly arriving at his own +decision. Having heard from the cautious who counselled neutrality, he was +now seeking the arguments of the impetuous who demanded action and wanted +it "hot off the bat." But at that time, not knowing him as I now know him, +he seemed, in this interview, to be vacillating between two opinions, for +he did what I have often known him to do subsequently: stated with +lucidity the arguments of the other side, and with the air of one quite +open-minded, without opinions of his own, seemed to seek my arguments in +rebuttal. I was sorely disappointed by what then seemed to me his negative +attitude, so unlike the militant debater whom I had come to admire in the +campaign which had recently been brought to a brilliant and victorious +close. In my youthful impetuosity I felt that we had been deceived in our +man, a bold talker but timid in action. I simply did not then know the man +and the mixed elements in him. Later, in close association, I was to see +this phase of him not infrequently, the canny Scot, listening without +comment and apparently with mind to let to conflicting arguments while his +own mind was slowly moving to its own position, where it would stand fixed +and immovable as Gibraltar. + +Almost as if it were an academic question, with which he had no personal +concern, he propounded the alternatives: Should he lead the fight against +Senator Smith, or should he stand aloof and permit the Legislature to act +without any suggestion from him? He summarized the arguments of his +friends at Princeton who were advising him to steer clear of this fight +and not permit himself to be drawn into it by young, impetuous people like +myself. He said that certain overtures and suggestions of compromises had +been made to him by Senator Smith's friends, to the effect that if he +would not play a leading part in the fight and allow the Legislature to +act without interference from him, Senator Smith and his friends in the +state would agree not to oppose his legislative programme at the coming +session. It was further suggested that Senator Smith had the necessary +votes to elect himself and that it would be futile to attempt to elect Jim +Martine; and that his intervention in this family quarrel would result in +a bitter and humiliating defeat for him at the very outset of his +administration. When the Governor-elect had concluded this preliminary +statement, I was depressed and disappointed. I did not think there should +be a moment's hesitation on his part in at once accepting the challenge so +defiantly addressed to him by the Democratic bosses of the state. + +Frankly, I laid the whole case before him in words to this effect: "My +dear Doctor Wilson, there is no way I can better serve you than by frankly +dealing with the question. Your friends away off in Princeton probably do +not know how for years our party and its destinies have been in the hands +of these very men, enemies of liberalism in New Jersey, who by your +silence or indifference as to the United States senatorship are to be +given a new lease on life. The issue involved in this fight is fundamental +and goes far beyond the senatorship. The action you take will have a far- +reaching effect upon our party's fortunes and no one can calculate the +effect it will undoubtedly have on your own political future. In urging +you not to take part in this fight your friends are acting unwisely. You +cannot afford not to fight and not to have an immediate test of your +leadership in this matter. The question of Mr. Martine's fitness, as your +friends urge, is not an issue seriously to be considered. 47,454 votes in +the state have decided that matter and you cannot reverse their verdict. +Your friends have placed too much emphasis on Martine's alleged unfitness +and too little on the duty you owe the party and the state as _leader_." + +I called to his attention the fact that men like myself had been heartened +and encouraged by his speeches in the campaign; how we felt that at last +we had found in him a leader, bold and fearless, and that now, when the +first real test of leadership came, it appeared that we were to be +disappointed and that by his silence and inaction he would permit Senator +Smith to win and allow Martine, the popular choice, to be defeated, thus +setting aside the verdict of the election. He listened intently but +without comment to all I had to say. Proceeding with my argument, I said: +"The people of New Jersey accepted your word and, to employ your own +phrase, 'took a sportsman's chance on you' and they must not be +disappointed. Your failure to make this fight will mean that you have not +only surrendered your leadership as governor in this matter, but by the +same act you will have abdicated your leadership in favour of the Old +Guard all along the line. They have set a trap for you, and I know you +will not permit yourself to be caught in it." In conclusion I said: "They +say they will support your reform programme. What assurance have you that, +having defeated you in this your first big fight, they will not turn on +you and defeat your whole legislative programme? As governor, you have the +power to lead us to a great victory in this vital matter. Exercise it now, +and opinion throughout the state will strongly and enthusiastically +support you. You have but to announce your willingness to lead and the +people of the state will rally to your standard. The fight, in any event, +will be made and we wish you to lead it. This is really the first step to +the Presidency. That is what is really involved. Not only the people of +New Jersey but the people of America are interested in this fight. They +are clamouring for leadership, and I am sure you are the man to lead, and +that you will not fail." + +When the Governor-elect rose to leave my office, he turned to me and +asked, still in a non-committal manner, whether in my opinion we could win +the fight in case he should decide to enter upon it. I at once assured him +that while the various political machines of the state would oppose him at +every turn, their so-called organizations were made of cardboard and that +they would immediately disintegrate and fall the moment he assumed +leadership and announced that the fight was on. + +In his own time and by his own processes Mr. Wilson arrived at his +decision. It was the first of my many experiences of his deliberative +processes in making up his mind and of the fire and granite in him after +he had made his decision. He informed me that he would support Martine and +use all his force, official and personal, to have the Legislature accept +the preferential primary as the people's mandate. + +With prudence and caution, with a political sense that challenged the +admiration of every practical politician in the state, the Princetonian +began to set the stage for the preliminary test. There was nothing +dramatic about these preliminaries. Quickly assuming the offensive, he +went about the task of mobilizing his political forces in the most +patient, practical way. No statement to the people of his purposes to +accept the challenge of the Democratic bosses was made by him. Certain +things in the way of accommodation were necessary to be done before this +definite step was taken. It was decided that until the Governor-elect had +conferred with the Democratic bosses in an effort to persuade them that +the course they had adopted was wrong, it would be best not to make an +immediate issue by the Governor-elect's announcement. We thought that by +tactfully handling Smith and Davis we would be able by this method of +conciliation to convince their friends, at least those in the party +organization, that we were not ruthlessly bent upon leading a revolt, but +that we were attempting peacefully a settlement that would prevent a split +in our party ranks. + +We were convinced that in the great body of organization Democrats there +were many fine men who resented this attempt of the bosses to force Jim +Smith again on the party and that there were many who silently wished us +success, although they were not free to come to our side in open espousal. +Thus we began patiently to build our back-fire in the ranks of the +Democratic organization itself, to unhorse the Essex boss. + +The first thing to carry out the programme was a visit paid to the sick +room of the Democratic boss of the Hudson wing, Bob Davis, who lay +dangerously ill in his modest home on Grove Street, Jersey City. The visit +itself of the Governor-elect to the home of the stricken boss had a marked +psychological effect in conciliating and winning over to our side the +active party workers in the Davis machine. To many of the privates in the +ranks the boss was a veritable hero and they witnessed with pleasure the +personal visit of the new Governor-elect to the boss at his home and +looked upon it as a genuine act of obeisance and deference to their +stricken leader. They thought this a generous and a big thing to do, and +so it naturally turned their sympathies to the Governor-elect. It gave +further proof to them that the man elected Governor was not "high-browish" +or inclined to fight unless he had previously laid all his cards on the +table. We also realized that to have ignored the boss would have been to +give strength and comfort to the enemy, and so we deliberately set out to +cultivate his friends in a spirit of honourable and frank dealing. The +visit to the boss was a part of this plan. The meeting between these two +men--one, the Governor-elect and until recently the president of +Princeton; the other, a Democratic boss, old and battle-scarred--in the +little sick room of the humble home, was a most interesting affair and at +times a most touching and pathetic one. Both men were frank in dealing +with each other. There was no formality or coldness in the meeting. The +Governor-elect quickly placed the whole situation before the boss, showing +how the Democratic party had for many years advocated the very system--the +election of United States senators by the people--that the Democratic +bosses of the state were now attacking and repudiating. Briefly, he +sketched the disastrous effects upon our party and its prestige in the +state and the nation if a Democratic legislature should be the first, +after advocating it, to cast it aside in order to satisfy the selfish +ambition and vanity of one of the Old Guard. In a sincere manly fashion, +so characteristic of him, Boss Davis then proceeded to state _his_ case. +Briefly, it was this: He had given his solemn promise and had entered into +a gentleman's agreement with Smith to deliver to him the twelve +legislative votes from Hudson. He would not violate his agreement. +Laughingly, he said to the Governor-elect: "If the Pope of Rome, of whose +Church I am a member, should come to this room to urge me to change my +attitude, I would refuse to do so. I have given my promise and you would +not have me break it, would you, Doctor?" With real feeling and a show of +appreciation of the boss's frankness and loyalty to his friends, the +Governor-elect quickly replied: "Of course, I would not have you break +your promise, but you must not feel aggrieved if I shall find it necessary +to fight you and Smith in the open for the Hudson votes." "Go on, Doctor," +said the sick man, "I am a game sport and I am sure that with you there +will be no hitting below the belt." And thus the first conference between +the Governor-elect and the political boss ended. + +Mr. Wilson's next visit was to Senator Smith himself at the Senator's home +in Newark, a meeting entirely friendly in character and frank in +expressions of the unalterable determination of the two men, of Senator +Smith not to withdraw from the race, of Doctor Wilson to oppose his +candidacy and place the issue before the people of the state. Senator +Smith with engaging candour gave Mr. Wilson his strong personal reasons +for wishing to return to the United States Senate: he said that he had +left the Senate under a cloud due to the investigations of the Sugar Trust +and that for the sake of his children he wanted to reinstate himself in +the Senate. Mr. Wilson expressed his sympathy for this motive, more +appealing than mere personal ambition, but declared that he could not +permit his sympathy as an individual to interfere with his duty as he +conceived it, as an official pledged by all his public utterances to +support progressive principles, among which was the preferential primary +system, and committed to a course of active leadership in matters which +concerned the state at large, in which category the selection of a United +States senator certainly fell. He made a personal appeal to the Senator +for the sake of the party to forego his desire and by a noble act of +renunciation to win the regard of all the citizens of the state, saying: +"Why, Senator, you have it in your power to become instantly, the biggest +man in the state." But the Senator was firm. And so, though the visit was +conducted with the dignity and courtesy characteristic of both men, it +ended with their frank acknowledgment to each other that from now on there +existed between them a state of war. + +Returning to Princeton from Newark, the formal announcement of the +Governor's entrance into the fight was made and the contest for the +senatorship and the leadership of the Democratic party was on. The +announcement was as follows: + + WOODROW WILSON'S CHALLENGE TO THE BOSSES + Friday Evening, Dec. 9,1910. + + The question who should be chosen by the incoming legislature of the + state to occupy the seat in the Senate of the United States which will + presently be made vacant by the expiration of the term of Mr. Kean is + of such vital importance to the people of the state, both as a + question of political good faith and as a question of genuine + representation in the Senate, that I feel constrained to express my + own opinion with regard to it in terms which cannot be misunderstood. + I had hoped that it would not be necessary for me to speak; but it is. + + I realize the delicacy of taking any part in the discussion of the + matter. As Governor of New Jersey I shall have no part in the choice + of a Senator. Legally speaking, it is not my duty even to give advice + with regard to the choice. But there are other duties besides legal + duties. The recent campaign has put me in an unusual position. I + offered, if elected, to be the political spokesman and adviser of the + people. I even asked those who did not care to make their choice of + governor upon that understanding not to vote for me. I believe that + the choice was made upon that undertaking; and I cannot escape the + responsibility involved. I have no desire to escape it. It is my duty + to say, with a full sense of the peculiar responsibility of my + position, what I deem it to be the obligation of the Legislature to do + in this gravely important matter. + + I know that the people of New Jersey do not desire Mr. James Smith, + Jr., to be sent again to the Senate. If he should be, he will not go + as their representative. The only means I have of knowing whom they do + desire to represent them is the vote at the recent primaries, where + 48,000 Democratic voters, a majority of the whole number who voted at + the primaries, declared their preference for Mr. Martine, of Union + County. For me that vote is conclusive. I think it should be for every + member of the Legislature. + + Absolute good faith in dealing with the people, an unhesitating + fidelity to every principle avowed, is the highest law of political + morality under a constitutional government. The Democratic party has + been given a majority in the Legislature; the Democratic voters of the + state have expressed their preference under a law advocated and + supported by the opinion of their party, declared alike in platforms + and in enacted law. It is clearly the duty of every Democratic + legislator who would keep faith with the law of the state with the + avowed principles of his party to vote for Mr. Martine. It is my duty + to advocate his election--to urge it by every honourable means at my + command. + +Immediately the work of organizing our forces for the fight was set in +motion. I had been designated by the Governor-elect to handle the fight in +Hudson County, the Davis stronghold. Meetings were arranged for at what +were considered the strategic points in the fight: Jersey City and Newark. +The announcement of the Governor-elect's acceptance of the challenge had +given a thrill to the whole state and immediately the reaction against the +Old Guard's attempt to discredit the primary choice was evident. The +bitterness in the ranks of the contesting factions began to express itself +in charges and counter-charges that were made. Speeches for and against +the candidates were addressed to the ears of the unwary voter. The state +was soon up in arms. There was no doubt of the attitude of the people. +This was made plain in so many ways that our task was to impress this +opinion upon the members of the Legislature, whose vote, in the last +analysis, would be the determining factor in this contest. While we were +laying down a barrage in the way of organization work and making +preparations for our meetings throughout the state, the Governor-elect was +conferring nightly with members of the Legislature at the University Club +in New York. From day to day could be observed the rising tide in favour +of our cause, and slowly its effect upon the members of the Legislature +was made manifest. The first meeting in the senatorial contest was held in +Jersey City. As chairman of the committee, I had arranged the details for +this first speech of the Governor-elect. I had adopted a plan in making +the arrangements that I felt would remove from the minds of the +organization workers, to whom we desired to appeal, the idea that this was +a revolt or secessionist movement in the ranks of the Democratic party. +The committee in charge of the meeting had selected the finest, cleanest +men in our party's ranks to preside over and take part in the meeting. + +There was never such an outpouring of people. Men and women from outside +the state, and, particularly, men and women from New York and Connecticut, +had come all the way to New Jersey to witness this first skirmish in the +political upheaval that was soon to take place. The metropolitan dailies +had sent their best men to write up the story and to give a "size-up" of +the new Governor-elect in fighting action. They were not disappointed. He +was in rare form. His speech was filled with epigrams that carried the +fight home to those upon whom we were trying to make an impression. When +he warned his friends not to be afraid of the machine which the bosses +controlled he said, with biting irony: "We do not fear their fortresses +[meaning the political machines] that frown and look down upon us from +their shining heights." Smiling deprecatingly and waving his hand, he +continued: "They are but made of paste-board and when you approach them +they fall at your very touch." + +Ridiculing and belittling the power of the bosses, he called them "warts +upon the body politic." "It is not," said the new chief of Democracy, "a +capital process to cut off a wart. You don't have to go to the hospital +and take an anaesthetic. The thing can be done while you wait, and it is +being done. The clinic is open, and every man can witness the operation." + +The meeting was a triumph and strikingly demonstrated the power of brain +and fine leadership over brawn and selfish politics. + +The final appeal to the voters on the United States senatorship was made +in the heart of the enemy's country, the stronghold of the Smith-Nugent +faction at Newark, New Jersey. The same enthusiastic, whole-souled +response that characterized the Jersey City meeting was repeated. The same +defiant challenge to the Old Guard was uttered by the new Governor. +Sarcasm, bitter irony, delightful humour, and good-natured flings at the +Old Guard were found in this his final appeal. In a tone of voice that +carried the deep emotion he felt, he said, as his final word: + + Do you know what is true of the special interests at this moment! They + have got all their baggage packed and they are ready to strike camp + over night, provided they think it is profitable for them to come over + to the Democratic party. They are waiting to come over bag and baggage + and take possession of the Democratic party. Will they be welcome? Do + you want them? I pray God we may never wake up some fine morning and + find them encamped on our side. + +The response was thrilling. The two meetings just held, one in Jersey City +and the other in Newark, convinced those of us in charge of the Martine +campaign that we had made the right impression in the state and, having +deeply aroused the voters, all we had to do was to harvest the crop, the +seed of which had been planted in the soil of public opinion by the +speeches the new Governor had made. It was plain that the machine crowd +was stunned and reeling from the frequent and telling blows that had been +so vigorously delivered by him. Suggestions of compromise came from the +enemy's ranks, but no armistice would be granted, except upon the basis of +an absolute and unconditional surrender. Offers and suggested proposals +from the Old Guard to the Governor-elect were thrust aside as valueless +and not worthy his consideration. There was nothing to do but play for a +"knock-out." Soon the full pressure of the opinion of the state began to +be felt. Members of the Legislature from the various counties began to +feel its influence upon them. Our ranks began to be strengthened by +additions from the other side. The Governor's speeches and his nightly +conferences were having their full effect. The bosses, now in panic, were +each day borne down by the news brought to them of the innumerable +defections in their quickly dwindling forces. However, the bosses showed a +bold front and declared that their man had the votes. But their confidence +waned as election day approached. Realizing the fact that we were dealing +with the best-trained minds in the Democratic party, we gave no news to +the outside world of the strength in number of our own ranks, knowing full +well that if we did so imprudent a thing, the active men in the ranks of +the enemy would pull every wire of influence and use every method of +threats and coercion to wean the votes away from us. We "stood pat" and +watched with interest every move made by the other side. In his final +statement before the joint meeting of the Legislature Smith boldly +announced his election to the Senate on the strength of the number of +legislative votes pledged to him, but those of us who were in the midst of +this political melee knew that he was licked and that he was only +whistling to keep up his courage. + +In the meantime, the Governor-elect had tendered to me the post of +secretary to the Governor, and I accepted this office which brought me +into more intimate association with him and his plans. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +EXIT THE OLD GUARD + + +The conferences and meetings in preparation for the great senatorial fight +having been concluded, the scene of activities was transferred to Trenton, +where shortly after the Inauguration plans were laid for the final battle. + +Immediately upon the conclusion of the Inaugural ceremonies, the hand-to- +hand contests for the great prize and incidentally the leadership of the +Democrats, was on in full swing. At the beginning of the fight the bosses +counted upon the active support of the influential Democratic leaders +throughout the state, like Robert S. Hudspeth of Hudson County, Johnston +Cornish of Warren County, Edward E. Grosscup of Gloucester County, Barney +Gannon and Peter Daley of Middlesex County, old Doctor Barber of Warren +County, Otto Wittpenn of Hudson County, Billy French and Judge Westcott of +Camden, Dave Crater of Monmouth, and minor bosses or leaders in south and +middle Jersey. But in utter amazement they found that we had captured +these fine pieces of heavy political artillery and that through them we +had acquired and taken over some of the most valuable political salients +in the state. + +A little incident in the campaign is worth reciting. In managing the +campaign I found that for some unaccountable reason the so-called Irish +vote of the state was massed solidly behind ex-Senator Smith and in bitter +opposition to Governor Wilson. We were constantly coming in contact with +these currents of opposition, and how to overcome them and bring the Irish +vote into our fold was the task that devolved upon me as the manager of +Martine's campaign. Seated in my office one day I recalled that years +before I had read in the Congressional Record an account of a speech +delivered in the United States Senate by James Smith, upholding in terms +of highest praise the famous Hay-Pauncefote Treaty. The speech in all its +details, particularly the argument it contained calling for closer +relations between the United States and Great Britain, was still fresh in +my memory. Evidently Senator Smith and his Irish friends had forgotten it, +for he was now trying to mobilize the Irish vote of the state in his +favour. On re-reading this speech of the old Senator, I smiled with +satisfaction, realizing the campaign use that could be made of it. After +considering the matter carefully, I sent for a devoted friend of mine, a +fine, clean-cut Irishman, who stood high in the ranks of the Clan-na-Gael +and other Irish societies in our county. After he had read the speech, we +discussed the method of using it, for we felt sure that our Irish friends, +when they became acquainted with this speech upon reading it, would not +find themselves in agreement with Smith's attitude toward England and the +Treaty. My friend consented to write letters to the leading papers, +particularly the Irish papers of the state, setting forth Smith's attitude +toward the Treaty. The effect upon the Irish vote was immediate and soon +resolutions began to be adopted by the various Irish societies throughout +the state, denouncing Smith for having advocated the much-despised "Anglo- +Saxon Alliance." + +While I opposed Senator Smith in this contest there was nothing personally +antagonistic in my attitude. We were, I hope, friends throughout the +conflict, and many times since then we have discussed the events leading +up to Martine's election to the United States Senate. It was only a few +months ago, while seated at a table at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, +that the old Senator, genial and debonair as ever, was discussing the +fights of the old days, and particularly the events leading up to his +defeat for the United States senatorship. In discussing the New Jersey +campaign, he told me of the use that had been made by "someone" in the +Wilson ranks of his Senate speech on the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty. He said +that his reason for making this speech was his sincere desire as an Irish- +American to bring about more amicable relations between the United States +and England, and as I listened to this frank recital I felt that, although +the use I had made of his speech was legitimate in the circumstances, +there was nothing to be proud of in having exploited the Senator's really +fine speech for political purposes. + +The State House at Trenton on the night previous to the balloting for the +senatorship was a place of feverish activity. The Essex ex-Chieftain, +Smith, kept "open house" in the then famous Room 100 of the Trenton House. +The Governor-elect, calm and apparently undisturbed, but anxious and ready +for a contest, quietly moved about the Executive offices attending to +official matters. + +We felt confident of the result of the vote if the members of the +Legislature were left free, but we were certain that every kind of +pressure would be put upon them to change the votes of the wobblers in our +ranks. All night long and until four or five o'clock in the morning the +Governor-elect and I remained in the Executive office, keeping in close +contact with our friends both by telephone and personal conference. +Senator Smith never knew it, but some of the men close to him and +participating in his own conferences on this fateful night hourly brought +to us information as to what would be the real line-up of his forces on +the day set for balloting. We found a spy in our own ranks--a leading +lawyer and politician from, my own county--who, while pretending to be our +friend, was supplying the enemy with what he thought was useful +information. We, however, were already aware of this gentleman's duplicity +and, although he never suspected it, whenever he left the Executive office +he was followed by a professional detective, who heard and reported to us +every bit of information he had supplied to our political foes. + +On the night before the election the Smith-Nugent leaders had gathered +their forces and, headed by a band, paraded through the streets of +Trenton, passing in review before Senator Smith who stood upon the steps +of the Trenton House and greeted them in most generous fashion. The +purpose of this demonstration was obvious to the Governor-elect and his +friends. It was simply to give to the arriving legislators an impression +of great strength behind the Smith-Nugent forces. + +On the morning of the balloting the corridors and lobby of the State House +were crowded with the henchmen of the Essex chieftain. The surface +indications were that Smith had the necessary number of votes, but to +those of us who were able accurately to analyze the situation it was +apparent that the froth would soon pass away. The parade and the +demonstration of the Nugent followers had deeply impressed some of the men +in our ranks, particularly the editor of a Trenton newspaper, who came to +the Executive offices and urged upon the Governor the publication of a +statement which he had prepared, filled with grandiloquent phrase, warning +the people of the state that the members of the Legislature were about to +be coerced and threatened by the strong-arm methods of the Smith-Nugent +organization. + +Frankly, the suggestion which this Trenton editor made to the new Governor +impressed him. The Governor made certain changes in the statement and then +sent for me to read it, asking my advice upon it. The first test of my +official connection with the Governor was at hand. Upon reading the +editor's article I saw at once that its issuance would be most unwise, and +I frankly said so. My practical and political objection to it, however, +was that if published it would give to the people of the state the +impression that our forces were in a panic and that we, were in grave fear +of the result. I further argued that it was an attempt at executive +coercion of the Legislature that would meet with bitter resentment. I felt +that we had already won the fight; that the Legislature, which was the +jury in the case, was inclined to favour us if we did not seek to +influence its members by such foolish action as the Trenton editor +advised. The statement was not published. + +I found in this little argument with the new Governor that he was open- +minded and anxious for advice and I thereafter felt free to discuss +matters with him in the frankest way. + +The first ballot showed Martine leading heavily. In the following ballots +he gained strength at every count. The Legislature adjourned the first day +without reaching a decision. As we surveyed the field after the first +day's balloting it was clear to us that if we hoped to win the fight we +would have to have Hudson County's legislative vote. The Democratic boss, +Bob Davis, had died a few days previous, and had entrusted his affairs to +the hands of a fine, clean-cut, wholesome Irish-American, James Hennessy, +then chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Committee. He was one of the +squarest men I ever met in politics and had been an intimate associate of +my father in the old days in Jersey City. On the day of the final +balloting we were sorely pressed. When it seemed as if we had reached the +limit of our strength, it occurred to me that a final appeal to Hennessy +by the Governor might have some effect. We decided to send for Hennessy to +come to the Executive offices. It was clear from his attitude when he +arrived that, while his sympathies lay with us, he was bound in honour to +carry out the instructions of his chief and deliver the Hudson County vote +to Smith. The Governor, getting very close to him and discussing the +campaign in the most intimate way, told him that if Martine was rejected, +the political effect on our party's fortunes would be disastrous; that we +were sure we had the votes and that the next ballot would give proof of +this, and that it was only a question, to use a campaign phrase, of +"getting on the band wagon" and making Martine's nomination unanimous. +When the Governor concluded his talk, I turned to Hennessy in the most +familiar way, and spoke of the Governor's desire to elect Martine and of +the unselfish purpose he had in mind and how he, Hennessy, was blocking +the way. I said to him: "You have it in your power to do a big thing. You +may never have the chance again." He finally stood up and said to me: +"What do you want me to do?" I told him that we wanted him to go to the +Hudson delegates and give word that the "jig" was up and that they must +throw their support to Martine. Shortly after this meeting the Hudson +delegation met in caucus and agreed to support Martine. + +When Smith and Nugent heard of this message they practically surrendered. +The balloting which began at ten o'clock was a mere formal affair for it +was plainly evident from the changes in the early balloting that Martine's +election was assured. Martine's election was a fact; and Woodrow Wilson +was the victor in the first battle for the Presidency. + +I have stated that I am not proud of the way I used Senator Smith's speech +on the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty. We were fighting veterans in the political +game, men who knew all the tricks and who did not scruple to play any of +them. In the rough school of practical politics I had been taught that +"you must fight the devil with fire" and that it is as legitimate in +politics as in war to deceive the enemy about your resources. But we +conducted politics on higher levels during the eight years in the White +House, when my chief, no longer an amateur, taught me, by precept and +example, that effective fighting can be conducted without resort to the +tricks and duplicities of those who place political advantage above +principle. Woodrow Wilson made new rules for the game, and they were the +rules which men of honour adopt when conducting their private business on +principles of good faith and truth-telling. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP + + +The election of Martine having been settled and the preferential vote +having been validated through the courageous handling of a delicate +situation, the new Governor was firmly in the saddle. His leadership had +been tested and only the fragments of the Old Guard machine were left. The +road was thus cleared of all obstacles in his own party that might be put +in the way of his programme of constructive legislation. + +Having delivered his first message, which contained a full and detailed +discussion of his whole programme, he applied himself with great energy +and industry to the task of preparing bills for introduction in the Senate +and House. Not content with the mere delivery of his message, he put +himself entirely at the disposal of the members of the Legislature and +industriously applied himself to the task of preparation until the +following measures: _Regulation of Public Utilities, Corrupt Practices +Act_, _Direct Primaries Act_, and the _Employers' Liability Act_, were in +shape to be introduced. + +While his leadership was vindicated as a result of the Smith-Martine +fight, the contest had undoubtedly left many bitter scars and enmities +which soon manifested themselves in the unfriendly attitude of the Smith +men in the Legislature toward the new Governor and particularly toward his +programme of constructive legislation. For awhile after the election of +Martine they seemed subdued and cheerfully resigned to defeat; but when +the new Governor launched his legislative programme they began eagerly to +attack it in many subtle ways. While there were some members of this group +who honestly opposed the Governor's programme because of their +conservative tendencies, the majority of the opposition were bent upon +"putting it to sleep," because, forsooth, it bore the Wilson label. The +new Governor quickly grasped the full significance of the situation and +openly challenged the opposition. To accomplish his purpose, he did an +unprecedented thing. He invited the Democratic members of the Legislature +to meet him in the Supreme Court Room of the State House and there, face +to face, he laid before them various items of his programme and challenged +the opposition to lay their cards on the table. In the course of this +conference one of the leaders of the Smith-Nugent faction expressed his +dissatisfaction with the whole programme, challenging the new Governor's +right to be present at the conference; even intimating that his presence +was an unconstitutional act which might subject him to impeachment. The +new Governor, undisturbed by this criticism, turned to the gentleman who +had challenged his right to be present at the conference, and said: + + You can turn aside from the measure if you choose; you can decline to + follow me; you can deprive me of office and turn away from me, but you + cannot deprive me of power so long as I steadfastly stand for what I + believe to be the interests and legitimate demands of the people + themselves. I beg you to remember, in this which promises to be an + historic conference, you are settling the question of the power or + impotence, the distinction or the ignominy of the party to which the + people with singular generosity have offered the conduct of their + affairs. + +Some of the members of the Legislature came to my office after this +conference and told me of the great speech the Governor had just delivered +and how defiantly he had met the attack of his enemies. This caucus gave +an emphatic endorsement of his legislative programme and in a few weeks +the House of Assembly had acted upon it, and the various bills that +constituted his entire programme were on their way to the Republican +Senate. How to induce favourable action at the hands of the Republican +Senate was a problem. There were very few members of the Senate whose +ideals and purposes were in agreement with those of the Governor. + +When the bills reached the Senate, the Governor began daily conferences +with the Republican members of that body, discussing with them the items +of his programme and urging speedy action upon them. As a part of the +programme of inducing the Republicans to support him, a friend of mine who +was on the inside of the Republican situation reported to me that it was +the opinion in the Republican ranks that the new Governor was too much a +professor and doctrinaire; that he was lacking in good-fellowship and +companionship; that while the members of the Legislature who had conferred +with him had found him open and frank, they thought there was a coldness +and an austerity about him which held the Governor aloof and prevented +that intimate contact that was so necessary in working out the programme +we had outlined. + +We finally decided that the fault lay in the lack of social intimacy +between the new Governor and the members of the Legislature. In my social +and official contact with Mr. Wilson I always found him most genial and +agreeable. When we were at luncheon or dinner at the old Sterling Hotel in +Trenton he would never burden our little talks by any weighty discussion +of important matters that were pending before him. He entirely forgot all +business and gave himself over to the telling of delightful stories. How +to make the real good-fellowship of the man an asset in dealing with the +members of the Senate was a problem. I very frankly told him one day at +luncheon that many members of both legislative bodies felt that he was too +stiff and academic and that they were anxious to find out for themselves +if there was a more human side to him. In order to give him an opportunity +to overcome this false impression we arranged a delightful dinner at the +Trenton Country Club, to which we invited both Democratic and Republican +members of the Senate. The evening was a delightful one. In the corner of +the little room where the dinner was served sat three darky musicians who +regaled the little group with fine old southern melodies. It was real fun +to watch the new Governor's conduct in this environment. He was like a boy +out of school. He was no longer the college professor or the cold man of +affairs. He delighted the members of the Senate who sat about him with +amusing stories, witty remarks, and delightful bits of sarcasm. At the +close of the dinner, Senator Frelinghuysen walked over and challenged him +to a Virginia Reel. He accepted this invitation and the crowd of men were +soon delighted to see the Somerset senator lead the new Governor out on +the floor and his long legs were soon moving in rhythm with the music. + +[Illustration: + + Telegram. + + The White House + Washington + + 3 RN JM 75 Govt. + 114pm + + Windsor, Vermont, July 5, 1915 + + Hon. Jos. P. Tumulty, + The White House, + Washington, D.C. + + ---- is down and out in his newspaper work and desperately in need of + employment. Says there is a vacancy as foreign trade adviser in the + State Department and also one in the District Play Grounds department. + Would be very much obliged if you would see if something can be done + for him in either place. His address 221 A. Street, Northeast. + + Woodrow Wilson. + + * * * * * + + Dear Tumulty, + + I want to issue this statement to help Mr. Hoover and his Commission + in the splendid work they are doing, and head off mischief-makers (or, + rather, one particular mischief-maker who is a little out of his mind) + on this side the water. + + Will you not please read it to Lansing over the phone and, if he has + no objection to offer, give it out? + +A glimpse at the President's human side.] + +After all, men are just boys, and this bringing together of these +practical men on so happy and free an occasion did much to convince the +members of the Senate that the new Governor after all was like themselves, +a plain, simple man, modestly trying to serve the interests of a great +state. + +This affair broke the ice, and after that there was a close intimacy +between the Governor and the members of the Legislature, both Democrats +and Republicans, and this coöperation soon brought about the enactment of +the whole Wilson programme. Never before had so comprehensive a programme +been so expeditiously acted upon by a legislative body. The Legislature +had convened in January and by the middle of April every campaign pledge +that the Governor had made had been kept, although the Senate with which +he had to deal was largely Republican. + +As the legislative session progressed it appeared that certain Democratic +senators were reluctant to follow his leadership. Indeed it was also +apparent that the Republicans were alike unwilling to act favourably upon +his legislative suggestions. In this situation he summoned the Democratic +senators and reminded them of the party pledges in the platform and served +notice that if they did not vote for these measures they would have to +explain to their constituents. He then summoned the Republican senators +and said to them, in effect, this: "The legislation proposed was promised +in the Democratic platform. That is not your platform. Therefore, you are +not pledged to this action. But if you obstruct the action I shall have to +trouble you to go with me to your districts and discuss these matters with +your constituents and tell them why you consider this bad legislation and +why you resisted it." + +The newspapers of the country soon began to discuss the achievements of +the Wilson administration in New Jersey and immediately the name of the +Governor began to be mentioned in connection with the Presidency. + +One of the matters of national importance with which he was called upon to +deal during this legislative session was the passage of railroad grade- +crossing legislation. In response to the agitation that had long existed +in New Jersey for the elimination of grade crossings, the Democrats had +inserted a radical plank in their platform in reference to it, and, acting +upon this, the Legislature had passed a grade-crossing bill, to which the +railroads of the state strenuously objected. It was a matter of the +greatest public interest and importance that for many years had been the +subject of bitter controversies throughout the state. While the bill was +before the Governor for consideration, the railroad attorneys had prepared +long, comprehensive briefs attacking the bill as unjust to the railroads +and as containing many features which in their essence were confiscatory. +When the bill came before the Governor for final action no one considered +for a moment the possibility of a veto, first, because of the traditional +attitude of the Democratic party of New Jersey in the matter of grade +crossings; and, secondly, because of the effect a veto would have upon the +progressive thought of the country. I recall very well my discussion with +him in regard to this most important bill. Realizing that he was at this +time looming up as a national figure, and knowing that the Progressives of +the country were awaiting with keen interest his action on the bill, I +feared the effect upon his political fortunes that a veto of the bill +would undoubtedly have. + +The Baltimore Convention was only a few months away and it was clear to me +that no matter how safe and sane were the grounds upon which he would veto +this legislation, his enemies in the Democratic party would charge him +with being influenced by the New Jersey railroad interests who were +engaged in a most vigorous campaign against the passage of this +legislation. In fact, when we came to discuss the matter, I frankly called +this phase of it to his attention. I tried to make him see the effects +such a veto would have upon his political fortunes, but he soon made it +clear to me that he was unmindful of all such consequences. After +thoroughly considering the matter, he finally decided to veto the bill. In +discussing the matter with me, he said: "I realize the unjust and +unfortunate inference that will be drawn by my political enemies from a +veto of this bill, but the bill, as drawn, is unjust and unfair to the +railroads and I ought not to be afraid to say so publicly. I cannot +consider the effect of a veto upon my own political fortunes. If I should +sign this bill it would mean practically a confiscation of railroad +property and I would not be worthy of the trust of a single mail in the +state or in the country were I afraid to do my duty and to protect private +property by my act." His attitude toward the bill was clearly set forth in +the veto, part of which is as follows: + + I know the seriousness and great consequence of the question affected + by this important measure. There is a demand, well grounded and + imperative, throughout the state that some practicable legislation + should be adopted whereby the grade crossings of railways which + everywhere threaten life and interfere with the convenience of both + city and rural communities should as rapidly as possible be abolished. + But there is certainly not a demand in New Jersey for legislation + which is unjust and impracticable. + + * * * * * + + The non-enactment of this bill into law will, of course, be a serious + disappointment to the people of the state, but it will only + concentrate their attention upon the just and equitable way of + accomplishing the end in view. I do not believe that the people of the + state are in such haste as to be willing to work a gross injustice, + either to the railroads or to private owners of property, or to the + several communities affected. + +Of course his political enemies made free use of this veto in an effort to +injure him throughout the country in every state campaign where his +fortunes as candidate were involved. As a matter of fact, his veto of this +bill did shock the people of the state, but when they seriously considered +the matter in all its aspects, they felt that their governor had, at +least, done an honourable and a courageous thing in refusing to approve +it. + +Discussion of him as a strong Presidential possibility was steadily +growing. I had felt a delicacy about talking of this with him, but in a +walk that we were accustomed to take along the banks of the Delaware and +Raritan Canal between office hours, I, one day, made bold to open, the +subject in this way: "It is evident from the newspapers, Governor, that +you are being considered for the Presidency." I could plainly see from the +way he met the suggestion that he did not resent my boldness in opening +the discussion. I told him that we were receiving letters at the Executive +offices from various parts of the country in praise of the programme he +had just put through the legislature. As we discussed the possibilities of +the Presidential situation, he turned to me in the most solemn way, and +putting his hand to his mouth, as if to whisper something, said: "I do not +know, Tumulty, that I would care to be President during the next four +years." And then looking around as if he were afraid uninvited ears might +be listening, he continued: "For the next President will have a war on his +hands, and I am not sure that I would make a good war President." This +reply greatly excited my curiosity and interest and I said: "With what +nation do you think we will have a war?" Very cautiously he said: "I do +not care to name the nation," and our little talk ended. This statement +was made to me in April, 1911. Was it a prophecy of the war that was to +burst upon the world in August, 1914? + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +COLONEL HARVEY + + +Upon the completion of the legislative work of the first session of the +New Jersey Legislature the name of Woodrow Wilson quickly forged to the +front as a strong Presidential possibility. Intimate friends, including +Walter Hines Page, afterward United States Ambassador to Great Britain; +Cleveland H. Dodge and Robert Bridges, the two latter old friends and +classmates of the Governor in the famous class of '79 at Princeton, set +about by conferences to launch the Presidential boom of their friend, and +selected for the task of the actual management of the campaign the young +Princetonian, William F. McCombs, then an active and rising young lawyer +of New York. These gentlemen, and other devoted friends and advisers of +the Governor, made up the first Wilson contingent, and at once initiated a +plan of publicity and organization throughout the country. They arranged +to have the New Jersey Governor visit strategic points in the country to +make addresses on a variety of public questions. Whether Colonel Harvey +was behind the scenes as the adviser of this little group I have never +ascertained, but _Harper's Weekly_, then edited by the Colonel, was his +leading supporter in the magazine world, carrying the name of the +Princetonian at its mast-head as a candidate for the Presidency. There +were frequent conferences between the Colonel and the Governor at the +Executive offices, and as a result of these conferences the Wilson boom +soon became a thing to be reckoned with by the Old Guard in control of +party affairs in the nation. + +Wilson stock from the moment of the adjournment of the Legislature began +to rise, and his candidacy spread with great rapidity, until in nearly +every state in the Union "Wilson Clubs" were being established. The New +Jersey primaries, where again he met and defeated the Smith forces; the +Ohio primaries, where he split the delegates with the favourite son, +Governor Harmon, a distinguished Democrat; and the Wisconsin primaries, at +which he swept the state, gave a tremendous impetus to the already growing +movement for the "Reform" Governor of New Jersey. + +Everything was serenely moving in the Wilson camp, when like a thunderclap +out of a clear sky broke the story of the disagreement between Colonel +Harvey, Marse Henry Watterson, and the Governor of New Jersey. I recall my +conversation with Governor Wilson on the day following the Harvey- +Watterson conference at a New York club. As private secretary to the +Governor, I always made it a rule to keep in close touch with every +conference then being held regarding the political situation, and in this +way I first learned about the Harvey-Watterson meeting which for a few +weeks threatened to destroy all the lines of support that had been built +up throughout the past months of diligent work and organization. + +The Governor and I were seated in a trolley car on our way from the State +Capitol to the railroad station in Trenton when he informed me, in the +most casual way and without seeming to understand the possible damage he +had done his own cause, of what followed the conference the previous day. +It was like this: the conference had ended and they were leaving the room +when Colonel Harvey put his hand on Woodrow Wilson's shoulder and said: +"Governor, I want to ask you a frank question, and I want you to give me a +frank answer. In your opinion is the support of _Harper's Weekly_ helping +or hurting you?" In telling me of it Woodrow Wilson said: "I was most +embarrassed, and replied: 'Colonel, I wish you had not asked me that +question.' 'Well, what is the answer?' Colonel Harvey insisted pleasantly. +'Why, Colonel, some of my friends tell me it is not helping me in the +West.' Colonel Harvey said: I was afraid you might feel that way about it, +and we shall have to soft-pedal a bit'." Mr. Wilson was so serenely +unconscious that any offence had been taken that when informed by me a +little later that his name had disappeared from the head of the editorial +column of _Harper's Weekly_ he did not connect this with the interview. +"Was Colonel Harvey offended?" I asked. "He didn't seem to be," was the +Governor's answer. + +I immediately scented the danger of the situation and the possibilities of +disaster to his political fortunes that lay in his reply, and I told him +very frankly that I was afraid he had deeply wounded Colonel Harvey and +that it might result in a serious break in their relations. The Governor +seemed grieved at this and said that he hoped such was not the case; that +even after he had expressed himself so freely, Colonel Harvey had been +most kind and agreeable to him and that they had continued to discuss in +the most friendly way the plans for the campaign and that the little +conference had ended without apparent evidence that anything untoward had +happened that might lead to a break in their relations. We then discussed +at length the seriousness of the situation, and as a result of our talk +the Governor wrote Colonel Harvey and endeavoured to make clear what he +had in mind when he answered the question put to him by the Colonel at the +club conference a few days before, not, indeed, by way of apology, but +simply by way of explanation. This letter to the Colonel and a subsequent +one went a long way toward softening the unfortunate impression that had +been created by the publication of the Harvey-Watterson correspondence. +The letters are as follows: + + (Personal) + + University Club + Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Fourth Street + December 21, 1911. + + MY DEAR COLONEL: + + Every day I am confirmed in the judgment that my mind is a one-track + road and can run only one train of thought at a time! A long time + after that interview with you and Marse Henry at the Manhattan Club it + came over me that when (at the close of the interview) you asked me + that question about the _Weekly_ I answered it simply as a matter of + fact and of business, and said never a word of my sincere gratitude to + you for all your generous support, or of my hope that it might be + continued. Forgive me, and forget my manners! + + Faithfully, yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + +To which letter Colonel Harvey sent the following reply: + + (Personal) + + Franklin Square + New York, January 4, 1912. + + MY DEAR WILSON: + + Replying to your note from the University Club, I think it should get + without saying that no purely personal issue could arise between you + and me. Whatever anybody else may surmise, you surely must know that + in trying to arouse and further your political aspirations during the + past few years I have been actuated solely by the belief that I was + rendering a distinct public service. + + The real point at the time of our interview was, as you aptly put it, + one simply "of fact and of business," and when you stated the fact to + be that my support was hurting your candidacy, and that you were + experiencing difficulty in finding a way to counteract its harmful + effect, the only thing possible for me to do, in simple fairness to + you, no less than in consideration of my own self-respect, was to + relieve you of your embarrassment so far as it lay within my power to + do so, by ceasing to advocate your nomination. That, I think, was + fully understood between us at the time, and, acting accordingly, I + took down your name from the head of the _Weekly's_ editorial page + some days before your letter was written. That seems to be all there + is to it. Whatever little hurt I may have felt as a consequence of the + unexpected peremptoriness of your attitude toward me is, of course, + wholly eliminated by your gracious words. + + Very truly yours, + GEORGE HARVEY. + +To Colonel Harvey's letter Governor Wilson replied as follows: + + (Personal) + + Hotel Astor + New York, January 11, 1912. + + MY DEAR COL. HARVEY: + + Generous and cordial as was your letter written in reply to my note + from the University Club, it has left me uneasy, because, in its + perfect frankness, it shows that I did hurt you by what I so + tactlessly said at the Knickerbocker Club. I am very much ashamed of + myself, for there is nothing I am more ashamed of than hurting a true + friend, however unintentional the hurt may have been. I wanted very + much to see you in Washington, but was absolutely captured by callers + every minute I was in my rooms, and when I was not there was + fulfilling public engagements. I saw you at the dinner but could not + get at you, and after the dinner was surrounded and prevented from + getting at you. I am in town to day, to speak this evening, and came + in early in the hope of catching you at your office. + + For I owe it to you and to my own thought and feeling to tell you how + grateful I am for all your generous praise and support of me (no one + has described me more nearly as I would like myself to be than you + have); how I have admired you for the independence and unhesitating + courage and individuality of your course; and how far I was from + desiring that you should cease your support of me in the _Weekly_. You + will think me very stupid--but I did not think of that as the result + of my blunt answer to your question. I thought only of the means of + convincing people of the real independence of the _Weekly's_ position. + You will remember that that was what we discussed. And now that I have + unintentionally put you in a false and embarrassing position you heap + coals of fire on my head by continuing to give out interviews + favourable to my candidacy! + + All that I can say is that you have proved yourself very big, and that + I wish I might have an early opportunity to tell you face to face how + I really feel about it all. With warm regard, + + Cordially and faithfully, yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + +For a while it seemed as if the old relations between the Colonel and the +New Jersey Governor would be resumed, but some unfriendly influence, bent +upon the Governor's undoing, thrust itself into the affair, and soon the +story of the Manhattan Club incident broke about the Princetonian's head +with a fury and bitterness that deeply distressed many of Mr. Wilson's +friends throughout the country. The immediate effect upon his candidacy +was almost disastrous. Charges of ingratitude to the "original Wilson man" +flew thick and fast. Mr. Wilson's enemies throughout the country took up +the charge of ingratitude and soon the stock of the New Jersey man began +to fall, until his immediate friends almost lost heart. The bad effect of +the publication of the Harvey-Watterson correspondence and the bitter +attacks upon the sincerity of the New Jersey Governor were soon +perceptible in the falling away of contributions so necessary to keep +alive the campaign then being carried on throughout the country. The +"band-wagon" crowd began to leave us and jump aboard the Clark, Underwood, +and Harmon booms. + +Suddenly, as if over night, a reaction in favour of Governor Wilson began +to set in. The continued pounding and attacks of the reactionary press +soon convinced the progressives in the ranks of the Democratic party that +Wilson was being unjustly condemned, because he had courageously spoken +what many believed to be the truth. At this critical stage of affairs a +thing happened which, routed his enemies. One of the leading publicity men +of the Wilson forces in Washington, realizing the damage that was being +done his chief, inspired a story, through his Washington newspaper +friends, that Wilson was being gibbeted because he refused to accept the +support of Wall Street interests which Harvey and Watterson had offered +him, and that his refusal to accept their offer was the real cause of the +break. This new angle of the Harvey-Watterson episode worked a complete +reversal of opinion. + +The clever work of this publicity man in turning the light on what he +conceived to be the real purpose of the Harvey-Watterson conference +probably did injustice to these two gentlemen, but at all events it gave +weight to the impression in the minds of many people throughout the +country that the real reason for the break was Mr. Wilson's refusal to bow +the knee to certain eastern financial interests that were understood to be +behind _Harper's Weekly_. The tide quickly turned against Colonel Harvey +and Marse Henry Watterson. Marse Henry, alone in his suite at the New +Willard Hotel at Washington, and the Colonel away off in his tower at +Deal, New Jersey, were busily engaged in explaining to the public and +attempting, in heroic fashion, to extricate themselves from the +unfortunate implications created by the story of the Wilson publicity man. +What appeared at first blush to be a thing that would destroy the +candidacy of the New Jersey Governor had been, by clever newspaper +manipulation, turned to his advantage and aid. + +When the bitterness and rancour caused by this unfortunate incident had +happily passed away Colonel Watterson and I met at a delightful dinner at +Harvey's Restaurant in Washington and discussed the "old fight." The young +fellow who had inspired the story which so grievously distressed Marse +Henry and Colonel Harvey was present at this dinner. Marse Henry was in +fine spirits, and without showing the slightest trace of the old +bitterness, rehearsed the details of this now-famous incident in a witty, +sportsmanlike, and good-natured way, and at its conclusion he turned to my +newspaper friend and laughingly said: "You damn rascal, you are the +scoundrel who sent out the story that Harvey and I were trying to force +Wall Street money on Wilson. However, old man, it did the trick. If it had +not been for the clever use you made of this incident, Wilson never would +have been President." + +In a beautiful letter addressed to the President by Marse Henry on +September 24, 1914, conveying his expressions of regret at the death of +the President's first wife, appears the following statement with reference +to the famous Harvey-Watterson controversy: + + I hope that hereafter you and I will better understand one another; in + any event that the single disagreeable episode will vanish and never + be thought of more. In Paris last winter I went over the whole matter + with Mr. McCombs and we quite settled and blotted out our end of it. I + very much regret the use of any rude word--too much the characteristic + of our rough-and-tumble political combats--and can truly say that I + have not only earnestly wished the success of your administration but + have sought to find points of agreement, not of disagreement. + + I am writing as an old man--old enough to be your father--who has the + claim upon your consideration that all his life he has pursued the + ends you yourself have aimed at, if at times too zealously and + exactingly, yet without self-seeking or rancor. + + Your friend, + HENRY WATTERSON. + +The President's acknowledgment of this letter is as follows: + + September 28, 1914. + + MY DEAR COLONEL WATTERSON: + + Your kind letter has gratified me very deeply. You may be sure that + any feeling I may have had has long since disappeared and that I feel + only gratified that you should again and again have come to my support + in the columns of the _Courier-Journal_. The whole thing was a great + misunderstanding. + + Sincerely yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + +While the Harvey-Watterson episode ended as above related, there is no +doubt that Woodrow Wilson deeply regretted the whole matter, and, so far +as he was concerned, there was no feeling on his part of unfriendliness or +bitterness toward Colonel Harvey. Indeed, he felt that Colonel Harvey had +unselfishly devoted himself to his cause in the early and trying days of +his candidacy, and that Harvey's support of him was untouched by selfish +interests of any kind. In every way he tried to soften the unfortunate +impression that had been made on the country by what many thought was an +abrupt, ungracious way of treating a friend. An incident in connection +with this matter is worth relating: + +One day at the conclusion of the regular Tuesday cabinet meeting the +President and I lingered at the table, as was our custom, and gossiped +about the affairs of the Administration and the country. These discussions +were intimate and frank in every way. + +A note in the social column of one of the leading papers of Washington +carried the story that Colonel Harvey's daughter, Miss Dorothy Harvey, was +in town and was a guest at the home of Mrs. Champ Clark. I took occasion +to mention this to the President, suggesting that it would be a gracious +thing on his part and on the part of Mrs. Wilson to invite Miss Harvey to +the Sayre-Wilson wedding which was scheduled to take place a few days +later, hoping that in this way an opening might be made for the resumption +of the old relationship between the Colonel and Mr. Wilson. The President +appeared greatly interested in the suggestion, saying that he would take +it up with Mrs. Wilson at once, assuring me that it could be arranged. +When I saw how readily he acted upon this suggestion, I felt that this was +an opening for a full, frank discussion of his relations with Colonel +Harvey. I approached the subject in this way: "For a long time I have +wanted to discuss Colonel Harvey with you. There is no doubt, Governor, +that this unfortunate episode did not sit well on the stomachs of the +American people. Whether you believe it or not, the country resented your +attitude toward your old friend, and out of this incident an impression +has grown which is becoming stronger with each day, that you pay little +regard to friendship and the obligations that grow out of it. I have been +hoping that in some way the old relationship could be resumed and that you +would feel free at some time in a public way to attest your real feeling +for Colonel Harvey, at least by way of reciprocation for the genuine way +he stood by you in the old days in New Jersey." The President looked at me +in the most serious way, apparently weighing every word I had uttered, and +said: "You are right, Tumulty; unfortunate impressions have been created. +What can I do for Colonel Harvey to attest in some public way my +appreciation of what he did for me in the old days?" I asked why, inasmuch +as McCombs had declined the French Ambassadorship, this post might not be +offered to Colonel Harvey, adding that I believed he coveted and would +appreciate such an appointment. The President said that this was an +admirable suggestion and authorized me to get in touch with Colonel Harvey +at once and make him the offer of the French post. + +While my relations with Colonel Harvey were at no time strained, and, in +fact, up to this day our friendship has been uninterrupted, I thought it +would be more tactful if I should approach him through the junior senator +from New York, James O'Gorman. Immediately upon leaving the President I +went to the Army and Navy Club, where Senator O'Gorman was living, and +told him of my conversation with the President in reference to Colonel +Harvey. He was enthusiastic and immediately got in touch with Colonel +Harvey at his home at Deal, New Jersey, told him of the President's offer, +and asked for a conference. Then a thing happened which completely +destroyed these plans for a reconciliation. The following Sunday an +interview signed by Colonel Harvey, bitterly assailing the President, +appeared in the New York _Times_. The fat was in the fire. Senator +O'Gorman and I were silenced. When I approached the President on Monday +morning to discuss further the matter with him, he said: "I greatly regret +this interview of Colonel Harvey. How can I now with propriety offer him +any post? Knowing Harvey as I do, he would be reluctant to take it, for +the country might be of the opinion that he had yielded in his criticism +of me by the offer of this appointment, and I could not in honour make the +appointment now, for it might appear to the country that by this method I +was trying to purchase the silence of the Colonel. I am very sorry, +indeed, that the plan we discussed has fallen to the ground." + +And thus the efforts of Mr. Wilson to bring about a reconciliation with +his old friend ended in dismal failure. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE "COCKED-HAT" INCIDENT + + +While Governor Wilson came out of this controversy with the two Colonels, +Harvey and Watterson, with flying colours, he was by no means beyond the +danger line. His enemies both within and without the party hotly contested +his leadership, and the bitterness of the opposition grew in proportion as +his candidacy gained daily advantages. Everything possible was done to +block his progress and to make more difficult his road to the Presidency. +Everything he had ever said or written, especially his "History of the +American People," was carefully examined in the hope of finding some way +to discredit him. All the guns of the opposition were turned upon him, but +nothing seemed sufficient to block his progress. All the charges, +intimations, insinuations, and slanders that were industriously circulated +by his enemies were without effect, and the trained political minds in his +own camp were apprehensive lest his candidacy had reached its climax too +long before the convention. How to maintain the present advantage was the +problem that perplexed them. They were hopefully looking forward to the +benefits that would accrue to their candidate in the round-up of +candidates at the famous Jackson Day dinner, scheduled for early January, +1912. This dinner was an annual affair and was eagerly looked forward to. +It was expected that the leading lights of the Democratic party would +attend this dinner, including Colonel W. J. Bryan, Champ Clark, Oscar +Underwood, ex-Governor Folk of Missouri, Roger Sullivan of Illinois, and +the New Jersey Governor's friends were confident that because of his +ability as a public speaker he would make a strong and favourable +impression. They were not disappointed. + +We were awaiting the Jackson Day dinner with great expectations, and +congratulating ourselves that we were now safely "out of the woods," and +that things would move smoothly for our candidate, when like a bolt from, +the blue came the publication of the famous Joline "cocked-hat" letter, +which caused another panic in the ranks of the too-optimistic Wilson +forces. + +This letter was written by Mr. Wilson to Mr. Adrian Joline, a Princeton +alumnus and prominent New York lawyer at the time of the split in the +Democratic party over the silver question. The letter is as follows: + + Princeton, New Jersey, + April 29, 1907. + + MY DEAR MR. JOLINE: + + Thank you very much for sending me your address at Parsons, Kan., + before the board of directors of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway + Company. I have read it with relish and entire agreement. Would that + we could do something, at once dignified and effective, to knock Mr. + Bryan once for all into a cocked hat! + + Cordially and sincerely yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + +The publication of this letter came at a most inopportune time for the +Wilson candidacy, and how to meet it was one of the most difficult +problems that the Wilson forces had to face. Our enemies were jubilant. +They felt that at last they had broken our lines and that we would not be +able to "come back." + +At this time I was at the State House at Trenton and I received a telegram +from the Governor, requesting that I come at once to Washington, where he +was conferring with the leaders of his forces in an effort to find some +way to neutralize the bad effects of the Joline cocked-hat story in +advance of the Jackson Day banquet, at which Mr. Bryan would be present. +On my arrival in Washington I went to the Willard Hotel and found the +Governor hi a conference with William F. McCombs, Tom Pence, Senator +O'Gorman, and Dudley Field Malone. We discussed the situation fully and +the character of reply the Governor should make by way of explanation of +the Joline letter. Mr. Josephus Daniels, a friend and associate of Mr. +Bryan, was sent to confer with Mr. Bryan in order that Mr. Wilson might +have a close friend at hand who could interpret the motives which lay back +of the Joline letter and impress upon Mr. Bryan the present favourable +attitude of Mr. Wilson toward him. Mr. McCombs suggested that the Governor +address an open letter to Mr. Bryan, voicing his regret over the +publication of this letter and assuring him of his present kindly feelings +toward him. I vigorously opposed Mr. McCombs' suggestion, arguing that no +explanation of the Joline letter could be made to Mr. Bryan that would +wear the appearance of sincerity, or be convincing, and that the letter +having been written there was nothing to do to extenuate it in any way and +that the wise thing was to make a virtue of necessity. I suggested that on +the following night, when the Governor was to deliver his address at the +Jackson Day dinner, he could, in the most generous and kindly way, pay a +handsome tribute to Mr. Bryan for his unselfish service to the Democratic +party throughout the dark years he had been its leader; that I felt that +he would appreciate a tribute of this kind and that he would resent any +explanation of this incident which would appear to be truckling or +apologetic in character. This plan was finally agreed upon. In the very +beginning of his speech, in the most tactful way, Governor Wilson paid a +tribute to the Great Commoner by saying, as he turned to Mr. Bryan: "When +others were faint-hearted, Colonel Bryan carried the Democratic standard. +He kept the 'fires burning' which have heartened and encouraged the +democracy of the country." + +The speech at the Jackson Day dinner was a triumph for Woodrow Wilson. +While it was a tempestuous voyage for him, with many dangerous eddies to +be avoided, he emerged from the experience with his prestige enhanced and +with his candidacy throughout the country strengthened. The Bryan-Joline +crisis was safely passed. In the presence of the newspaper men at the +banquet, Mr. Bryan put his arm around Mr. Wilson's shoulders in an +affectionate way, and thus happily concluded the incident which for a time +threatened to wreck a great enterprise. + +On his return from Washington to Trenton, Governor Wilson told me that Mr. +Bryan had bidden him not to worry about the publication of the Joline +letter, saying: "I, of course, knew that you were not with me in my +position on the currency," and Woodrow Wilson replied: "All I can say, Mr. +Bryan, is that you are a great, big man." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WILSON AND THE OLD GUARD + + +Old line politicians, like Roger Sullivan of Illinois and Tom Taggart of +Indiana, were turned to the Princetonian by his notable speech at the +Jackson Day dinner and now gave sympathetic ear to the New Jersey +Governor's claims for the nomination. An incident which happened at the +conclusion of the banquet, as the Governor was on his way to make his +train for New Jersey, illustrates the character of the victory he had won +over difficulties which at the time seemed insurmountable. The old +Illinois leader, Roger Sullivan, greeted the candidate in the most +friendly way as he left the banquet hall, saying to him as he grasped his +hand: "That was a great speech, Governor," and then, drawing closer to +him, added: "I cannot say to you now just what the Illinois delegation +will do, but you may rely upon it, I will be there when you need me," This +remark did not seem of importance at the time, but when we discussed the +incident the next day at the Capitol at Trenton we both felt that, at a +critical moment of the convention Roger Sullivan could be relied upon to +support us and to throw the vote of Illinois our way. Sullivan kept his +promise in real, generous fashion. When it seemed as if the Baltimore +Convention was at the point of deadlock, and after the Illinois delegation +had voted many times for Champ Clark, Sullivan threw the full support of +Illinois to the New Jersey Governor, and thus the tide was quickly turned +in favour of Mr. Wilson's candidacy for the Presidency. + +I had often wondered what influence beyond this Jackson Day banquet speech +had induced this grizzly old political warrior to support Woodrow Wilson. +Afterward I learned the real cause of it from men who kept in close touch +with the Illinois delegation during the trying days of the Baltimore +Convention. + +Everyone who knew Roger Sullivan knew the great influence which both his +fine wife and devoted son wielded over him. His son, Boetius, a Harvard +graduate, had early become a Wilson devotee and supporter, and the +correspondence between father, mother, and son, contained a spirited +discussion of the availability of the New Jersey man for the Democratic +nomination. The interest of Mrs. Sullivan and her son continued throughout +the days of the Convention, which they both attended, and at the most +critical moment in the proceedings of the Convention when a point was +arrived at when the Illinois vote was decisive, the Illinois leader left a +conference where he was being strongly urged by Mr. Wilson's friends to +support the New Jersey Governor, to have a final conference with Mrs. +Sullivan and their son before he would finally agree to throw his support +to Wilson. + +Everyone at Baltimore knows the result of this conference and how the +inner councils of the Sullivan family prevailed. Illinois swung to Wilson +and he was soon nominated. It was said, after the New Jersey man's +nomination and election, that he showed base ingratitude to Roger +Sullivan, the man who more than any other single individual in the +Convention had brought about his nomination. Mr. Sullivan's devoted +friends in Illinois were particularly bitter at the apparent coldness of +Mr. Wilson toward their friend and idol. The President, as a matter of +fact, was never unmindful of his obligation to Sullivan for the personally +loyal way he had stood by him at Baltimore, and in every way while he was +President he let those associated with him know that Sullivan and his +friends, wherever it was possible, should be preferred in the matter of +the distribution of patronage in Illinois. + +The thing, however, which irritated Sullivan's friends and made many of +them irreconcilable foes of Woodrow Wilson was his apparent unwillingness +to say a good word for Sullivan when he announced his candidacy for the +United States senatorship of Illinois. This presented an opportunity for +President Wilson to pay the old debt and "even up" things with Roger. +Realizing the delicacy of the situation and how deeply the progressive +element in the Democratic party throughout the country might misunderstand +and even resent his putting his "okeh" on the candidacy of the Illinois +leader for the senatorship, nevertheless, upon considering the matter, he +decided to do so and prepared a generous and wholehearted letter of +endorsement of Sullivan. He felt that as a good sportsman he was bound in +honour to do this for the man whose influence and support, thrown to him +at the right moment of the Convention, had brought about his nomination +for the Presidency. But there were other and deeper reasons urging him on +to endorse his old friend. He knew how eagerly and earnestly Sullivan had +fought for him at Baltimore and how in doing so he had won the enmity of +the eastern wing of the Democratic party. The old bosses in the party, +like Smith and Murphy, had often twitted Sullivan on his support of Wilson +and threatened reprisals. Sullivan, however, stood like adamant against +these influences and showed an allegiance to the New Jerseyman which +earned the admiration and affection of every Wilsonite in the country. The +President felt confident that should Roger Sullivan be elected to the +Senate, he could count upon him to stand by and loyally support him and +the Administration. At this very time the President was beginning to +realize in the keenest way the necessity for real, loyal backing in the +Senate. Many of the men whom he had personally supported for the Senate in +the various senatorial fights throughout the country, especially those who +were known as progressive senators, like Hardwick and Smith of Georgia, +O'Gorman of New York, and Martine of New Jersey, had grown indifferent and +were reluctant to follow his leadership in anything. The so-called Old +Guard in the Senate, made up of men like Mark Smith of Arizona, Senators +Martin and Swanson of Virginia, Ollie James of Kentucky, John Sharp +Williams of Mississippi, Joe Robinson of Arkansas, Billy Hughes of New +Jersey, Senator Culberson of Texas, Senator Simmons of North Carolina, and +Senator Smith of Maryland, contrary to every prophecy and prediction made +by their enemies, stood with the President through every fight in the +finest and handsomest way, never deserting his leadership for a moment. +Often he would say to me when we were discussing the senatorial situation: +"My head is with the progressives in the Democratic party, but my heart, +because of the way they stood by me, is with the so-called Old Guard in +the Senate. They stand without hitching." He knew that, while Roger +Sullivan was a conservative, he could be relied upon in every emergency to +back him up even to the point of sacrifice. What President Wilson wanted +more than anything else, as he often said, was a team that would work with +him. Sullivan was just this type of man, and beyond everything else his +loyalty had been tested and could be relied upon in every emergency. + +In the light of these circumstances, the President decided finally to +throw his hat in the ring in favour of the boss of Illinois for the United +States senatorship. The letter advocating Sullivan's election was dictated +and signed by the President, and is as follows: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + October 12, 1914. + + MY DEAR MR. RANEY: + + I have read with the greatest interest the account you were kind + enough to send me of the Illinois Democratic State Convention. It is + full of fine promise for the party; for it shows all the elements of + the party heartily drawing together for a successful campaign; and + with this union success is sure to come. + + You call my attention to the fact that some Democrats are urging + voters to cast their ballots for the Progressive candidate for the + Senate of the United States rather than for the nominee of the + Democratic primaries. You ask me if I approve of this. I do not. I + have held myself very strictly to the principle that as a party man I + am bound by the free choice of the people at the polls. I have always + stood by the result of the primaries; I shall always do so; and I + think it the duty of every Democrat to do so who cares for the + success and sincerity of his party. Mr. Sullivan has been selected in + a fair primary, and therefore he is entitled to the support of his + party. + + Sincerely yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + HON. HENRY T. RAINEY, + House of Representatives. + +This letter and the contents of it will be a matter of news to Sullivan's +friends throughout the country. Many, doubtless, will inquire why it was +not published at the time. The reason it failed to reach the stage of +publication can in no way be attributed to Woodrow Wilson. He never +recalled it and the original is in my files. This may be surprising news +to the friends of the dead leader, Roger Sullivan, but it is only fair to +Mr. Wilson to say that he never hesitated in rushing to the defence of his +old friend in the most generous way. He wrote this letter with the full +realization of just how much it might personally injure him with the +progressive thought of the country. The letter, after being written and +signed by the President, was held in reserve by me until Sullivan's +friends in Chicago, those in close touch with his affairs there, felt free +to advise its publication. I was directed by them to release it, but the +order for its release was countermanded by one of the advisers close to +Sullivan, who telephoned me that it was thought inadvisable to have the +President come into the campaign in Sullivan's behalf, the reason being +that the publication of Wilson's letter might arouse the passionate +antagonism of Theodore Roosevelt, who was about to begin a tour of +Illinois in behalf of Sullivan's opponent. I was advised later that the +individual with whom I dealt in this matter and upon whose direction the +letter was withheld from publication had no authority to act for Sullivan +in the matter and that Sullivan and his friends were deeply disappointed +at Mr. Wilson's apparent unwillingness to take up the cudgel for his old +friend. Many times I tried to make clear to Sullivan's friends just what +the attitude of the President was, but whether I succeeded I do not know. +The President, secluded in the White House, away from the madding crowd, +never realized the basis of Sullivan's disappointment, for he felt that he +had "gone through" for his friend and had not forgotten for a moment +Sullivan's advocacy of him at Baltimore, When the news of Sullivan's death +was brought to him at a time when he, also, was seriously ill, his lips +quivered, great tears stood in his eyes, and turning to Mrs. Wilson, who +stood beside his bed, he said: "Roger Sullivan was a wonderful and devoted +friend at Baltimore," and then, turning to me, he said: "Tumulty, I +sincerely hope that you will personally go to Chicago and attend the +funeral and tell Mrs. Sullivan how deeply I grieve over the death of my +old friend." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MR. BRYAN ISSUES A CHALLENGE + + +The contests for the delegates to the National Convention were on in full +swing throughout the various states. In the early contests, particularly +in the far western states, like Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, and +Montana, the Wilson candidacy, according to primary returns, began to take +on the appearance of a real, robust boom. As the critical days of the +Convention approached, evidences of a recession of the favourable tide to +Wilson began to manifest themselves, particularly in the states of +Massachusetts and Illinois, both of which swung to Clark, with New York in +the offing quietly favouring Champ Clark. It was clear to the campaign +managers of Wilson that from a psychological standpoint the pivotal states +were New Jersey and Ohio; New Jersey, because ex-Senator Smith had again +challenged the leadership of Wilson and had notified his friends +throughout the country that New Jersey could be relied upon to repudiate +its governor in an overwhelming fashion. Smith had made deals and +combinations with all the disgruntled elements of the state, and with +powerful financial backing from the so-called interests in New Jersey and +New York and the mighty support of the Hearst newspapers, he was pressing +the New Jersey man closely, until at times it seemed as if he might +succeed in at least splitting the delegation. The friends of the New +Jersey man, therefore, realizing the effect upon the democracy of the +country of an adverse verdict in his home state, concentrated all possible +forces at this critical point. In the meantime, and before the actual +determination of the issue in New Jersey, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania swung +into the Wilson column, and the Ohio primaries resulted in a split +delegation between Wilson and Harmon, in Harmon's home state. All eyes +were, therefore, intently watching New Jersey. A repudiation would be +disastrous, although the old-timers in the Wilson camp tried to encourage +us by saying that even though New Jersey might turn against its governor, +Grover Cleveland, under similar circumstances in 1892, despite the +opposition of his home state, had been nominated and elected President. +But, fortunately for us, New Jersey in the handsomest way stood by her +favourite son. The news of New Jersey's endorsement was flashed through +the country, and there was jubilation in every Wilson camp. The day +following the New Jersey primaries the New York _World_, the great +Democratic paper, carried a striking editorial under the caption of +"WOODROW WILSON FOR PRESIDENT." The New Jersey primaries and the Ohio +results were great feathers in the caps of the Wilson men, and with +enthusiasm and ardour they followed up this advantage. + +As the days for the opening of the Baltimore Convention approached the New +Jersey Governor and his family left Princeton for Sea Girt, a delightful +place along the Atlantic seaboard, where the state of New Jersey had +provided for its governor an executive mansion, a charming cottage, a +replica of General Washington's headquarters at Morristown. With us to +these headquarters, to keep vigil as it were over the New Jersey Governor, +went a galaxy of newspaper men, representing the leading papers of the +country. + +The first, and indeed the most important, situation the candidate was +called upon to handle at Sea Girt as a preliminary to the Convention was +his reply to the now famous Bryan-Parker telegrams, which played so +important a part in the deliberations and indeed in the character of the +whole Convention--It will be recalled that Mr. Bryan, who was in +attendance at the Republican Convention at Chicago as a special +correspondent, had telegraphed an identic telegram to each of the +Democratic candidates, Messrs. Clark, Underwood, Wilson, and Harmon, as +follows: + + Chicago, June, 1912. + + In the interest of harmony, I suggest to the sub-committee of the + Democratic National Committee the advisability of recommending as + temporary chairman some progressive acceptable to the leading + progressive candidates for the Presidential nomination. I take it for + granted that no committeeman interested in Democratic success would + desire to offend the members of a convention overwhelmingly + progressive by naming a reactionary to sound the keynote of the + campaign. + + Eight members of the sub-committee, however, have, over the protest of + the remaining eight, agreed upon not only a Reactionary but upon the + one Democrat who, among those not candidates for the Presidential + nomination, is, in the eyes of the public, most conspicuously + identified with the reactionary element of the party. + + I shall be pleased to join you and your friends in opposing his + selection by the full committee or by the Convention. Kindly answer + here. + + W. J. BRYAN. + +I was on my way from New York to Sea Girt when I read a copy of this +telegram in the evening papers. I believe that I grasped the full +significance of this move on the part of Mr. Bryan. In fact, I became so +anxious about it that I left the train before reaching my destination, in +order to say to Governor Wilson over the 'phone how important I thought +the message really was and how cautiously it should be handled. I tried to +impress upon him the importance of the answer he was called upon to make +to Mr. Bryan. He calmly informed me that he had not yet received the +telegram and that he would, of course, give me an opportunity to discuss +the matter with him before making his reply. + +It was clear that Mr. Bryan, whose influence in the councils of the +Democratic party at that time was very great, was seeking by this method +to ascertain from leading Presidential candidates like Wilson, Underwood, +Clark, and Harmon, just how they felt about the efforts of the New York +delegation, led by the Tammany boss, Charlie Murphy, and the conservative +element of the Democratic party in the East, to control the Convention and +to give it the most conservative and standpat appearance by controlling +the preliminary organization and nominating Alton B. Parker as temporary +chairman. For many weeks previous to the Convention it had been rumoured +that that was the programme and that the real purpose which lay behind it +was to unhorse Bryan and to end for all time his control and that of the +radicals of the West over the affairs of the Democratic party. It was a +recrudescence of the old fight of 1896, between the conservative East and +the radical West--Bryan assuming, of course, the leadership of the +radicals of the West, and Charlie Murphy and his group acting as the +spokesmen of the conservative East. + +It was clear to me that Bryan anticipated just what replies Underwood, +Clark, and Harmon would make to his inquiry. Whether he was certain of +what the New Jersey Governor would say in answer to his telegram, I never +could ascertain. Indeed, many of the New Jersey Governor's supporters were +ungenerous enough to say that behind the inquiry lay a selfish purpose; +that Mr. Bryan took this method to reestablish his leadership and to place +himself at the forefront of the liberal, progressive forces of the +Convention. + +It is clear, as one looks back upon this incident, that a misstep in the +handling of this inquiry from Mr. Bryan might have been fatal to the New +Jersey man's candidacy. + +When I arrived at Sea Girt to discuss the matter with Governor Wilson, I +was surprised to find that he had not even read the telegram, although a +copy of it lay upon his desk, and when he did read it and we were +discussing it he did not share my view of its great importance. In +attempting to emphasize its importance I experienced one of the most +difficult jobs I ever had in the eleven years I was associated with +Woodrow Wilson. In vain I tried to impress upon him what I believed to be +the purpose which lay behind the whole business; that his reply would +determine the question as to whether he was going to line up with the +progressive element which was strong in the West, or whether he would take +sides with those of the conservative East, many of whom were bitterly +opposed to him. He finally informed me that he was in touch with Mr. +McCombs, his campaign manager at Baltimore, and that he would not reply to +Mr. Bryan's telegram until he received some word from the former as to +what his opinion was in regard to handling this difficult matter. I left +him, after impressing upon him the necessity of early action, lest our +progressive friends both at Baltimore and throughout the country who were +awaiting word from us should be disappointed by his apparent unwillingness +to take his position with the progressives. + +The newspaper correspondents at Sea Girt, realizing the importance of the +candidate's decision, industriously kept upon our trail to find out what +reply would be made to Mr. Bryan. The direct wire between Baltimore and +Sea Girt was kept busy with inquiries from our friends as to what attitude +we were taking in the matter. While my relations with McCombs at the time +were of the friendliest sort, I feared that the Eastern environment in +which he lived, and his attempt to bring Tammany into camp for the New +Jersey Governor, would necessarily play a large part in influencing his +judgment, and I was apprehensive lest Governor Wilson should be too much +inclined to accept Mr. McCombs' final judgment in the matter. + +On June 21, 1912, the following telegram came from Mr. McCombs, as the +basis of a proposed reply to Mr. Bryan by the New Jersey Governor: + + Baltimore, June 21, 1912. + + HON. WILLIAM J. BRYAN + Lincoln, Nebraska. + + I quite agree with you that the temporary chairman of the Convention + should voice the sentiments of the democracy of the nation which I am + convinced is distinctly progressive. However, before receiving your + telegram I had given the following statement for publication in the + Baltimore _Evening Sun_: My friends in Baltimore are on the people's + side in everything that affects the organization of the Convention. + They are certain not to forget their standards as they have already + shown. It is not necessary that I should remind them of these + standards from New Jersey and I have neither the right nor the desire + to direct the organization of a convention of which I am not even a + member. + + (signed) MCCOMBS + +I was greatly disappointed, of course, at the character of reply suggested +by McCombs and argued with the Governor at length on what I considered +would be the disastrous effects of making a reply such as the one +contained in the above telegram. Clearly, Mr. McCombs' suggested reply was +a rebuke to Mr. Bryan and a bid for the Eastern vote in the convention. Of +course, Governor Wilson was most reluctant to disregard the advice of +McCombs. He felt that he (McCombs) was "on the job" at Baltimore and more +intimately in touch with the situation than he himself could be at Sea +Girt. After a long discussion of the matter, the proposed reply prepared +by McCombs was ignored and the following telegram was prepared and sent by +Woodrow Wilson: + + W. J. BRYAN, Chicago: + + You are quite right. Before hearing of your message I clearly stated my + position in answer to a question from the Baltimore Evening Sun. The + Baltimore Convention is to be a convention of Progressives, of men who + are progressive in principle and by conviction. It must, if it is not + to be put in a wrong light before the country, express its convictions + in its organization and in its choice of the men who are to speak for + it. You are to be a member of the Convention and are entirely within + your rights in doing everything within your power to bring that result + about. No one will doubt where my sympathies lie and you will, I am + sure, find my friends in the Convention acting upon clear conviction + and always in the interest of the people's cause. I am happy in the + confidence that they need no suggestion from me. + + (Signed) WOODROW WILSON. + +This reply, more than any other single thing, changed the whole attitude +and temper of the Convention toward Woodrow Wilson. The progressive forces +in it were seeking leadership and Mr. Bryan, by his inquiry, had provided +an opportunity, of which. Mr. Wilson took full advantage. + +An interesting incident occurred in connection with this affair. Being +unable to induce the Governor quickly to reply to Mr. Bryan, and realizing +that our friends at Baltimore would expect him to agree with Mr. Bryan, +and thus take his place with the progressive element in the Convention, I +was firmly convinced that he would at the end be found in agreement with +Mr. Bryan. I, therefore, took the liberty of saying to the newspaper men +in our group--those who were favourably disposed to us--that when Mr. +Wilson did reply to Mr. Bryan he would be found in harmony with the +Commoner's ideas. This unofficial tip was immediately conveyed to +Baltimore and our friends, after returning from the Convention, told me +how this piece of inspired information had put heart in our men, and that +on a bulletin board before the Baltimore _Sun_ offices there was posted +the announcement "WILSON AGREES WITH BRYAN" and before it hundreds of +Wilson men gathered, cheering the message of the New Jersey Governor. + +The reply of the New Jersey Governor was prepared by him while he was +seated on the side of a little bed in one of the rooms of the Sea Girt +cottage. He looked at me intently, holding a pad and pencil in his hands, +and then wrote these significant words to Mr. Bryan: "_You are right_." + +I have often wondered what effect on the Convention McCombs' proposed +reply, which contained a rebuke to Mr. Bryan, would have had. From that +time on Mr. Bryan was the devoted friend of the New Jersey Governor. Mr. +Wilson's reply had convinced the Nebraskan that the Governor was not +afraid to accept the issue and that he was in favour of supporting a +preliminary organization that was to be progressive both in principle and +by conviction. + +McCombs was obsessed with the idea that the New York delegation must be +won; that everything else was negligible compared with that. Therefore he +wished Mr. Wilson in his reply to say something that would be considered +by the New York delegation as a public rebuke to Mr. Bryan. I afterward +learned that McCombs, nervous, incapable of standing the strain and +excitement of the Convention, had retired to a friend's house at Baltimore +where, after the Woodrow Wilson telegram to William Jennings Bryan, he was +found in a room, lying across a bed, crying miserably. To the inquiries of +his friends as to what was the matter with him McCombs replied, weeping, +that the Governor had spoiled everything by his telegram to Bryan; that +had the Governor followed his [McCombs'] advice, he could have been +nominated. + +The direct wire between the Sea Girt cottage and the Wilson headquarters +at Baltimore was kept busy from early morning until late at night. The +telephone exchange in the cottage was so arranged that a branch telephone +was kept in the little room under the stairway, which constituted a sort +of listening post, which permitted me, in accordance with the suggestion +of the Governor himself, to listen in on conversations, not by way of +eavesdropping, but in order that we might intelligently confer after each +conversation on the various matters that might have to be decided upon +with reference to the organization of the convention. Many of the +momentous questions having to do with the conduct of the Convention were +discussed and settled over this 'phone. The most frequent users of the +'phone during these days were Colonel Bryan and Mr. McCombs, our campaign +manager. During the opening days of the Convention I made it my business +to keep in close touch with Baltimore both by conversations over the +'phone with the active managers of the Wilson boom and by carefully +reading each morning the news items appearing in the New York _Times_, New +York _World_, and the Baltimore _Sun_, this last-named paper being one of +the leading advocates of the Wilson candidacy in the country. + +I was personally, and in some cases intimately, acquainted with the +special writers on these great journals and knew from previous contact +with them that they were on the "inside" of the situation at Baltimore, +and in this way much information was gleaned which proved helpful in +keeping us in touch with the many happenings at the Convention. + +Having successfully passed through the Bryan-Parker crisis, we decided +upon a kind of strategy that would win to our side the various progressive +elements in the Convention. In line with this idea, we suggested to our +managers at Baltimore the advisability of putting forward the name of +Ollie M. James of Kentucky for permanent chairman of the Convention. While +he was a staunch Clark man and a devoted follower of Mr. Bryan, we knew he +could be relied upon to give us a fair deal as the presiding officer of +the Convention. There was another reason, too. Away off in Sea Girt we +gathered the impression that the sober second thought of the Convention +favoured his selection and that even though we might fail in our attempt +to nominate him for this office, our efforts at least in this regard would +give the impression to those who looked with favour upon Wilson as their +second choice. Another reason was this: We were not afraid to trust our +cause to a Clark man, and Ollie James for many years had been the idol of +convention crowds. When, upon the conclusion of the Bryan-Parker episode, +Mr. Bryan telephoned Sea Girt to discuss with the Governor the matter of +the chairmanship, he was greatly surprised and pleased to have the +Governor say, in the most hearty way that, upon canvassing the whole +situation, he felt it would be an admirable and just thing to select Ollie +James of Kentucky. Mr. Bryan said: "But, Governor Wilson, Mr. James is in +the Convention as a Clark man." "It does not matter," was the Governor's +reply. "He is our kind of a fellow, and I am sure my friends can rely upon +him to treat our cause well." From Mr. Bryan's subsequent conversations +over the telephone it clearly appeared that he was delighted at the +suggestion of his own intimate friend, and it was plain that he was being +convinced from moves of this kind by the New Jersey Governor that Woodrow +Wilson was willing to stand or fall with him in attempting to organize the +Convention along progressive lines. + +Years after the Convention the senator from Kentucky, who became my +closest and dearest friend, and who distinguished himself as a member of +the Senate, and who was one of the staunchest defenders of the President +and the Administration, told me of the wisdom which he thought lay behind +the suggestion of himself for the chairmanship; that we, at Sea Girt, +rightly sensed the situation and that the suggestion of his name had done +more than anything else to convince the men in the Convention of the +genuine character of the New Jersey Governor's progressiveness. We felt +that strategic moves of this kind appealed to the progressive thought in +the Convention and went far to remove the strange impression many of the +delegates had that Wilson was a rank conservative. It was plainly +perceptible that these acts were quickly turning the progressives in the +Convention toward our candidate. + +In following these suggestions, we were, in fact, acting independently of +the New Jersey Governor's advisers at Baltimore. It was plain to be seen +that the battle at Baltimore would finally simmer down to a contest +between the reactionaries and the progressives, and we decided at Sea Girt +that in every move that was to be made our purpose should be to win the +progressive support in the Convention. McCombs was at no time found in +harmony with this action, his principal activities at Baltimore being +given over to an attempt to win for the New Jersey Governor the support of +the conservatives of the East, and, particularly, New York, whose seventy- +six votes he thought the great prize of the Convention. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE BALTIMORE CONVENTION + + +At Sea Girt we kept in close touch with our friends at Baltimore, so that +after each ballot the New Jersey candidate was apprised of the result. +During the trying days and nights of the Convention the only eager and +anxious ones in the family group, besides myself, were Mrs. Wilson and the +Wilson girls. The candidate himself indeed seemed to take only perfunctory +interest in what was happening at Baltimore. He never allowed a single +ballot or the changes those ballots reflected to ruffle or disturb him. +Never before was the equable disposition of the man better manifested than +during these trying days. Only once did he show evidences of irritation. +It was upon the receipt of word from Baltimore, carried through the daily +press, that his manager Mr. McCombs was indulging in patronage deals to +secure blocks of delegates. Upon considering this news he immediately +issued a public statement saying that no one was authorized to make any +offer of a Cabinet post for him and that those who had done so were acting +without authority from him. This caused a flurry in the ranks of our +friends in Baltimore and the statement was the subject of heated +discussion between the Governor and Mr. McCombs over the telephone. Of +course, I did not hear what was said at the other end of the wire, but I +remember that the Governor said: "I am sorry, McCombs, but my statement +must stand as I have issued it. There must be no conditions whatever +attached to the nomination." And there the conversation ended. While this +colloquy took place I was seated just outside of the telephone booth. When +the Governor came out he told me of the talk he had had with McCombs, and +that their principal discussion was the attempt by McCombs and his friends +at Baltimore to exact from him a promise that in case of his nomination +William Jennings Bryan should not be named for the post of Secretary of +State; that a great deal in the way of delegates' votes from the Eastern +states depended upon his giving this promise. The Governor then said to +me: "I will not bargain for this office. It would be foolish for me at +this time to decide upon a Cabinet officer, and it would be outrageous to +eliminate anybody from consideration now, particularly Mr. Bryan, who has +rendered such fine service to the party in all seasons." + +The candidacy of the New Jersey Governor gained with each ballot--only +slightly, however--but he was the only candidate who showed an increased +vote at each stage of the Convention proceedings. The critical period was +reached on Thursday night. In the early afternoon we had received +intimations from Baltimore that on that night the New York delegation +would throw its support to Champ Clark, and our friends at Baltimore were +afraid that if this purpose was carried out it would result in a stampede +to Clark. We discussed the possibilities of the situation that night after +dinner, but up to ten o'clock, when the Governor retired for the night, +New York was still voting for Harmon. I left the Sea Girt cottage and went +out to the newspaper men's tent to await word from Baltimore. The +telegrapher in charge of the Associated Press wire was a devoted friend +and admirer of the New Jersey candidate. There was no one in the tent but +the telegrapher and myself. Everything was quiet. Suddenly the telegraph +instrument began to register. The operator looked up from the instrument, +and I could tell from his expression that something big was coming. He +took his pad and quickly began to record the message. In a tone of voice +that indicated its seriousness, he read to me the following message: "New +York casts its seventy-six votes for Champ Clark. Great demonstration on." +And then the instrument stopped recording. It looked as if the "jig was +up." Frankly, I almost collapsed at the news. I had been up for many +nights and had had only a few hours' sleep. I left the tent, almost in +despair, about eleven o'clock, and returned to the Sea Girt cottage, +preparatory to going to my home at Avon, New Jersey. As I was leaving the +cottage the Governor appeared at one of the upper windows, clad in his +pajamas, and looking at me in the most serious way, said: "Tumulty, is +there any news from Baltimore?" I replied: "Nothing new, Governor." When +we were breakfasting together the next morning, he laughingly said to me: +"You thought you could fool me last night when I asked if there was any +word from Baltimore; but I could tell from the serious expression on your +face that something had gone wrong." This was about the first evidence of +real interest he had shown in the Baltimore proceedings. + +As will be recalled, the thing that prevented Champ Clark from gathering +the full benefit which would have come to him from the casting of the New +York vote in his favour was a question by "Alfalfa Bill" Murray, a +delegate from Oklahoma. He said: "Is this convention going to surrender +its leadership to the Tammany Tiger?" This stemmed the tide toward Mr. +Clark, and changed the whole face of the Convention. + +It was evident that on Friday night the deadlock stage of the Convention +had been finally reached. The Wilson vote had risen to 354, and there +remained without perceptible change. It began to look as if the candidacy +of the New Jersey Governor had reached its full strength. The frantic +efforts of the Wilson men to win additional votes were unavailing. Indeed, +Wilson's case appeared to be hopeless. On Saturday morning, McCombs +telephoned Sea Girt and asked for the Governor. The Governor took up the +'phone and for a long time listened intently to what was being said at the +other end. I afterward learned that McCombs had conveyed word to the +Governor that his case was hopeless and that it was useless to continue +the fight, and asked for instructions. Whereupon, the following +conversation took place in my presence: "So, McCombs, you feel it is +hopeless to make further endeavours?" When McCombs asked the Governor if +he would instruct his friends to support Mr. Underwood, Mr. Wilson said: +"No, that would not be fair. I ought not to try to influence my friends in +behalf of another candidate. They have been mighty loyal and kind to me. +Please say to them how greatly I appreciate their generous support and +that they are now free to support any candidate they choose." + +In the room at the time of this conversation between McCombs and the New +Jersey Governor sat Mrs. Wilson and myself. When the Governor said to +McCombs, "So you think it is hopeless?" great tears stood in the eyes of +Mrs. Wilson, and as the Governor put down the telephone, she walked over +to him and in the most tender way put her arms around his neck, saying: + +"My dear Woodrow, I am sorry, indeed, that you have failed." Looking at +her, with a smile that carried no evidence of the disappointment or +chagrin he felt at the news he had just received, he said: "My dear, of +course I am disappointed, but we must not complain. We must be sportsmen. +After all, it is God's will, and I feel that a great load has been lifted +from my shoulders." With a smile he remarked that this failure would make +it possible for them, when his term as Governor of New Jersey was +completed, to go for a vacation to the English Lake country--a region +loved by them both, where they had previously spent happy summers. Turning +to me, he asked for a pencil and pad and informed me that he would prepare +a message of congratulation to Champ Clark, saying as he left the room: +"Champ Clark will be nominated and I will give you the message in a few +minutes." + +I afterward learned that McCombs was about to release the delegates when +Roger Sullivan, who had been informed of McCombs' message to the New +Jersey Governor, rushed over to McCombs and said to him, "Damn you, don't +you do that. Sit steady in the boat." + +This is the true story of the occurrence so strangely distorted by Mr. +McCombs in the book he left for publication after his death, wherein he +would make it appear that Governor Wilson had got in a panic and tried to +withdraw from the race; whereas the panic was all in the troubled breast +of Mr. McCombs, a physically frail, morally timid person, constitutionally +unfit for the task of conducting such a fight as was being waged in +Baltimore. More sturdy friends of Governor Wilson at the Convention were +busy trying to brace up the halting manager and persuade him to continue +the fight, even against the desperate odds that faced them. But for these +stronger natures, among whom were old Roger Sullivan of Illinois and W. G. +McAdoo, the battle would have been lost. + +The message of congratulation to Champ Clark was prepared and ready to be +put on the wire for transmission to him when the Baltimore Convention +assembled again on Saturday, June 29, 1912. I had argued with the Governor +that despite what McCombs had said to him over the 'phone on the previous +day I felt that there was still a great deal of latent strength in the +Wilson forces in the Convention which was ready to jump into action as +soon as it appeared that Champ Clark's case was hopeless. The first ballot +on Saturday gave weight to my view, for upon that ballot Wilson gained +fifteen or twenty votes, which injected new hope into our forces in the +Convention. From that time on Wilson steadily moved forward, and then came +Bryan's resolutions, opposing any candidate who received the support of +the "privilege-hunting" class, and attempting the expulsion of a certain +Eastern group from the Convention. Pandemonium reigned in the Convention +Hall, but the vote upon the resolutions themselves showed the temper of +the delegates. This made the Clark nomination hopeless. Bryan's role as an +exponent of outraged public opinion and as a master of great conventions +was superbly played. When he finally threw his tremendous influence to +Wilson, the struggle was over. Indiana jumped to Wilson, then Illinois, +and the fight was won. Wilson received the necessary two-third vote and +was proclaimed the candidate. + +The progressive element of the Democratic party had triumphed after a +long, stubborn fight by what at first was a minority in the Convention for +enlightened progressivism, with Woodrow Wilson as the standard bearer. To +those like myself far away from the Convention there was the sense of a +great issue at stake at Baltimore. One old gentleman who visited Sea Girt +after the Convention compared the stand of the Liberals in the Convention +to the handful at Thermopylae; others compared their heroic determination +to the struggle of Garibaldi and his troops. To the outside world it was +plain that a great battle for the right was being waged at Baltimore, +under the inspiration of a new leadership. At times it appeared that the +raw Wilson recruits would have to surrender, that they could not withstand +the smashing blows delivered by the trained army which the Conservatives +had mobilized. But they stood firm, for there was in the ranks of the +Liberal group in the Baltimore Convention an unconquerable spirit, akin to +that of the Crusaders, and a leadership of ardent men who were convinced +that they were fighting, not merely for a man but for a principle which +this man symbolized. Among these were men like W. G. McAdoo of New York, +A. Mitchell Palmer, Joseph Guffey, and Vance McCormick of Pennsylvania, +Senator "Billy" Hughes of New Jersey, and Angus McLean of North Carolina. + +Although the Wilson forces were largely made up of "new" men, some of whom +had never before been actively interested in politics, comparatively young +men like McAdoo, Palmer, McCormick, McLean, Guffey, and old men like Judge +Westcott of New Jersey, yet they were drawn to the light that had dawned +in New Jersey and were eager and anxious to have that light of inspired +leadership given to the nation. Judge Westcott fired the Convention with +his eloquence and brought showers of applause when he quoted at length +from a speech Mr. Wilson had made when president of Princeton, and for +which he had been hissed, lampooned, and derided by the Princeton +opposition. Judge Westcott said: + + Men are known by what they say and do. Men are known by those who hate + them and those who oppose them. Many years ago the great executive of + New Jersey said: "No man is great who thinks himself so, and no man is + good who does not strive to secure the happiness and comfort of + others." This is the secret of his life. This is, in the last + analysis, the explanation of his power. Later, in his memorable effort + to retain high scholarship and simple democracy in Princeton + University, he declared: "The great voice of America does not come + from seats of learning. It comes in a murmur from the hills and woods, + and the farms and factories and the mills, rolling on and gaining + volume until it comes to us from the homes of common men. Do these + murmurs echo in the corridors of our universities? I have not heard + them." A clarion call to the spirit that now moves America. Still + later he shouted: "I will not cry peace so long as social injustice + and political wrong exist in the state of New Jersey." Here is the + very soul of the silent revolution now solidifying sentiment and + purpose in our common country. + +Men in the Convention, overwhelmed with the emotion of the great hour and +the vindication of the bold liberal, Woodrow Wilson, bowed their heads and +sobbed aloud. The "amateurs" of that convention had met the onslaughts of +the Old Guard and had won, and thus was brought about, through their +efforts, their courage, and their devotion, the dawn of a new day in the +politics of the nation. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +FACING A SOLEMN RESPONSIBILITY + + +Shortly after the Democratic National Convention I gave a dinner at the +newspaper men's cottage at Sea Girt, to which I invited the Democratic +candidate and the newspaper men, in order that they might be given a +chance to meet him in the most intimate way and obtain from him what he +was pleased to call the "inside" of his mind. Upon the conclusion of the +dinner, the Democratic candidate opened his heart in a little talk of the +most intimate and interesting character. It contained not only his views +of the Presidency, but also a frank discussion of the great problems that +would confront the next administration. In referring to Mr. Roosevelt, he +said that he had done a great service in rousing the country from its +lethargy, and in that work he had rendered admirable and lasting service, +but beyond that he had failed, for he had not, during his administrations, +attacked two of the major problems: the tariff and the currency, which he, +Wilson, considered to be the heart and centre of the whole movement for +lasting and permanent reform in America. Discussing Mr. Roosevelt, he +said: + + He promised too often the millennium. No public man has a right to go + so far afield. You have no right to promise Heaven unless you can + bring us to it, for, in making promises, you create too much + expectation and your failure brings with it only disappointment and + sometimes despair. As a candidate for the Presidency I do not want to + promise Heaven unless I can bring you to it. I can only see a little + distance up the road. I cannot tell you what is around the corner. The + successful leader ought not to keep too far in advance of the mass he + is seeking to lead, for he will soon lose contact with them. No + unusual expectation ought to be created by him. When messages are + brought to me by my friends of what is expected of the next President, + I am sometimes terrified at the task that would await me in case I + should be elected. For instance, my daughter, who is engaged in + social-welfare work in Philadelphia, told me of a visit she paid a + humble home in that city where the head of a large family told her + that her husband was going to vote for me because it would mean + cheaper bread. My God, gentlemen, just think of the responsibility an + expectation of that kind creates! I can't reduce the price of bread. I + can only strive in the few years I shall have in office to remove the + noxious growths that have been planted in our soil and try to clear + the way for the new adjustment which is necessary. That adjustment + cannot be brought about suddenly. We cannot arbitrarily turn right + about face and pull one policy up by the roots and cast it aside, + while we plant another in virgin soil. A great industrial system has + been built up in this country under the fosterage of the Government, + behind a wall of unproductive taxes. Changes must be brought about, + first here, then there, and then there again. We must move from step + to step with as much prudence as resolution. In other words, we are + called upon to perform a delicate operation, and in performing a + delicate operation it is necessary for the surgeon who uses the knife + to know where the foundation of vitality is, so that in cutting out + the excrescence he shall not interfere with the vital tissues. + + And while we do so we must create by absolute fairness and open- + mindedness the atmosphere of mutual concession. There are no old + scores to be paid off; there are no resentments to be satisfied; there + is no revolution to be attempted. Men of every interest must be drawn + into conference as to what it behooves us to do, and what it is + possible for us to do. No one should be excluded from the conference + except those who will not come in upon terms of equality and the + common interest. We deal with great and delicate matters. + + We should deal with them with pure and elevated purpose, without fear, + without excitement, without undue haste, like men dealing with the + sacred fortunes of a great country, and not like those who play for + political advantage, or seek to reverse any policy in their own + behalf. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +WILLIAM F. MCCOMBS + + +The election being over, the President-elect proceeded with the selection +of his Cabinet and with that end in view immediately began those +conferences with his friends throughout the country in an effort to gather +information upon which to base a final selection. All sorts of suggestions +began to flow into the Executive offices at Trenton. Tentative slates were +prepared for consideration, and the records and antecedents of the men +whose names appeared on them, were subjected to a searching scrutiny. +Every now and then during this period the President-elect would discuss +with me the various candidates and ask me to investigate this or that +phase of the character of certain men under consideration. + +One day as we were leaving the Executive offices at Trenton, the Governor +said: "Tumulty, you have read Gideon Wells's 'Diary of the Civil War', +have you not?" I told him that some months before he had generously +presented me with those three interesting volumes that contained a most +accurate and comprehensive inside view of Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet. "Who," he +said, "in Wells's discussion of the Lincoln Cabinet reminds you of William +F. McCombs?" I replied that, in some respects, William A. Seward, Mr. +Lincoln's Secretary of State. Not, of course, in the bigness of Seward's +mind, for I was not attempting to make any comparison between the +intellects of the two men, but in the effort of Seward to dominate Lincoln +and thus creating jealousies in other members of the Cabinet that were the +cause of continual embarrassment to Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Wilson turned to me +and said: "You are absolutely right, and that is one reason why I have not +seriously considered the claims of Mr. McCombs for a Cabinet post. I am +sure that if I did put him in my Cabinet, I should find him interfering +with the administration of the other departments in the same way that +Seward sought to interfere, for instance, with the Treasury Department +under Salmon P. Chase. McCombs is a man of fine intellect, but he is never +satisfied unless he plays the stellar role, and I am afraid he cannot work +in harness with other men and that I should never get any real team work +from him. There is another serious objection to McCombs for a place in my +Cabinet. A few days ago he boldly informed me that he desired to have the +post of Attorney General. When I asked him why he preferred to be Attorney +General, he informed me that, being a lawyer, the Attorney Generalship +would help him professionally after his term of office expired. What a +surprising statement for any man to make! Why, Tumulty, many of the +scandals of previous administrations have come about in this way, Cabinet +officers using their posts to advance their own personal fortunes. It must +not be done in our administration. It would constitute a grave scandal to +appoint such a man to so high an office." + +It has often been charged by Mr. McCombs' friends that Mr. Wilson showed a +lack of appreciation of his services and an utter disregard of the fine +things McCombs did in his behalf. Those of us who were on the inside and +witnessed the patience of Woodrow Wilson in handling this most difficult +person know how untrue such statements are. I personally know that during +the trying days preceding the election most of Mr. Wilson's time was given +over to straightening out McCombs and attempting to satisfy his mind that +neither Mr. McAdoo, Colonel House, nor any other friends of Mr. Wilson +were seeking to unhorse him and to take his place in the candidate's +affections. Never did any man show greater patience than did Woodrow +Wilson in his attitude toward McCombs. The illness of McCombs during the +campaign fed fuel to the fires of his naturally jealous disposition. He +suspected everybody; trusted no one, and suspected that the President's +friends were engaged in a conspiracy to destroy him. Of course, it is true +that Mr. Wilson refused to give him the post of Attorney General which he +greatly coveted, for reasons I have fully stated above; but at the very +time when McCombs' friends were saying that the President had ignored him +and failed to offer him any place in his administration, the President had +already tendered McCombs his choice of two of the most important +diplomatic posts at his disposal--the Ambassadorship to Germany and the +Ambassadorship to France. An interesting incident in connection with the +offer of the French post to McCombs and his acceptance of it is worth +relating. + +The President arrived in Washington on the third of March and went to the +Shoreham Hotel. McCombs had already received Mr. Wilson's offer of the +French Ambassadorship, and on the night of the third of March he concluded +he would accept it. He sent a messenger to the Shoreham Hotel with his +letter of acceptance. Before the arrival of McCombs' letter at the +Shoreham the President had retired for the night, and the message was +inserted under the door of his room. However, it seems that shortly after +sending the message of acceptance McCombs changed his mind and sent a +friend to the Shoreham to recover the letter, and at twelve o'clock at +night I found him outside of the President's room on his knees, busily +engaged in digging out McCombs' letter of acceptance from underneath the +door. + +From that time on, with every changing wind, McCombs would first accept +and then reject the offer of the French post. By his vacillation he +prevented the appointment of an Ambassador to France for four months. He +had easy access to the President and saw him frequently. As he left the +White House after calling on the President one day, Mr. Wilson showed +sharp irritation and said to me: "If McCombs would only discuss somebody +else for office save himself I would be more interested." + +That the offer of the French post was made by the President and rejected +by McCombs is evidenced by the following letter, addressed to the +President by McCombs, under date of April 3, 1913: + + WILLIAM F. MCCOMBS + COUNSELLOR AT LAW + 96 Broadway & 6 Wall Street + New York + + April 3, 1913. + + My Dear Mr. President: + + Since I saw you on Saturday, I have been making continuous efforts to + dispose of my affairs so that I might accept your very flattering + offer. I have been in touch with Tumulty from day to day to find out + whether my delay was embarrassing you in any way, and he told me it + was not. + + Of course, I did not want to inconvenience you. As I have told you + before, my difficulty in accepting the post has lain in the + adjustments of my financial affairs here and in the forming of a + connection which would continue, in some degree, my practice. The + clientèle which any lawyer has is very largely personal to himself, + and it is almost impossible to arrange that the affairs of such a + clientèle be handled by others. This is the difficulty under which I + have labored. + + After intimations to my clients, I find my absence would, in their + view, be prejudicial to their interests and that they would each seek + separate counsel. This would mean my return to New York without any + clientèle whatsoever and a new start. After the statement which you so + kindly issued, it occurred to me that I might make an arrangement + under which my affairs could be handled. I am convinced now that it is + impossible, and that I must remain here to maintain myself. During the + past two years I have been compelled to neglect my business to a very + large extent, and I feel that it is absolutely essential for me to + recoup. In view of the very great honor of the French post, I was + quite willing to sacrifice almost anything. I now know that the + sacrifice would be complete. + + I was sorry to see in the New York papers of yesterday, under + Washington date line, that I had accepted the embassy. It has placed + me in a most embarrassing position, and has caused general comment of + vacillation. I cannot imagine how the fact that I was re-considering + became public. The press clippings I get in the matter are most + annoying to me, and must be to you. I suppose the only thing to say in + the matter is that my position is the same as it was when my statement + was given out in Washington. + + Let me again thank you very deeply for the great honor you have + conferred upon me. I sincerely wish it were within my power to accept. + It is such a thing as rarely comes in a man's lifetime. + + Believe me as ever, + Always yours to command, + WM. F. MCCOMBS. + + HON. WOODROW WILSON, + The White House, + Washington, D. C. + +[Illustration: A letter from the man who could not make up his mind +[Transcriber's note: the illustration contains a reproduction of the +above-quoted letter.]] + +Even after McCombs had declined the French post, as recited in the above +letter to the President, he continued to vacillate, and addressed the +following telegrams and cables to me in regard to the French +Ambassadorship: + + New York, April 4, 1913. + + HON. JOS. P. TUMULTY, + Washington, D. C. + + Confidentially, expect to come tomorrow. Please suspend on matter + until I see you. + + W. F. M. + + * * * * * + + New York April 25, 1913. + + JOS. P. TUMULTY, + Washington, D. C. + + Confirm understanding that nothing be done for the present and nothing + sent in. + + W. F. M + + * * * * * + + Sagaponac, N. Y., May 3, 1913. + Radio S. S. _Olympic_. + + JOS. P. TUMULTY, + White House, + Washington, D. C. + + Will cable about time sending name in when I reach Paris in + _acceptance_ our understanding. + + W. F. M. + + * * * * * + + Paris, Via French, May 13, 1913. + + JOS. P. TUMULTY, + White House, + Washington. + + Have been ill, improving. Cable you Thursday in matter. + + W. F. M. + + * * * * * + + Paris, June 1, 1913. + + J. P. TUMULTY, + Washington. + + Some better. Operation doubtful. Question delayed a few days. + + W. F. M. + +Then came the following cable to the President from Col. E. M. House: + + Paris, June 12, 1913. + + THE PRESIDENT + Washington. + + Damon [code name for McCombs] requests me to say that after he sees + present incumbent tomorrow he will cable you. He is much improved. + + E. M. HOUSE. + + * * * * * + + Paris, June 18, 1913. + + JOS. P. TUMULTY, + Washington. + + Am sending conclusive message through usual channel so you get it + tomorrow morning. This confirms message today which was incomplete. + Hope everything will be o. k. + + Mc. + + * * * * * + + Paris, July 6, 1913. + + J. P. TUMULTY, + Washington. + + Accept if no previous arrangement cable at once care Monroe Banquier + Paris. + + W. + + * * * * * + + Paris, July 7, 1913. + + TUMULTY, + Washington. + + Better wait a little or leave out for another strictly confidential. + + W. + +By this last message McCombs meant that the President had better wait a +little for him to make up his mind, or to select another for the French +post, which the President refused to do. + +The kindest explanation of Mr. McCombs' distorted and entirely untruthful +story is that his sensitive mind had brooded so long on fancied injuries +that he had come to believe that what he deposed was true. He was +sensitive to a pathological degree, jealous, suspicious of everybody, and +consumed with ambition to appear as the sole maker of President Wilson +politically. He is dead, and it would have been pleasanter to keep silent +about him. I should have remained silent had he not left his embittered +manuscript in the hands of friends, with directions to publish it after +his death, when those whom he attacks in its various chapters would feel a +hesitancy about challenging his statements and attempting in any way to +asperse his memory. That he was abnormal was known to all who came into +intimate contact with him during the campaign and after. His suspicions +and spites manifested themselves in ways so small that he would have been +laughable had he not been pitiable. The simple fact is that both the +nomination and the election of Governor Wilson were in spite of Mr. +McCombs, not because of him. Mr. McCombs was ill during most of the +campaign, which had to be directed by the assistant chairman, Mr. McAdoo, +with all possible embarrassing interference from the chairman's sick room. + +The full force of McCombs' petty spite, malice, and jealousy was expended +upon Mr. William G. McAdoo of New York, who at the time had established a +high reputation for his courage and intrepidity in building the famous +Manhattan and Hudson tunnels. Mr. McAdoo, in the early days of Woodrow +Wilson's candidacy, took his place at the fore-front of the Wilson forces. +At the time of his espousal of the Wilson cause he was the only leader in +the New York financial world ready and courageous enough to take up the +cudgels for Mr. Wilson. His influence thrown to the Wilson side +strengthened the Wilson cause in every part of the country. Every +intimation that reached McCombs during the campaign that Mr. McAdoo, as +vice-chairman of the National Committee, was engaged in doing this or that +thing in connection with his duties as vice-chairman, was always +calculated to stir anew the fires of envy and jealousy which seemed always +burning in the breast of McCombs. + +I was in close touch with Mr. Wilson and all the phases of his campaign at +the time, and on several occasions was asked to act as mediator in the +differences between Mr. McAdoo and Mr. McCombs, and I am, therefore, in a +position calmly to analyze and assess the reasons for McCombs' implacable +hatred of Mr. McAdoo. I found that the motives which actuated McCombs were +of the pettiest and meanest sort. At their base lay the realization that +Mr. McAdoo had, by his gallant and helpful support of Mr. Wilson, won his +admiration and deep respect, and now everything must be done by McCombs +and his friends to destroy Mr. McAdoo in the estimation of the Democratic +candidate for the Presidency. In the efforts put forth by McCombs and his +friends to destroy Mr. Wilson's high opinion of Mr. McAdoo every +contemptible and underhanded method was resorted to. Mr. McAdoo reacted to +these unfair attacks in the most kindly and magnanimous way. Never for a +single moment did he allow the McCombs campaign against him to stand in +the way of Woodrow Wilson's advancement to the Presidency. + +During the whole time that Mr. McCombs was engaged in his vendetta, Mr. +McAdoo was generous, gallant, big, and forgiving, even suggesting to the +Democratic candidate, in my presence, that it might be wiser for him +(McAdoo) to withdraw from the campaign, so that "things at headquarters +might run easier and more smoothly." Mr. Wilson would not by any act of +his permit the sniping methods of McCombs to be rewarded in the withdrawal +of McAdoo from his campaign. + +After the election and when it was certain that McAdoo was being seriously +considered for the post of Secretary of the Treasury, McCombs' jealousy +began to exert itself in the most venomous way. He tried to persuade Mr. +Wilson that the selection of Mr. McAdoo for the post of Secretary of the +Treasury would be too much a recognition of the Wall Street point of view, +and would be considered a repudiation of McCombs' leadership in the +National Committee. + +The campaign of McCombs to prevent the nomination of Mr. McAdoo for a post +in the Cabinet failed utterly. His poison brigade then gathered at the +Shoreham Hotel in Washington on the day of the Inauguration and, +attempting to reform their broken lines, now sought to prevent his +confirmation at the hands of the Senate. Every agency of opposition that +McCombs could invoke to accomplish this purpose was put into action, but +like all his efforts against Mr. McAdoo they met with failure. Mr. McAdoo +was confirmed and took his place as Secretary of the Treasury, where his +constructive genius in matters of finance was soon brought into play, and +under his magnificent leadership the foundation stones of the Federal +Reserve system were laid, the fruitage of which is now being realized in +every business throughout the country. + +Frequent conferences were held at Princeton with reference to the +selection of the President's Cabinet, and in these conferences Colonel +House and I participated. At a luncheon at the Sterling Hotel at Trenton +Mr. Bryan was offered the post of Secretary of State. + +On the first of March the post of Secretary of War was still open. It had +been offered to Mr. A. Mitchell Palmer of Pennsylvania and had been +declined by him for an unusual reason. The President requested Mr. Palmer +to meet him at Colonel House's apartment in New York. When the President +tendered him the position of Secretary of War, Mr. Palmer frankly told the +President that he was a Quaker and that the tenets of his religion +prevented his acceptance of any position having to do with the conduct of +war. The President tried to overcome these scruples, but his efforts were +unavailing. The President then telephoned me and informed me of Palmer's +declination and asked if I had any suggestion regarding the vacancy in his +Cabinet. I told him that I was anxious to see a New Jersey man occupy a +place at his Cabinet table, and we discussed the various possibilities +over the 'phone, but without reaching any definite conclusion. I informed +the President that I would suggest the name of someone within a few hours. +I then went to the library in my home in New Jersey and in looking over +the _Lawyers' Diary_ I ran across the name of Lindley Garrison, who at the +time was vice-chancellor of the state of New Jersey. Mr. Garrison was a +resident of my home town and although I had only met him casually and had +tried a few cases before him, he had made a deep impression upon me as a +high type of equity judge. + +I telephoned the President-elect that night and suggested the name of +Lindley Garrison, whose reputation as a distinguished judge of the +Chancery Court was known to the President-elect. He was invited to Trenton +the next day and without having the slightest knowledge of the purpose of +this summons, he arrived and was offered the post of Secretary of War in +Mr. Wilson's Cabinet, which he accepted. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE INAUGURATION + + +A presidential inauguration is a picturesque affair even when the weather +is stormy, as it frequently is on the fourth of March in Washington. It is +a brilliant affair when the sun shines bright and the air is balmy, as +happened on March 4, 1913, when Woodrow Wilson took the oath of office at +noon, delivered his inaugural address a few minutes later, reviewed the +parade immediately after luncheon, and before nightfall was at his desk in +the White House transacting the business of the Government. To the popular +imagination Inauguration Day represents crowds and hurrahs, brass bands +and processions. The hotels, restaurants, and boarding houses of +Washington overflow with people from all parts of the country who have +come to "see the show." The pavements, windows, and housetops along +Pennsylvania Avenue from the east front of the Capitol to the western gate +of the White House are crowded with folk eager to see the procession with +its military column and marching clubs. From an improvised stand in front +of the White House, surrounded by his friends, the new President reviews +the parade. + +Every four years the newspaper boys describe Inauguration Day, but I am +not aware of any novelist who has put it in a book. Why not? It offers +material of a high order for literary description. "Human interest" +material also in abundance, not merely in the aspects of the retiring and +incoming Presidents with their respective retinues of important officials, +but in the comedies and tragedies of the lesser figures of the motley +political world. Familiar faces vanish, new faces appear--especially when +a change of administration brings a change of party control. An evacuating +column of ousted and dejected office-holders, prophesying national +disaster at the hands of parvenus, meets an advancing column of would-be +office-holders rejoicing in general over their party's success and +palpitantly eager for individual advantage. As in life, so in Washington +on Inauguration Day, humour and pathos mingle. Inauguration Day is the +beginning of a period of uprooting and transplanting. + +So it was when the Democrats came into office on March 4, 1913, after +sixteen years of uninterrupted Republican control and for only the third +time in the fifty-two years since Buchanan had walked out of the White +House and Lincoln had walked in. Hungry Democrats flocked to Washington, +dismayed Republicans looked on in silence or with sardonic comment. +Democratic old-timers who had been waiting, like Mr. Micawber, for +"something to turn up" through long lean years, mingled in the hotel +lobbies with youths flushed with the excitement of a first experience In +the political game and discussed the "prospects," each confident that he +was indispensable to the new administration. Minor officeholders who had, +so they said, been political neutrals during the past administration, +anxiously scanned the horizon for signs that they would be retained. +"Original Wilson men" from various parts of the country were introducing +themselves or being introduced by their friends. And there were the +thousands, with no axes to grind, who had come simply to look on, or to +participate in a long-postponed Democratic rejoicing, or to wish the new +President Godspeed for his and the country's sake. It is not my business +in a book wholly concerned with the personal side of Woodrow Wilson's +political career to attempt a description of Inauguration Day, with its +clamours and its heartaches and its hopes. To the new President the day +was, as he himself said, not one of "triumph" but of "dedication." For him +the occasion had a significance beyond the fortunes of individuals and +parties. Something more had happened than a replacement of Republicans by +Democrats. He believed that he had been elected as a result of a stirring +of the American conscience against thinly masked "privilege" and, a +reawakening of American aspiration for government which should more nearly +meet the needs of the plain people of the country. He knew that he would +have to disappoint many a hungry office-seeker, whose chief claim to +preferment lay in his boast that he "had always voted the Democratic +ticket." Among the new President's first duties would be the selection of +men to fill offices and, of course, in loyalty to his party, he would give +preference to Democrats, but it did not please him to think of this in +terms of "patronage" and "spoils." With the concentration of a purposeful +man he was anxious chiefly to find the best people for the various +offices, those capable of doing a day's work and those who could sense the +opportunities for service in whole-hearted devotion to the country's +common cause. His inaugural address met the expectations of thoughtful +hearers. It was on a high plane of statesmanship, uncoloured by +partisanship. It was the announcement of a programme in the interest of +the country at large, with the idea of trusteeship strongly stressed. +There was nothing very radical in the address: nothing to terrify those +who were apprehensive lest property rights should be violated. The +President gave specific assurance that there would be due attention to +"the old-fashioned, never-to-be-neglected, safeguarding of property," but +he also immediately added "and of individual right." Legitimate property +claims would be scrupulously respected, but it was clear that they who +conceived that the chief business of government is the promotion of their +private or corporate interests would get little aid and comfort from this +administration. The underlying meaning of the President's progressivism +was clear: the recovery of old things which through long neglect or misuse +had been lost, a return to the starting point of our Government, +government in the interest of the many, not of the few: "Our work is a +work of restoration"; "We have been refreshed by a new insight into our +life." + +A deep humanity pervaded the message. To the thoughtful hearer it must +have been clear that the President's mind was more occupied with the +masses than with special classes. He was not hostile to the classes. He +was simply less interested in them. He suggested a social as well as a +political programme: "Men and women and children" must be "shielded in +their lives, their very vitality, from the consequences of great +industrial and social processes which they cannot alter, control, or +singly cope with." "The first duty of law is to keep sound the society it +serves." Such was the first utterance of the President who in a few weeks +was to appear as the champion, not of the special interests, native and +foreign, in Mexico, but of the fifteen million Mexican people, groping +blindly, through blood and confusion, after some form of self-government, +and who in a few years was to appear as the champion of small nations and +the masses throughout the world in a titanic struggle against the old +principles of autocracy. + +Mingled with the high and human tone of it all was a clear and itemized +forecast of proposed legislation: a revised tariff, a federal reserve +banking system, a farmers' loan bank. And all who knew Woodrow Wilson's +record in New Jersey were aware that the Executive would be the leader in +the enactment of legislation. The executive and legislative branches of +the Government in this administration would, all informed people knew, be +in partnership in the promotion of an enterprise as practical as it was +inspiring. + +After Chief Justice White administered the oath of office, the President +read the brief address, of which the following are the concluding words: + + This is not a day of triumph; it is a day of dedication. Here muster, + not the forces of party, but the forces of humanity. Men's hearts wait + upon us; men's lives hang in the balance; men's hopes call upon us to + say what we will do. Who shall live up to the great trust? Who dares + fail to try? I summon all honest men, all patriotic, all forward- + looking men, to my side. God helping me, I will not fail them, if they + will but counsel and sustain me! + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MEXICO + + +Many grave matters inherited from the Taft regime pressed upon the new +Administration for immediate solution. One of the most serious was the +situation in Mexico, growing out of the revolution against the Madero +Government which broke out in Mexico City on February 9, 1913. The murder +of ex-President Madero and Vice-President Suarez, and the usurpation of +presidential authority by General Victoriano Huerta, Minister of Foreign +Affairs, and the general industrial and social chaos of Mexico, made it +necessary for the new administration, only a month in power, quickly to +act and to declare its policy with reference to the question then pending +as to the recognition of the provisional government, the head of which was +Huerta. After becoming "President" of Mexico, the usurper had brazenly +addressed the following telegram to President Taft: "I have overthrown the +Government and, therefore, peace and order will reign," and boldly +asserted a claim to recognition by the Government of the United States. +This was the state of affairs in Mexico when President Wilson was +inaugurated. The duly-elected President of Mexico, Francisco Madero, had +been overthrown by a band of conspirators headed by Huerta. Were the +fruits of the hard-won fight of the Mexican masses against the arbitrary +rule of the favoured few to be wasted? President Wilson answered this +question in his formal statement of March 12, 1913, eight days after his +inauguration. With respect to Latin-American affairs, he said: + + One of the chief objects of my administration will be to cultivate the + friendship and deserve the confidence of our sister republics of + Central and South America, and to promote in every proper and + honorable way the interests which are common to the peoples of the + two continents. I earnestly desire the most cordial understanding and + cooperation between the peoples and leaders of America, and, + therefore, deem it my duty to make this brief statement: + + "Coöperation is possible only when supported at every turn by the + orderly processes of just government based upon law, not upon + arbitrary or irregular force. We hold, as I am sure all thoughtful + leaders of republican governments everywhere hold, that just + government rests always upon the consent of the governed, and that + there can be no freedom without order based upon law and upon the + public conscience and approval. We shall look to make these principles + the basis of mutual intercourse, respect, and helpfulness between our + sister republics and ourselves.... _We can have no sympathy with + those who seek to seize the power of government to advance their own + personal interests or ambition._" + +Two considerations animated the President in the formulation of his +Mexican policy and compelled his adherence in it throughout his +administration, namely: + +_The firm conviction that all nations, both the weak and the powerful, +have the inviolable right to control their internal affairs. + +The belief, established from the history of the world, that Mexico will +never become a peaceful and law-abiding neighbour of the United States +until she has been permitted to achieve a permanent and basic settlement +of her troubles without outside interference._ + +Steadfastly, Woodrow Wilson refused to recognize Huerta as the Provisional +President of Mexico. He said: "Huerta, the bitter, implacable foe of +everything progressive and humane in Mexico, boldly defending the +privileges of the old scientifico group which he represented, openly +defied the authority of the United States and sneered at the much- +ridiculed policy of 'watchful waiting' proclaimed by the new +administration, and laughed to scorn the high idealism which lay behind +it." To him the declaration of the American President that "we can have no +sympathy with those who seek to seize the power of government to advance +their own personal interests or ambition" was a mere gesture, too puerile +to be seriously considered. + +While Huerta in Mexico was blatantly denouncing this benevolent policy of +coöperation and helpfulness, aid and comfort were rendered the usurper by +the jingoistic criticisms of the President's enemies in the United States +Congress and throughout the country, many of whom, urged on by the oil +interests, in their mad delirium, cried out for a blood-and-iron policy +toward Mexico. Resisting the American interests in Mexico was a part of +the President's task. Those who cried loudest for intervention were they +who had land, mineral, and industrial investments in Mexico. The "vigorous +American policy" which they demanded was a policy for personal enrichment. +It was with this phase of the matter in mind that the President said: "I +have to pause and remind myself that I am President of the United States +and not of a small group of Americans with vested interests in Mexico." + +But the new President, having mapped out the course he was to follow, a +course fraught with a great deal of danger to his administration, seeking +to bring about the moral isolation of Huerta himself, calmly moved on, +apparently unmindful of the jeers and ridicule of his critics in America +and elsewhere. "I am willing," he said, "no matter what my personal +fortunes may be, to play for the verdict of mankind. Personally, it will +be a matter of indifference to me what the verdict on the 7th of November +is, provided I feel any degree of confidence that when a later jury sits I +shall get their judgment in my favour. Not my favour personally--what +difference does that make?--but my favour as an honest and conscientious +spokesman of a great nation." + +What an utterly foolish thing, said his critics, it is to attempt in this +day to oust a Mexican dictator by mere rhetoric and high-sounding phrases! + +When Wilson said: "The situation must be given a little more time to work +itself out in the new circumstances; I believe that only a little while +will be necessary.... We must exercise the self-restraint of a really +great nation which realizes its own strength and scorns to misuse it," his +enemies smugly shrugged their shoulders and said, with disgust: "Well, +what's the use? what can you expect from a dreamer of dreams, a mere +doctrinaire? Doesn't Wilson, the historian, know that force and force +alone can bring that grizzly old warrior Huerta to his senses?" + +What was the President seeking to do in proclaiming his policy of +"watchful waiting"? He was merely seeking to establish in Pan-American +affairs the principle that no president of a South American republic who +came to power by usurpation and assassination should receive, while he was +president, the recognition of the United States. This doctrine was not +only good statesmanship, but it was likewise sound in morals. + +It was disheartening to find bitter criticism of this policy from the +outside, and depressing to find the enemies of watchful waiting "boring +from within" through his own Cabinet officers. Lindley Garrison, his own +Secretary of War, had no sympathy for this idealistic policy. His only +antidote for what was happening in Mexico was force and intervention and +he honourably urged this view upon the President, but without succeeding +in bringing about the consummation so dear to his heart. + + And one denies, and one forsakes, and still unquestioning he goes, who + has his lonely thoughts. + +But the President stood firm in his resolve that the people of Mexico +should not be punished for the malefactions of their usurping president, +and steadily, against great odds, he moved forward to vindicate his +policy, unmindful of the jeers and criticisms of his enemies. The heart of +that policy he eloquently exposed when he said: "I am more interested in +the fortunes of oppressed men, pitiful women and children, than in any +property rights whatever. The people of Mexico are striving for the rights +that are fundamental to life and happiness--fifteen million oppressed men, +overburdened women, and pitiful children in virtual bondage in their own +home of fertile lands and inexhaustible treasure! Some of the leaders of +the revolution may often have been mistaken and violent and selfish, but +the revolution itself was inevitable and is right. The unspeakable Huerta +betrayed the very comrades he served, traitorously overthrew the +government of which he was a trusted part, impudently spoke for the very +forces that had driven his people to rebellion with which he had pretended +to sympathize. The men who overcame him and drove him out represent at +least the fierce passion of reconstruction which lies at the very heart of +liberty; and so long as they represent, however imperfectly, such a +struggle for deliverance, I am ready to serve their ends when I can. So +long as the power of recognition rests with me the Government of the +United States will refuse to extend the hand of welcome to any one who +obtains power in a sister republic by treachery and violence." + +But the President's policy of watchful waiting did win. The days of the +Huerta regime slowly wended their uneasy way. Huerta suspended the Mexican +Constitution and, having imprisoned half of the Mexican Congress, +proceeded to administer the Government as an arbitrary ruler. Slowly but +surely he began to feel the mighty pressure of the unfriendly Government +of the United States upon him. Still defiant, he sought to unite behind +him the Mexican people, hoping to provoke them to military action against +the United States. To hold his power he was willing to run the risk of +making his own country a bloody shamble, but President Wilson had the +measure of the tyrant Huerta from the beginning, and soon his efforts to +isolate him began to bear fruit. Even now his bitter critics gave a +listening ear to the oft-repeated statement of the American President, as +if it contained the germ of a prophecy: + + The steady pressure of moral force will before many days break the + barriers of pride and prejudice down, and we shall triumph as Mexico's + friends sooner than we could triumph as her enemy--and how much more + handsomely and with how much higher and finer satisfactions of + conscience and of honour! + +Little by little the usurper was being isolated. By moral pressure every +day his power and prestige were perceptibly crumbling. His collapse was +not far away when the President declared: "We shall not, I believe, be +obliged to alter our policy of watchful waiting." The campaign of Woodrow +Wilson to force Huerta finally triumphed. On July 15th, Huerta resigned +and departed from Mexico. Wilson's humanity and broad statesmanship had +won over the system of cruel oppression for which the "unspeakable Huerta" +had stood. + +During the Huerta controversy a thing happened which aggravated the +Mexican affair, and which culminated in the now-famous Tampico incident. + +On April 9, 1914, a paymaster of the United States steamship _Dolphin_ +landed at the Iturbide bridge at Tampico with a whaleboat and boat's crew +to obtain supplies needed aboard the _Dolphin._ While loading these +supplies the paymaster and his men were arrested by an officer and squad +of the army of General Huerta. Neither the paymaster nor any of the boat's +crew were armed. The boat flew the United States flag both at the bow and +stern. Two of the men were in the boat when arrested and hence were taken +from United States "soil." Admiral Mayo, senior American officer stationed +off Tampico, immediately demanded the release of the sailors. Release was +ordered after the paymaster and the sailors had been detained about an +hour. Not only did Admiral Mayo demand the release of the sailors but +insisted on a formal apology by the Huerta Government consisting of a +twenty-one-gun salute to the flag. + +During the critical days following the refusal of Huerta to accede to +Admiral Mayo's request the State Department was notified that there would +arrive at Vera Cruz the German steamship _Ypirango_ about to deliver to +Huerta 15,000,000 rounds of ammunition and 500 rapid-fire guns. + +About 2.30 o'clock in the morning of the 21st day of April, 1914, the +telephone operator at the White House called me at my home, and rousing me +from bed, informed me that the Secretary of State, Mr. Bryan, desired to +speak to me at once upon a very urgent and serious matter. I went to the +telephone and was informed by Mr. Bryan that he had just received a +wireless informing him that the German steamship _Ypirango,_ carrying +munitions would arrive at Vera Cruz that morning about ten o'clock and +that he thought the President ought to be notified and that, in his +opinion, drastic measures should at once be taken to prevent the delivery +of these munitions to the Customs House at Vera Cruz. While Mr. Bryan and +I were talking, Mr. Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy, got on the wire +and confirmed all that Mr. Bryan had just told me. Soon the President was +on the 'phone, and in a voice indicating that he had just been aroused +from sleep, carried on the following conversation with Messrs. Bryan, +Daniels, and myself: Mr. Bryan reported to him the situation at Vera Cruz +and informed him of the receipt of the wireless: + +"Mr. President, I am sorry to inform you that I have just received a +wireless that a German ship will arrive at Vera Cruz this morning at ten +o'clock, containing large supplies of munitions and arms for the Mexicans +and I want your judgment as to how we shall handle the situation." + +Replying to Mr. Bryan, the President said: "Of course, Mr. Bryan, you +understand what drastic action in this matter might ultimately mean in our +relations with Mexico?" + +Mr. Bryan said, by way of reply: + +"I thoroughly appreciate this, Mr. President, and fully considered it +before telephoning you." For a second there was a slight pause and then +the President asked Mr. Daniels his opinion in regard to the matter. + +Mr. Daniels frankly agreed with Mr. Bryan that immediate action should be +taken to prevent the German ship from landing its cargo. Without a +moment's delay the President said to Mr. Daniels: + +"Daniels, send this message to Admiral Fletcher: '_Take Vera Cruz at +once_'." + +As I sat at the 'phone on this fateful morning, away from the hurly-burly +world outside, clad only in my pajamas, and listened to this discussion, +the tenseness of the whole situation and its grave possibilities of war +with all its tragedy gripped me. Here were three men quietly gathered +about a 'phone, pacifists at heart, men who had been criticized and +lampooned throughout the whole country as being anti-militarist, now +without hesitation of any kind agreeing on a course of action that might +result in bringing two nations to war. They were pacifists no longer, but +plain, simple men, bent upon discharging the duty they owed their country +and utterly disregarding their own personal feelings of antagonism to +every phase of war. + +After Mr. Bryan and Mr. Daniels had left the telephone the President said: +"Tumulty, are you there? What did you think of my message?" I replied that +there was nothing else to do under the circumstances. He then said: "It is +too bad, isn't it, but we could not allow that cargo to land. The Mexicans +intend using those guns upon our own boys. It is hard to take action of +this kind. I have tried to keep out of this Mexican mess, but we are now +on the brink of war and there is no alternative." + +Discussing this vital matter that morning with the Commander-in-Chief of +the Army and Navy, I could visualize the possible tragedy of the whole +affair. I pictured the flagship of Admiral Fletcher with its fine cargo of +sturdy young marines, riding serenely at anchor off Vera Cruz, and those +aboard the vessel utterly unmindful of the message that was now on its way +through the air, an ominous message which to some of them would be a +portent of death. When the President concluded his conversation with me +his voice was husky. It indicated to me that he felt the solemnity of the +whole delicate business he was now handling, while the people of America, +whose spokesman he was, were at this hour quietly sleeping in their beds, +unaware and unmindful of the grave import of this message which was +already on its way to Vera Cruz. + +When I arrived at the White House the next morning I found the newspaper +correspondents attached to the Executive offices uninformed of what had +happened in the early morning, but when I notified them that the President +had ordered Admiral Fletcher at 2.30 o'clock in the morning to take Vera +Cruz, they jumped, as one man, to the door, to flash this significant news +to the country and the world. + +With Huerta's abdication Venustiano Carranza took hold, but the Mexican +troubles were not at an end. The constant raiding expeditions of Villa +across the American border were a source of great irritation and +threatened every few days a conflagration. While Villa stood with Carranza +as a companion in arms to depose Huerta, the _"entente cordiale"_ was at +an end as soon as Huerta passed off the stage. With these expeditions of +Villa and his motley crew across the border our relations with our +neighbour to the south were again seriously threatened. With Villa +carrying on his raids and Carranza always misunderstanding the purpose and +attitude of our Government and spurning its offer of helpful cooperation, +difficulties of various sorts arose with each day, until popular opinion +became insistent in its demand for vigorous action on the part of the +American President. Every ounce of reserve patience of the President was +called into action to keep the situation steady. How to do it, with many +incidents happening each day to intensify and aggravate an already acute +situation, was the problem that met the President at every turn. At this +time the President was the loneliest figure in Washington. + + Grotesque uncertain shapes infest the dark + And wings of bats are heard in aimless flight; + Discordant voices cry and serpents hiss, + No friendly star, no beacon's beckoning ray. + +Even the members of his own party in the Senate and House were left +without an apology or excuse for the seeming indifference of the President +to affairs in Mexico. Day after day from outraged senators would come +vigorous demands for firm action on the part of America, insistent that +something radical be done to establish conditions of peace along our +southern borders. From many of them came the unqualified demand for +intervention, so that the Mexican question should be once and for all +settled. + +[Illustration: + + Dear Tumulty, + + Can't talk less than half an hour to save his life, and when he is + through he has talked on so many different subjects that I never can + remember what he said. It is literally impossible for me with the + present pressure upon me to see him, and I hope you will ask him if he + can't submit a memorandum. + + The President. + C.L.S. + + + Dear Tumulty: + + I should like to see Mr. ---- but just now it does not seem possible + because I know he is a gentleman who needs a good deal of sea room. I + am taking his suggestions up with the Secretary of the Navy. + + The President. + C.L.S. + +Dealing with bores.] + +In the Cabinet, the Secretary of War, the vigorous spokesman of the +Cabinet group, demanding radical action in the way of intervention, was +insisting that we intervene and put an end to the pusillanimous rule of +Carranza and "clean up" Mexico. Even I, who had stood with the President +during the critical days of the Mexican imbroglio, for a while grew faint +hearted in my devotion to the policy of watchful waiting. To me, the +attack of Villa on Columbus, and the killing of some of our soldiers while +asleep, was the last straw. The continuance of this impossible situation +along the border was unthinkable. To force the President's hand, if +possible, I expressed my feelings in the following letters to him: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + March 15, 1916. + + MY DEAR GOVERNOR: + + I have been thinking over what we discussed this morning with + reference to the Mexican situation. I am not acting on impulse and + without a full realization, I hope, of everything that is involved. I + am convinced that we should pursue to the end the declared purpose + announced by you last Friday and endorsed by Congress and the people + of the United States of "getting Villa." If the _de facto_ government + is going to resist the entrance of our troops, a new situation will be + presented. I feel that you ought to advise Congress at the earliest + possible moment of what the situation really is in order to secure its + support and cooperation in whatever action is needed to accomplish the + purpose you have in mind. To retrace our steps now would be not only + disastrous to our party and humiliating to the country, but would be + destructive of our influence in international affairs and make it + forever impossible to deal in any effective way with Mexican affairs. + + Your appeal to Congress ought to deal with this matter in an + affirmative way, asking for the requisite power which you may feel + assured will be granted you in ungrudging fashion. + + My apology for writing you is my distress of mind and my deep interest + in everything that affects you and your future and, I hope, the + country's welfare. I would not be your friend if I did not tell you + frankly how I feel. + + Faithfully, + TUMULTY. + + THE PRESIDENT, + The White House. + + * * * * * + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + June 24, 1916. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + The Mexican authorities admit that they have taken American soldiers + and incarcerated them. The people feel that a demand should be made + for their immediate release, and that it should not take the form of + an elaborate note. Only firmness and an unflinching insistence upon + our part will bring the gentlemen in Mexico City to their senses. + + If I were President at this moment, or acting as Secretary of State, + my message to Carranza would be the following: + + "Release those American soldiers or take the consequences." + + This would ring around the world. + + Faithfully, + TUMULTY. + + THE PRESIDENT, + The White House. + +After reading these letters, the President sent for me one day to visit +with him in his study, and to discuss "the present situation in Mexico." +As I sat down, he turned to me in the most serious way and said: "Tumulty, +you are Irish, and, therefore, full of fight. I know how deeply you feel +about this Columbus affair. Of course, it is tragical and deeply +regrettable from every standpoint, but in the last analysis I, and not the +Cabinet or you, must bear the responsibility for every action that is to +be taken. I have to sleep with my conscience in these matters and I shall +be held responsible for every drop of blood that may be spent in the +enterprise of intervention. I am seriously considering every phase of this +difficult matter, and I can say frankly to you, and you may inform the +Cabinet officers who discuss it with you, that '_there won't be any war +with Mexico if I can prevent it_,' no matter how loud the gentlemen on the +hill yell for it and demand it. It is not a difficult thing for a +president to declare war, especially against a weak and defenceless nation +like Mexico. In a republic like ours, the man on horseback is always an +idol, and were I considering the matter from the standpoint of my own +political fortunes, and its influence upon the result of the next +election, I should at once grasp this opportunity and invade Mexico, for +it would mean the triumph of my administration. But this has never been in +my thoughts for a single moment. The thing that daunts me and holds me +back is the aftermath of war, with all its tears and tragedies. I came +from the South and I know what war is, for I have seen its wreckage and +terrible ruin. It is easy for me as President to declare war. I do not +have to fight, and neither do the gentlemen on the Hill who now clamour +for it. It is some poor farmer's boy, or the son of some poor widow away +off in some modest community, or perhaps the scion of a great family, who +will have to do the fighting and the dying. I will not resort to war +against Mexico until I have exhausted every means to keep out of this +mess. I know they will call me a coward and a quitter, but that will not +disturb me. Time, the great solvent, will, I am sure, vindicate this +policy of humanity and forbearance. Men forget what is back of this +struggle in Mexico. It is the age-long struggle of a people to come into +their own, and while we look upon the incidents in the foreground, let us +not forget the tragic reality in the background which towers above this +whole sad picture. The gentlemen who criticize me speak as if America were +afraid to fight Mexico. Poor Mexico, with its pitiful men, women, and +children, fighting to gain a foothold in their own land! They speak of the +valour of America. What is true valour? I would be just as much ashamed to +be rash as I would to be a coward. Valour is self-respecting. Valour is +circumspect. Valour strikes only when it is right to strike. Valour +withholds itself from all small implications and entanglements and waits +for the great opportunity when the sword will flash as if it carried the +light of heaven upon its blade." + +As the President spoke, his eyes flashed and his lips quivered with the +deep emotion he felt. It was the first time he had unburdened himself and +laid bare his real feelings toward Mexico. Rising from his chair, he +walked toward the window of his study, the very window out of which +Lincoln had looked upon the Potomac and the hills of Virginia during the +critical days of the Civil War when he was receiving bad news about the +defeat of the Northern army. Continuing his talk, he said: "Tumulty, some +day the people of America will know why I hesitated to intervene in +Mexico. I cannot tell them now for we are at peace with the great power +whose poisonous propaganda is responsible for the present terrible +condition of affairs in Mexico. German propagandists are there now, +fomenting strife and trouble between our countries. Germany is anxious to +have us at war with Mexico, so that our minds and our energies will be +taken off the great war across the sea. She wishes an uninterrupted +opportunity to carry on her submarine warfare and believes that war with +Mexico will keep our hands off her and thus give her liberty of action to +do as she pleases on the high seas. It begins to look as if war with +Germany is inevitable. If it should come--I pray God it may not--I do not +wish America's energies and forces divided, for we will need every ounce +of reserve we have to lick Germany. Tumulty, we must try patience a little +longer and await the development of the whole plot in Mexico." + +Did not the publication of the famous Zimmerman note show that German +intrigue was busy in Mexico? + + Berlin, January 19, 1917. + + On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare + unrestricted. In spite of this it is our intention to keep neutral + with the United States of America. If this attempt is not successful, + we propose an alliance with Mexico on the following basis: That we + shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give general + financial support and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the + lost territory in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The details are left + to you for settlement. + + You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in + the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an + outbreak of war with the United States, and suggest that the President + of Mexico, on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan, + suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time offer to + mediate between Germany and Japan. + + Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the + employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel + England to make peace in a few months. + + ZIMMERMAN. + + TO GERMAN MINISTER VON ECKHARDT, + Mexico City. + +In the President's Flag Day address, delivered at Washington on June 14, +1917, appeared the following: + + They [meaning Germany] sought by violence to destroy our industries + and arrest our commerce. They tried to incite Mexico to take up arms + against us and to draw Japan into an hostile alliance with her; and + that, not by indirection, but by direct suggestion _from the Foreign + Office at Berlin_. + +As the storm of ridicule and criticism of his policy of watchful waiting +beat fiercely upon him, I often wondered if he felt the petty meanness +which underlay it, or was disturbed or dispirited by it. As the unkind +blows fell upon him, thick and fast from every quarter, he gave no +evidence to those who were close to him of any irritation, or of the deep +anger he must have felt at what appeared to be a lack of sympathy on the +part of the country toward the idealistic policy in the treatment of +Mexican affairs. Never for a single moment was he driven from the course +he had mapped out for himself. He had given his heart and soul to a great +humane task and he moved toward its consummation amid a hurricane of +protests and criticisms. + +There was a time, however, when I thought he displayed chagrin and +disappointment at the obstacles placed in his path in settling the affairs +of Mexico. It was in a little speech delivered at the Brooklyn Navy Yard +on the occasion of the burial of the Marines who fell at Vera Cruz. The +following paragraph contained a note of sadness and even depression. +Perhaps, in the following words, he pictured his own loneliness and utter +dejection: + + I never went into battle; I never was under fire; but I fancy there + are some things just as hard to do as to go under fire. I fancy that + it is just as hard to do your duty when men are sneering at you as + when they are shooting at you. When they shoot at you, they can only + take your natural life; when they sneer at you, they can wound your + living heart, and men who are brave enough, steadfast enough, steady + in their principles enough, to go about their duty with regard to + their fellow-men, no matter whether there are hisses or cheers, men + who can do what Rudyard Kipling in one of his poems wrote, "Meet with + triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same," are + men for a nation to be proud of. Morally speaking, disaster and + triumph are imposters. The cheers of the moment are not what a man + ought to think about, but the verdict of his conscience and of the + consciences of mankind. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +PANAMA TOLLS + + +In an introduction to "The Panama Canal Tolls Controversy," edited by Hugh +Gordon Miller and Joseph C. Freehoff, Mr. Oscar S. Straus wrote: "There is +no more honourable chapter in the highly creditable history of the +diplomacy of our country than the repeal of the Panama Tolls Act under the +present administration. Being a controversy affecting our international +relations, it is gratifying that, aside from the leadership of the +President, the repeal was effected not solely by the party in power, but +by the help of leaders in all three parties, rising above the plane of +partisan politics to the higher reaches of broad statesmanship, guided by +a scrupulous regard for our international character in accord with 'a +decent respect for the opinions of mankind,' as expressed in the +Declaration of Independence." President Wilson himself, after the +repealing act had been passed, remarked, "When everything else about this +Administration has been forgotten, its attitude on the Panama Tolls treaty +will be remembered as a long forward step in the process of making the +conduct between nations the same as that which obtains between honourable +individuals dealing with each other, scrupulously respecting their +contracts, no matter what the cost." + +In making his recommendations to Congress he, almost with high disdain, +ignored legal technicalities and diplomatic quibbles and took high moral +ground. Said he, "The large thing to do is the only thing we can afford to +do, a voluntary withdrawal from a position everywhere quoted and +misunderstood. We ought to reverse our action without raising the question +whether we were right or wrong, and so once more deserve our reputation +for generosity and for the redemption of our every obligation without +quibble or hesitation." + +An act passed in 1912 had exempted American coastwise shipping passing +through the Canal from the tolls assessed on other vessels, and the +British Government had protested against this on the ground that it +violated the Hay-Pauncefote treaty of 1901, which had stipulated that the +Canal should be open to the vessels of all nations "on terms of entire +equality." Other nations than England had an interest in this question, +and there was a suspicion that some of them were even more keenly if not +more heavily interested; but England took the initiative, and the struggle +to save the exemption was turned, in the United States, into a +demonstration by the Irish, Germans, and other anti-British elements. +Innate hostility to England and coastwise shipping interests formed the +backbone of the opposition to any repeal of this exemption, but the Taft +Administration had held that the exemption did not conflict with the +treaty (on the ground that the words "all nations" meant all nations +except the United States), and British opposition to the fortification of +the Canal, as well as the attitude of a section of the British press +during the Canadian elections of 1911, had created a distrust of British +motives which was heightened by the conviction of many that the Hay- +Pauncefote Treaty had been a bad bargain. + +It was understood early in President Wilson's Administration that he +believed the exemption was in violation of the treaty, but not until +October did he make formal announcement that he intended to ask Congress +to repeal it. The question did not come into the foreground, however, +until March 5, 1914, when the President addressed this request to Congress +in ominous language, which to this day remains unexplained. "No +communication I addressed to Congress," he said, "has carried with it more +grave and far-reaching implications to the interests of the country." +After expressing his belief that the law as it stood violated the treaty +and should be repealed as a point of honour, he continued: "I ask this of +you in support of the foreign policy of the Administration. I shall not +know how to deal with other matters of even greater delicacy and nearer +consequence if you do not grant it to me in ungrudging measure." + +The first word I received that the President contemplated addressing +Congress, asking for the repeal of Panama Tolls, came about in this way: I +was notified after dinner one evening that the President wished to confer +with me in his study. When I arrived at the White House Mrs. Wilson met me +and informed me of the plan which the President had in mind with reference +to this matter and of his decision to issue a statement that night which +would be carried in the newspapers the following morning, and of his +determination to address Congress, asking for a repeal of the Panama +Tolls. Mrs. Wilson showed considerable excitement over the President's +proposed step when she discussed the matter with me as I arrived at the +White House. She said she had argued with the President and had tried to +persuade him that if he intended to do so unusual a thing that now was the +inopportune moment for it for the reason that it would create a party +crisis and probably a split, the result of which we could not foresee. +When I went into the President's study, he read me the announcement he had +prepared for the papers. The full significance and the possible danger +which lay in the proposed move that the President was about to make struck +me at once. Frankly I put the whole political situation in the country +before him as it would be affected by his attitude in this matter, saying +to him that the stand he was about to take would irritate large blocks of +Irish, Germans, and other anti-British elements in the country, and that +we might expect that the leaders in our own party, the heads of the +various committees, like Fitzgerald of Appropriations, Underwood of the +Ways and Means, and Clark, the Speaker of the House, would be found in +solid opposition, and that, at a time when we needed every bit of strength +to put our party programme of domestic legislation into effect, it seemed +to me unwise to inject this matter, which could only be a disturbing +element, into our party's councils. In discussing the matter with me, +after I had presented the objections to it, which I did with great feeling +and probably some irritation, he said: "I knew the view you would take of +it, but, unfortunately, every argument you lay before me in opposition to +the programme I have outlined in this statement is purely a partisan one +and one whose value I cannot recognize at this time. I must not count the +effect of a move of this kind upon my own personal political fortunes. I +am the trustee of the people and I am bound to take cognizance of the fact +that by reason of our attitude on Panama Tolls our treaties are +discredited in every chancellery of Europe, where we are looked upon as a +nation that does not live up to its plighted word. We may have made a very +bad bargain with England on Panama Tolls, but it will be all the more +credit to us if we stand by an agreement even when it entails a sacrifice +on our part. The men who were parties to this treaty, like Joseph Choate, +all agree that we have been indulging in hair-splitting and that we have +done a great injustice to England. I ought not, therefore, to be afraid, +because of the antagonisms that will be created, to do my duty and risk my +political future if necessary in righting a great wrong. We cannot expect +to hold the friendship of the world, especially of England, France, and +Japan, if we are to treat agreements not as inviolable contracts, but as +mere matters of convenience, whose plain terms are to be ignored when +matters of expediency dictate. I know that the Irish, through the Hearst +newspapers, will cry out that I have surrendered to England, that I am +attempting to hand over to Europe a quasi-control over the Panama Canal. +As a matter of fact, we are in bad by reason of our attitude on Panama +Tolls with various leading nations of Europe, and some unforeseen +contingency may arise where it will be found that the reason for their +withdrawal of friendship for us was our petty attitude in this matter. I +realize, as you urge, that the leaders of our party will be found in +opposition, but I must forget this and try to work the matter out so that +at least I shall have cleared my skirts and have done what is possible for +me to do to right a great wrong." + +When the President concluded his statement I put before him the possible +reaction against his administration and him personally which might be +reflected in the returns of the Congressional elections to be held that +year. He replied by saying: "I have calculated every element in the +situation and I have concluded where the path of duty lies. If we begin to +consider the effect upon our own political fortunes of every step we take +in these delicate matters of our foreign relations, America will be set +adrift and her word questioned in every court in Europe. It is important +that every agreement that America subscribes her name to shall be carried +out in the spirit of those who negotiated it." + +On March 5, 1914, the President addressed Congress and asked for a repeal +of Panama Tolls and immediately the fierce fires of party opposition began +to burn. His party leaders expressed their opposition to the repeal in +open, honourable, and vigorous fashion and the fight was on. Now that the +leading Democrats in the Senate and House had left us, it was necessary +for us to reorganize our forces at once. This task devolved upon me and I +immediately got in touch with younger men of the House, like Mitchell +Palmer, Judge Covington, and that sturdy Republican from Minnesota, Fred +Stevens, and over night we had a militant organization in the trenches, +prepared to meet the onslaught of our enemies. + +The President was adamant under the bitterest criticism. His attitude +brought down on him a shower of personal abuse and vituperation from Irish +organs and from a group of newspapers which presently were to appear as +the chief supporters of Germany. The arguments against the repeal were +unusually bitter, and even though Elihu Root, leading Republican senator, +in a brilliant and effective speech took his stand by the President and +against the recent Republican Administration, partisan criticism seized +upon the opening. Nevertheless, the tolls exemption was repealed in June +and the events of July and August, 1914, and especially after Von +Bethmann-Hollweg stood up in the German Reichstag and characterized the +treaty between Germany and Belgium as a mere scrap of paper, gave a +certain satisfaction to those who stood by the President for the sanctity +of treaties. + +Sir Edward Grey, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, commenting +upon the action in the House of Commons said: "It has not been done to +please us, or in the interest of good relations, but I believe from a much +greater motive--the feeling that a government which is to use its +influence among nations to make relations better must never, when the +occasion arises, flinch or quail from interpreting treaty rights in a +strictly fair spirit." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +REFORMING THE CURRENCY + + +I have bitterly resented at times the imputation and charge that Woodrow +Wilson is so egotistical, self-willed, and so wedded to his own ideas that +he not only does not invite suggestion from the outside but that he +resents it and refuses to be guided by it. + +I feel that my daily intimacy with him for eleven years gives me the right +to speak frankly in the matter. Of course, like every great man, he is +firmly set in his opinions. He holds and cleaves to them with a passionate +devotion and tenacity but only after the fullest consideration of all the +facts and information upon which he bases a final conviction. Time and +again I have seen him gallantly retreat under the fire of a better +argument in a matter that he had been previously disposed to favour. + +And what of his attitude toward those who came to the Executive offices to +argue with him on some vital matter in which he had formed what appeared +to be an unalterable judgment? Never did he assume the unfriendly or +unyielding attitude of the doctrinaire or the man of a single idea. I +recall a case in point. He was discussing the revenue situation with +Representative Claude Kitchin of North Carolina, at a time when it was the +subject of bitter controversy in the ranks of the Democratic party. The +President and Mr. Kitchin held radically divergent views on this matter; +the President sought to lead the party in one direction and Mr. Kitchin +openly pursued an opposite course. I was present at this conference. No +warm friendship existed between these two men; but there was never any +evidence of hostility in the President's attitude toward Mr. Kitchin. He +listened politely and with patience to every argument that Mr. Kitchin +vigorously put forward to sustain his contention in the matter, and took +without wincing the sledgehammer blows often dealt by Mr. Kitchin. The +President replied to Mr. Kitchin's arguments in an open, frank manner and +invited him to the fullest possible discussion of the matter. + +I recall the conclusion of this interview, when it seemed that, having +driven the President from point to point, Mr. Kitchin was the victor. +There was no disappointment or chagrin evident in the President's manner +as he faced Mr. Kitchin to accept his defeat. He met it in true +sportsmanlike fashion. At the conclusion of Mr. Kitchin's argument the +President literally threw up his hands and said, quietly, without showing +a trace of disappointment: "I surrender, Mr. Kitchin. You have beaten me. +I shall inform my friends on the Hill that I was mistaken and shall +instruct them, of course, to follow you in this matter." + +I could crowd this chapter with similar incidents, but it would be a work +of supererogation. + +Never before was Mr. Wilson's open-minded desire to apply in practice the +principle of common counsel better illustrated than in his handling of the +important work in connection with the establishment of the Federal Reserve +Act, the keystone of the great arch of the Democratic Administration. It +was the first item in his programme to set business free in America and to +establish it upon a firm and permanent basis. He aptly said to me, when he +first discussed the basic reason for the legislation, he wished not only +to set business free in America, but he desired also to take away from +certain financial interests in the country the power they had unjustly +exercised of "hazing" the Democratic party at every Presidential election. + +Shortly after the Presidential election in 1912, while he was burdened +with the responsibilities of the Executive office at Trenton, New Jersey, +he began, in collaboration with that fine, able, resourceful Virginian, +Representative Carter Glass, then chairman of the Banking and Currency +Committee of the House, the preparation of the Federal Reserve Banking and +Currency Act. For hours at the Executive office in Trenton the Virginia +Congressman conferred with the Governor of New Jersey over the preliminary +drafts of this most vital piece of legislation. For days the work of +preparation was carried on, so that when Mr. Wilson arrived in Washington +to take up the duties of the Presidency, the Banking and Currency Bill was +in shape and ready for immediate introduction in the Senate and House. + +Looking back over the struggle that ensued from the time this measure was +introduced into the Senate and House, I often wonder if the people "back +home," especially the various business interests of the country, who have +been saved from financial disaster by this admirable and wholesome piece +of legislation, ever realized the painstaking labour and industry, night +and day, which Woodrow Wilson, in addition to his other multitudinous +duties, put upon this task. Could they but understand the character of the +opposition he faced even in his own party ranks, and how in the midst of +one of Washington's most trying summers, without vacation or recreation of +any kind, he grappled with this problem in the face of stubborn +opposition, they would, perhaps, be willing to pay tribute to the +earnestness and sincerity of this man who finally placed upon the statute +books one of the greatest constructive pieces of legislation of half a +century. Having given his heart to this important task, whose enactment +into law was a boon to business and established for the first time in +America a "Democracy of Credit," as he was pleased to call it, he +relentlessly pursued his object until senators and representatives yielded +to his insistent request for the enactment of this law, not under the +stress of the party whip, but through arguments which he passionately +presented to those who sought his counsel in this matter. + +During this time I gladly accepted the President's invitation to spend the +summer with him at the White House, where I occupied the bedroom that had +been used as Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet Room, and where Mr. Lincoln had signed +his famous Emancipation Proclamation. My presence, during that summer, as +a member of the President's family, gave me a good opportunity to see him +in action in his conferences in regard to the Federal Reserve Act. Never +was greater patience, forbearance, or fortitude, shown by a chief +executive under such trying circumstances. Day after day, when it seemed +as if real progress was being made, unexpected opposition would develop +and make it necessary to rebuild our shattered lines, until finally the +bill was out of the House and on its way to the Senate. + +Its arrival in the Senate was but the beginning of what appeared an almost +interminable struggle. The President's stalwart adviser in the Treasury, +Mr. McAdoo, was always at hand to rally and give encouragement to our +forces, many of whom at times were in despair over the prospects of the +bill. The leaders of the opposition on the committee were Senator Root on +the Republican side and Senators O'Gorman and Reed on the Democratic. + +It seemed at times as if they had succeeded in blocking an agreement on +the Conference Report. At last word was brought to the President by +Representative Glass that the opposition of these gentlemen might succeed +in killing the bill. The President up to this time, although fighting +against great odds, showed no impatience or petulancy, but the message +brought by Mr. Glass was the last straw. Looking at Mr. Glass, with a show +of fire and in a voice that indicated the impatience he felt, the +President said: "Glass, have you got the votes in the committee to +override these gentlemen [meaning O'Gorman and Reed]?" Glass replied that +he had. "Then," said the President, "outvote them, damn them, outvote +them!" + +Mr. McAdoo came to the White House a few days later to make a report about +the situation in the Senate, with reference to the Federal Reserve Act. +His report was most discouraging as to the final passage of the bill. He +said that his information from the Hill was that the leaders of the +opposition in the Senate were bent upon a filibuster and that the +probabilities were that the Senate would finally adjourn without any +action being taken on the Federal Reserve Act. + +This conversation took place on the White House portico, which overlooks +the beautiful Potomac and the hills of Virginia. It was one of the hottest +days in June, a day which left all of us who were about the President low +in spirit. Only those who know the depressing character of Washington's +midsummer heat can understand the full significance of this statement. The +President on this occasion was seated in an old-fashioned rocker, attired +in a comfortable, cool-looking Palm Beach suit. Mr. McAdoo reported the +situation in detail and said that, in his opinion, it was hopeless to try +to do more with the bill: that an impasse had been reached between the +Senate and the House. The President quickly interrupted Mr. McAdoo, +saying, with a smile: "Mac, when the boys at Princeton came to me and told +me they were going to lose a football game, they always lost. We must not +lose this game; too much is involved. Please say to the gentlemen on the +Hill who urge a postponement of this matter that Washington weather, +especially in these days, fully agrees with me and that unless final +action is taken on this measure at this session I will immediately call +Congress in extraordinary session to act upon this matter." This +challenge, brought to the Hill by Mr. McAdoo, quickly did the job and the +bill was soon on its way to the White House. + +Mr. Wilson conducted the conferences in this matter with friends and foes +alike with a quiet mastery and good temper diametrically contrary to the +reports sedulously circulated for political purposes, that he was +autocratic and refused to cooperate with the members of the Senate and +House in an effort to pass legislation in which the whole country was +interested. + +We have only to recall the previous attempts made by former +administrations to legislate upon the currency question, especially the +efforts of the Harrison and Cleveland administrations, to understand and +appreciate the difficulties that lay in the path of Woodrow Wilson in his +efforts to free the credit of the country from selfish control and to push +this vital legislation to enactment. Previous attempts had always resulted +in failure and sometimes in disaster to the administrations in control at +the time. The only evidences of these frequent but abortive efforts to +pass currency legislation were large and bulky volumes containing the +hearings of the expensive Monetary Commission that had been set up by +Senator Aldrich of Rhode Island. As an historian and man of affairs, +Woodrow Wilson realized the difficulties and obstacles that lay in his +path in attempting to reform the currency, but he was not in the least +daunted by the magnitude of the task which confronted him. He moved +cautiously forward and pressed for early action at the first session of +the Congress following his inauguration. He realized that with the passage +of the tariff legislation, which always acts as a business depressant, it +was necessary at the same time to have the stimulus the Currency Bill +would afford when enacted into law. The split of '96 in the Democratic +ranks over the money question was an additional reason for cautious and +well-considered action if the Federal Reserve Bill was to become a +reality. + +The presence of Mr. Bryan in the Cabinet and his well-known views on this +question were strong reasons for watchful and careful prevision. It was +obvious to Mr. Wilson from the outset that insurmountable difficulties lay +in his path, but he brushed them aside as if they were inconsequential. + +In the Committee on Banking and Currency, in both the Senate and House, +were many ardent and devoted friends of Mr. Bryan, who thought that his +radical views on the money question could be used as a rallying point for +opposition to the President's plan for currency reform. But those who +counted on Mr. Bryan's antagonism were doomed to disappointment and +failure, for while it is true that Mr. Bryan found serious objections to +certain parts of the bill, when these were eliminated he moved forward +with the President in the most generous fashion and remained with him +until the Federal Reserve Act was made part of the law of the land. + +It was in a conference with members of the Banking and Currency Committee +that I first saw the President in action with the gentlemen of the Senate +and House. He had invited the Democratic members of the Banking and +Currency Committee to confer with him in the Cabinet Room in the White +House offices. From my desk in an anteroom I heard all the discussions of +the bill. There was full, open discussion of the bill in all its phases at +this conference in which were collected the conservatives of the East, the +radicalists of the West, and those who came to be known as the "corn +tassel" representatives of the South, all holding widely divergent views +and representing every shade of opinion, some of it sharply antagonistic +to the President's views. Some of the members were openly hostile to the +President, even in a personal way, particularly one representative from +the South, and some of the questions addressed to the President were +ungracious to the verge of open insult. It was an exasperating experience, +but Mr. Wilson stood the test with patience, betraying no resentment to +impertinent questions, replying to every query with Chesterfieldian grace +and affability, parrying every blow with courtesy and gentleness, +gallantly ignoring the unfriendly tone and manifest unfairness of some of +the questions, keeping himself strictly to the merits of the discussion, +subordinating his personal feelings to the important public business under +consideration, until all his interrogators were convinced of his sincerity +and fair-mindedness and some were ashamed of their own ungracious bearing. + +It was clear to me as I watched this great man in action on this trying +occasion that in the cause he was defending he saw, with a vision +unimpaired and a judgment unclouded by prejudice or prepossessions, far +beyond the little room in which he was conferring. He saw the varied and +pressing needs of a great nation labouring now under a currency system +that held its resources as if in a strait-jacket. He saw in the old +monetary system which had prevailed in the country for many years a +prolific breeder of panic and financial distress. He saw the farmer of the +West and South a plaything of Eastern financial interests. And thus, under +the leadership of Woodrow Wilson was begun the first skirmish in the great +battle to free the credit of the country from selfish control, a movement +which led to the establishment of a financial system that ended for all +time the danger or possibility of financial panic. + +There was an interesting incident in connection with the handling of the +currency legislation that brought about what threatened to be the first +rift in the President's Cabinet. It concerned Mr. Bryan's attitude of +opposition to certain features of the bill as drafted by the Banking and +Currency Committee of the House. My connection with this particular affair +arose in this way: In the early stages of the discussion of the Federal +Reserve Act, and while Mr. Glass's committee was considering the matter, a +messenger from the White House informed me that the President wished to +confer with me in his study. As I walked into the room, I saw at once from +his general attitude and expression that something serious was afoot and +that he was very much distressed. Turning around in his chair he said: "It +begins to look as if W. J. B. [he thus referred to Mr. Bryan] and I have +come to the parting of the ways on the Currency Bill. He is opposed to the +bank-note feature of the bill as drawn. We had a long discussion about the +matter after Cabinet meeting to-day. In thoroughly kindly way Mr. Bryan +informed me that he was opposed to that feature of the bill. Of course, +you know, W. J. B. and I have never been in agreement on the money +question. It is only fair, however, to say that in our discussion Mr. +Bryan conducted himself in the most generous way, and I was deeply touched +by his personal attitude of friendliness toward me. He even went so far as +to say that in order that I might not be embarrassed in the handling of +the bill, he was willing to resign and leave the country and make no +public criticism of the measure. In the meantime, Mr. Bryan has promised +to say nothing to any one about the matter until he has a further +discussion with me." + +The President then frankly discussed with me the effect of the possible +resignation of Mr. Bryan. The President suggested that I drop in on Mr. +Bryan very soon and if possible casually invite a discussion of the +Federal Reserve Act, telling Mr. Bryan of his [the President's] interests +in it, and how much he appreciated Mr. Bryan's personal attitude toward +him. + +I realized the seriousness and delicacy of the situation I was asked to +handle, and, being on the friendliest terms with Mr. Bryan, I telephoned +him and invited myself to his home--the old Logan Mansion, a beautiful +place in the northwest part of Washington. I found Mr. Bryan alone when I +arrived. We went at once to his library and, in a boyish way, he showed me +a picture which the President had autographed for him only a few days +previous. As we stood before this picture Mr. Bryan gave expression to his +sincere admiration and affection for the President. He related, with deep +feeling, how much Mr. Bryan had enjoyed his contact and official +companionship with him and how he had come to have a very deep affection +for him. As we turned away from the picture, he grew serious and began the +discussion of the very thing the President and I had conferred on only a +few hours before. He freely discussed his differences with the President +over the Federal Reserve Act, and asked me the direct question: "Who from +Wall Street has been discussing this bill with the President? I am afraid +that some of the President's friends have been emphasizing too much the +view of Wall Street in their conferences with the President on this bill." +I frankly told Mr. Bryan that this imputation did a great injustice to the +fine men with whom the President conferred on the matter of banking reform +and that I was certain that the President's only intimate advisers in this +matter were Mr. McAdoo, Senator Owen of Oklahoma, and Mr. Glass of +Virginia, and that I personally knew that in their discussions the +President never argued the point of view of the Eastern financial +interests. Mr. Bryan was reassured by my statement and proceeded to lay +before me his objections to the character of the currency issue provided +for in the bill. He then took from the library shelves a volume containing +all the Democratic National platforms and read excerpts from them bearing +upon the question of currency reform. He soon convinced me that there was +great merit in his contention. Before leaving him, I told him of my +interview with the President and how deeply distressed he [the President] +was that Mr. Bryan was not disposed to support him in the matter of the +Federal Reserve Act. It was evident that Mr. Bryan felt a keen sympathy +for the President and that he was honestly trying to find a way out of his +difficulties that would enable him to give the President his whole-hearted +support. He showed real emotion when I disclosed to him the personal +feelings of the President toward him, and I feel sure I left him in a more +agreeable frame of mind. I told him that I would talk with the President, +Mr. McAdoo, and Mr. Glass and report to him on the following day. + +I returned to the President's study and reported to him in detail the +results of my conference with Mr. Bryan. I called his attention to Mr. +Bryan's criticism of the bill and then ventured the opinion that Mr. +Bryan, according to the traditional policy of the Democratic party, was +right in his attitude and that I felt that he [Mr. Wilson] was wrong. For +a moment the President showed a little impatience with this statement and +asked me to point out to him where the party in the National platforms had +ever taken the view Mr. Bryan indicated in his discussion with me. I then +showed him the book Mr. Bryan had given me, containing the Democratic +platforms, and he read very carefully plank after plank on the currency. +He finally closed the book, placed it on his desk, and said: "I am +convinced there is a great deal in what Mr. Bryan says." We then discussed +ways of adjusting the matter. I finally suggested that the President allow +me to talk with Mr. Glass and place before him Mr. Bryan's position and +that he have Mr. Glass confer with Secretary McAdoo and Senator Owen. This +was arranged. I had no way of ascertaining just what took place at this +conference, but after the Cabinet meeting on the following Tuesday Mr. +Bryan walked around to where the President was sitting, and said to him: +"Mr. President, we have settled our differences and you may rely upon me +to remain with you to the end of the fight." The President thanked him +cordially, and thus the first break in the Cabinet line was averted. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +RENOMINATED + + +As the days of the 1916 Convention at St. Louis approached, it was a +foregone conclusion that there would be no serious contender against the +President for the nomination and that he would win the prize by a +practically unanimous vote. While at times the friends of Mr. Bryan and +Mr. Clark were hopeful that the President might withdraw from the contest, +after the Democrats at the Convention were assured that the President was +ready to accept a renomination, the field was made clear for the setting +of the Convention stage to accomplish that end. + +It was thought that the St. Louis Convention would be a trite affair; that +there would be no enthusiasm in it. This anticipation arose from the idea +expressed by many of the devoted friends of the Democratic party, that the +cause of Democracy in 1916 was little less than hopeless. Much of this +feeling came from the inordinately high estimate which many placed upon +Mr. Justice Hughes both as a candidate and as a campaigner. Indeed, many +Democrats who had canvassed the national situation felt that without a +continuation of the split in the ranks of the Republican party the road to +Democratic success was indeed a hard and difficult one to travel. + +There is no doubt that in the opinion of the country Mr. Justice Hughes +was the strongest man the Republicans could put forward. The fact that he +was resigning from the Supreme Court bench and that he had a remarkably +progressive record as Governor of New York added a glamour and prestige to +this nomination. I, myself, never lost confidence, however, in our ability +to win. The Congressional elections of 1914, when the Democratic majority +in the House was reduced to thirty-five, had dispirited Democratic friends +throughout the country and made them feel that the nomination at St. Louis +would be a purely formal matter and without fruitful results. + +In a letter addressed to Colonel Harvey in 1914 I had expressed the +opinion that the reduced Democratic majority in the Congressional +elections of 1914, which was being construed as an apparent defeat of the +party, was not a final judgment upon the work of the President and the +achievements of his administration; that it was not a reversal +irretrievable in character; that it should not depress the Democratic +workers throughout the country, and that the field of conquest for the +Democratic party in 1916 _was the West and the Pacific coast_. A calm +analysis of the election results in 1914 convinced me that if the +Presidential election of 1916 was to be won, our efforts for victory had +to be concentrated upon a cultivation of sentiment throughout the West in +favour of the Democratic cause. + +My letter to Colonel Harvey is as follows: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + November 7, 1914. + + DEAR COLONEL HARVEY: + + Now that the clouds have cleared away, let me send you just a line or + two expressing an opinion of last Tuesday's election. + + It is my feeling that we are making unmistakable gains in sections of + the country where Democratic hopes never ran high before this time. + Note the results in the states of Utah, Michigan, Minnesota, + Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota, Washington and California. It + now appears from the returns, regardless of what the Eastern papers + may say, that our majority in the House will be approximately from + thirty-five to forty; that our majority in the Senate will be sixteen. + + We have elected for the first time in the history of the Democratic + party, so far as I can recall, Democratic Senators in the great + Republican States of California, Wisconsin and South Dakota. The gains + we have made in the West, along the Pacific coast, are mighty + interesting and show a new field of conquest for the Democratic party + in 1916. To elect a congress, retaining a majority of the party in + power, after a revision of the tariff, is unprecedented. Once before + it happened, in 1897, after the passage of the Dingley Tariff Act when + the Republican majority was reduced from 47 to 10. We are not in the + least bit disturbed by the situation. We have for the first time + elected Democratic Congressmen from the states of Utah, Washington, + South Dakota and North Dakota. + + With best wishes, I am, + Cordially and sincerely yours, + J. P. TUMULTY, + Secretary To The President. + + COLONEL GEORGE HARVEY, + Hotel Chamberlain, + Old Point Comfort, Virginia. + +While the Democratic Convention was in session at St. Louis the President +remained in the White House, keeping in close touch by direct telephonic +communication with affairs there. + +What at first appeared to be an ordinary and rather spiritless convention +was quickly turned into a most enthusiastic and fervent one by the notable +speeches of Governor Glynn, of New York, the temporary chairman of the +Convention, and Senator Ollie M. James, of Kentucky, the permanent +chairman. + +The key-note speech delivered by Governor Glynn, contained this ringing +defense of the President's policy of neutrality: + + "This policy may not satisfy those who revel in destruction and find + pleasure in despair. It may not satisfy the fire-eater or the + swashbuckler but it does satisfy those who worship at the altar of the + god of peace. It does satisfy the mothers of the land at whose hearth + and fireside no jingoistic war has placed an empty chair. It does + satisfy the daughters of the land from whom bluster and brag have sent + no loving brother to the dissolution of the grave. It does satisfy the + fathers of this land and the sons of this land who will fight for our + flag, and die for our flag when Reason primes the rifle, when Honor + draws the sword, when Justice breathes a blessing on the standards + they uphold." + +And Senator James in a masterly oration paid this splendid tribute to +Woodrow Wilson: + + "Four years ago they sneeringly called Woodrow Wilson the school- + teacher; then his classes were assembled within the narrow walls of + Princeton College. They were the young men of America. To-day he is + the world teacher, his class is made up of kings, kaisers, czars, + princes, and potentates. The confines of the schoolroom circle the + world. His subject is the protection of American life and American + rights under international law. The saving of neutral life, the + freedom of the seas, and without orphaning a single American child, + without widowing a single American mother, without firing a single + gun, without the shedding of a single drop of blood, he has wrung from + the most militant spirit that ever brooded above a battlefield an + acknowledgment of American rights and an agreement to American + demands." + +These eloquent utterances prepared the way for the great slogan of the +1916 campaign: "_He kept us out of war._" + +The President himself never used that slogan, however. From the first +declaration of hostilities in Europe he realized the precarious position +of the United States and the possibility that, whether we would or not, we +might be swept into the conflict. As early as August, 1914, he expressed +his anxious apprehension that "something might occur on the high seas +which would make our neutrality impossible." He emphatically believed at +that time that America's neutrality would best serve the interests of the +world; he respected the American tradition of noninterference in European +quarrels; with his almost mystic ability to assess and understand the +opinion of the people of the country at large he knew that the American +people did not want war; in his comparative seclusion he read the mind of +America clearer than did the "mixers" of the Pullman smoking compartments +who mistook the clamour for intervention among certain classes along the +north Atlantic seaboard for the voice of America at large; while the +German rape of Belgium stirred his passionate indignation, he knew that +there was no practical means by which the United States could stop it, +that we could not immediately transport armies to the theatre of war, and +that public opinion, especially in the West and South, was not prepared +for active intervention; and in addition to all this he was genuinely, not +merely professedly, a passionate lover of peace. But with all this he, +realizing the magnitude of the war, had already glimpsed its wider +significance, which caused him to say later that "this is the last war of +its kind, or of any kind that involves the world, that the United States +can keep out of. The business of neutrality is over." He saw that if the +war should continue long, as it promised to do, our participation might be +inevitable and the American tradition of isolation for ever destroyed by +circumstances beyond human control. With patience mingled with firmness, +he trod his difficult path, doing all he could to keep us from getting +involved without sacrificing fundamental principles of human and national +rights, but he neither believed nor pretended to believe that he could +give guaranties for the future. Nor did any of those who were closest to +him make rash promises. For instance, the Cabinet officers who actively +participated in the campaign were careful to say in their speeches that he +had done all that a president could honourably do to keep us out of war +and that he could be depended upon to continue in the future the same +course so long as it should prove humanly possible, for "peace" was not +merely a word on his lips but a passion in his heart, but that neither he +nor any other mortal could "look into the seeds of time" and say what +would be and what would not be. The event was on the knees of the gods. +Those who spoke with responsibility adhered strictly to the tense of the +verb, the past tense: "kept." None rashly used, explicitly or by +implication, the future tense: "will keep." In strictest truth they +recited what had been, and, from their knowledge of the President's +character and convictions, said that he would not be driven into war by +the clamour of his critics, that he would refrain from hostility so long +as it was humanly and honourably possible to refrain. + +[Illustration: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + CORNISH, N. H., + August 6, 1915 + + Dear Tumulty: + + Thank you for sending me the editorials from the World and from Life. + You don't need to have me tell you that I say Amen to everything that + Life says in the article "Tumulty and Rome." The attitude of some + people about this irritates me more than I can say. It is not only + preposterous, but outrageous, and of course you know it never makes + the slightest impression on me. + + Always + Affectionately yours, + (signed) Woodrow Wilson + + Hon. Joseph P. Tumulty, + Secretary to the President. + +Showing the President's confidence in and loyalty toward his secretary.] + +The President had sent Secretary of War Baker to the Convention to +represent him before the various committees and to collaborate with the +Committee on Resolutions in the preparation of a suitable platform. + +Shortly after Mr. Baker's arrival in St. Louis the question of the +attitude of the Convention and the party toward the "hyphen" vote came up +for consideration, and there were indications that certain members of the +Committee on Resolutions were inclined to ignore the matter of the hyphen +and to remain silent on this grave issue. + +While the Committee on Resolutions was meeting at St. Louis, it was +reported to me by Mr. Henry C. Campbell, one of the editors of the +Milwaukee _Journal_, and a devoted friend, that the Democratic party, +through its representatives on the Committee on Resolutions, was engaged +in "pussyfooting" on the hyphen issue and that this would result in bitter +disappointment to the country. At the time of the receipt of this +telephone message from St. Louis the President was away from town for a +day and I called his attention to it in the following letter: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + June 13, 1916. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + It is clear, as the editorial appearing in this morning's New York + _World_ says, that the "hyphenate vote is a definite factor that + cannot be discredited"; and that from the activities of the German- + American Alliance every effort, as their own supporters declare, + should be made to elect Justice Hughes. That there is abundant proof + of this is clear, so that he who runs may read. This is evident from + the attitude of the German-American press, and from the statements of + professional German agitators, and from the campaign that has been + carried on against you from the very beginning. + + I have not read the platform to be proposed by you. The only part that + I have any knowledge of is that which you read to me over the + telephone some nights ago; that had to do with the question of + Americanism. + + Frankly, your mention of Americanism is on all fours with the + declarations found in the Bull Moose and regular Republican platforms. + The characteristic of all these references to Americanism is vagueness + and uncertainty as to what is really meant. I believe that the time + has come when the Democratic party should set forth its position on + this vital matter in no uncertain terms. Efforts will soon be made, + from stories now appearing in the newspapers, by professional German- + Americans, to dominate our Convention, either in an effort to + discredit you or to have embodied in the platform some reference to + the embargo question, or a prohibition against the sale of munitions + of war. We ought to meet these things in a manly, aggressive and + militant fashion. It is for that reason that I suggest an open letter + to the chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, setting forth your + position in this matter so that the Convention may know before it + nominates you the things for which you stand. Mr. Baker at the + Convention will doubtless know when the representatives of the German- + American Alliance make their appearance, asking for consideration at + the hands of the Committee of their resolutions. As soon as they do, + it appears to me to be the time for you to strike. + + I discussed this matter over the telephone yesterday with Mr. Henry C. + Campbell, one of our devoted friends, and editor of the Milwaukee + _Journal_. Mr. Frank Polk, Counsellor of the State Department, who was + at the Convention, tells me that he was discussing this matter with + Mr. Nieman, of the Milwaukee _Journal_, and that Mr. Nieman made the + statement that both parties were "pussyfooting" and that he would not + support the Democratic party unless its attitude in this matter was + unequivocal. When Mr. Campbell discussed this matter with me over the + telephone, I told him to send me a telegram, setting forth what he + thought ought to find lodgment in the platform, by way of expressing + our attitude in the matter. This morning I received the attached + telegram from Senator Husting, expressing Mr. Campbell's and Mr. + Nieman's views. The part I have underlined I think should be expressed + in less emphatic language. + + The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to urge you as strongly as I + can to address at once an open letter to the chairman of the Committee + on Resolutions, expressing fully your views in the matter. + + TUMULTY. + +As a result of the Husting telegram, the President wired Secretary Baker, +insisting upon a definite and unequivocal repudiation of the hyphen vote. +The President's "fighting" telegram to Baker which contained the substance +of Husting's telegram resulted in the insertion in the platform of the +following plank: + + Whoever, actuated by the purpose to promote the interest of a foreign + power, in disregard of our own country's welfare or to injure this + Government in its foreign relations or cripple or destroy its + industries at home, and whoever by arousing prejudices of a racial, + religious or other nature creates discord and strife among our people + so as to obstruct the wholesome processes of unification, is faithless + to the trust which the privileges of citizenship repose in him and is + disloyal to his country. We, therefore, condemn as subversive of this + nation's unity and integrity, and as destructive of its welfare, the + activities and designs of every group or organization, political or + otherwise, that has for its object the advancement of the interest of + a foreign power, whether such object is promoted by intimidating the + Government, a political party, or representatives of the people, or + which is calculated and tends to divide our people into antagonistic + groups and thus to destroy that complete agreement and solidarity of + the people and that unity of sentiment and purpose so essential to the + perpetuity of the nation and its free institutions. We condemn all + alliances and combinations of individuals in this country of whatever + nationality or descent, who agree and conspire together for the + purpose of embarrassing or weakening the Government or of improperly + influencing or coercing our public representatives in dealing or + negotiating with any foreign power. We charge that such conspiracies + among a limited number exist and have been instigated for the purpose + of advancing the interests of foreign countries to the prejudice and + detriment of our own country. We condemn any political party which in + view of the activity of such conspirators, surrenders its integrity or + modifies its policy. + +There is no doubt that for a while after the Convention at Chicago which +nominated Mr. Hughes there was deep depression in the ranks of our party +throughout the country, the opinion being that the former Supreme Court +Justice was an invincible foe. I had engaged in sharp controversies with +many of my friends, expressing the view that Mr. Hughes would not only be +a sad disappointment to the Republican managers, but that in his +campaigning methods he would fall far short of the expectations of his +many Republican friends. + +Previous to the nomination of Mr. Hughes the President was his cordial +admirer and often spoke to me in warm and generous terms of the work of +Mr. Hughes as Governor of New York, which he admired because of its +progressive, liberal character. Previous to the Republican Convention, he +and I had often discussed the possible nominee of the Republican +Convention. The President, for some reason, could not be persuaded that +Mr. Justice Hughes was a serious contender for the nomination and often +expressed the opinion that the idea of a nomination for the Presidency was +not even remotely in the thoughts of the then Justice of the Supreme +Court. I did not share this view. Although the newspaper men who conferred +with Justice Hughes from day to day at his home in Washington informed me +of the Judge's feelings toward the nomination for the Presidency, I was +always strongly of the opinion that the Justice was in no way indifferent +to the nomination and that he was not inclined to go out of his way +publicly to resent the efforts that his friends were making to land it for +him. When I expressed the opinion to the President, that as a matter of +fact Mr. Justice Hughes was a candidate and was doing nothing outwardly to +express his disapproval of the efforts being made by his friends, the +President resented my statements. + +There was a warm feeling of friendship on the part of all the members of +the President's family toward Mr. Justice Hughes, and at the Sayre +wedding, held in the White House, one of Justice Hughes' sons had played a +prominent part. Owing to the personal feelings of friendship of the whole +Wilson family for Mr. Hughes, the curt character of the Justice's letter +of resignation to the President deeply wounded the President and the +members of his family who had been Mr. Hughes' stout defenders and +supporters. + +I recall that on the day Mr. Hughes was nominated, and after the news of +his nomination was published throughout the country, there came to the +Executive offices a coloured messenger, bearing the following abrupt note +to the President: + + SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, + WASHINGTON, D. C. + + June 10, 1916. + + TO THE PRESIDENT: + + I hereby resign the office of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court + of the United States. + + I am, Sir, + Respectfully yours, + CHARLES E. HUGHES. + +When I brought this letter of resignation to the White House the President +was in conference with that sturdy Democrat from Kentucky, Senator Ollie +M. James. When the President read the letter and observed its rather harsh +character he was deeply wounded and disappointed. When he showed it to +Senator James, the Senator read it and advised that by reason of its +character the President ought not to dignify it by any acknowledgment. The +President turned quickly to the Kentucky statesman and said: "No, my dear +Senator, the President of the United States must always do the gentlemanly +thing." + +The President replied to Mr. Hughes in the following note: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + June 10, 1916. + + DEAR MR. JUSTICE HUGHES: + + I am in receipt of your letter of resignation and feel constrained to + yield to your desire. I, therefore, accept your resignation as Justice + of the Supreme Court of the United States to take effect at once. + + Sincerely yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + HON. CHARLES E. HUGHES, + Washington, D. C. + +On the first of August, 1916, I prepared the following memorandum which +explained my feelings regarding the campaign of 1916 and what appeared to +me to be the weakness of the Republican party and the strength of our own +candidacy: + + One of the principal arguments upon which the Republican managers lay + great stress in favour of Hughes' candidacy is his strength as a + campaigner as evidenced in his Youngstown speech delivered years ago + in a campaign in which Mr. Bryan was the leader of the Democratic + hosts. The strength of that speech lies in its cool analysis of the + attitude of a great emotional orator [Bryan] on public questions at a + time when the Democracy was advocating economic principles of doubtful + strength and virtue. In other words, the position of Justice Hughes in + that campaign was that of attacking an economic principle which had + cut the Democratic party in two. + + The position of Hughes as a candidate in this the [1916] campaign will + be radically different for he will have to face a candidate + representing a united party; one whose power of analysis is as great + as Hughes', and to this will be added this feature of strength in the + Democratic candidate--the power of appeal to the emotional or + imaginative side of the American people. Added to this will be the + strength of conviction in urging his cause that comes to a man who has + passed through a world crisis amid great dangers and who has brought + to consummation substantial (not visionary) achievements unparalleled + in the political history of the country. He will not speak to the + country as the representative of a party divided in its counsels or as + a dreamer or doctrinaire, but rather will he stand before the country + as the practical idealist, defending, not apologizing for, every + achievement of his administration. + + In his Youngstown speech, Justice Hughes found no difficulty in + attacking the economic theories of Bryan. In this attack he not only + had the sympathy of his own party but there came to him the support of + many Democrats. In this campaign he will have to attack achievements + and not principles of doubtful virtue. _I predict that the trip of + Hughes to the West will be a disastrous failure._ + +When Justice Hughes' Western trip was announced, there was consternation +in the ranks of the Democratic party, especially those Democrats with whom +I came in contact in Washington. They declared that he would make a +tremendous impression on the West and that he would destroy that great +salient, and make it impossible for the Democrats to make any gains there. + +In a letter which I addressed to Mr. Raymond T. Baker, Director of the +Mint, I expressed the opinion that Mr. Hughes' Western trip would prove as +distinct a disappointment to his friends as had his speech of acceptance. +The letter is as follows: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + August 4, 1916. + + DEAR RAY: + + You have rightly sensed the feelings of the East as to the Hughes + speech of acceptance, and I was indeed glad to know from your + telegram, which came as welcome news from you, that the sentiment that + the speech was a hit-and-miss affair was well nigh universal + throughout the West. + + There is no apparent slump that I can find here in Democratic ranks; + the same buoyancy and optimism which pervaded the whole Washington + atmosphere while you were here still predominate. + + _My belief is that Hughes' trip to the West will prove another + distinct disappointment to his friends._ A candidate following the + path of expediency as exemplified by Hughes will find himself in an + unenviable position in the West, merely criticizing, finding fault, + and setting forth no policy of a constructive character. + + _As I told you and the boys some weeks ago, Mr. Hughes is going to + prove a distinct disappointment as a candidate._ He is so eager for + the office that he will follow any path that may lead to it, even + though it may be the rough path of expediency. We face the foe + unafraid, and will soon have our big guns trained upon the frowning + fortresses of the enemy. They look formidable at this time, but as we + approach them it is my belief that they will be found to be made of + cardboard and will fall at the touch of the President's logic and the + record of his great achievements. + + Sincerely yours, + TUMULTY. + + MR. RAYMOND T. BAKER, + Oakland, California. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE ADAMSON LAW + + +Between the Democratic Convention and the time of his departure for his +summer home at Long Branch, New Jersey, the President was engaged in +Washington in completing the most important items of his legislative +programme, including the Income Tax, Child Labour Law, and the Adamson +Eight-Hour Law. + +A disastrous strike, involving the whole system of railroad +transportation, now seemed imminent. At this critical juncture the +President intervened. On August 13th he invited the disputants, before +reaching any final decision, to confer with him personally at Washington. +His intervention evoked general expressions of relief and approval. + +At these conferences the railway men stood firm for an eight-hour day. The +railway managers refused these demands. How to meet this grave situation, +which if not checked might have resulted in giving Germany a victory, was +one of the pressing problems that confronted the President that critical +summer. Not only were American business interests involved in this matter, +but the Allied governments of western Europe, then in the throes of the +great war, were no less anxious, for a railroad strike would have meant a +cutting off of the supplies to the Allied forces that were so much needed +at this important juncture. + +The President sent for the Brotherhood representatives and for the +managers, to confer with him at the White House, and suggested arbitration +by way of settling the controversy. The labour leaders, conscious of their +strength, refused to arbitrate. The railroad managers were equally +obdurate. I well remember the patience of the President at these +conferences day after day. He would first hold conferences with the +Brotherhood representatives and then with the railroad managers; but his +efforts were unavailing. It is regrettable that the men on both sides were +indifferent to the President's appeal and apparently unmindful of the +consequences to the country that would inevitably follow a nation-wide +strike. + +I remember what he said to me as he left the Green Room at the conclusion +of his final conference with the heads of the Brotherhoods. Shaking his +head in a despairing way, he said: "I was not able to make the slightest +impression upon those men. They feel so strongly the justice of their +cause that they are blind to all the consequences of their action in +declaring and prosecuting a strike. I was shocked to find a peculiar +stiffness and hardness about these men. When I pictured to them the +distress of our people in case this strike became a reality, they sat +unmoved and apparently indifferent to the seriousness of the whole bad +business. I am at the end of my tether, and I do not know what further to +do." + +His conferences with the managers were equally unproductive of result. +Gathered about him in a semicircle in his office, they were grim and +determined men, some of them even resentful of the President's attempt to +suggest a settlement of any kind to prevent the strike. I shall never +forget his last appeal to them. I sat in a little room off the Cabinet +room and could hear what went on. Seated about him were the heads of all +the important railroads in the country. Looking straight at them, he said: +"I have not summoned you to Washington as President of the United States +to confer with me on this matter, for I have no power to do so. I have +invited you merely as a fellow-citizen to discuss this great and critical +situation. Frankly, I say to you that if I had the power as President I +would say to you that this strike is unthinkable and must not be permitted +to happen. What I want you to see, if you will, is the whole picture that +presents itself to me and visualize the terrible consequences to the +country and its people of a nation-wide strike at this time, both as +affecting our own people and in its effect upon the Allied forces across +the sea. For a moment I wish you to forget that I am President, and let us +as fellow-citizens consider the consequences of such action. A nation-wide +strike at this time would mean absolute famine and starvation for the +people of America. You gentlemen must understand just what this means. +Will your interests be served by the passions and hatreds that will flow +from such an unhappy condition in the country? If this strike should +occur, forces will be released that may threaten the security of +everything we hold dear. Think of its effect upon the people of this +country who must have bread to eat and coal to keep them warm. They will +not quietly submit to a strike that will keep these things of life away +from them. The rich will not suffer in case these great arteries of trade +and commerce are temporarily abandoned, for they can provide themselves +against the horror of famine and the distress of this critical situation. +It is the poor unfortunate men, and their wives and children, who will +suffer and die. I cannot speak to you without a show of emotion, for, my +friends, beneath the surface in America there is a baneful seething which +may express itself in radical action, the consequences of which no man can +foresee. In asking your cooperation to settle this dispute I am but +striving, as we stand in the shadow of a great war, to keep these forces +in check and under control." + +Getting closer to the men, and lowering his voice, he said: "The Allies +are fighting our battle, the battle of civilization, across the way. They +cannot 'carry on' without supplies and means of sustenance which the +railroads of America bring to them. I am probably asking you to make a +sacrifice at this time, but is not the sacrifice worth while because of +the things involved? Only last night I was thinking about this war and its +far-reaching effects. No man can foresee its extent or its evil effects +upon the world itself. It is a world cataclysm, and before it ends it may +unsettle everything fine and wholesome in America. We of America, although +we are cut off from its terrible sweep, cannot be unmindful of these +consequences, for we stand in the midst of it all. We must keep our own +house in order so that we shall be prepared to act when action becomes +necessary. Who knows, gentlemen, but by to-morrow a situation will arise +where it shall be found necessary for us to get into the midst of this +bloody thing? You can see, therefore, that we must go to the very limit to +prevent a strike that would bring about a paralysis of these arteries of +trade and commerce. If you will agree with me in this matter, I will +address Congress and frankly ask for an increase of rates and do +everything I can to make up for the loss you may sustain. I know that the +things I ask you to do may be disagreeable and inconvenient, but I am not +asking you to make a bloody sacrifice. Our boys may be called upon any +minute to make that sacrifice for us." + +On August 29, 1916, the President appeared before a joint session of the +Congress and recommended immediate legislation to avert the impending +strike. Following this, the chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission +of the House, Mr. Adamson, of Georgia, brought in a bill, now known as the +Adamson Eight-Hour Law, which, after several unsuccessful attempts by +members of the House and Senate to amend it, was signed by the President +on September 5th. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +GERMAN PROPAGANDA + + +Early in January, 1916, German sympathizers throughout the country began a +drive on both Houses of Congress for the passage of a resolution warning +or forbidding Americans to travel on passenger ships belonging to citizens +or subjects of the belligerent nations. Petitions of various kinds, +demanding vigorous action in this matter, began to pour in upon us at the +White House from various parts of the country. While these petitions were +signed by many devoted, patriotic Americans, it was clear to those of us +who were on the inside of affairs that there lay back of this movement a +sinister purpose on the part of German sympathizers in this country to +give Germany full sway upon the high seas, in order that she might be +permitted to carry on her unlawful and inhuman submarine warfare. This +movement became so intense that leading Democratic and Republican senators +and representatives soon became its ardent advocates, until it looked as +if the resolution might pass with only a small minority found in +opposition to it. Those of us who were in the Executive offices, and +intimately associated with the President, kept in close touch with the +situation on Capitol Hill and were advised that the movement for the +resolution was in full swing and that it could not be checked. A +resolution was finally introduced by Representative McLemore, of Texas, +and quickly received the support of Senator Gore of Oklahoma, and Senator +Stone of Missouri, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. What +the attitude of the President should be toward it was the subject of +discussion between the President, two of his Cabinet officers, and myself, +after a session of the Cabinet early in February, 1916. + +The President was advised by the Cabinet officers with whom he conferred +regarding the matter that it would be a hopeless task on his part to +attempt to stem the tide that was now running in favour of the passage of +the McLemore resolution, and that were he to attempt to prevent its +passage it might result in a disastrous defeat of his leadership, that +would seriously embarrass him on Capitol Hill and throughout the nation. + +At the conclusion of this conference the President asked me whether my +information about affairs on Capitol Hill and the attitude of the members +of the House and Senate toward the McLemore resolution was in accord with +the information he had just received from his Cabinet officers. I told him +that it was, but that so far as I was concerned I did not share the +opinion of the Cabinet officers and did not agree with the advice which +they had volunteered, to the effect that it would be useless for him to +throw down the gage of battle to those who sought to pass the McLemore +resolution. I informed him that regardless of what the attitude of those +on Capitol Hill was toward the resolution, he could not afford to allow +the matter to pass without a protest from him, and that, indeed, he could +afford to be defeated in making a fight to maintain American rights upon +the high seas. The discussion between the President, the Cabinet officers, +and myself became heated. They were reluctant to have the President go +into the fight, while I was most anxious to have him do so. Evidently, +what I said made an impression upon the President and he asked me, as our +conference was concluded, to let him have as soon as possible a memorandum +containing my views upon the subject. + +Shortly after the conference, Senator Stone, chairman of the Committee on +Foreign Relations of the Senate, asked for an appointment with the +President, to confer with him on the next morning, February 25th, +regarding the McLemore resolution. I suggested to the President that +inasmuch as Senator Stone was to see him in the morning it would be wise +and prudent if, in answer to his letter asking for an appointment, the +President should frankly state his views with reference to the proposed +resolution. The President acted upon this suggestion and the letter was +immediately dispatched to Senator Stone. + +My letter to the President, advising him of the situation, was as follows: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + February 24, 1916. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + What I have heard since leaving you this morning confirms me in my + belief that now is the time (before the night passes) to set forth + your position to the country on the McLemore resolution in terms that + no one can misunderstand. In the last hour I have talked with Speaker + Clark, Senator Pittman, and Mr. Sims of Tennessee, and have received + impressions from them which lead me to conclude: first, that the + consideration of this resolution cannot much longer be postponed, as + Speaker Clark so informed me, although Congressman Doremus and Senator + Pittman say the situation on the hill is quieting down. I am more than + convinced that underlying this resolution is a purpose to discredit + your leadership, for the forces that are lined up for this fight + against you are the anti-preparedness crowd, the Bryan-Kitchen-Clark + group, and some of the anti-British Senators like Hoke Smith and Gore. + Therefore, I cannot urge you too strongly at once to send an identic + letter to both Representative Flood, chairman of the Foreign Relations + Committee of the House, and Senator Stone, chairman of the Foreign + Relations Committee of the Senate. The letter, in my opinion, should + embody the following ideas: + + First, explain in the frankest fashion just what Secretary Lansing + attempted to obtain when he suggested to the Entente nations an + agreement on the arming of merchantmen, how this government was + informed by Germany of her intention to destroy armed merchantmen + without giving the passengers a moment of warning, and how, in order + to stave off such a contingency, we tried as the friend and in the + interest of humanity to get an agreement between both sides that would + bring submarine warfare within the bounds of international law. + + Second, explain that a possible adjustment of this matter is in + process of negotiation right now, and that, of course, while we cannot + change international law upon our own initiative, we are still of the + hope that some general agreement among the belligerents may eventually + be obtained. Explain how embarrassing such a resolution as the + McLemore one will be to negotiations now being threshed out between + the executive branches of the Government charged with the conduct of + foreign relations, and foreign governments. + + Third, then say that in the absence of any general agreement, the + United States cannot yield one inch of her rights without destroying + the whole fabric of international law, for in the last analysis this + is what is involved. To yield one right to-day means another to- + morrow. We cannot know where this process of yielding on the ground of + convenience or expediency may lead us. These laws are the product of + centuries. Our forefathers fought to establish their validity, and we + cannot afford for the sake of convenience when our very life is + threatened, to abandon them on any ground of convenience or + expediency. + + Fourth, to pass such a resolution at this time would seriously + embarrass the Department of State and the Executive in the conduct of + these most delicate matters at a time when everything is being done to + bring about a peaceful solution of these problems. + + Fifth, might you not diplomatically suggest, in your letter to Senator + Stone, that to pass favorably upon a resolution of this kind at this + time would be showing lack of confidence in the Government, and + particularly in its Chief Executive? + + The morning papers have outlined the details of the opposition among + the Democrats. The afternoon papers are repeating the same thing with + emphasis on the fact that Joe Cannon, Jim Mann, and Lodge are going to + support you. I would suggest that you insert the following in your + letter to Senator Stone: + + "I think that not only would such a vote on this resolution be + construed as a lack of confidence in the executive branch of the + Government in this most delicate matter but if the division + continues as I am informed within the ranks of the Democratic + party, it will be difficult for me to consider that the majority + party speaks the will of the nation in these circumstances and as + between any faction in my party and the interests of the nation, I + must always choose the latter, irrespective of what the effect + will be on me or my personal fortunes. What we are contending for + in this matter is of the very essence of the things that have made + America a sovereign nation. She cannot yield them without + admitting and conceding her own impotency as a nation and the + surrender of her independent position among the nations of the + world." + + Sincerely, + TUMULTY. + +The letter of the President to Senator Stone was published in the morning +papers of February 25, 1916, and is as follows: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + February 25, 1916. + + MY DEAR SENATOR: + + I very warmly appreciate your kind and frank letter of to-day, and + feel that it calls for an equally frank reply. You are right in + assuming that I shall do everything in my power to keep the United + States out of war. I think the country will feel no uneasiness about + my course in that respect. Through many anxious months I have striven + for that object, amid difficulties more manifold than can have been + apparent upon the surface, and so far I have succeeded. I do not doubt + that I shall continue to succeed. + + The course which the central European powers have announced their + intention of following in the future with regard to undersea warfare + seems for the moment to threaten insuperable obstacles, but its + apparent meaning is so manifestly inconsistent with explicit + assurances recently given us by those powers with regard to their + treatment of merchant vessels on the high seas that I must believe + that explanations will presently ensue which will put a different + aspect upon it. We have had no reason to question their good faith or + their fidelity to their promises in the past, and I for one feel + confident that we shall have none in the future. + + But in any event our duty is clear. No nation, no group of nations, + has the right, while war is in progress, to alter or disregard the + principles which all nations have agreed upon in mitigation of the + horrors and sufferings of war; and if the clear rights of American + citizens should very unhappily be abridged or denied by any such + action we should, it seems to me, have in honour no choice as to what + our own course should be. + + For my own part I cannot consent to any abridgment of the rights of + American citizens in any respect. The honour and self-respect of the + nation is involved. We covet peace, and shall preserve it at any cost + but the loss of honor. To forbid our people to exercise their rights + for fear we might be called upon to vindicate them would be a deep + humiliation, indeed. It would be an implicit, all but an explicit, + acquiescence in the violation of the rights of mankind everywhere and + of whatever nation or allegiance. It would be a deliberate abdication + of our hitherto proud position as spokesmen, even amid the turmoil of + war, for the law and the right. It would make everything this + government has attempted and everything that it has accomplished + during this terrible struggle of nations meaningless and futile. + + It is important to reflect that if in this instance we allowed + expediency to take the place of principle the door would inevitably be + opened to still further concessions. Once accept a single abatement of + right, and many other humiliations would follow, and the whole fine + fabric of international law might crumble under our hands piece by + piece. What we are contending for in this matter is of the very + essence of the things that have made America a sovereign nation. She + cannot yield them without conceding her own impotency as a nation and + making virtual surrender of her independent position among the nations + of the world. + + I am speaking, my dear Senator, in deep solemnity, without heat, with + a clear consciousness of the high responsibilities of my office and as + your sincere and devoted friend. If we should unhappily differ, we + shall differ as friends, but where issues so momentous as these are + involved we must, just because we are friends, speak our minds without + reservation. + + Faithfully yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + SENATOR WILLIAM J. STONE, + United States Senate. + +The publication of the letter of the President to Senator Stone worked a +complete reversal of opinion on the Hill. + +Quickly the effect of the President's letter was seen, and the McLemore +resolution was overwhelmingly defeated. + +Early in August, 1916, the President took up his residence at Shadow Lawn, +New Jersey, and began the preparation of his speech of acceptance. He +forwarded me a draft of this speech which brought from me the following +comment upon it: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + August 22, 1916. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + I think the failure to bring out the hyphen question in your speech of + acceptance will be vigorously criticized even by our loyal friends. + Mr. Hughes will soon be compelled to speak out on this question. + Roosevelt's speeches in the main will force him to do this. You might + open the subject in that part of your speech in which you discuss + neutrality, showing the embarrassments under which you have laboured + in trying to keep the Nation at peace. After discussing these + embarrassments, consisting of plots against our industries, etc., + could you not introduce a sentence like this?: "While I am the + candidate of the Democratic party, I am above all else an American + citizen. I neither seek the favour nor fear the wrath of any alien + element in America which puts loyalty to any foreign power first." + + As to Huerta: I believe your reference to him could be strengthened. I + think you ought to bring out the fact that the work of assassination + shall never receive the endorsement, so far as you are concerned, of + this American Republic. I suggest the following: "The United States + will refuse, so long as that power remains with me, to extend the hand + of welcome to one who gains power in a republic through treachery and + bloodshed." (This is not only sound statesmanship but good morals.) + "No permanency in the affairs of our sister republics can be attained + by a title based upon intrigue and assassination." + + Respectfully, + TUMULTY. + +The President, always welcoming advice, approved and embodied some of +these suggestions in his speech of acceptance. + +It has often been said by unfair critics that Mr. Wilson was so tenacious +of his own opinion and views that he resented suggestions from the outside +in any matter with which he was called upon to deal. + +As an intimate associate of his for eleven years, I think I was in a +position to find out and to know how unfair the basis of this criticism +really was. In my contact with public men I never met a more open-minded +man; nor one who was more willing to act upon any suggestion that had +merit in it. I have seen him readily give up his own views and often yield +to the influence of a better argument. I always felt free in every public +matter that he discussed and in every attitude which he took on public +questions frankly to express my own opinion and openly to disagree with +him. In his speeches and public statements he had no pride of opinion, nor +did he attempt to hold his friends off at arms' length when they had +suggestions of any kind to make. + +[Illustration: + + Dear Tumulty, + + Here is the expurgated stuff. Do what you please with it. + + W. W. + + * * * * * + + 19 Nov., 1916. + + Dear Tumulty, + + Here is the message. I wish you would read it and give me your + impression of it. + + And please keep it very carefully from any eyes but your own. It is + still in provisional shape only, and there are a number of points I am + still keeping under advisement. + + Faithfully, + (signed) W. W. + + * * * * * + + 17 May, 1916. + + THE WHITE HOUSE. + WASHINGTON. + + Dear Tumulty, + + Thank you for the memorandum about peace suggestions. I have read it + very carefully and find my own thoughts travelling very much the same + route. You may be sure I am doing a great deal of serious thinking + about it all. + + Faithfully, + (signed) W. W. + +Some insights into day-to-day affairs at the White House] + +In these reminiscences I am including my letters to him, embodying +suggestions of various kinds, many of which he acted upon and many of +which he rejected, in order that proof may be given of the fact, that +despite what his critics may say, he not only did not resent suggestions, +but openly invited them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +WILSON VERSUS HUGHES + + +After the delivery of the speech of acceptance on September 2nd quiet +ruled over the Wilson camp at Shadow Lawn. This lull in the matter of +politics was intensified by the President's absence from Shadow Lawn +because of the death of his only sister, which called him away and for a +while took his mind and his energies from the discussion of politics. + +On September 11th, the state elections in Maine were carried by the +Republicans. The total vote was the largest ever cast in Maine in a state +election. The Republican majorities ranged from 9,000 to 14,000. There had +been a vigorous contest in Maine by both parties and the Republicans were +greatly heartened by the result in the hope that "as goes Maine so goes +the Union." + +There is no doubt that the result in Maine, which many Democrats were of +the opinion was a forecast of the results throughout the nation in +November, had a depressing effect. The Republicans accepted it as a +harbinger of victory and the Democrats as an indication of defeat. On the +night of the Maine elections I kept close to the telephone at the +Executive offices and engaged in conferences with two or three practical +politicians from New Jersey. It was interesting to watch the effects of +the returns from Maine upon these men. When the returns, as complete as we +could get them at twelve o'clock on the night of September 11th, came in, +James Nugent, one of the leading politicians of Essex County, New Jersey, +who was in the room, took from my desk a copy of the "World Almanac", and +referring to the returns of previous elections, said: "Of course, the +Republicans will hail this as a great victory, but if they will sit down +and analyze the gains they have made, they will find no comfort in them, +for to me they indicate a Democratic victory in November. If the Democrats +make proportionate gains in other states, you can absolutely count upon a +Democratic victory in 1916." + +This prophecy was verified by the results of the election of November 7th. + +It was difficult and almost impossible between the date of the speech of +acceptance and the first of October to revive interest in the Democratic +campaign and to bring about a renewal of hope of success that had almost +been destroyed by the psychological results of the Maine election. + +Frequent demands were made upon us at the Executive offices at Asbury Park +to get busy and to do something. "Wilson was not on the front page and +Hughes was busily engaged in campaigning throughout the West." But the +President in his uncanny way knew better than we the psychological moment +to strike. He went about his work at the Executive offices and gave to us +who were closely associated with him the impression that nothing unusual +was afoot and that no Presidential campaign was impending. I made frequent +suggestions to him that he be up and doing. He would only smile and calmly +say: "The moment is not here. Let them use up their ammunition and then we +will turn our guns upon them." + +The psychological moment came, and the President took full advantage of +it. One afternoon in September the President telephoned me at the +Executive offices at Asbury Park to have the newspaper men present for a +conference that afternoon; that he would give out a reply to a telegram he +had received. With the newspaper group, I attended this conference. It +appeared that an Irish agitator named Jeremiah O'Leary, who had been +organizing and speaking against the President and trying to array the +Irish vote against him, wrote an offensive letter to the President, +calling attention to the results of the Maine elections and to the New +Jersey primaries, and to his anticipated defeat in November. The President +handed to the newspaper men the following reply to O'Leary: + + I would feel deeply mortified to have you or anybody like you vote for + me. Since you have access to many disloyal Americans and I have not, I + will ask you to convey this message to them. + +This sharp and timely rebuke to the unpatriotic spirit to which O'Leary +gave expression won the hearty and unanimous approval of the country to +the President. Nothing like this bold defiance came from Hughes until a +few days before the election. + +The Democratic campaign, within twenty-four hours after the publication of +the O'Leary telegram, was on again in full swing. + +At this same newspaper conference the President, who had not seen the +newspaper group since his arrival at Long Branch, discussed the campaign, +so that they might have what he called the "inside of his mind." His +criticism of the campaign that Justice Hughes was conducting contained +bitter irony and, sarcasm. Evidently, the petty things to which Mr. Hughes +had adverted in his campaign speeches by way of criticizing the President +and his administration had cut the President to the quick. One of the +newspaper men asked him what he thought of Mr. Hughes' campaign, and he +laughingly replied: "If you will give that gentleman rope enough he will +hang himself. He has forgotten many things since he closeted himself on +the bench, and he will soon find himself out of touch with the spirit of +the nation. His speeches are nothing more or less than blank cartridges +and the country, unless I mistake the people very much, will place a true +assessment upon them." + +The newspaper men left this conference heartened by the reply he had made +to O'Leary and with the firm conviction that the Democratic candidate was +just "playing" with Hughes and would pounce upon him at the psychological +moment. + +In the delivery of the campaign speeches at Shadow Lawn each Saturday +afternoon President Wilson took full advantage of the swing toward the +Democratic side which was manifest after the publication of the famous +O'Leary telegram. While the Republican candidate was busily engaged in +invading the West in his swing around the circle, the Democratic candidate +each week from his porch at Shadow Lawn was delivering sledge-hammer blows +at the Republican breastworks. As the Republican candidate in an effort to +win the West was heaping maledictions upon Dr. E. Lester Jones, the head +of the Geodetic Survey, a Wilson appointee, the President calmly moved on, +ripping to pieces and tearing to shreds the poor front behind which the +Republican managers were seeking to win the fight. + +Mr. Hughes campaigned like a lawyer, Mr. Wilson like a statesman. Mr. +Hughes was hunting small game with bird shot, Mr. Wilson trained heavy +artillery on the enemies' central position. The essential difference +between the two men and the operations of their minds was made clear in +the campaign. No one would wish to minimize the unusual abilities of Mr. +Hughes, but they are the abilities of an adroit lawyer. He makes "points." +He pleases those minds which like cleverness and finesse. He deals with +international affairs like an astute lawyer drawing a brief. But has he +ever quickened the nation's pulse or stirred its heart by a single +utterance? Did he ever make any one feel that behind the formalities of +law, civil or international, he detected the heartbeats of humanity whom +law is supposedly designed to serve? Mr. Wilson was not thinking of Mr. +Hughes, but perhaps he was thinking of the type of which Mr. Hughes is an +eminent example when he said in Paris: "This is not to be a lawyers' +peace." + +Every speech of President Wilson's was, to use a baseball phrase, a home +run for the Democratic side. They were delivered without much preparation +and were purely extemporaneous in character. The Republican opposition +soon began to wince under the smashing blows delivered by the Democratic +candidate, and outward proof was soon given of the fear and despair that +were now gathering in the Republican ranks. With a few short trips to the +West, and his final speech at Long Branch, President Wilson closed his +campaign, with Democratic hopes on the rise. + +The happenings of Election Day, 1916, will long linger in my memory. I was +in charge of the Executive offices located at Asbury Park, while the +President remained at Shadow Lawn, awaiting the news of the first returns +from the country. The first scattered returns that filtered in to the +Executive offices came from a little fishing town in Massachusetts early +in the afternoon of Election Day, which showed a slight gain for the +President over the election returns of 1912. Then followed early drifts +from Colorado and Kansas, which showed great Wilson gains. Those of us who +were interested in the President's cause were made jubilant by these early +returns. Every indication, though imperfect, up to seven o'clock on the +night of the election, forecasted the President's reëlection. + +In the early afternoon the President telephoned the Executive offices to +inquire what news we had received from the country and he was apprised of +the results that had come in up to that time. Then, quickly, the tide +turned against us in the most unusual way. Between seven and nine o'clock +the returns slowly came in from the East and Middle West that undeniably +showed a drift away from us. + +About nine-thirty o'clock in the evening I was seated in my office, when a +noise outside in the hallway attracted my attention and gave me the +impression that something unusual was afoot. The door of my office opened +and there entered a galaxy of newspaper men connected with the White House +offices, led by a representative of the New York _World_, who held in his +hands a bulletin from his office, carrying the news of Hughes' election. +The expression in the men's faces told me that a crisis was at hand. The +_World_ man delivered his fateful message of defeat for our forces, +without explanation of any kind. To me the blow was stunning, for the New +York _World_ had been one of our staunchest supporters throughout the +whole campaign and yet, I had faith to believe that the news carried in +the bulletin would be upset by subsequent returns. Steadying myself behind +my desk, I quickly made up my mind as to what my reply should be to the +_World_ bulletin and to the query of the newspaper men whether we were +ready to "throw up the sponge" and concede Hughes' election. Concealing +the emotion I felt, I dictated the following statement, which was flashed +through the country: + + When Secretary Tumulty was shown the _World_ bulletin, conceding + Hughes' election, he authorized the following statement: "Wilson will + win. The West has not yet been heard from. Sufficient gains will be + made in the West and along the Pacific slope to offset the losses in + the East." + +Shortly after the flash from the _World_ bulletin was delivered to me, +conceding Hughes' election, the President again telephoned me from Long +Branch to find out the latest news of the election. From what he said he +had already been apprised by Admiral Grayson of the bulletin of the New +York _World_. Every happening of that memorable night is still fresh in my +memory and I recall distinctly just what the President said and how +philosophically he received the news of his apparent defeat. Laughingly he +said: "Well, Tumulty, it begins to look as if we have been badly licked." +As he discussed the matter with me I could detect no note of sadness in +his voice. In fact, I could hear him chuckle over the 'phone. He seemed to +take an impersonal view of the whole thing and talked like a man from +whose shoulders a great load had been lifted and now he was happy and +rejoicing that he was a free man again. When I informed him of the drifts +in our favour from other parts of the country and said that it was too +early to concede anything, he said: "Tumulty, you are an optimist. It +begins to look as if the defeat might be overwhelming. The only thing I am +sorry for, and that cuts me to the quick, is that the people apparently +misunderstood us. But I have no regrets. We have tried to do our duty." So +far as he was concerned, the issue of the election was disposed of, out of +the way and a settled thing. That was the last telephone message between +the President and myself until twenty-four hours later, when the tide +turned again in our favour. + +An unusual incident occurred about 8:30 o'clock in the evening, shortly +after my talk with the President. I was called to the telephone and told +that someone in New York wished to speak to me on a highly important +matter. I went to the 'phone. At the other end in New York was an +individual who refusing to give his name, described himself as a friend of +our cause. I thought he was one of the varieties of crank, with whom I had +been accustomed to deal at the White House on frequent occasions during my +life there; but there was something about his talk that convinced me that +he was in close touch with someone in authority at Republican +headquarters. In his first talk with me, and in subsequent talks during +the night of the election and on the following day, there was a warning to +us, in no way, or by the slightest sign, to give up the fight, or to +concede Hughes' election. He said: "Early returns will naturally run +against Wilson in the East, particularly in Illinois and Iowa," and +intimated to me that the plan at Republican headquarters would be to +exaggerate these reports and to overwhelm us with news of Republican +victories throughout the country. Continuing his talk he said: "The Wilson +fight will be won in the West. I shall keep you advised of what is +happening in Republican headquarters. I can only tell you that I will +_know_ what is happening and you may rely upon the information I shall +give you." + +All night long the loyal newspaper men and I kept vigil at the Executive +offices. As I read over the bulletins that came to me, particularly those +from Republican headquarters in New York, I was quick to notice that +although the Republican managers were blatantly proclaiming to the country +that the fight was over, for some reason or other, the Republican +candidate, Mr. Hughes, who was at his headquarters at the Hotel Astor, was +silent. + +Just about this time there was another message from the mysterious +stranger in New York. The message, as I recall it, was as follows: "They +[meaning the Republican managers] are trying to induce Hughes to claim the +election, but he is unwilling to make an announcement and is asking for +further returns. You boys stand pat. Returns that are now coming in are +worrying them. Don't be swept off your feet by claims from Republican +headquarters. I know what is happening there." + +Shortly after this telephone message came a bulletin from Republican +headquarters, stating that the Republican managers were then in conference +with Mr. Hughes and that a statement from Mr. Hughes would soon be +forthcoming. This unusual coincidence convinced me that the man who was +telephoning me either was on the inside of affairs at Republican +headquarters, or had an uncanny way of knowing just what the managers were +doing. + +Up to eleven o'clock every bit of news ran against us. Finally, the +Brooklyn _Eagle_, a supporter of the President, and then the New York +_Times_, our last line of defense, gave way and conceded Hughes' election, +but the unterrified Democrats at the Executive offices stood out against +any admission of defeat. + +The mysterious stranger was again on the wire, saying that there was +consternation in the Republican ranks; that George Perkins had just +conferred with National Chairman Willcox and had left Willcox's room, +shaking his head and saying to one of the attachés of headquarters, that +"things were not looking well." A few minutes later a bulletin came from +Republican headquarters confirming the story the mysterious stranger had +just told over the 'phone. + +All the while I was keeping in touch with our headquarters in New York +City, and about 10:30 o'clock Robert W. Woolley, the publicity man of the +Democratic National Committee, 'phoned me and advised me not to concede +anything and assured me that the returns from the West, now coming in +greater drifts, indicated Wilson's reelection. + +When I left the telephone booth, David Lawrence, the Washington +correspondent of the New York _Evening Post_, who a few weeks before had +predicted, in a remarkable article, the election of Wilson, and who was my +friend and co-labourer during that night (in conjunction with Mr. L. Ames +Brown, a noted newspaper man of Washington, connected with the Democratic +National Committee) conferred with me, and from a table he had prepared +showed me how the small states of the West, which the returns indicated +were now coming into the Wilson column, would elect the Democratic +candidate, and that under no circumstances must we, by any chance, in any +statement, concede the election of Hughes. + +All night long telephone messages, very brief, would come from the +mysterious stranger in New York, and quickly there would follow bulletins +from Republican headquarters confirming everything that he said. These +messages came so rapidly that I was soon convinced that this individual, +whoever he was, had the real inside of the Republican situation. So +convinced was I that I followed up my statement of the early evening with +additional statements, claiming the election for Mr. Wilson. + +Just about the break of day on Wednesday morning, as David Lawrence, Ames +Brown, and my son Joe, were seated in my office, a room which overlooked a +wide expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, we were notified by Democratic +headquarters of the first big drift toward Wilson. Ohio, which in the +early evening had been claimed by the Republicans, had turned to Wilson by +an approximate majority of sixty thousand; Kansas followed; Utah was +leaning toward him; North Dakota and South Dakota inclining the same way. +The Wilson tide began to rise appreciably from that time on, until state +after state from the West came into the Wilson column. At five o'clock in +the morning the New York _Times_ and the New York _World_ recanted and +were now saying that the election of Mr. Hughes was doubtful. + +Without sleep and without food, those of us at the Executive offices kept +close to the telephone wire. We never left the job for a minute. The last +message from the mysterious stranger came about one o'clock, the day +following the election, when he 'phoned me that, "George Perkins is now at +Republican headquarters and is telephoning Roosevelt and will soon leave +to inform Roosevelt that, to use his own words, 'the jig is up,' and that +Wilson is elected." Shortly after, from Republican headquarters came a +bulletin saying: "George Perkins is on his way to confer with Mr. +Roosevelt." + +Some months after the election the mysterious stranger came to the White +House offices, and without identifying himself, informed me that he was +the individual who on the night of the election had kept me in touch with +Republican headquarters, and then astounded me by telling me that in some +mysterious way, which he did not disclose, he had succeeded in breaking in +on the Republican National Committee wire and had listened in on every +conversation that had passed between Willcox, Hughes, George Perkins, +Harvey, and Theodore Roosevelt himself during the night of the election +and the day following. + +Mr. Wilson arose the morning after the election, confident that he had +been defeated. He went about his tasks in the usual way. The first news +that he received that there had been a turn in the tide came from his +daughter, Margaret, who knocked on the door of the bathroom while the +President was shaving and told him of the "Extra" of the New York _Times_, +saying that the election was in doubt, with indications of a Wilson +victory. The President thought that his daughter was playing a practical +joke on him and told her to "tell that to the Marines," and went on about +his shaving. + +When the President and I discussed the visit of his daughter, Margaret, to +notify him of his reëlection, he informed me that he was just beginning to +enjoy the reaction of defeat when he was notified that the tide had turned +in his favour. This will seem unusual, but those of us who were close to +the man and who understood the trials and tribulations of the Presidency, +knew that he was in fact for the first time in four years enjoying the +freedom of private life. + +Mr. Wilson's imperturbability on election night was like that of sturdy +Grover Cleveland, though temperamentally the men were unlike. Mr. +Cleveland used to tell his friends how in 1884 he had gone to bed early +not knowing who was elected, and how he learned the news of his election +next morning from his valet, after having first made inquiries about the +state of the weather. In 1892 Mr. Cleveland, his wife, and two friends +played a quiet game of cards while the returns were coming in. In reciting +these reminiscences, the old warrior used to say that he never could +understand the excitement of candidates on election nights. "The fight is +all over then," he would say, "and it is merely a matter of counting the +ballots." Mr. Wilson preserved the same calmness, which appeared almost +like indifference. In 1912 he sat in the sitting room of his little +cottage in Cleveland Lane in Princeton quietly reading from one of his +favourite authors and occasionally joining in the conversation of Mrs. +Wilson and a few neighbours who had dropped in. In a rear room there was a +telegraphic ticker, an operator, and some newspaper boys who at intervals +would take an especially interesting bulletin in to Mr. Wilson, who would +glance at it casually, make some brief comment, and then return to his +book. One of the guests of the evening who read in a newspaper next day a +rather melodramatic and entirely imaginative account of the scene, said: +"The only dramatic thing about the evening was that there was nothing +dramatic." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +NEUTRALITY + + +While President Wilson was giving his whole thought and effort to the +solution of exacting domestic tasks, the European war broke upon him and +thus turned his attention and study to the age-long and complicated +political struggle between Germany, France, and England. + +Fully conscious from the very beginning of the difficulties that lay in +his path, he was aware of the eventualities the war now beginning might +lead to. As a profound student of history he saw with a clear vision the +necessity of neutrality and of America remaining disentangled in every way +from the embroilments of Europe. To the people of the country it at first +appeared that the war was one more in a long series of European quarrels +and that we must play our part in the great conflict as mere spectators +and strictly adhere to the American policy of traditional aloofness and +isolation, which had been our immemorial custom and habit. Although we +were bound to maintain a policy of isolation, Woodrow Wilson from the +beginning foresaw its futility, and afterward gave expression to this +conviction in a campaign speech in 1916, when he said: + + This is the last war [meaning the World War] of its kind or of any + kind that involves the world that the United States can keep out of. I + say that because I believe that the business of neutrality is over; + not because I want it to be over, but I mean this, that war now has + such a scale that the position of neutrals sooner or later becomes + intolerable. + +He knew how difficult it would be to keep a people so variously +constituted strictly neutral. No sooner was his proclamation of neutrality +announced than the differences in points of view in racial stocks began to +manifest themselves in language both intemperate and passionate, until his +advice to his country "to be neutral in fact as well as in name" became a +dead and spiritless thing. + +I have often been asked if the policy of neutrality which the President +announced, and which brought a fire of criticism upon him, represented his +own personal feelings toward the European war, and whether if he had been +a private citizen, he would have derided it as now his critics were +engaged in doing. + +As an intimate associate of Woodrow Wilson during the whole of the +European war, and witnessing from day to day the play of his feelings, +especially after the violation of the neutrality of Belgium, I am certain +that had he been free to do so he would have yielded to the impulse of +championing a cause that in his heart of hearts he felt involved the +civilization of the world. But it was his devotion to the idea of +trusteeship that held him in check, and the consciousness that in carrying +out that trusteeship he had no right to permit his own passionate feelings +to govern his public acts. + +It would have been a dramatic adventure to accept Germany's assault on +Belgium as a challenge to the humane interest of America, but the +acceptance would have been only a gesture, for we were unable to transport +armies to the theatre of war in time to check the outrage. Such action +would have pleased some people in the East, but the President knew that +this quixotic knight errantry would not appeal to the country at large, +particularly the West, still strongly grounded in the Washingtonian +tradition of non-interference in European quarrels. + +Colonel Roosevelt himself, who subsequently attacked so strongly the +"pusillanimity" of the Administration's course, said on September 23, +1914: + + A deputation of Belgians has arrived in this country to invoke our + assistance in the time of their dreadful need. What action our + government can or will take I know not. It has been announced that no + action can be taken that will interfere with our entire neutrality. It + is certainly eminently desirable that we should remain entirely + neutral and nothing but urgent need would warrant breaking our + neutrality and taking sides one way or the other. + +It was not the policy of a weakling or a timid man. It was the policy of a +prudent leader and statesman, who was feeling his way amid dangers and who +as an historian himself knew the difficulties of an imprudent or +incautious move. + +I recall the day he prepared his neutrality proclamation. At the end of +one of the most strenuous days of his life in Washington, he left the +Executive offices where he was engaged in meeting and conferring with +senators and congressmen, and I found him comfortably seated under an elm +tree, serenely engaged with pad and pencil in preparing his neutrality +proclamation, which was soon to loose a fierce storm of opposition and +ridicule upon him. He and I had often discussed the war and its effect +upon our own country, and one day in August, 1914, just after the Great +War had begun, he said to me: "We are going through deep waters in the +days to come. The passions now lying dormant will soon be aroused and my +motives and purposes at every turn will soon be challenged until there +will be left but few friends to justify my course. It does not seem clear +now, but as this war grows in intensity it will soon resolve itself into a +war between autocracy and democracy. Various racial groups in America will +seek to lead us now one way and then another. We must sit steady in the +boat and bow our heads to meet the storm." + +Bound as he was by the responsibilities of trusteeship to adhere to a +policy of neutrality, personally he saw that the inevitable results would +be only bitter disappointment. "We cannot remain isolated in this war," he +said, "for soon the contagion of it will spread until it reaches our own +shores. On the one side Mr. Bryan will censure the Administration for +being too militaristic, and on the other we will find Mr. Roosevelt +criticizing us because we are too pacifist in our tendencies." + +Dr. William E. Dodd, in his book "Woodrow Wilson and His Work," has sensed +the complicated situation in which the President found himself: "The +British blockade, becoming more effective every day, barred the way of +American goods to Germany and even neutral countries. Hoke Smith and a +score of southern senators and representatives urged him to protest +against the blockade. Representatives of the packers of Chicago and the +farmers of the Northwest urged him to open the way to hungry markets for +their goods. He made his fight during the autumn of 1914 and 1915 against +all the more drastic phases of the British blockade, against British +interference with our cargoes for neutral ports." Every artificial device +for increasing our trade with neutral countries was suggested by those who +sought his aid and counsel in the matter. Cotton of all the commodities +was the hardest hit. When a friend from Georgia urged action by the +President to help in the matter of cotton, the President tried to impress +upon him that, with the World War in progress, the law of supply and +demand was deeply affected and that the sales of cotton were necessarily +restricted by reason of the closure of certain markets to our goods. This +friend, in urging his views upon the President, said: "But you, Mr. +President, can suspend the law of supply and demand." The President +responded fey saying: "If I did, Judge, and you ran your head up against +it, you might get hurt." + +Every sympathizer with Germany pursued the President relentlessly with +insistent demand that England should be brought to book for the +unreasonable character of the blockade which she was carrying on against +our commerce on the high seas. The President in every diplomatic way +possible pressed America's claims against England, but these demands did +not satisfy the German sympathizers throughout the country who covertly +sought to bring about a real breach between the two countries. Even I felt +that we should go further in our demands upon England than the President +seemed willing to go. + +The pressure upon us at the White House for satisfaction at the hands of +England grew more intense with each day. I recall a conversation I had +with the President shortly before the Congressional elections when the +President's political enemies were decrying his kind treatment of England +and excoriating him for the stern manner in which he was holding Germany +to strict accountability for her actions. This conversation was held while +we were on board the President's train on our way to the West. After +dinner one evening I tactfully broached the subject of the British +blockade and laid before the President the use our enemies were making of +his patient action toward England. My frank criticism deeply aroused him. +Replying to me he pitilessly attacked those who were criticizing him for +"letting up on Great Britain." Looking across the table at me he said: "I +am aware of the demands that are daily being made upon me by my friends +for more vigorous action against England in the matter of the blockade; I +am aware also of the sinister political purpose that lies back of many of +these demands. Many senators and congressmen who urge radical action +against England are thinking only of German votes in their districts and +are not thinking of the world crisis that would inevitably occur should +there be an actual breach at this time between England and America over +the blockade." Then looking squarely at me, he said: "I have gone to the +very limit in pressing our claims upon England and in urging the British +Foreign Office to modify the blockade. Walter Page, our Ambassador to +England, has placed every emphasis upon our insistence that something be +done, and something will be done, but England, now in the throes of a +great war crisis, must at least be given a chance to adjust these matters. +Only a few days ago Mr. Page wrote me a most interesting letter, +describing the details of a conference he had had with Sir Edward Grey, +the British Foreign Secretary, to discuss our protests against the British +blockade. Mr. Page described the room in which the conference was held, on +the wall of which was hung as a memorial the fifteen-million-dollar check +with which Great Britain paid the _Alabama_ claims in the Civil War. Mr. +Page pointed to this _Alabama_ check and said: 'If you don't stop these +seizures, Sir Edward, some day you will have your entire room papered with +things like that.' Sir Edward replied: 'That may be so, but we will pay +every cent. Of course, many of the restrictions we have laid down and +which seriously interfere with your trade are unreasonable. But America +must remember that we are fighting her fight, as well as our own, to save +the civilization of the world. You dare not press us too far!'" Turning to +me, the President said: "He was right. England is fighting our fight and +you may well understand that I shall not, in the present state of the +world's affairs, place obstacles in her way. Many of our critics suggest +war with England in order to force reparation in these matters. War with +England would result in a German triumph. No matter what may happen to me +personally in the next election, I will not take any action to embarrass +England when she is fighting for her life and the life of the world. Let +those who clamour for radical action against England understand this!" + +While the critics of the President were busily engaged in embarrassing and +"hazing" him at every point and insisting upon a "show-down" with Great +Britain over the blockade, the world was startled on May 7, 1915, by the +news of the sinking of the _Lusitania_, off the coast of Ireland, +resulting in the loss of many American lives. A few days later came the +news that the German people were rejoicing at the fine stroke of the +submarine commander in consummating this horrible tragedy. + +The President's critics who, a few days before, were assailing him for his +supposed surrender to England, were now demanding an immediate declaration +of war against Germany, but not for a moment did the President waver +before these clamorous demands. To such an extent did he carry this +attitude of calmness and steadiness of purpose that on "the outside" the +people felt that there was in him a heartlessness and an indifference to +the deep tragedy of the _Lusitania_. At my first meeting with him I tried +to call to his attention many of the tragic details of the sinking of the +great ship in an effort to force his hands, so to speak, but he quickly +checked what appeared to be my youthful impetuosity and said: "Tumulty, it +would be much wiser for us not to dwell too much upon these matters." When +he uttered this admonition there was no suggestion of coldness about him. +In fact, he seemed to be deeply moved as I adverted to some of the facts +surrounding this regrettable and tragic affair. At times tears stood in +his eyes, and turning to me he said: "If I pondered over those tragic +items that daily appear in the newspapers about the _Lusitania_, I should +see red in everything, and I am afraid that when I am called upon to act +with reference to this situation I could not be just to any one. I dare +not act unjustly and cannot indulge my own passionate feelings." + +Evidently he saw that his turning away from the topic in this apparently +indifferent way did not sit well with me. Quickly he understood my +dissatisfaction and said: "I suppose you think I am cold and indifferent +and little less than human, but, my dear fellow, you are mistaken, for I +have spent many sleepless hours thinking about this tragedy. It has hung +over me like a terrible nightmare. In God's name, how could any nation +calling itself civilized purpose so horrible a thing?" + +At the time we were discussing this grave matter we were seated in the +President's study in the White House. I had never seen him more serious or +careworn. I was aware that he was suffering under the criticism that had +been heaped upon him for his apparent inaction in the matter of the +_Lusitania_. Turning to me he said: "Let me try to make my attitude in +this matter plain to you, so that you at least will try to understand what +lies in my thoughts. I am bound to consider in the most careful and +cautious way the first step I shall take, because once having taken it I +cannot withdraw from it. I am bound to consider beforehand all the facts +and circumstances surrounding the sinking of the _Lusitania_ and to +calculate the effect upon the country of every incautious or unwise move. +I am keenly aware that the feeling of the country is now at fever heat and +that it is ready to move with me in any direction I shall suggest, but I +am bound to weigh carefully the effect of radical action now based upon +the present emotionalism of the people. I am not sure whether the present +emotionalism of the country would last long enough to sustain any action I +would suggest to Congress, and thus in case of failure we should be left +without that fine backing and support so necessary to maintain a great +cause. I could go to Congress to-morrow and advocate war with Germany and +I feel certain that Congress would support me, but what would the country +say when war was declared, and finally came, and we were witnessing all of +its horrors and bloody aftermath. As the people pored over the casualty +lists, would they not say: 'Why did Wilson move so fast in this matter? +Why didn't he try peaceably to settle this question with Germany? Why +could he not have waited a little longer? Why was he so anxious to go to +war with Germany, yet at the same time why was he so tender of the +feelings of Great Britain in the matter of the blockade?' Were I to advise +radical action now, we should have nothing, I am afraid, but regrets and +heartbreaks. The vastness of this country; its variegated elements; the +conflicting cross-currents of national feelings bid us wait and withhold +ourselves from hasty or precipitate action. When we move against Germany +we must be certain that the whole country not only moves with us but is +willing to go forward to the end with enthusiasm. I know that we shall be +condemned for waiting, but in the last analysis I am the trustee of this +nation, and the cost of it all must be considered in the reckoning before +we go forward." + +Then leaning closer to me, he said: "It will not do for me to act as if I +had been hurried into precipitate action against Germany. I must answer +for the consequences of my action. What is the picture that lies before +me? All the great nations of Europe at war, engaged in a death grapple +that may involve civilization. My earnest hope and fervent prayer has been +that America could withhold herself and remain out of this terrible mess +and steer clear of European embroilments, and at the right time offer +herself as the only mediating influence to bring about peace. We are the +only great nation now free to do this. If we should go in, then the whole +civilized world will become involved. What a pretty mess it would be! +America, the only nation disconnected from this thing and now she is +surrendering the leadership she occupies and becomes involved as other +nations have. Think of the tragedy! I am not afraid to go to war. No man +fit to be President of this nation, knowing the way its people would +respond to any demand that might be made upon them, need have fears or +doubts as to what stand it would finally take. But what I fear more than +anything else is the possibility of world bankruptcy that will inevitably +follow our getting into this thing, Not only world chaos and bankruptcy, +but all of the distempers, social, moral, and industrial, that will flow +from this world cataclysm. No sane man, therefore, who knows the dangerous +elements that are abroad in the world would, without feeling out every +move, seek to lead his people without counting the cost and +dispassionately deliberating upon every move." + +In a speech delivered at Helena, Montana, he frankly spoke of the "break +down" of neutrality in these words: + + In the Providence of God, the leadership of this nation was intrusted + to me during those early years of the war when we were not in it. I + was aware through many subtle channels of the movements of opinion in + this country, and I know that the thing that this country chiefly + desired, the thing that you men out here in the West chiefly desired + and the thing that of course every loving woman had at her heart, was + that we should keep out of the war, and we tried to persuade ourselves + that the European business was not our business. We tried to convince + ourselves that no matter what happened on the other side of the sea, + no obligation of duty rested upon us, and finally we found the + currents of humanity too strong for us. We found that a great + consciousness was welling up in us that this was not a local cause, + that this was not a struggle which was to be confined to Europe, or + confined to Asia, to which it had spread, but that it was something + that involved the very fate of civilization; and there was one great + nation in the world that could not afford to stay out of it. There are + gentlemen opposing the ratification of this treaty who at that time + taunted the Administration of the United States that it had lost touch + with its international conscience. They were eager to go in, and now + that they have got in, and are caught in the whole network of human + conscience, they want to break out and stay out. We were caught in + this thing by the action of a nation utterly unlike ourselves. What I + mean to say is that the German nation, the German people, had no + choice whatever as to whether it was to go into that war or not, did + not know that it was going into it until its men were summoned to the + colours. I remember, not once, but often, that while sitting at the + Cabinet table in Washington I asked my colleagues what their + impression was of the opinion of the country before we went into the + war, and I remember one day one of my colleagues said to me: "Mr. + President, I think the people of the country would take your advice + and do what you suggested." "Why," I said, "that is not what I am + waiting for; that is not enough. If they cannot go in with a whoop + there is no use of their going in at all. I do not want them to wait + on me. I am waiting on them. I want to know what the conscience of + this country is speaking. I want to know what purpose is arising in + the minds of the people of this country with regard to this world + situation." When I thought I heard that voice, it was then that I + proposed to the Congress of the United States that we should include + ourselves in the challenge that Germany was giving to mankind. + +On May 10, 1915, he made a speech in Philadelphia, which contained the +regrettable and much-criticized phrase, "Too proud to fight." +Unfortunately, the headlines of the papers carried only the phrase, "Too +proud to fight," and little or no attention was paid to the context of the +speech in which the phrase was lodged. As a matter of fact, there was +nothing unusual about the character of this speech. The phrase, "Too proud +to fight," was simply expressive of the President's policy since the +outbreak of the war. It was not a new thought with him. Some weeks before +he had said the same thing, only in different words, in a speech delivered +at a banquet of the Associated Press in New York: "My interest in the +neutrality of the United States is not a petty desire to keep out of +trouble. I am interested in neutrality because there is something so much +greater to do than fight. There is a distinction awaiting this nation that +no nation has ever yet got. That is the distinction of absolute self- +control and mastery." The phrase, "Too proud to fight," was simply +expressive of the idea that was close to his heart: a reliance upon means +of settling our difficulties with Germany other than a resort to war. On +our way to Philadelphia on the day of the delivery of this speech I read a +copy of it which the President handed to me, and when I ran across the +phrase, "Too proud to fight," I scented the political danger in it and +warned him, but he declined to be admonished because he was confident in +the moral strength of his position, namely, that self-mastery is sometimes +more heroic than fighting, or as the Bible states it, "He that ruleth his +own spirit is greater than he that taketh a city," and trusted the people +to understand his full meaning. The President himself was so above the +petty tricks by which politicians wrest words from their context and force +upon them unfavourable meaning that he sometimes incautiously played into +the hands of this type of foe. Nor did he fully realize that his gift for +making striking and quotable phrases added to the danger. It was an +unfortunate phrase, "Too proud to fight," but none who thoughtfully read +the context with unprejudiced mind could fail to see the moral grandeur of +the President's position. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +PREPAREDNESS + + +The feelings of the people throughout the country began to be aroused as +they witnessed the outlawry of Germany in ruthlessly attacking and +wantonly interfering with American commerce on the high seas. The +agitation for preparedness to meet a critical world situation was on in +full swing. Congress and the President were harassed by conflicting +demands from every side immediately to "put our house in order" and to set +America safely on the road to national preparedness. Theodore Roosevelt +was clamorously demanding universal compulsory military service and was +ably aided by General Wood and Admiral Peary, who urged the adoption of +conscription. Secretary of War Garrison and Senator Chamberlain, of +Oregon, were converted to this radical movement and unwittingly became +part and parcel of the Roosevelt-Wood preparedness propaganda. These +gentlemen could see only the direct route to the accomplishment of the +purpose they had in mind and were alike unmindful of the difficulties and +obstacles that lay in the President's path. To them it appeared that all +it was necessary for the President to do was boldly to announce his +programme of preparedness and serenely to await its approval at the hands +of Congress. They were unmindful of the difficulties of the situation and +of the consummate tact that Would be required on the part of the President +to induce Congress to turn away from the old volunteer system and to put +into effect at once a system that overnight would transform America into +an armed camp. The President was bound to consider the stern actualities +of the situation and to withhold himself as far as possible from a too +vigorous insistence on any programme of preparedness that was not +traditionally, fundamentally American. It was a case of honest men seeing +the same thing in the same way but differing as to the practicable means +of accomplishing it. The President early realized that the volunteer +system was unsuited to our present needs and that it could not be quickly +turned into an active force to answer emergencies, but he was certain, +also, that the people of the country must be convinced of this before they +would agree to cut themselves away from the volunteer system under which +previous American wars had been fought to a successful conclusion. The +President felt that the old volunteer system was antiquated and not to be +considered, but the duty lay upon him to convince the leaders of the +Senate and House and the people that this was a fact. This was no easy +task to accomplish. Haste or impetuous action on his part in advocating +conscription could only, in his opinion, delay matters and embarrass the +very purpose that lay in his mind. + +While Roosevelt and Garrison were criticizing Congressional inaction, the +President's mind was "open and to let" on the question of what constituted +the best means of putting America in a state of actual and aggressive +preparedness. As President, he was bound to take cognizance of the deep- +seated antagonism on the part of the American people to any system of +military preparedness that had a compulsory feature as its basic element. +It was the President's opinion that the people of a country so big and +varied as America had to be convinced by alternative methods as to what, +in the last analysis, was the best means of preparing the country against +aggression. + +While he was convinced that we had to be prepared and ready to meet any +emergency, he was not to be rushed in the matter and was keeping his mind +open to find the best and most practical method of accomplishing what he +thought the average opinion of the country demanded in the way of +preparedness. + +I had often discussed the matter with the President and, watching the +agitation for preparedness from the side-lines, had stated my views in +letters reading in part as follows: + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + In my opinion, there is left to the Republican party but two available + issues for the campaign of 1916,--the tariff and the question of + national defense. How we are to meet the enemy on these questions is a + subject which we ought thoroughly to consider and discuss in the + coming months. + + As to National Defense: In this matter we must have a sane, reasonable + and workable programme. That programme must have in it, the + ingredients that will call forth the hearty support of, first, the + whole Cabinet (and particularly the Secretary of War); second, the + leaders of the party in the Senate and House; third, the rank and file + of Democrats in both Houses; fourth, the Army and the Navy; and last + but not least, the great body of the American people. + + Successfully to carry through this programme will tax your leadership + in the party to the last degree. On the eve of the campaign of 1916, + your attitude and accomplishment in this matter will be accepted by + the country as the final test of your leadership and will be of + incalculable psychological importance to the party; and, therefore, in + the carrying out of this programme we cannot afford to hesitate or to + blunder, because as election day approaches trivial mistakes will be + magnified and exaggerated by the opposition, to the hurt and injury of + our party and your prestige as leader. + + TUMULTY. + + THE PRESIDENT, + Cornish, New Hampshire. + + * * * * * + + MY DEAR GOVERNOR: + + I cannot impress upon you too forcibly the importance of an appeal to + the country at this time on the question of preparedness. No matter + what the character of the information is that you are receiving, I + have it from all sources that there is no enthusiasm on the "hill" for + preparedness, and that the country itself is indifferent because of + its apparent inability to grasp the importance and full significance + of this question. This indifference arises out of two things: first, + the attitude of the pacifists whose feelings have been nurtured by the + preachings of Mr. Bryan; second, the attitude of those in the country + who believe in preparedness and who are frightened because of the big + talk of Roosevelt and others on their plan for military conscription. + + There is no doubt how the body of the American people feel on this + question of preparedness. You can, therefore, with much greater + reason, address them on this question and with greater force and + earnestness. I am afraid if you delay in this matter, it will be too + late to act, because our enemies are already busy and active. + + If some unfortunate thing should arise in international affairs or in + Mexico within the next few weeks and announcement came then that you + were to make an appeal to the country, it would appear as an anti- + climax and an attempt upon your part to retrieve yourself. Now is the + psychological moment to make your plea for national defense and + incidentally to discuss Mexico and our foreign relations. In other + words, you must ask the country to accept your leadership or the + leadership of others who can't lead. Your voice is the only + responsible voice in America that can speak with certainty, authority, + and calmness as to the need for preparedness. There is no doubt of the + will of a large majority of our people, but it lacks articulate + expression. I am sure they will not fail to respond. + + TUMULTY. + +Upon conferring with the President in the matter of preparedness, I found +that he had been slowly and patiently revolving the whole matter in his +own mind and was then considering the advisability of taking a direct +message to the people concerning the situation and was only awaiting the +psychological moment to strike. + +On January 27, 1916, the President commenced his tour of the North and +Middle West, assuming the leadership of the movement for preparedness that +had been started by his opponents, and called the attention of the country +to the critical world situation and to the necessity that America "put her +house in order." In St. Louis he declared that America must have +comparably the greatest navy in the world. It was noticeable in his +speeches that he never employed the term "universal military service" and +that he was careful to explain that there was to be no militarism in the +country. + +When the President returned from his preparedness tour, he found himself +at the centre of conflicting views as to method; on the one hand, +Representative Hay of the Military Affairs Committee, advocated the use of +the National Guard as the new army; on the other hand, Secretary Garrison +advocated an increase of the Regular Army to 142,000 men and a new +"continental army" of 400,000 men, with reserves of state militia. It was +the recurrent conflict between the Army and Congress, between the military +department's desire for a strong force and Congress' fear of "militarism." +The Garrison plan met with decided opposition in the House, and upon the +President's refusal to lend support to his Secretary of War in the +programme he had outlined in his report of 1915, Mr. Garrison resigned. +Immediately all the enemies of the President centred about the retiring +Secretary and proclaimed him a very much abused official. The letter which +the President addressed to Secretary Garrison is as follows: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + January 17, 1916. + + MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: + + I am very much obliged to you for your letters of January twelfth and + January fourteenth. They make your views with regard to adequate + measures of preparation for national defence sharply clear. I am sure + that I already understood just what your views were, but I am glad to + have them restated in this succinct and striking way. You believe, as + I do, that the chief thing necessary is, that we should have a trained + citizen reserve and that the training, organization and control of + that reserve should be under immediate federal direction. + + But apparently I have not succeeded in making my own position equally + clear to you, though I feel sure that I have made it perfectly clear + to Mr. Hay. It is that I am not irrevocably or dogmatically committed + to any one plan of providing the nation with such a reserve and am + cordially willing to discuss alternative proposals. + + Any other position on my part would indicate an attitude towards the + Committee on Military Affairs of the House of Representatives which I + should in no circumstances feel at liberty to assume. It would never + be proper or possible for me to say to any committee of the House of + Representatives that so far as my participation in legislation was + concerned they would have to take my plan or none. + + I do not share your opinion that the members of the House who are + charged with the duty of dealing with military affairs are ignorant of + them or of the military necessities of the nation. On the contrary, I + have found them well informed and actuated with a most intelligent + appreciation of the grave responsibilities imposed upon them. I am + sure that Mr. Hay and his colleagues are ready to act with a full + sense of all that is involved in this great matter both for the + country and for the national parties which they represent. + + My own duty toward them is perfectly plain. I must welcome a frank + interchange of views and a patient and thorough comparison of all the + methods proposed for obtaining the objects we all have in view. So far + as my own participation in final legislative action is concerned, no + one will expect me to acquiesce in any proposal that I regard as + inadequate or illusory. If, as the outcome of a free interchange of + views, my own judgment and that of the Committee should prove to be + irreconcilably different and a bill should be presented to me which I + could not accept as accomplishing the essential things sought, it + would manifestly be my duty to veto it and go to the country on the + merits. But there is no reason to anticipate or fear such a result, + unless we should ourselves take at the outset the position that only + the plans of the Department are to be considered; and that position, + it seems to me, would be wholly unjustifiable. The Committee and the + Congress will expect me to be as frank with them as I hope they will + be with me, and will of course hold me justified in fighting for my + own matured opinion. + + I have had a delightfully frank conference with Mr. Hay. I have said + to him that I was perfectly willing to consider any plan that would + give us a national reserve under unmistakable national control, and + would support any scheme if convinced of its adequacy and wise policy. + More he has not asked or desired. + + Sincerely yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + HON. LINDLEY M. GARRISON, + Secretary of War. + +It was clear from the President's letter and the attitude of Secretary +Garrison that there was to be no meeting of minds between the President +and his Secretary of War on the matter of preparedness. Their views could +not be reconciled, and when the President refused to support Garrison's +programme, hook, line, and sinker, the Secretary tendered his resignation, +which the President under the circumstances readily accepted. Immediately +the friends of Garrison declared that the Administration had lost its +strongest man and that it was now on the way to destruction. Neither the +President nor his many friends, however, were disturbed by these direful +predictions of disaster; and as the people pondered the President's letter +of acceptance of Mr. Garrison's resignation, wherein he showed his own +mind was open to the best method of preparing the country and that Mr. +Garrison showed petulance and impatience in handling the matter--the +sober, second thought of the country readily and quickly came to the +President's support in the belief that the dogmatic attitude of the +Secretary of War, instead of helping, was embarrassing national +preparedness. + +Garrison had rendered distinguished service to the Administration and had +won many friends, especially the newspaper group of Washington, by his +open, frank method of dealing with public questions; but unfortunately for +him he was swept off his feet by the unstinted praise that came to him +from Republican journals throughout the country whenever it appeared that +he was taking an attitude--especially in the two questions of major +importance, preparedness and Mexico--that seemed to be at variance with +the Administration's point of view. + +When the President's letter to Garrison was read and the contents fully +understood it showed Garrison autocratic and unyielding, and the President +open-minded and willing to adopt any plan for preparedness that seemed to +be workable. The gentle rebuke of Mr. Garrison contained in the +President's statement that he did not share Mr. Garrison's opinion that +the members of the House charged with the duty of dealing with military +affairs "are ignorant of them or of the military necessities of the +nation," completely won to the President the support of the members of +that committee and put the President in the position of asking for and +obtaining their hearty cooperation and support. Garrison's resignation, +which at first blush appeared to be disastrous to the Administration, was +soon turned to its advantage, with the result that a national defence act +was passed during the summer. It was a compromise measure but it added +very greatly to the military power of the country. In addition, it gave +great powers to the President over the railroads in the event of war and +authorized the establishment of a council of national defence. + +Of course, the enemies of the President interpreted the episode as another +example of his inability to cooperate with "strong men" and continued in +the next breath to repeat their accusations that he was autocratic in his +dealings with Congress, ignoring their own inconsistency. It was precisely +because the President respected the constitutional prerogatives of the +Congress, and Mr. Garrison did not, that the break came. + +Every method of propaganda was resorted to to force the hand of the +President in the matter of preparedness and to induce him to advocate and +support a programme for universal military service put forth by the +National Security League, whose backers and supporters throughout the +country were mainly Republicans. Publicity on a grand scale, public +meetings and great parades throughout the country were part of this +propaganda. While many sincere, patriotic men and women, without realizing +the politics that lay behind it, aided in this movement, it was easy to +see that back of it was a sinister political purpose to embarrass and, if +possible, to force the hand of the President. One of the leaders of this +movement was General Wood, who established, with the permission of the War +Department, the famous Plattsburg Camp. It will be recalled that this was +the stage from which Mr. Roosevelt, on an occasion, freely gave expression +to his views of bitter antagonism to the President for his seemingly +slothful attitude in urging his views on Congress with reference to the +preparedness programme. One of the favourite methods of rousing the +people, to which the National Security League resorted, was demonstrations +throughout the country in the form of preparedness parades. It was clear +to us at the White House that these parades were part of an organized +movement to "agitate" in favour of a radical programme of preparedness. +The President and I had often discussed these demonstrations. One day I +asked him if they were embarrassing him in any way and he said that they +were not, but that they might affect opinion throughout the country in +such a way as unreasonably to influence Congress for legislation so +radical in its character as to be unnecessary and burdensome to the +taxpayers of the country. + +Our Republican opponents on the outside were claiming great political +results from these demonstrations and felt sure they were a mighty force +in embarrassing and weakening the President. It was finally suggested to +the President that he ought to embrace the first opportunity presented to +him of leading in one of the parades himself. Shortly after, the District +of Columbia parade took place, and the President, upon my initiative, was +invited to lead it. The effect of the President's personal participation +in this parade and in the New York parade held subsequently was quickly +evident. As soon as the moving pictures throughout the country began to +feature the President leading the demonstrations, these parades became +less frequent and finally obsolete. By getting into the "front line" the +President had cleverly outwitted his enemies and took command of the +forces in the country demanding preparedness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE GREAT DECLARATION + + +In October, 1916, during the Presidential campaign, while the President +was at Shadow Lawn, New Jersey, Ambassador Gerard, at the President's +invitation, paid a visit to him and reported in detail the general +situation in Germany as to the submarine warfare. He said that the +restrictions as to submarines imposed by Germany's acceptance of the +President's ultimatum after the Sussex affair, were growing burdensome and +intolerable to the military and naval masters of Germany and that they +were bringing all kinds of pressure to bear upon the leaders of the Civil +Government, notably Von Bethmann-Hollweg and Foreign Minister Von Jagow, +to repudiate the undertaking. From the critical situation in Germany, +arising out of the controversy over the question of unrestricted submarine +warfare, which Ambassador Gerard laid before him, the President was +convinced that we were now approaching a real crisis in our relations with +Germany and that unless peace could be quickly obtained, the European +struggle would soon enter upon a phase more terrible than any in the +preceding two years, with consequences highly dangerous to the interests +of our country. The passionate wish and deep desire of the President from +the beginning was that we could keep aloof and by conserving our energies +and remaining neutral, hold ourselves in reserve as the only mediating +influence for peace; but with each passing week some untoward event +brought about by the ruthlessness of Germany made the prospect for the +interposition of America's influence daily more unlikely. + +The following memorandum prepared by me on January 4, 1916, of a +conversation between the President and myself, shortly after the sinking +of the _Persia_ by a submarine, imperfectly sets forth his idea with +reference to war with Germany: + + About ten minutes to ten o'clock this morning I had a very interesting + conversation with the President at the White House, my purpose being + to bring to him the atmosphere of Washington and the country as far as + I could ascertain with reference to the sinking of the _Persia_ by a + submarine. The other purpose of my visit was to warn him that Senator + Stone might induce him to make some admission with reference to his + attitude which might embarrass the President in the future. + + The President looked very well after his trip and seemed to be in a + fine mood, although it was plainly evident that the _Persia_ affair + rested heavily upon him. My attitude toward this matter was for + action, and action all along the line. This did not seem to meet with + a very hearty response from the President. He informed me that it + would not be the thing for us to take action against any government + without our government being in possession of all the facts. I replied + that that was my attitude, but I thought there should be action and + vigorous action as soon as all the facts were ascertained. He agreed + with me in this. When I began to tell him about the attitude of the + country and the feeling in the country that there was a lack of + leadership, he stiffened up in his chair and said: "Tumulty, you may + as well understand my position right now. If my rejection as President + depends upon my getting into war, I don't want to be President. I have + been away, and I have had lots of time to think about this war and the + effect of our country getting into it, and I have made up my mind that + I am more interested in the opinion that the country will have of me + ten years from now than the opinion it may be willing to express to- + day. Of course, I understand that the country wants action, and I + intend to stand by the record I have made in all these cases, and take + whatever action may be necessary, but I will not be rushed into war, + no matter if every last Congressman and Senator stands up on his hind + legs and proclaims me a coward." He continued, speaking of the + severance of diplomatic relations,--"You must know that when I + consider this matter, I can only consider it as the forerunner of war. + I believe that the sober-minded people of this country will applaud + any efforts I may make without the loss of our honour to keep this + country out of war." He said that if we took any precipitate action + right now, it might prevent Austria from coming across in generous + fashion. + +The President, ten months later, was re-elected, on the slogan, "_He kept +us out of War_." If it was possible to continue at peace on terms that +would protect and conserve our national honour, he was determined to do +so. I recall how passionately he laid before Senator Tillman of South +Carolina, chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, his desire to keep +the nation out of war. At the conclusion of the talk with the Senator, he +said: "But, Senator, it rests with Germany to say whether we shall remain +at peace." Turning to the President, Senator Tillman said: "You are right, +Mr. President, we must not go around with a chip on our shoulder. I am for +peace, but I am not for peace at any damn price." This was really +expressive of the President's attitude. He earnestly desired peace, but he +was not willing to remain at peace at the price of the nation's honour. + +Early in May, 1916, the President and I had conferred regarding the +European situation and had discussed the possibility of our suggesting to +both sides that they consider the United States as a mediating influence +to bring about a settlement. Early in May, 1916, I had addressed the +following letter to the President with reference to the matter: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + May 16, 1916. + + MY DEAR GOVERNOR: + + As I have discussed with you on frequent occasions, it seems to me + that the time is now at hand for you to act in the matter of _Peace_. + The mere process of peace negotiations may extend over a period of + months. Why should we wait until the moment of exhaustion before ever + beginning a discussion? Everybody admits that the resources of the + nations involved cannot last through another year without suffering of + an untold character. It is now May. Let us assume that everybody + accepts your offer. It would be physically impossible to get + commissioners from various parts of the world, including Japan, in + less than two months. Then the discussion would perhaps last until the + fall, no matter what conclusion might be reached. Therefore, allowing + for the time that might be consumed in persuading all the parties that + the time is now ripe, the whole business will require almost a year in + itself, during which time the hostilities would be continuing and + certainly the chance of getting a truce would be better after the + discussion had been in progress for some time. Similarly, as the time + for the winter campaign approached, the inducement to agree on a truce + on any terms would become more powerful each day. + + Let us look at it from the point of view of postponement. If we waited + until the fall and the negotiations stretched out through the winter, + the temptation for making new drives in the spring, with the + preparations made throughout the winter, would incline the + militaristic element in the various countries involved to block peace + negotiations. _It seems, therefore, that the time to act is now when + these drives are spending their force._ + + As to the Procedure: + + It seems that no belligerent should be put in the position by your + note of weakening or of suing for peace, for we must keep in mind the + pride and sensibilities of all. The initiative must be ours--to all + nations, on equal terms. One way to do this would be to send a note, + saying that from the German note and from statesmen representing the + Entente powers the Government of the United States assumes that the + belligerent powers are willing at least to discus suggestions for + peace, each only reserving to itself liberty of action. The United + States can, therefore, announce that it is willing to meet at The + Hague a commission sent by the respective governments to discuss means + for making peace, _and for establishing a world court or international + tribunal to safeguard the peace of the world after the close of the + war_. + + In the latter, namely, _world peace_, the United States has a direct + interest. The United States can in the note assume that commissioners + will meet with it and hopes to be advised if there is any feeling to + the contrary. + + My idea is to go ahead with the plan on the theory that all the + belligerents are in accord with the idea, so that in answering our + note they will not have accepted anything but our proposals to + discuss, first, the suggestion of peace, and, secondly, the idea of a + world court. + + The President should say, in order to elicit the sympathy of the world + and mankind in general, that the note of the United States suggesting + a meeting between the powers will be made public within a few days and + after its receipt by the respective powers. This will give each + government not only its own public opinion to reckon with, but the + public opinion of the civilized world. The nation that objects to a + discussion of peace will by no means be in an enviable position. + + I hope you will read the article I am sending you by Mr. Strunsky, + "Post Impressions," especially that part I have indicated in the + margin. It is from this article that I got the idea of suggesting the + alternative proposition of a world court. Your note setting forth your + position in this matter should be an appeal to the heart and to the + conscience of the world. + + TUMULTY. + +Evidently the President seriously had been considering this very matter as +was shown by the following reply to my note: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + DEAR TUMULTY: + + Thank you for the memorandum about peace suggestions. I have read it + very carefully and find my own thoughts travelling very much the same + route. You may be sure I am doing a great deal of serious thinking + about it all. + + Faithfully, + W. W. + +The President, through the State Department and various instrumentalities +to which he had access for information, was keeping in touch with the +German situation and understood from the beginning what the German game +was with reference to peace, and to the various offers which he was +making. He knew that the German peace offers were merely an attempt on the +part of the civil government of Germany to avert a resumption of +ruthlessness at sea; that they were mere gestures on the part of the +German Government made to bolster up the morale of the German people and +that these German offers did not indicate the real desire for peace on +equitable terms, as subsequent events showed, but that they were the terms +of peace of a nation which thought itself the victor, and, therefore, in a +position ruthlessly to dictate a final settlement. + +Many of the advisers of the President suggested that he should ignore +these offers. But the President was wiser than those around him in +accepting the German bid at its face value, and he finally called upon +Germany to state the practical terms upon which she was willing to +consider a settlement for peace. There was another reason for the +President's patience. Foreseeing an inevitable crisis with Germany over +the frequent sinking of our ships, he was fully conscious that he could +not draw the whole country with him in aggressive action if before he took +the step leading to war he had not tried out every means of peace. While +his enemies denounced his meekness and apparent subservience to German +diplomacy, and while some went so far as to characterize his conduct as +cowardly, he serenely moved on and forced Germany to a show-down. He not +only asked Germany to state her terms, but he frankly asked the Allies to +give to the world their statement of what they considered the basis of +peace. + +One of the phrases in his note to the Allies which caused great irritation +was that "neither side had stated the object for which the war had been +started." While he was criticized for this at the time, it did just what +he intended it to do. It forced Germany openly to avow what she believed +to be the basis of peace, and gave the Allies their chance, as if they +were being forced to do it by the American President, to say what they +thought would be a just settlement. + +In the latter part of January Germany announced to the United States that +she was going to begin, on February first, unrestricted submarine warfare +in the zone around the British Isles, and undertook to specify the route +which a restricted number of American ships might take through this zone. + +I vividly recall the day the Associated Press bulletin reached the White +House. I took it immediately to the President who was at his desk in his +private office. As I entered, he looked up from his writing, casual +inquiry in his eyes. Without comment I laid the fateful slip of paper on +his desk, and silently watched him as he read and then re-read it. I +seemed to read his mind in the expressions that raced across his strong +features: first, blank amazement; then incredulity that even Germany could +be guilty of such perfidy; then gravity and sternness, a sudden grayness +of colour, a compression of the lips and the familiar locking of the jaw +which always characterized him in moments of supreme resolution. Handing +the paper back to me, he said in quiet tones: "This means war. The break +that we have tried so hard to prevent now seems inevitable." + +On February 4th, he addressed Congress, announcing the severance of +diplomatic relations with Germany, and stating his hope that Germany would +pause before it was too late. On February 26th, the steamship. _Aneona_, +with Americans on board, was sunk, and on the next day the President +addressed Congress, suggesting the proclamation of armed neutrality as a +final effort to apply pressure to the Government of Germany, to show that +the United States was in earnest and would protect its rights against +lawless attacks at sea; but these measures failed. Germany seemed bent +upon a break with us, and on April 6, 1917, in response to a memorable +address delivered by the President on April second, the Congress of the +United States declared solemnly that a state of war existed between the +United States and the Imperial German Government. + +In concluding his war message, the President said: + + It is a fearful thing to lead this great, peaceful people into war, + into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself + seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than + peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried + nearest our hearts, for democracy, for the right of those who submit + to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights + and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by + such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all + nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can + dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and + everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day + has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might + for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace + which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other. + +I accompanied the President to Capitol Hill on the day of the delivery of +his war message, and on that fateful day I rode with him from the Capitol +back to the White House, the echo of applause still ringing in my ears. + +For a while he sat silent and pale in the Cabinet Room. At last he said: +"Think what it was they were applauding" [he was speaking of the people +who were lined along the streets on his way to the Capitol]. "My message +to-day was a message of death for our young men. How strange it seems to +applaud that." + +That simple remark is one key to an understanding of Woodrow Wilson. All +politicians pretend to hate and to dread war, but Woodrow Wilson really +hates and dreads it in all the fibres of his human soul; hates it and +dreads it because he has an imagination and a heart; an imagination which +shows his sensitive perception the anguish and the dying which war +entails; a heart which yearns and aches over every dying soldier and +bleeds afresh with each new-made wound. + +I shall never forget that scene in the Cabinet Room between the President +and myself. He appeared like a man who had thrown off old burdens only to +add new ones. + +It was apparent in his talk with me that he felt deeply wounded at the +criticism that for months had been heaped upon him for his seeming +unwillingness to go to war with Germany. As he discussed the step he had +just taken, it was evident to me that he keenly felt the full solemnity +and tragedy of it all. Turning to me, he said: "Tumulty, from the very +beginning I saw the end of this horrible thing; but I could not move +faster than the great mass of our people would permit. Very few understood +the difficult and trying position I have been placed in during the years +through which we have just passed. In the policy of patience and +forbearance I pursued I tried to make every part of America and the varied +elements of our population understand that we were willing to go any +length rather than resort to war with Germany. As I told you months ago, +it would have been foolish for us to have been rushed off our feet and to +have gone to war over an isolated affair like the _Lusitania_. But now we +are certain that there will be no regrets or looking back on the part of +our people. There is but one course now left open to us. Our consciences +are clear, and we must prepare for the inevitable--a fight to the end. +Germany must be made to understand that we have rights that she must +respect. There were few who understood this policy of patience. I do not +mean to say this in a spirit of criticism. Indeed, many of the leading +journals of the country were unmindful of the complexities of the +situation which confronted us." + +The President then took out of his pocket an old and worn newspaper +clipping, saying: "I wish to read you an analysis of my position and my +policy by a special writer for the _Manchester Guardian_, who seemed, +without consulting me or ever conferring with me, to know just what I am +driving at." + +This special writer, commenting upon the Wilson policy, had said: + + Mr. Wilson's patience, now derided and criticized, will inevitably be + the means by which he will lead his people by easy stages to the side + of the Allies. By his methods of patience and apparent subservience to + Germany, he will convince the whole American people that no other + course save war is possible. This policy of Wilson's, now determined + on, will work a complete transformation in his people. It will not + evidence itself quickly or overnight. The moral preachment of Wilson + before and after war will be the cause that will finally bring his + people to the side of the Allies. + +Again turning to me, the President said: "Our course from this time on is +clear. The whole business of war that we are now engaged upon is fraught +with the gravest difficulties. There will be great enthusiasm in the +country from this day. I trust it will not slacken or weaken as the +horrors of the war and its tragedies are disclosed. Of course our motives +will be misconstrued, our purposes misunderstood; some of our best friends +will misinterpret what we seek to do. In carrying on the war we will be +obliged to do certain unusual things, things that will interfere with the +lives and habits of our people, which will bring down upon us a storm of +criticism and ridicule. Our life, therefore, until this thing is over, and +God only knows when it will be over, will be full of tragedy and +heartaches." + +As he spoke, he was no longer Woodrow Wilson, the protagonist of peace, +but Woodrow Wilson, the stern warrior, now grimly determined to pursue the +great cause of America to the end. + +The President continued talking to me. He said: "It has not been easy to +carry these burdens in these trying times. From the beginning I saw the +utter futility of neutrality, the disappointment and heartaches that would +flow from its announcement, but we had to stand by our traditional policy +of steering clear of European embroilments. While I have appeared to be +indifferent to the criticism which has been my portion during these +critical days, a few have tried to understand my purpose and have +sympathized throughout with what I sought to do." + +Then, as he lowered his voice, he said: "There is a fine chap in +Springfield, Massachusetts, editor of a great paper there, who understood +my position from the beginning and who has sympathized with me throughout +this whole business." For a moment he, paused, and then went on: "I want +to read you the letter I received from this fine man." As he read, the +emotion he felt at the tender sympathy which the words conveyed gripped +him. The letter is as follows: + + Springfield, Massachusetts, + March 28, 1917. + + MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: + + In acknowledging your very kind and appreciative note of March 22nd, I + must say at once that the note has given me the greatest possible + pleasure. I prize this word from you all the more because after the + political experience and conflicts of the past few years, I am + conscious of a very real yet peculiar feeling of having summered and + wintered with you, in spite of the immeasurable and rather awful + distance that separates our respective places in the life and work of + our time. Your note, for the moment, suddenly annihilates the distance + and brings to me what I recognize as a very human touch. + + There is summering and wintering to come,--with more wintering perhaps + than we shall enjoy;--even so, I shall hope to be of timely service, + as opportunity favours me. + + I have the honour to be your admirer and friend. + + Most sincerely, + (Signed) WALDO L. COOK. + +"That man understood me and sympathized." As he said this, the President +drew his handkerchief from his pocket, wiped away great tears that stood +in his eyes, and then laying his head on the Cabinet table, sobbed as if +he had been a child. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +CARRYING ON + + +The critics of the President will ask the question: "What was the +President doing to prepare the country for war, which to him seemed +inevitable?" From the inside, and without the blare of trumpets, he was +quietly engaged in conferring with the heads of the Army and Navy +departments. Indeed, from the minute the third _Lusitania_ note was +dispatched, actual preparations for war were begun. Immediately upon the +dispatch of the note, the following statement was issued from the White +House, under date of July 21, 1916. + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + July 21, 1916. + + The President in association with the heads of departments, regardless + of present-day conditions or controversies, has long been giving a + great deal of consideration to the preparation of a reasonable and + adequate naval programme, which he intends to propose to Congress at + the proper time. + + That is one of the things he is now considering in the quiet of + Cornish. He feels, now that the note has been dispatched, that it is + best, for the time being, to drop the discussion of it as far as he is + concerned and is turning to questions of permanent national policy. + + Of course, he realizes that he must have the best practical advice + obtainable in this matter and is seeking for it from every available + source. In fact, it is known that the best minds of the various + departments of the Government, both of the Army and the Navy, are now + and have been at work on these important matters for some time; that + is, he is seeking advice from the men in those departments who have + been most directly in touch with the new conditions of defence that + have been evolved out of modern experience. He not only wishes advice + from those who have a knowledge of actual modern conditions of + warfare, but he is seeking light from those who are able to understand + and comprehend the altered conditions of land and naval warfare. He + wishes the Navy to stand upon an equality with the most efficient and + serviceable. + + As to the Army, it is known here that he is preparing to incorporate + in his next message to Congress a programme in regard to the + development and equipment of the Army and a proper training of the + citizens of the United States to arms which, while in every way + consistent with American traditions and national policy, will be of + such a character as to commend itself to every patriotic and practical + mind. In this matter he is working with the Secretary of War and his + professional associates, who, it is understood, have reached some very + definite conclusions on these exceedingly important matters. He is + anxious to have a programme that will be definite and positive, and + wishes to have the information in hand before laying the matter before + the committees of the Senate and the House. + + Contemporaneously with this statement was issued the following, which was +prepared by the President, but issued over my name, the full significance +of which was not apparent at the time: + + The note [Third _Lusitania_ note] having been dispatched, the + President felt that it was best to drop further discussion of the + matter for the present, as far as he was concerned. He will be free + now to devote his time to a full consideration of a matter that the + country has for a long time been thoughtful of, that is a reasonable + programme of national defense. Of course, this programme will be + considered regardless of present-day conditions. + + It is known that the President has been considering this important + matter in all its aspects, and has been in touch with the Secretary of + War and the Secretary of the Navy regarding it. It is also known in + official circles here that the President had taken steps before + leaving for Cornish to instruct the Army and Navy departments to make + ready for his consideration a careful programme of national defense in + preparation for the presentation of his views to Congress at the + proper time. + + He desires to have the programme based on the most practicable lines + obtainable from the departments and it is said that the best minds in + the departments are at present at work on the subject. He hopes that + the programme will express the best traditions of the country and not + lose sight of modern experience. He is anxious to have a programme + that will be definite and positive, and wishes to have the information + in hand before laying the matter before the committees of the Senate + and the House. + +On July 21, 1915, he addressed the following letters to the Secretary of +War and the Secretary of the Navy, respectively: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + July 21, 1915. + + MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: + + I have been giving scarcely less thought than you yourself have to the + question of adequate preparation for national defense, and I am + anxious, as you know, to incorporate in my next message to Congress a + programme regarding the development and equipment of the Army and a + proper training of our citizens to arms which, while in every way + consistent with our traditions and our national policy, will be of + such a character as to commend itself to every patriotic and practical + mind. + + I know that you have been much in conference with your professional + associates in the department and that you have yourself come to some + very definite conclusions on these exceedingly important matters. I + shall be away from Washington for a few days, but I would be very much + obliged if you would be kind enough to prepare for me a programme, + with estimates, of what you and the best-informed soldiers in your + counsels think the country ought to undertake to do. I should like to + discuss this programme with you at as early a time as it can be made + ready. Whether we can reasonably propose the whole of it to the + Congress immediately or not we can determine when we have studied it. + The important thing now is to know and know fully what we need. + Congress will certainly welcome such advice and follow it to the limit + of its opportunity. + + Cordially and faithfully yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + + HON. LINDLEY M. GARRISON, + Secretary Of War. + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + July 21, 1915. + + MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: + + I have been giving, as I am sure you have also, a great deal of + thought to the matter of a wise and adequate naval programme to be + proposed to the Congress at its next session, and I would like to + discuss the whole subject with you at the earliest possible date. + + But first we must have professional advice. I would be very much + obliged to you if you would get the best minds in the department to + work on the subject: I mean the men who have been most directly in + contact with actual modern conditions, who have most thoroughly + comprehended what the Navy must be in the future in order to stand + upon an equality with the most efficient and most practically + serviceable. I want their advice, a programme by them formulated in + the most definite way. Whether we can reasonably propose the whole of + it to the Congress immediately or not we can determine when we have + studied it. The important thing now is to know fully what we need. + Congress will certainly welcome such advice and follow it to the limit + of its opportunity. + + It should be a programme planned for a consistent and progressive + development of this great defensive arm of the nation and should be of + such a kind as to commend itself to every patriotic and practical man. + + I shall return to Washington in a few days and shall be glad to take + this important matter up with you at your early convenience. + + Cordially and faithfully yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + HON. JOSEPHUS DANIELS, + Secretary of the Navy. + +Immediately after the war message there arose an insistent demand for a +coalition cabinet. It was the beginning of the Republican drive for what +was called a bi-partisan government. Republicans chose to forget the +experiences of England and France under their coalition cabinets, and when +the President refused to act upon the suggestion, the impression was +subtly conveyed to the unthinking that the President's refusal arose from +his dislike of counsel and coöperation, and his unwillingness to share the +responsibilities and glories of the war with people outside his own party. + +As an historian, the President knew the troubles of Washington with a +coalition cabinet, Lincoln's embarrassments from Cabinet members not of +his own party, McKinley's sagacious refusal in 1898 to form a coalition +cabinet. He also knew human nature; knew that with the best intentions, +men sometimes find it difficult to work whole-heartedly with a leader of a +political party not their own. He could not risk a chance of division, in +his own official family in the face of the common enemy. + +The President looked upon the agitation for a coalition cabinet as a +partisan effort to hamper and embarrass his administration, and so he +coldly turned away from every suggestion that looked toward the +establishment of a cabinet of the kind suggested by his too-solicitous +Republican friends. + +The following note which I addressed to the President and his reply, bear +upon the subject: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + The newspaper men asked me this morning what the attitude of the + Administration was toward the proposed super-cabinet. I hedged as much + as I could, but I asked if it was not the same proposition that came + up some months ago, advocated by Senator Weeks, in a new disguise--if + it was not the same kind of a commission that had harassed Mr. + Lincoln. I think we ought to let our attitude be known unofficially + for the guidance of men who wish to help us. If we do nothing at this + time to let it be known, it would seem that our opposition to this + kind of legislation had been silenced by the furore over the fuel + order. In other words, we ought to show by our attitude that the + tantrums on the Hill are making no impression on us whatever. + + TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + + DEAR TUMULTY: + + Of course, I am opposed to the idea of a "super-cabinet," and regard + it as nothing more nor less than a renewal of the perpetual effort of + the Republicans to force representation in the Administration. + Republicans of the finest sort and of the finest capacity are working + for and with the Administration on all hands and there is no need + whatever for a change at the head of the administering departments. I + am utterly opposed to anything of the sort and will never consent to + it. You will know how to create the impression on the minds of the + newspaper men that I regard it as merely a partisan effort to hamper + and embarrass the Administration. + + THE PRESIDENT. + +There were many misgivings in the minds of the people when war was +declared in April, 1917, and the nation embarked upon the most gigantic of +all its wars, under the leadership of a college professor, a doctrinaire, +who did not believe in war as a method of permanently solving +international problems, and a Secretary of War who was an avowed pacifist. +There was another matter which greatly disturbed the peace of mind of the +average American. The political party that was conducting the struggle was +the Democratic party, the party of the plain folk, of the average men and +women of America. Our Republican friends had so cleverly "advertised" +their conduct of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War, that many +people in the country felt that the Republican party, because of its +leading minds and the business genius of its masters, was the only +political organization that could be depended upon successfully to carry +on a great war. + +Colonel Roosevelt's diary, first made public on September 28, 1921, throws +interesting light on Republican claims of efficient management by +Republicans of the Spanish-American War. Under date of May 7, 1898, the +Colonel, then a lieutenant-colonel, recorded in his diary: "The delays and +stupidity of the Ordnance Department surpass belief. The Quartermaster's +Department is better, but bad. The Commissary Department is good. There is +no management whatever in the War Department. Against a good nation we +should be helpless," and these animadversions are reiterated in subsequent +entries. Interesting comments from the greatest of contemporary +Republicans on the divine right of the Republican party to conduct all +American wars and transact all other American business of importance. But +doubtless the Colonel had forgotten all this in 1917, and many other good +Americans had also forgotten what was notorious in 1898 and the ineptitude +of the Republican War Department, which, as Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt +said under date of May 21, 1898, had "no head, no energy, no +intelligence." But the old myth sedulously cultivated by Republicans +continued in 1917, that only Republicans are fit to govern, no matter how +badly they govern. Direful prophecies and predictions of disaster to the +country by reason of the Democratic auspices under which the war was to be +conducted were freely made. + +It is an unpleasant fact that some of the leading Republicans in the +Senate and the House harboured for the President a partisan and personal +hatred which made the wish father to the thought. Yet the expected did not +happen, to the amazement and chagrin of the Republican enemies of the +President. No other war was attended with so little scandal and with +greater expedition. The cause was plain. It was the magnificent and +aggressive leadership of Woodrow Wilson exerting itself all along the +line, and that leadership was based upon certain fundamental resolutions +which had been taking form in the President's mind for many months +previous to his appearance before Congress asking for the passage of a war +declaration. They were as follows: (1) There was to be no "politics" in +the conduct of the war; (2) no political generals would be selected; (3) +every ounce of energy and force in the nation was to be put back of the +heads of the Army and the Navy in a supreme effort to make our influence, +moral and physical, quickly felt. Every effort was made to cut out scandal +and to put an absolute embargo on the activities of army speculators, +contractors, and profiteers. + +Speaking to me one day about the conduct of the war, shortly after the +delivery of his war message, he said: "We must not in our conduct of this +war repeat the scandals of the Civil and the Spanish-American wars. The +politics of generals and admirals must be tabooed. We must find the best +trained minds that we can get and we must back them up at every turn. Our +policy must be 'the best man for every job,' regardless of his political +affiliations. This must be the only test, for, after all, we are the +trustees of the boys whose lives will be spent in this enterprise of war." + +This was not an easy policy to pursue. Every kind of harassing demand came +from Democratic senators and representatives to induce the President to +recognize political considerations in the conduct of the war, the argument +being that after all the responsibility for its conduct resting with the +Democrats, the administration of the war ought to be under Democratic +tutelage throughout. But the President was firm--in his resolve to see the +war through to the end without political considerations. The political +predilections of generals, admirals, and war workers of every kind was +ignored. + +Mr. Creel by furnishing a list of Republicans appointed by the President +to conspicuous office has disproved the charge against the President of +niggard partisanship. Although the President would not tolerate a +coalition cabinet, he gave to Republicans all manner of opportunities to +share in the conduct and the credit of the war. I quote from Mr. Creel: + + The search for "the best man for the place" was instituted without + regard to party, faction, blood strain, or creed, and the result was a + composite organization in which Democrats, Republicans, and + Independents worked side by side, partisanship forgotten and service + the one consideration. + + It stood recognized as a matter of course that the soldier selected to + command our forces in France might well develop into a presidential + possibility, yet this high place was given without question to Gen. + John J. Pershing, a life-long Republican and the son-in-law of Senator + Warren, one of the masters of the Republican machine. + + Admiral William S. Sims, a vociferous Republican, was sent to English + waters in high command, and while Secretary Daniels was warned at the + time that Sims's partisanship was of the kind that would not recognize + the obligations of loyalty or patriotism, he waved the objection aside + out of his belief that Sims was "the best man for the job". + + For the head of the Aircraft Board, with its task of launching + America's great aviation programme, Mr. Howard E. Coffin, a + Republican, was selected and at his right hand Mr. Coffin placed Col. + Edward A. Deeds, also a Republican of vigour and regularity. + + It is to be remembered also that when failure and corruption were + charged against the Aircraft Board, the man appointed by the President + to conduct the highly important investigation was Charles E. Hughes. + + Three Assistant Secretaries of War were appointed by Mr. Baker--Mr. + Benedict Crowell, a Cleveland contractor; Doctor F. E. Keppel, dean of + Columbia University, and Emmet J. Scott, formerly Booker Washington's + secretary--and all three were Republicans. Mr. E. R. Stettinius of the + J. P. Morgan firm and a Republican was made special assistant to the + Secretary of War and placed in charge of supplies, a duty that he had + been discharging for the Allies. Maj. Gen. George W. Goethals, after + his unfortunate experience in shipbuilding, was given a second chance + and put in the War Department as an assistant Chief of staff. The + Chief of Staff himself, Gen. Peyton C. March, was a Republican no less + definite and regular than General Goethals. Mr. Samuel McRoberts, + president of the National City Bank and one of the pillars of the + Republican party, was brought to Washington as chief of the + procurement section in the Ordnance Section, with the rank of + brigadier-general, Maj. Gen. E. H. Crowder was appointed Provost- + Marshal-General, although his Republicanism was well known, and no + objection of any kind was made when General Crowder put Charles B. + Warren, the Republican National Committeeman from Michigan, in charge + of appeal cases, a position of rare power. + + The Emergency Fleet Corporation was virtually turned over to + Republicans under Charles M. Schwab and Charles Piez. Mr. Vance + McCormick, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was made + chairman of the War Trade Board, but of the eight members the + following five were Republicans: Albert Strauss of New York, Alonzo E. + Taylor of Pennsylvania, John Beaver White, of New York, Frank C. + Munson of New York, and Clarence M. Woolley of Chicago. + + The same conditions obtained in the Red Cross. A very eminent + Republican, Mr. H. P. Davison, was put in supreme authority, and on + the Red Cross War Council were placed ex-President Taft; Mr. Charles + D. Norton, Mr. Taft's secretary while President; and Mr. Cornelius N. + Bliss, former treasurer of the Republican National Committee. Not only + was Mr. Taft thus honoured, but upon the creation of a National War + Labour Board the ex-President was made its chairman and virtually + empowered to act as the administration's representative in its contact + with industry. + + Mr. Frank A. Vanderlip, a Republican of iron regularity, was placed in + charge of the War Savings Stamps Campaign, and when Mr. McAdoo had + occasion to name Assistant Secretaries of the Treasury he selected + Prof. L. S. Rowe of the University of Pennsylvania and Mr. H. C. + Leffingwell of New York. + + Harry A. Garfield, son of the Republican President, was made Fuel + Administrator, and Mr. Herbert Hoover, now a candidate for President, + on a platform, of unadulterated Republicanism, was nominated as head + of the Food Administration. + + The Council of National Defense was an organization of high importance + and one of tremendous influence from a partisan standpoint, yet its + executive body was divided as follows: Republicans--Howard E. Coffin, + Julius Rosenwald, Dr. Hollis Godfrey, Dr. Franklin Martin, Walter S. + Gifford, Director; Democrats--Daniel Willard and Bernard M. Baruch; + Independent--Samuel Gompers. + +No sooner had the war begun than the preliminary war work of the President +began to bear fruit. + +Within a month from the declaration of war the traditional policy of the +nation was reversed, by the enactment of the Selective Service Act. A vast +machinery of registration was created that ran without a hitch, and on +June 5th more than 10,000,000 men were registered quickly and efficiently. + +Thirty-two encampments--virtual cities, since each had to house 40,000 +men--were built in ninety days from the driving of the first nail, +complete in every municipal detail, a feat declared impossible, and which +will stand for all time as a building miracle. + +In June, scarcely two months after the President's appearance before +Congress, General Pershing and his staff reached France, and on July 3rd +the last of four groups of transports landed American fighting men in the +home of La Fayette and Rochambeau. On October 10th our soldiers went on +the firing-line. + +Training camps for officers started in June, and in August there were +graduated 27,341 successful aspirants, ready to assume the tasks of +leadership. + +In a notable speech, confidential in character, the President on the 8th +day of April, 1918, addressed the foreign correspondents at the White +House concerning "our resolutions" and "actions in the war." The speech +was as follows: + + I am very glad to have this opportunity to meet you. Some of you I + have met before, but not all. In what I am going to say I would prefer + that you take it in this way, as for the private information of your + minds and not for transmission to anybody, because I just want, if I + may, in a few words to create a background for you which may be + serviceable to you. I speak in confidence. + + I was rendered a little uneasy by what Mr. Lloyd George was quoted as + having said the other day that the Americans have a great surprise in + store for Germany. I don't know in what sense he meant that, but there + is no surprise in store. I want you to know the sequence of resolves + and of actions concerning our part in the war. Some time ago it was + proposed to us that we, if I may use the expression feed our men into + the French and English armies in any unit that might be ready-- + companies or regiments or brigades--and not wait to train and + coordinate the larger units of our armies before putting them into + action. My instinctive judgment in the face of that proposition was + that the American people would feel a very much more ardent interest + in the war if their men were fighting under their own flag and under + their own general officers, but at that time, which was some months + ago, I instructed General Pershing that he had full authority whenever + any exigency that made such a thing necessary should occur to put the + men in any units or in any numbers or in any way that was necessary-- + just as he is doing. What I wanted you to know was that that was not a + new action, that General Pershing was fully instructed about that all + along. + + Then, similarly with regard to the impression that we are now going to + rush troops to Europe. Of course, you cannot rush any faster than + there is means of rushing and, what I have said recently is what I + have said all along, that we are getting men over there just as fast + as we can get them ready and as quickly as we can find the ships to + transport them. We are doing that now and we have been doing it all + along. Let me point out some of the circumstances: Our first programme + was to send over ninety thousand men a month, but for several months + we were sending over only thirty thousand--one third of the programme. + Why? Not because we didn't have the men ready, not even because we + didn't have the means of transportation, but because--and there is no + criticism of the French Government involved in this--because the ports + assigned to us for landing couldn't take care of the supplies we had + to send over. We had to send materials and engineers, and workmen, + even, over to build the docks and the piers that would be adequate to + handle the number of men we sent over, because this was happening: We + began with the ninety-thousand programme and the result was that cargo + ships that we needed were lying in those ports for several weeks + together without being unloaded, as there was no means of unloading + them. It was bad economy and bad practice from every point of view to + have those ships lying there during a period when they could have made + two or three voyages. There is still this difficulty which I am afraid + there is no means of overcoming rapidly, that the railroad + communication between those ports and the front is inadequate to + handle very large bodies of men. You may notice that General Pershing + recommended that Christmas boxes should not be sent to the men. That + sounded like a pretty hard piece of advice, but if you could go to + those ports and see those Christmas boxes which are still there, you + would know why he didn't want them sent. There was no means of getting + them to the front. Vast accumulations of these gifts were piled up + there with no means of storing them adequately even. + + I just wanted to create for you this picture, that the channels have + been inevitably choked. Now we believe that, inasmuch as the + impediments on the other side are being largely removed, we can go + ahead with the original programme and add to it in proportion as the + British can spare us the tonnage, and they are going to spare us the + tonnage for the purpose. And with the extra tonnage which the British + are going to spare us we will send our men, not to France but to Great + Britain, and from there they will go to the front through the channel + ports. You see that makes a new line where the means of handling them + are already established and where they are more abundant than they are + at the French ports. Now, I want to say again that none of this + involves the least criticism of the French authorities, because I + think they have done their very best in every respect, but they + couldn't make ports out of hand, they couldn't build new facilities + suddenly, and their man power was being drawn on in very much larger + proportion than our man power. Therefore, it was perfectly proper that + we should send men over there and send materials to make the means of + handling the troops and the cargoes more expeditiously. + + I want you gentlemen to realize that there was no wave-like motion in + this thing so far as our purpose and preparation are concerned. We + have met with delays, of course, in production, some of which might + have been avoided and ought to have been avoided, and which are being + slowly corrected, but apart from that the motive power has been back + of this thing all the time. It has been the means of action that has + oscillated, it has been sometimes greater and sometimes less than was + necessary for the programme. + + I for my own part don't like the idea of having surprises. I would + like the people to be surprised if we didn't do our duty, but not + surprised that we did do it. Of course, I don't mean that Mr. Lloyd + George meant that we would surprise everybody by doing our duty, but I + don't just know how to interpret his idea of it, because I have said + the same thing to the British representatives all along as I + informally expressed it to Lord Reading, that we had been and always + would be doing our damnedest, and there could not be a more definite + American expression of purpose than that. + + As to another matter (I am just giving you things to think about and + not things to say, if you will be kind enough to take it that way). + That speech I made on Saturday I hope was correctly understood. We are + fighting, as I understand it, for justice to everybody and are ready + to stop just as soon as justice to everybody is everybody's programme. + I have the same opinion privately about, I will not say the policy, + but the methods of the German Government that some gentlemen have who + see red all the time, but that is not a proper part of my thought. My + thought is that if the German Government insist that the thing shall + be settled unjustly, that is to say by force, then of course we accept + that and will settle it by force. Whenever we see sincere symptoms of + their desire to settle it by justice, we will not only accept their + suggestions but we will be glad and eager to accept them, as I said in + my speech. I would be ashamed to use the knock-down and drag-out + language; that is not the language of liberty, that is the language of + braggadocio. For my part, I have no desire to march triumphantly into + Berlin. If they oblige us to march triumphantly into Berlin, then we + will do it if it takes twenty years. But the world will come to its + senses some day, no matter how mad some parts of it may be now, and + this is my feeling, that we ought when the thing is over to be able to + look back upon a course which had no element in it which we need be + ashamed of. So it is so difficult in any kind of a speech, this kind + or any other, to express two things that seem to be going in opposite + directions that I wasn't sure that I had succeeded in expressing them + on Saturday--the sincere willingness to discuss peace whenever the + proposals are themselves sincere and yet at the same time the + determination never to discuss it until the basis laid down for the + discussion is justice. By that I mean justice to everybody. Nobody has + the right to get anything out of this war, because we are fighting for + peace if we mean what we say, for permanent peace. No injustice + furnishes a basis for permanent peace. If you leave a rankling sense + of injustice anywhere, it will not only produce a running sore + presently which will result in trouble and probably war, but it ought + to produce war somewhere. The sore ought to run. It is not susceptible + to being healed except by remedying the injustice. Therefore, I for my + part wouldn't want to see a peace which was based upon compelling any + people, great or small, to live under conditions which it didn't + willingly accept. + + If I were just a sheer Machiavelli and didn't have any heart but had + brains, I would say: "If you mean what you say and are fighting for + permanent peace, then there is only one way to get it, whether you + like justice or not." It is the only conceivable intellectual basis + for it, because this is not like the time, years ago, of the Congress + of Vienna. Peoples were then not willing, but so speechless and + unorganized and without the means of self-expression, that the + governments could sit on their necks indefinitely. They didn't know + how to prevent it. But they are wide awake now and nobody is going to + sit comfortably on the neck of any people, big or little, and the more + uncomfortable he is who tries it, the more I am personally pleased. So + that I am in the position in my mind of trying to work out a purely + scientific proposition: "What will stay put?" + + A peace is not going to be permanent until that principle is accepted + by everybody, that, given a political unit, every people has the right + to determine its own life. That, gentlemen, is all I have to say to + you, but it is the real inside of my mind, and it is the real key to + the present foreign policy of the United States which for the time + being is in my keeping. I hope it will be useful to you, as it is + welcome to me to have this occasion of telling you what I really think + and what I understand we are really doing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD + + +During this time the President was constantly on guard at the Executive +offices, never for a moment out of touch with the situation. He was the +intimate associate of the men who were his co-labourers on the various +boards that had been set up to prosecute the work of the war. He seemed to +know what was going on in every phase. His evenings were given to +examination of the long dispatches that came from diplomatic and consular +representatives of America at the various capitals of Europe, apprising +him of the developments of the great war. + +One of the most effective measures for weakening the enemy was the method +of attacking the Central Powers from within by propaganda designed to +incite the masses to rebellion and to drive wedges between Germany and +Austria. As George Creel says, "The projectile force of the President's +idealism, its full military value may be measured by the fact that between +April 6 and December 8, 1917, sixteen States, great and small, declared +war against Germany, or severed diplomatic relations with her. From the +very first the Allies accepted the President as their spokesman." It was +under the influence of Woodrow Wilson's clear vision and magic power of +statement that the true significance of the war became clear. At first it +had seemed a war of nations, and the belligerents had eagerly published +official documents, Red Books, White Books, Yellow Books, and so forth, +through all the colours of the spectrum, to show who had "started the +war." The question of who began it became after a while quite secondary to +the question of the fundamental principles at stake in the contest which +was no longer a national conflict, but a world war, waged to the death +between two irreconcilable views of the relationship of government to +individuals, the autocratic view on the one hand, on the other the +democratic. It was one man who brought the fundamental principle of the +division into the clear light. A contemporary writer has said that the +magical effect of Woodrow Wilson's utterances on all the Allies was due, +not to his rhetoric but to his sublime gift of seeing and stating a +profound truth after which others had been only groping. That is the +prophet's power, to voice the latent, inarticulate aspirations of the +multitude. Proof of the value of the President's method of attacking the +Central Powers from within by propaganda was disclosed in General +Ludendorff's and Von Tirpitz's revelations. In Ludendorff's opinion, the +President's note to Germany had forced the Central Empires to yield to the +President. Ludendorff says: + + In his answer to our second note, Wilson gave us nothing; he did not + even tell us whether the Entente took its stand on the Fourteen + Points. He demanded, however, the suspension of the submarine + campaign, stigmatized our conduct of the war in the west as a + violation of international law, and once again sought to meddle with + intimate questions of our domestic politics. + +Speaking again of the answer to one of the Wilson notes, Ludendorff says: + + The answer to Wilson was dispatched on the 20th of October. The + submarine campaign was abandoned. This concession to Wilson was the + deepest blow to the army, and especially to the navy. The injury to + the morale of the fleet must have been immeasurable. The Cabinet had + thrown up the sponge. + +On October 23rd, President Wilson sent the following peremptory message to +the Germans: + + It is evident that the German people have no means of commanding the + acquiescence of the military authorities of the Empire in the popular + will; that the purpose of the King of Prussia to control the policy of + the Empire is still unimpaired. If the United States must deal with + the military masters and monarchical authorities now, or if it is + likely to have to deal with them later in regard to international + obligations of the German Empire, it must demand not peace + negotiations but surrender. Nothing can be gained by leaving this + essential thing unsaid. + +In discussing this and the other Wilson notes, Ludendorff says that they +had dealt a vital blow at the heart of militaristic Germans and finally +loosed the grip they held on the German people. This entire situation is +best expressed in Ludendorff's own words: + + On October 23rd or 24th Wilson's answer arrived. It was a strong + answer to our cowardly note. This time he had made it quite clear that + the armistice conditions must be such as to make it impossible for + Germany to resume hostilities, and to give the powers allied against + her unlimited power to settle themselves the details of the peace + accepted by Germany. In my view, there could no longer be doubt in any + mind that we must continue the fight. I felt quite confident that the + people were still to be won over to this course. + + On the evening of the 24th, shortly after leaving Spa for Berlin, + there was brought to me the following proclamation already signed by + the Field Marshal, which expressed the views prevailing at G. H. Q. on + the third Wilson note. It appeared essential that G. H. Q. in its + dealings with Berlin should take up a definite stand to the note in + order to eliminate its ill effects on the army. The telegram to the + Army ran thus: + + "For the information of all troops: Wilson says in his answer that + he is ready to propose to his allies that they should enter into + armistice negotiations; but that the armistice must render Germany + so defenseless that she cannot take up arms again. He will only + negotiate with Germany for peace if she concedes all the demands + of America's associates as to the internal constitutional + arrangements of Germany; otherwise, there is no choice but + unconditional surrender. + + "_Wilson's answer is a demand for unconditional surrender._ It is + thus unacceptable to us soldiers. It proves that our enemies' + desire for our destruction, which let loose the war in 1914, still + exists undiminished. It proves, further, that our enemies use the + phrase 'peace of justice' merely to deceive us and break our + resistance. Wilson's answer can thus be nothing for us soldiers + but a challenge to continue our resistance with all our strength. + + "When our enemies know that no sacrifices will achieve the rupture + of the German front, then they will be ready for a peace which + will make the future of our country safe for the broad masses of + our people. + + "At the front, October 24th, 10 P.M." + +This proclamation which was signed by Field Marshal Von Hindenburg was +later signed by Ludendorff. It resulted in the Kaiser's immediate orders +for a special conference at which both of these officials were dismissed +from the Imperial German army. + +Von Tirpitz in his Memoirs laid stress on the effect of the Wilson +submarine notes. Ludendorff declares in his book that the "Wilson +propaganda" that found root in Berlin and finally grew there eventually +convinced the German people that it was not they themselves, but the +Government and militarism that the United States was warring against. +_This was the seed of dissension that ruined German morale at home._ + +_Tirpitz declared that the beginning of the end came when in answer to the +President's_ Sussex _note, "We showed the world that we were going down +before America."_ + +Probably the most enlightening chapter of either book is that containing +Tirpitz's contention that the influence of the Wilson submarine notes +resulted in Japan's stronger and more active alliance with the Allies. In +this connection Von Tirpitz says: + + Only the transmitting to Germany of the threatening notes of President + Wilson, when he inveighed against my submarine campaign during the + latter stages of the war, prevented Japan from coming to us in a great + Germano-Japanese alliance, which would have ended the war at once. + +The overtures of the Pope, in August, 1917, were rejected and again the +attention of the world was arrested by the masterly leadership of the +American President. On August 16, 1917, I addressed the following letter +to the President with reference to the offers of peace made by His +Holiness Pope Benedict XV: + + The White House, Washington, + 16 August, 1917. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + I do not believe that the proposals the Pope has submitted should lead + us into a statement as to the terms of peace beyond that which the + President has already given expression to in his address in the Senate + and in his Russian note. In these two documents are discussed the + fundamentals of international peace. Some of these fundamentals the + Pope recognizes in his statement to the belligerents. To go beyond a + discussion of these now might lead to a conflict of opinion even among + our own allies (for instance, France hopes for the return of Alsace + Lorraine; Russia, for Constantinople, etc.). + + When the President said in his address of April second, last, that we + were not making war on the German people, I believe he set the stage + for the abdication of the Kaiser. And I think our whole note in reply + to the Pope should be so framed that this idea would always be kept in + the forefront of our discussion so as to bring home to the people of + Germany the distrust and utter contempt in which the ruling powers of + Germany are held by the peoples of the world. + + Our note in reply to the Pope should, I believe, embody the following + ideas: + + "First--More important now than the terms of peace are the spirit and + character of the nations who wish to end the war. + + "Second--How can any international agreement to bring an end to the + conflict be discussed until those who brought it about can be made to + realize the inviolability of treaty obligations? + + "Third--Attack the good faith of the ruling powers of Germany, calling + attention to the fact that Germany brought on the war; that Germany + invaded Belgium; that Germany ravished France, sank the _Lusitania_, + ravished the women and children of the conquered territories; that + Germany decreed submarine warfare, and 'erected barbarism into a + religion. + + "Fourth--And the democratic nations of the world are asked to confide + their future and the future of the world to a nation that believes + that force of arms should be substituted for the moral force of right. + In other words, the ruling powers of Germany must purge themselves of + contempt before they shall be given the hearing that the Pope feels + they are entitled to." + + This form of reply will, I am sure, rouse the people of Germany to a + realization of the situation which confronts them, for there is + abundant evidence that they are gradually arriving at the conclusion + that the Kaiser no longer represents them or their ideals. + + In other words, what I should like to see the President do is not to + discuss in extenso our terms of peace but rather confine himself to a + general attack upon the lack of good faith on the part of Germany in + all of her dealings with us. + + TUMULTY. + +On August 27, 1917, the President, through, his Secretary of State, +addressed the following reply to the Pope: + + TO HIS HOLINESS BENEDICTUS XV, POPE: + + In acknowledgment of the communication of Your Holiness to the + belligerent peoples, dated August 1, 1917, the President of the United + States requests me to transmit the following reply: + + Every heart that has not been blinded and hardened by this terrible + war must be touched by this moving appeal of His Holiness the Pope, + must feel the dignity and force of the humane and generous motives + which prompted it, and must fervently wish that we might take the path + of peace he so persuasively points out. But it would be folly to take + it if it does not in fact lead to the goal he proposes. Our response + must be based upon the stern facts and upon nothing else. It is not a + mere cessation of arms he desires: it is a stable and enduring peace. + This agony must not be gone through with again, and it must be a + matter of very sober judgment what will insure us against it. + + His Holiness in substance proposes that we return to the _status quo + ante bellum_, and that then there be a general condonation, + disarmament, and a concert of nations based upon an acceptance of the + principle of arbitration; that by a similar concert freedom of the + seas be established; and that the territorial claims of France and + Italy, the perplexing problems of the Balkan States, and the + restitution of Poland be left to such conciliatory adjustments as may + be possible in the new temper of such a peace, due regard being paid + to the aspirations of the peoples whose political fortunes and + affiliations will be involved. + + It is manifest that no part of this programme can be carried out + successfully unless the restitution of the _status quo ante_ furnishes + a firm and satisfactory basis for it. The object of this war is to + deliver the free peoples of the world from the menace and the actual + power of a vast military establishment controlled by an irresponsible + government which, having secretly planned to dominate the world, + proceeded to carry the plan out without regard either to the sacred + obligations of treaty or the long-established practices and long- + cherished principles of international action and honour; which chose + its own time for the war; delivered its blow fiercely and suddenly; + stopped at no barrier either of law or mercy; swept a whole continent + within the tide of blood--not the blood of soldiers only, but the + blood of innocent women and children also and of the helpless poor; + and now stands balked but not defeated, the enemy of four fifths of + the world. This power is not the German people. It is the ruthless + master of the German people. It is no business of ours how that great + people came under its control or submitted with temporary zest to the + domination of its purpose: but it is our business to see to it that + the history of the rest of the world is no longer left to its + handling. + + To deal with such a power by way of peace upon the plan proposed by + His Holiness the Pope would, so far as we can see, involve a + recuperation of its strength and a renewal of its policy; would make + it necessary to create a permanent hostile combination of nations + against the German people who are its instruments; and would result in + abandoning the newborn Russia to intrigue, the manifold subtle + interference, and the certain counter-revolution which would be + attempted by all the malign influences to which the German Government + has of late accustomed the world. Can peace be based upon a + restitution of its power or upon any word of honour it could pledge in + a treaty of settlement and accommodation? + + Responsible statesmen must now everywhere see, if they never saw + before, that no peace can rest securely upon political or economic + restrictions meant to benefit some nations and cripple or, embarrass + others, upon vindictive action of any sort, or any kind of revenge or + deliberate injury. The American people have suffered intolerable + wrongs at the hands of the Imperial German Government, but they desire + no reprisal upon the German people who have themselves suffered all + things in this war which they did not choose. They believe that peace + should rest upon the rights of peoples, not the rights of governments + --the rights of peoples great or small, weak or powerful--their equal + right to freedom and security and self-government and to a + participation upon fair terms in the economic opportunities of the + world, the German people of course included if they will accept + equality and not seek domination. + + The test, therefore, of every plan of peace is this: Is it based upon + the faith of all the peoples involved or merely upon the word of an + ambitious and intriguing government on the one hand and of a group of + free peoples on the other? This is a test which goes to the root of + the matter; and it is the test which must be applied. + + The purposes of the United States in this war are known to the whole + world, to every people to whom the truth has been permitted to come. + They do not need to be stated again. We seek no material advantage of + any kind. We believe that the intolerable wrongs done in this war by + the furious and brutal power of the Imperial German Government ought + to be repaired, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of any + people--rather a vindication of the sovereignty both of those that are + weak and those that are strong. Punitive damages, the dismemberment of + empires, the establishment of selfish and exclusive economic leagues, + we deem inexpedient and in the end worse than futile, no proper basis + for a peace of any kind, least of all for an enduring peace. That must + be based upon justice and fairness and the common rights of mankind. + + We cannot take the word of the present rulers of Germany as a guaranty + of anything that is to endure, unless explicitly supported by such + conclusive evidence of the will and purpose of the German people + themselves as the other peoples of the world would be justified in + accepting. Without such guaranties treaties of settlement, agreements + for disarmament, covenants to set up arbitration in the place of + force, territorial adjustments, reconstitutions of small nations, if + made with the German Government, no man, no nation could now depend + on. We must await some new evidence of the purposes of the great + peoples of the Central Powers. God grant it may be given soon and in a + way to restore the confidence of all peoples everywhere in the faith + of nations and the possibility of a covenanted peace. + + ROBERT LANSING, + Secretary of State of the United States. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +COLONEL ROOSEVELT AND GENERAL WOOD + + +It will be recalled that early in the war Colonel Roosevelt called at the +White House to confer with the President regarding his desire to lead a +brigade to the other side. I recall distinctly every fact of that meeting. +I was seated a few feet away in the Red Room of the White House at the +time these two men were conferring. Nothing could have been pleasanter or +more agreeable than this meeting. They had not met since they were +political opponents in 1912, but prior to that they had had two or three +friendly visits with each other. Mr. Wilson had once lunched with Colonel +Roosevelt at Sagamore Hill, and when the Colonel was President, he and his +party had been luncheon guests of President and Mrs. Wilson of Princeton +University on the occasion of an Army and Navy game played on the +Princeton gridiron. + +They met in the White House in the most friendly fashion, told each other +anecdotes, and seemed to enjoy together what the Colonel was accustomed to +call a "bully time." + +The object of the Colonel's call was discussed without heat or bitterness. +The President placed before the Colonel his own ideas regarding Mr. +Roosevelt's desire to serve, and the attitude of the General Staff toward +the volunteer system, a system that would have to be recognized if the +Colonel's ambition was to be realized. As a matter of fact, instead of +being moved by any ill will toward the Colonel, the inclination of the +President was to overrule the recommendation of the General Staff and urge +that the Colonel be granted permission to go over seas. The salutations at +the end of the conference were most friendly and the Colonel, on his way +out, stopped in to see me. He slapped me on the back in the most friendly +way, and said: "By Jove, Tumulty, you are a man after my own heart! Six +children, eh? Well now, you get me across and I will put you on my staff, +and you may tell Mrs. Tumulty that I will not allow them to place you at +any point of danger." + +Some weeks later, I received the following letter from Colonel Roosevelt: + + Oyster Bay, Long Island, N. Y. + April 12, 1917. + + MY DEAR MR. TUMULTY: + + That was a fine speech of Williams. I shall write him and congratulate + him. + + Now, don't forget that it might be a very good thing to have you as + one of my commissioned officers at Headquarters. You could do really + important work there, and tell Mrs. Tumulty and the six children, that + this particular service would probably not be dangerous. Come, sure! + + Sincerely yours, + THEODORE ROOSEVELT. + + MR. JOSEPH P. TUMULTY, + Secretary to the President, + Washington, D.C. + +After the Colonel departed, the President in a boyish way said: "Well, and +how did the Colonel impress you?" I told the President of the very +favourable impression the Colonel had made upon me by his buoyancy, charm +of manner, and his great good nature. The President replied by saying: +"Yes, he is a great big boy. I was, as formerly, charmed by his +personality. There is a sweetness about him that is very compelling. You +can't resist the man. I can easily understand why his followers are so +fond of him." + +[Illustration: Colonel Roosevelt sent this letter to Mr. Tumulty shortly +after his one and only call upon President Wilson at the White House. +[Transcriber's note: contains a reproduction of the letter from Roosevelt +quoted above.]] + +It was, therefore, with real pain that the President read the account of +this interview as contained in John J. Leary's book entitled "Talks with +T. R.," containing many slighting references made by the Colonel to the +President. It appears that Mr. Leary accompanied the Colonel to the White +House and immediately upon the conclusion of the conference was the +recipient of a confidential statement of the Colonel's impression of the +President. The account in Mr. Leary's book is as follows: + + I found that, though I had written plainly enough, there was confusion + in his [Wilson's] mind as to what I wanted to do. I explained + everything to him. He seemed to take it well, but--remember I was + talking to Mr. Wilson. + + * * * * * + + Tumulty, by way of a half joke, said he might go to France with me. I + said: 'By Jove, you come right along! I'll have a place for you.' I + would, too, but it wouldn't be the place he thinks. It is possible he + might be sent along as sort of a watchdog to keep Mr. Wilson informed + as to what was being done. He wouldn't be, though. He'd keep his + distance from headquarters except when he was sent for. + + * * * * * + + He [Wilson] has promised me nothing definitely, but as I have said, if + any other man than he talked to me as he did, I would feel assured. If + I talked to another man as he talked to me it would mean that that man + was going to get permission to fight. But I was talking to Mr. Wilson. + His words may mean much, they may mean little. He has, however, left + the door open. + +Of course, what ultimately happened is clear to everyone, civilian and +soldier, who pauses a moment to reflect; as plans for the conduct of the +war matured, it became continually clearer that it must be a professional +war, conducted by professionals with complete authority over subordinates. +There could be no experimenting with volunteer commanders, no matter how +great their valour, how pure their motives, or how eminent their positions +in the nation. To make an exception of Colonel Roosevelt would have been +to strike at the heart of the whole design. Military experts and the +majority of Congressional opinion were at one in this matter, though +Congress put upon the President the responsibility of making the final +decision, together with whatever obloquy this would entail. It was purely +as a step in the interest of waging the war with greatest effectiveness +that the President announced the decision adverse to the Colonel's wishes. +Personally it would have been pleasanter for the President to grant the +Colonel's request, but President Wilson has never adopted "the easiest +way." + +A great deal of criticism was heaped upon the President for what appeared +to the outside as his refusal to send General Leonard Wood to France. +Although a fierce storm of criticism beat upon him, the President +displayed no resentment, nor, indeed, did he seem to notice what his +critics were saying. + +As a matter of fact, the President played no part in the movement to keep +General Wood from realizing his ambition to lead his division to France. +Mr. George Creel in his book, "The War, The World and Wilson," has +succinctly summarized this incident; has told how the name of General Wood +did not appear in any of the lists of officers received from General +Pershing; how the President took this as a plain indication that General +Pershing did not desire General Wood in France (the absence of so eminent +a name from the lists was certainly not an oversight 011 the part of the +Commanding General in France); how President Wilson was determined to +support General Pershing in every detail so long as General Pershing in +the President's opinion was meeting the requirements of the great +responsibility laid upon him; how the President was insistent that General +Pershing should not be embarrassed by political considerations of any kind +in the discharge of his great military duty; how the unfortunate feature +of the whole matter was that the recall of General Wood did not come until +"after he had taken his brigade to New York preparatory to sailing for the +other side"; how "General March treated the circumstance as one of +military routine entirely, utterly failing to realize its political +importance"; how "instead of informing General Wood at once that he had +not been chosen to go to France, General March followed the established +procedure and waited for the completion of the training period before +issuing orders to the division commanders"; how "General Wood left Camp +Funston in advance of his division and without waiting to receive his +orders"; how General March sent these orders to New York; how "in +consequence there was an appearance of eleventh-hour action, an effect of +jerking General Wood from the very deck of the transport"; how "General +Wood carried his complaint to the President and was told plainly that the +list would not be revised in the personal interest of any soldier or +politician." + +I discussed the matter with General Wood immediately upon the conclusion +of his conference with the President. Walking into my office after his +interview, the General informed me that his talk with the President was +most agreeable and satisfactory and that he was certain, although the +President did not intimate it to him, that the reason for his being held +in America could not be attributed to the President. Turning to me, the +General said: "I know who is responsible for this. It is that man +Pershing." I assured the General that there was nothing in the President's +attitude toward him that was in the least degree unfriendly, and reminded +him how the President had retained him as Chief of Staff when he assumed +office in 1913. The General, very much to my surprise, intimated that back +of Pershing's attitude toward him was political consideration. I tried to +reassure him and, indeed, I resented this characterization of General +Pershing as an unjust and unwarranted imputation upon the Commander of the +American Expeditionary Forces. + +I myself felt that General Wood was being unfairly treated, although I did +not admit this to him in our interview. I took the liberty of saying this +to the President over the telephone from my house that evening. I tried to +convince the President that there was a feeling rapidly spreading +throughout the country that Wood was being unfairly treated and that it +was not just that the Administration, which I knew was blameless in the +matter, should be compelled to bear the responsibility of the whole thing +and pay what I was certain would be a great price in the loss of popular +esteem. + +The President in his reply to my statement showed irritation at what I +said in General Wood's behalf, and used very emphatic language in +conveying to me the idea that he would not interfere in having the list, +upon which General Wood's name appeared, revised. I urged that if General +Wood was not to be sent to France, he should be given a chance to go to +Italy. Our conversation over the telephone in reference to the Wood matter +was as follows: "I trust, Governor, that you can see your way clear to +send General Wood either to France or to Italy." + +Without a moment's hesitation, the President said: "I am sorry, but it +cannot be done." + +Whereupon, I said: "It is not fair that the Administration should be +carrying the burden of this whole affair. If General Pershing or the +General Staff is responsible for holding General Wood in this country, +surely they have good reason, and the public ought to be apprised of it, +and thus remove the suspicion that we are playing politics." + +The President quickly interrupted me and said: "I am not at all interested +in any squabble or quarrel between General Pershing and General Wood. The +only thing I am interested in is winning this war. I selected General +Pershing for this task and I intend to back him up in every recommendation +he makes." + +When I tried to emphasize the feeling of dissatisfaction throughout the +country over the Wood incident, he replied that the responsibility of +winning the war was upon General Pershing and himself and not upon the +critics who thought that General Wood was being badly treated. I then +said: "But it is not fair to you to have it said that by reason of some +feeling that you may have against Wood you are keeping him on this side." + +The President replied: "I am sorry, but I do not care a damn for the +criticism of the country. It would not be fair to Pershing if I tried to +escape what appears to be my responsibility. I do not intend to embarrass +General Pershing by forcing his hand. If Pershing does not make good, I +will recall him, but it must not be said that I have failed to support him +at every turn." + +His attitude toward Wood and Roosevelt was consistently maintained, in +supporting the General Staff and the War Department throughout the war. +The only thing that seemed to interest him was how quickly and effectively +to do the job and to find the man who could do it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +WILSON, THE WARRIOR + + +The President had but one object: to throw all the nation's energy into +the scale for the defeat of Germany. Because he did not bluster and voice +daily hymns of hate against Germany, he was singularly misunderstood by +some of his fellow-citizens, who, in their own boiling anger against the +enemy, would sometimes peevishly inquire: "Does he really hate Germany?" +The President was too much occupied with deeds to waste time in word- +vapouring. By every honourable means he had sought to avoid the issue, but +a truculent and fatuous foe had made war necessary, and into that war the +peace-loving President went with the grim resolution of an iron warrior. +In his attitude before and during the war his motto might have been the +familiar words of Polonius: + + Beware of entrance to a quarrel; but being in, + Bear't, that the opposed may beware of thee. + +Occasionally, as at Baltimore, on April 6, 1918, the public heard from him +brief, ringing speeches of warlike resolution: + + Germany has once more said that force and force alone shall decide + whether Justice and Peace shall reign in the affairs of men, whether + Right as America conceives it or Dominion as she conceives it shall + determine the destinies of mankind. There is therefore but one + response possible from us. Force, Force to the utmost, Force without + stint or limit, the righteous and triumphant Force which shall make + Right the law of the world, and cast every selfish Dominion down in + the dust. + +Months after hostilities had ended, there appeared from time to time in +the newspapers, without his or my knowledge of proposed publication, +utterances of his to military men during the conflict which showed his +warrior heart and his extraordinary ability to grasp a technical military +problem such as his dispatch to Admiral Sims, his address to the officers +of the Atlantic Fleet, and his interview with Marshal Joffre in the White +House. Perhaps it is not generally known that Mr. Wilson, who has +constantly read and loved the philosophic poetry of Wordsworth, has also +been an intense admirer of Shakespeare's warrior-hero, Henry the Fifth, +and has frequently read aloud to friends, with exclamations of admiration, +the stirring speeches of Henry in the Shakespearean play. + +The cable message to Admiral Sims is as follows: + + FROM THE PRESIDENT FOR ADMIRAL SIMS, + American Embassy, London, July 5, 1917. + + _Strictly confidential_. + + From the beginning of the war, I have been greatly surprised at the + failure of the British Admiralty to use Great Britain's great naval + superiority in an effective way. In the presence of the present + submarine emergency they are helpless to the point of panic. Every + plan we suggest they reject for some reason of prudence. In my view, + this is not a time for prudence but for boldness even at the cost of + great losses. In most of your dispatches you have quite properly + advised us of the sort of aid and cooperation desired from us by the + Admiralty. The trouble is that their plans and methods do not seem to + us efficacious. I would be very much obliged to you if you would + report to me, confidentially, of course, exactly what the Admiralty + has been doing, and what they have accomplished, and add to the report + your own comments and suggestions, based upon independent thought of + the whole situation, without regard to the judgments of any one on + that side of the water. The Admiralty was very slow to adopt the + protection or convoy and it is not now, I judge [protecting] convoys + on adequate scale within the danger zone, seeming to keep small craft + with the grand fleet. The absence of craft for convoy is even more + apparent on the French coast than on the English coast and in the + Channel. I do not see how the necessary military supplies and supplies + of food and fuel oil are to be delivered at British ports in any other + way within the next few months than under adequate convoy. There will + presently not be ships or tankers enough and our shipbuilding plans + may not begin to yield important results in less than eighteen months. + I believe that you will keep these instructions absolutely and + entirely to yourself, and that you will give me such advice as you + would give if you were handling and if you were running a navy of your + own. + + (Signed) WOODROW WILSON. + +For sheer audacity, there is not much that can be compared with his +address to the officers of the Atlantic Fleet on August 11, 1917: + + Now, the point that is constantly in my mind, gentlemen, is this: This + is an unprecedented war and, therefore, it is a war in one sense for + amateurs. Nobody ever before conducted a war like this and therefore + nobody can pretend to be a professional in a war like this. Here are + two great navies, not to speak of the others associated with us, our + own and the British, outnumbering by a very great margin the navy to + which we are opposed and yet casting about for a war in which to use + our superiority and our strength, because of the novelty of the + instruments used, because of the unprecedented character of the war, + because, as I said just now, nobody ever before fought a war like + this, in the way that this is being fought at sea, or on land either, + for that matter. The experienced soldier--experienced in previous + wars--is a back number so far as his experience is concerned; not so + far as his intelligence is concerned. His experience does not count, + because he never fought a war as this is being fought, and therefore + he is an amateur along with the rest of us. Now, somebody has got to + think this war out. Somebody has got to think out the way not only to + fight the submarine, but to do something different from what we are + doing. + + We are hunting hornets all over the farm and letting the nest alone. + None of us know how to go to the nest and crush it; and yet I despair + of hunting for hornets all over the sea when I know where the nest is + and know that the nest is breeding hornets as fast as I can find them. + I am willing for my part, and I know you are willing because I know + the stuff you are made of--I am willing to sacrifice half the navy + Great Britain and we together have to crush out that nest, because if + we crush it the war is won. I have come here to say that I do not care + where it comes from, I do not care whether it comes from the youngest + officer or the oldest, but I want the officers of this navy to have + the distinction of saying how this war is going to be won. The + Secretary of the Navy and I have just been talking over plans for + putting the planning machinery of the Navy at the disposal of the + brains of the Navy and not stopping to ask what rank those brains + have, because, as I have said before and want to repeat, so far as + experience in this kind of war is concerned we are all of the same + rank. I am not saying that I do not expect the admirals to tell us + what to do, but I am saying that I want the youngest and most modest + youngster in the service to tell us what we ought to do if he knows + what it is. Now I am willing to make any sacrifice for that. I mean + any sacrifice of time or anything else. I am ready to put myself at + the disposal of any officer in the Navy who thinks he knows how to run + this war. I will not undertake to tell you whether he does or not, + because I know that I do not, but I will undertake to put him in + communication with those who can find out whether his idea will work + or not. I have the authority to do that and I will do it with the + greatest pleasure. + + * * * * * + + We have got to throw tradition to the wind. Now, as I have said, + gentlemen, I take it for granted that nothing that I say here will be + repeated and therefore I am going to say this: Every time we have + suggested anything to the British Admiralty the reply has come back + that virtually amounted to this, that it had never been done that way, + and I felt like saying: "Well, nothing was ever done so systematically + as nothing is being done now." Therefore I should like to see + something unusual happen, something that was never done before; and + inasmuch as the things that are being done to you were never done + before, don't you think it is worth while to try something that was + never done before against those who are doing them to you. There is no + other way to win, and the whole principle of this war is the kind of + thing that ought to hearten and stimulate America. America has always + boasted that she could find men to do anything. She is the prize + amateur nation of the world. Germany is the prize professional nation + of the world. Now when it comes to doing new things and doing them + well, I will back the amateur against the professional every time, + because the professional does it out of the book and the amateur does + it with his eyes open upon a new world and with a new set of + circumstances. He knows so little about it that he is fool enough to + try to do the right thing. The men that do not know the danger are the + rashest men, and I have several times ventured to make this suggestion + to the men about me in both arms of the service. Please leave out of + your vocabulary altogether the word "prudent." Do not stop to think + about what is prudent for a moment. Do the thing that is audacious to + the utmost point of risk and daring, because that is exactly the thing + that the other side does not understand, and you will win by the + audacity of method when you cannot win by circumspection and prudence. + I think that there are willing ears to hear this in the American Navy + and the American Army because that is the kind of folk we are. We get + tired of the old ways and covet the new ones. + + So, gentlemen, besides coming down here to give you my personal + greeting and to say how absolutely I rely on you and believe in you, I + have come down here to say also that I depend on you, depend on you + for brains as well as training and courage and discipline. + +When Marshal Joffre visited the President in the spring of 1917, he was +surprised, as he afterward said to Secretary Daniels, "to find that +President Wilson had such a perfect mastery of the military situation. He +had expected to meet a scholar, a statesman, and an idealist; he had not +expected to meet a practical strategist fully conversant with all the +military movements. + +"In answer to my question as to whether it would be feasible to send in +advance of his army the general who was to command American troops in +France, the President said at once that it could be arranged." + +The President and Marshal Joffre considered together a number of technical +military problems. General Joffre gave the President his expert opinion as +to what should be done in every instance and was surprised at the +promptness with which in each case the President said: "It shall be done." + +A little incident at the White House at the luncheon given by the +President to the members of the Democratic National Committee throws light +upon the fighting qualities of the man. He asked Mr. Angus W. McLean, a +warm and devoted friend from North Carolina, who was seated near him at +the table, what the Scots down in North Carolina were saying about the +war. Mr. McLean replied he could best answer the question by repeating +what a friend of the President's father and an ardent admirer of the +President had said about the President's attitude a few days previous. "I +am afraid our President is not a true Scot, he doesn't show the fighting +spirit characteristic of the Scots." The President promptly replied: "You +tell our Scotch friend, McLean, that he does not accurately interpret the +real Scottish character. If he did, he would understand my attitude. The +Scotsman is slow to begin to fight but when once he begins he never knows +when to quit." + +Two capital policies which contributed enormously to the winning of the +war received their impulse from Woodrow Wilson--the unification of command +of the Allied armies on the western front and the attack of submarines at +their base in the North Sea. On November 18, 1918, Colonel House let it be +known in London that he had received a cable from President Wilson stating +emphatically that the United States Government considered unity of plan +and control between the Allies and the United States to be essential in +order to win the war and achieve a just and lasting peace. + +It was Woodrow Wilson, a civilian, who advised, urged, and insisted that a +mine barrage be laid across the North Sea to check German submarine +activities at their source. Naval experts pronounced the plan impossible: +it would take too long to lay the barrage, and, when laid, it would not +hold. A great storm would sweep it away. But the President insisted that +the thing could be done, and that nothing else could check the submarine +devastation amounting by July, 1917, to 600,000 tons a month of destroyed +shipping. The President's audacity and persistence prevailed, and it is +not too much to say that his plan ended the submarine menace. + +It will be recalled that European newspapers carried a story of a farewell +reception to Mr. Bonar Law, in which he paid his compliments to his chief, +Mr. Lloyd George, saying, in substance, that he had seen Lloyd George +discouraged only once. It was on the morning when the news came of the +great German offensive in March, 1918. Mr. Lloyd George told Mr. Bonar Law +that morning that only a vast increase in American reinforcements could +save the Allies. A cable was immediately framed, asking Mr. Wilson to send +the number of reinforcements necessary. Mr. Bonar Law stated in his speech +that an affirmative answer was received from Mr. Wilson the same day. + +A prominent Englishman, discussing the President's work in connection with +the war, while criticizing what he characterized as the President's +ignorance of European conditions, said: "I feel ashamed to be criticizing +President Wilson for anything when I remember his practical services in +prosecuting the war. No other man in any country gave such firm and +instant support to every measure for making operations effective. His +decisions were fearless and prompt and he stood by them like a rock. In +sending troops promptly and in sending plenty of them, in cooperating in +the naval effort, in insisting on the unity of command under Foch, in +backing the high command in the field, and in every other practical detail +Mr. Wilson had big, clear conceptions and the courage to carry them out." + +Those who were critical of the President's conduct of the war forget the +ringing statement that came from Lloyd George when the great offensive was +on, when he said: "The race is now between Von Hindenburg and Wilson." And +Wilson won. + +The most important speech made by the President during the war was +delivered at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, on September 27, +1918, opening the campaign for the Fourth Liberty Loan. + +I recall a talk the President had with me on the way to New York on the +afternoon of the delivery of this speech when he requested me to read the +manuscript. As he gave it to me he said: "They [meaning the Allies] will +not like this speech, for there are many things in it which will displease +the Imperialists of Great Britain, France, and Italy. The world must be +convinced that we are playing no favourites and that America has her own +plan for a world settlement, a plan which does not contain the germs of +another war. What I greatly fear, now that the end seems inevitable, is +that we shall go back to the old days of alliances and competing armaments +and land grabbing. We must see to it, therefore, that there is not another +Alsace-Lorraine, and that when peace finally comes, it shall be a +permanent and a lasting peace. We must now serve notice on everybody that +our aims and purposes are not selfish. In order to do this and to make the +right impressions, we must be brutally frank with friends and foes alike." + +As we discussed the subject matter of this momentous speech, I gathered +from the President's statements to me that he clearly foresaw the end of +the war and of the possible proposal for a settlement that might be made +by the Allies. Therefore, he felt it incumbent upon him frankly to discuss +America's view of what a just and lasting settlement should be. As one +examines this speech to-day, away from the excitement of that critical +hour in which it was delivered, he can easily find in it statements and +utterances that must have caused sharp irritation in certain chancelleries +of Europe. In nearly every line of it there was a challenge to European +Imperialism to come out in the open and avow its purposes as to peace. +Many of the Allied leaders had been addressing their people on the matter +of peace; now they were being challenged by an American president to place +their cards face up on the table. An examination of the speech, in the +light of subsequent events, reëmphasizes the President's pre-vision: + + At every turn of the war we gain a fresh consciousness of what we mean + to accomplish by it. When our hope and expectation are most excited we + think more definitely than before of the issues that hang upon it and + of the purposes which must be realized by means of it. For it has + positive and well-defined purposes which we did not determine and + which we cannot alter. No statesman or assembly created them; no + statesman or assembly can alter them. They have arisen out of the very + nature and circumstances of the war. The most that statesmen or + assemblies can do is to carry them out or be false to them. They were + perhaps not clear at the outset; but they are clear now. The war has + lasted more than four years and the whole world has been drawn into + it. The common will of mankind has been substituted for the particular + purposes of individual states. Individual statesmen may have started + the conflict, but neither they nor their opponents can stop it as they + please. It has become a peoples' war, and peoples of all sorts and + races, of every degree of power and variety of fortune, are involved + in its sweeping processes of change and settlement. We came into it + when its character had become fully defined and it was plain that no + nation could stand apart or be indifferent to its outcome. Its + challenge drove to the heart of everything we cared for and lived for. + The voice of the war had become clear and gripped our hearts. Our + brothers from many lands, as well as our own murdered dead under the + sea, were calling to us, and we responded, fiercely and of course. + + The air was clear about us. We saw things in their full, convincing + proportions as they were; and we have seen them with steady eyes and + unchanging comprehension ever since. We accepted the issues of the war + as facts, not as any group of men either here or elsewhere had defined + them, and we can accept no outcome which does not squarely meet and + settle them. Those issues are these: + + Shall the military power of any nation or group of nations be suffered + to determine the fortunes of peoples over whom they have no right to + rule except the right of force? + + Shall strong nations be free to wrong weak nations and make them + subject to their purpose and interest? + + Shall peoples be ruled and dominated, even in their own internal + affairs, by arbitrary and irresponsible force or by their own will and + choice? + + Shall there be a common standard of right and privilege for all + peoples and nations or shall the strong do as they will and the weak + suffer without redress? + + Shall the assertion of right be haphazard and by casual alliance or + shall there be a common concert to oblige the observance of common + rights? + + No man, no group of men, chose these to be the issues of the struggle. + They _are_ issues of it; and they must be settled--by no arrangement + or compromise or adjustment of interests, but definitely and once for + all and with a full and unequivocal acceptance of the principle that + the interest of the weakest is as sacred as the interest of the + strongest. + + That is what we mean when we speak of a permanent peace, if we speak + sincerely, intelligently, and with a real knowledge and comprehension + of the matter we deal with. + + * * * * * + + As I have said, neither I nor any other man in governmental authority + created or gave form to the issues of this war. I have simply + responded to them with such vision as I could command. But I have + responded gladly and with a resolution that has grown warmer and more + confident as the issues have grown clearer and clearer. It is now + plain that they are issues which no man can pervert unless it be + wilfully. I am bound to fight for them, and happy to fight for them as + time and circumstance have revealed them to me as to all the world. + Our enthusiasm for them grows more and more irresistible as they stand + out in more and more vivid and unmistakable outline. + + And the forces that fight for them draw into closer and closer array, + organize their millions into more and more unconquerable might, as + they become more and more distinct to the thought and purposes of the + peoples engaged. It is the peculiarity of this great war that while + statesmen have seemed to cast about for definitions of their purpose + and have sometimes seemed to shift their ground and their point of + view, the thought of the mass of men, whom statesmen are supposed to + instruct and lead, has grown more and more unclouded, more and more + certain of what it is that they are fighting for. National purposes + have fallen more and more into the background and the common purpose + of enlightened mankind has taken their place. The counsels of plain + men have become on all hands more simple and straightforward and more + unified than the counsels of sophisticated men of affairs, who still + retain the impression that they are playing a game of power and + playing for high stakes. That is why I have said that this is a + peoples' war, not a statesmen's. Statesmen must follow the clarified + common thought or be broken. + + I take that to be the significance of the fact that assemblies and + associations of many kinds made up of plain workaday people have + demanded, almost every time they came together, and are still + demanding, that the leaders of their governments declare to them + plainly what it is, exactly what it is, that they were seeking in this + war, and what they think the items of the final settlement should be. + They are not yet satisfied with what they have been told. They still + seem to fear that they are getting what they ask for only in + statesmen's terms--only in the terms of territorial arrangements and + divisions of power, and not in terms of broad-visioned justice and + mercy and peace and the satisfaction of those deep-seated longings of + oppressed and distracted men and women and enslaved peoples that seem + to them the only things worth fighting a war for that engulfs the + world. Perhaps statesmen have not always recognized this changed + aspect of the whole world of policy and action. Perhaps they have not + always spoken in direct reply to the questions asked because they did + not know how searching those questions were and what sort of answers + they demanded. + + But I, for one, am glad to attempt the answer again and again, in the + hope that I may make it clearer and clearer that my one thought is to + satisfy those who struggle in the ranks and are, perhaps above all + others, entitled to a reply whose meaning no one can have any excuse + for misunderstanding, if he understands the language in which it is + spoken or can get someone to translate it correctly into his own. And + I believe that the leaders of the governments with which we are + associated will speak, as they have occasion, as plainly as I have + tried to speak. I hope that they will feel free to say whether they + think I am in any degree mistaken in my interpretation of the issues + involved or in my purpose with regard to the means by which a + satisfactory settlement of those issues may be obtained. Unity of + purpose and of counsel are as imperatively necessary as was unity of + command in the battlefield, and with perfect unity of purpose and + counsel will come assurance of complete victory. It can be had in no + other way. "Peace drives" can be effectively neutralized and silenced + only by showing that every victory of the nations associated against + Germany brings the nations nearer the sort of peace which will bring + security and reassurance to all peoples and make the recurrence of + another such struggle of pitiless force and bloodshed for ever + impossible, and that nothing else can. Germany is constantly + intimating the "terms" she will accept; and always finds that the + world does not want terms. It wishes the final triumph of justice and + fair dealing. + +When I had read the speech, I turned to the President and said: "This +speech will bring Germany to terms and will convince her that we play no +favourites and will compel the Allies openly to avow the terms upon which +they will expect a war settlement to be reached. In my opinion, it means +the end of the war." The President was surprised at the emphasis I laid +upon the speech, but he was more surprised when I ventured the opinion +that he would be in Paris within six months discussing the terms of the +treaty. The Washington _Post_, a critic of the President, characterized +this speech, in an editorial on September 29, 1918, as "a marvellous +intellectual performance, and a still more marvellous exhibition of moral +courage." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +GERMANY CAPITULATES + + +Germany had begun to weaken, and suddenly aware of the catastrophe that +lay just ahead, changed her chancellor, and called upon the President for +an armistice upon the basis of the Fourteen Points. The explanation of +Germany's attitude in this matter was simply that she knew she was beaten +and she recognized that Wilson was the only hope of a reasonable peace +from the Berlin point of view. Germany professed to be a liberal and was +asking Wilson for the "benefit of clergy." + +On the 6th day of October, 1918, the following note from Prince Max of +Baden was delivered to the President by the Secretary of State: + + The German Government requests the President of the United States of + America to take steps for the restoration of peace, to notify all + belligerents of this request, and to invite them to delegate + plenipotentiaries for the purpose of taking up negotiations. The + German Government accepts, as a basis for the peace negotiations, the + programme laid down by the President of the United States in his + Message to Congress of January 8,1918, and in his subsequent + pronouncements particularly in his address of September 27, 1918. In + order to avoid further bloodshed, the German Government requests the + President of the United States of America to bring about the immediate + conclusion of a general armistice on land, on water, and in the air. + + (Signed) MAX, Prince Of Baden, + Imperial Chancellor. + +The President was not surprised when the offer of peace came for on all +sides there was abundant evidence of the decline of Germany and of the +weakening of her morale. The President felt that Germany, being desperate, +it would be possible for him, when she proposed a settlement, like that +proposed by Prince Max, to dictate our own terms, and to insist that +America would have nothing to do with any settlement in which the Kaiser +or his brood should play a leading part. I stated to him that the basis of +our attitude toward Germany should be an insistence, in line with his +speech of September 27, 1918, wherein he said: + + We are all agreed that there can be no peace obtained by any kind of + bargain or compromise with the governments of the Central Empires, + because we have dealt with them already and have seen them deal with + other governments that were parties to this struggle, at Brest-Litovsk + and Bucharest. They have convinced us that they were without honour + and do not intend justice. They observe no covenants, accept no + principle but force and their own interest. We cannot come to terms + with them. They have made it impossible. The German people must by + this time be fully aware that we cannot accept the word of those who + forced this war upon us. We do not think the same thoughts or speak + the same language of agreement. + +At the time of the receipt of Prince Max's note by the State Department, +on October 5, 1918, the President was in New York, staying at the Waldorf- +Astoria, preparatory to attending a concert given by the Royal Italian +Grenadiers. A message from the Army Intelligence Department, conveyed to +me by General Churchill, at the Knickerbocker Hotel, in New York, where I +was staying, was the first word we had of Germany's desire for an +armistice. General Churchill read me the German proposal over the 'phone +and I carried it to the President, who was in conference with Colonel +House at the Waldorf. The offer of Germany was so frank and unequivocal in +seeming to meet the terms of the President's formal proposals of peace, +that when Colonel House read it to the President, he turned and said: +"This means the end of the war." When I was interrogated as to my opinion, +I replied that, while the German offer of peace seemed to be genuine, in +my opinion no offer from Germany could be considered that bore the +Hohenzollern-Hapsburg brand. For a moment this seemed to irritate the +President, and he said: "But, at least, we are bound to consider in the +most serious way any offer of Germany which is practically an acceptance +of my proposals of peace." There our first discussion regarding the German +peace offer ended. + +At the conclusion of this talk I was invited to take dinner with the +President and Colonel House and with the members of the President's +family, but the matter of the note which we had just received weighed so +heavily upon me that my digestive apparatus was not in good working order, +and yet the President was seemingly unmindful of it, and refused to permit +the evening to be interfered with because of the note, attending the +concert and apparently enjoying every minute of the evening, and +applauding the speeches that were made by the gentlemen who addressed us. + +After the concert began, I left the Presidential box and, following a +habit I had acquired since coming to the Executive offices, I conferred +with the newspaper men in our party, endeavouring to obtain from them, +without expressing any personal opinion of my own, just how they felt +toward the terms proposed in the Max note. I then called up the State +Department and discussed the note with Mr. Polk, expressing the same +opinion to him that I had already expressed to the President, to the +effect that we could not accept a German offer which came to us under the +auspices of the Hohenzollerns. Upon the conclusion of the concert, we left +the Metropolitan Opera House, I accompanying the President to the Waldorf. +As I took my place in the automobile, the President leaned over to Mrs. +Wilson and whispered to her the news of the receipt of the German note. +Then, turning to me, he said: "Have you had any new reaction on the note +since I last talked with you?" I told him I had not, but that what I had +learned since talking with him earlier in the evening had only confirmed +me in the opinion that I had already expressed, that it would not be right +or safe for us to accept the German proposals. When we arrived at the +Waldorf it was 12:30 A. M. and the President asked me to his rooms, and +there, for an hour and a half, we indulged in a long discussion of the +German offer. As was usual with the President in all these important +matters, his mind was, to use his own phrase, "open and to let." + +I emphasized the idea that we could not consider a peace proposal in which +the Kaiser and his brood played a part, and that the only proffer we could +consider must come from the German people themselves; that in his Mexican +policy he had proclaimed the doctrine that no ruler who came to power by +murder or assassination would ever receive the recognition of the United +States; that we must broaden the morality which underlay this policy, and +by our attitude say to the European rulers who started this war, that +guilt is personal and that until they had purged themselves from the +responsibility of war, we could not consider any terms of peace that came +through them. + +The next day the President left for Cleveland Dodge's home on the Hudson, +with Colonel House and Doctor Grayson. I remained in New York at the +Knickerbocker Hotel, busily engaged in poring over the newspaper files to +find out what the editorial attitude of the country was toward the German +proposal of peace, and in preparing a brief on the whole matter for the +President's consideration. Before Colonel House left, I again impressed +upon him my view of the note and my conviction that it would be a +disastrous blunder for us to accept it. + +The President returned to Washington in the early afternoon, Colonel House +accompanying him. I was eager and anxious to have another talk with him +and was given an opportunity while in the President's compartment in the +train on our way back to Washington. As I walked into the compartment, the +President was conferring with Colonel House, and as I took a seat, the +President asked me if I still felt that the German proposal should be +rejected. I replied, that, if anything, I was stronger in the judgment I +had already expressed. He said: "But it is not an easy matter to turn away +from an offer like this. There is no doubt that the form of it may be open +to objection, but substantially it represents the wishes of the German +people, even though the medium through which it may be conveyed is an +odious and hateful one, but I must make up my own mind on this and I must +not be held off from an acceptance by any feeling of criticism that may +come my way. The gentlemen in the Army who talk about going to Berlin and +taking it by force are foolish. It would cost a million American lives to +accomplish it, and what lies in my thoughts now is this: If we can accept +this offer, the war will be at an end, for Germany cannot begin a new one, +and thus we would save a great deal of bloodshed." + +I remember, as I pointed out to him the disappointment of the people were +he to accept the German offer, he said: "If I think it is right to accept +it, I shall do so regardless of consequences. As for myself, I can go down +in a cyclone cellar and write poetry the rest of my days, if necessary." +He called my attention to the fact that John Jay, who negotiated the +famous treaty with Great Britain, was burned in effigy and Alexander +Hamilton was stoned while defending the Jay Treaty on the steps of the +Treasury Building in New York City. I pointed out to him that there was no +comparison between the two situations; that our case was already made up +and that to retreat now and accept this proposal would be to leave intact +the hateful dynasty that had brought on the war. + +As was his custom and habit, he was considering all the facts and every +viewpoint before he finally took the inevitable step. + +Never before was the bigness of the President shown better than in this +discussion; never was he more open-minded or more anxious to obtain all +the facts in the grave situation with which he was called upon to deal. In +the action upon which his mind was now at work he was not thinking of +himself or of its effect upon his own political fortunes. All through the +discussion one could easily see the passionate desire of the man to bring +this bloody thing of war honourably to an end. + +Mr. Edward N. Hurley furnishes me with a characteristic anecdote connected +with a session of the War Conference Board, which Mr. Hurley calls "one of +the most historic conferences ever held at the White House." + +"The question," says Mr. Hurley, "was whether the President would be +justified in agreeing to an armistice. Many people throughout the country +were demanding an insistence upon unconditional surrender. Very little +news was coming from abroad." Mr. Hurley says that the President met the +Conference Board with the statement: "Gentlemen, I should like to get an +expression from each man as to what he thinks we should or should not do +regarding an unconditional surrender or an armistice." Mr. Hurley says +that "every man at the meeting except one was in favour of an armistice." +After the President had ascertained the opinpn of each he said in a quiet +way: "I have drawn up a tentative note to Germany which I should like to +submit for your approval." After the paper had been passed Around one +member of the Board said: "Mr. President, I think it would be better +politics if you were to change this paragraph"--indicating a particular +paragraph in the document. The President replied, in what Mr. Hurley calls +"a slow and deliberate manner": "I am not dealing in politics, I am +dealing in human lives." + +While the President was engaged in conference with Colonel House, I +addressed a letter to him, as follows: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + October 8, 1918. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + I do not know what your attitude is toward the late German and + Austrian offers. The record you have made up to this time, however, is + so plain that in my judgment there can be only one answer and that is + an absolute and unqualified rejection of these proposals. + + There is no safer counsellor in the country than the Springfield + _Republican_. Speaking of the peace programme of the new German + Chancellor, the _Republican_ says: + + "It [referring to the offer of Prince Max] does not meet the minimum + requirements for the opening of negotiations. These have been + variously stated, but in general may be reduced to restitution, + reparation and guarantees. Under none of these heads has Germany yet + come even measurably near meeting the plain requirements of the + Allies, which have not been reduced in defeat and will not be + increased with victory. Take, for example, the question of Belgium, + now that Germany knows it cannot be kept, it makes a merit of giving + it up, but beyond that Prince Maximilian is not authorized more than + to say that 'an effort shall also be made to reach an understanding on + the question of indemnity'.... What is needed first of all from + Germany is a clear, specific and binding pledge in regard to the + essential preliminaries. It does not advance matters an inch for the + Chancellor, like Baron Burian, to offer to take President Wilson's + points as a 'basis' for negotiations, They will make a first-rate + basis, but only when Germany has offered definite preliminary + guarantees." + + I beg to call your attention to another editorial in the Springfield + _Republican_, entitled "Why Germany Must Surrender," hereto attached. + + Speaking of Germany's promises, I mention still another editorial from + the Springfield _Republican_ which concludes by saying, "Even Mr. + Wilson is not so simple-minded as the Kaiser may once have thought him + to be." + + It is the hand of Prussianism which offers this peace to America. As + long ago as last June you exposed the hollowness of peace offered + under such conditions as are now set forth by the German Chancellor. + Referring to the German Government, you said: "It wishes to close its + bargain before it is too late and it has little left to offer for the + pound of flesh it will demand." + + In your speech of September 27th, you said: + + "We are all agreed that there can be no peace obtained by any kind of + bargain or compromise with the governments of the Central Empires, + because we have dealt with them already and have seen them deal with + other governments that were parties to this struggle, at Brest-Litovsk + and Bucharest. They have convinced us that they were without honour + and do not intend justice. They observe no covenants, accept no + principle but force and their own interest We cannot 'come to terms' + with them. They have made it impossible. The German people must by + this time be fully aware that we cannot accept the word of those who + forced this war upon us. We do not think the same thoughts or speak + the same language of agreement." Certainly, the German people are not + speaking through the German Chancellor. It is the Kaiser himself. He + foresees the end and will not admit it. He is still able to dictate + conditions, for, in the statement which appeared in the papers + yesterday, he said: "It will only be an honourable peace for which we + extend our hand." + + The other day you said: "We cannot accept the word of those who forced + this war upon us." If this were true then, how can we accept this + offer now? Certainly nothing has happened since that speech that has + changed the character of those in authority in Germany. Defeat has not + chastened Germany in the least. The tale of their retreat is still a + tale of savagery, for they have devastated the country and carried off + the inhabitants; burned churches, looted homes, wreaking upon the + advancing Allies every form of vengeance that cruelty can suggest. + + In my opinion, your acceptance of this offer will be disastrous, for + the Central Powers have made its acceptance impossible by their + faithlessness. + + TUMULTY. + +While the President was conferring with Secretaries Lansing, Daniels, +Baker, and Colonel House, I addressed the following letter to President +Wilson and a practically identic letter to Colonel House: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + 7 October, 1918. + + DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: + + Since I returned, every bit of information that comes to me is along + one line and that is, that an agreement in which the Kaiser is to play + the smallest part will be looked upon with grave suspicion and I + believe its results will be disastrous. In my opinion, it will result + in the election of a Republican House and the weakening, if not + impairing of your influence throughout the world. I am not on the + inside and so I do not know, but I am certain that Lloyd George and + Clemenceau will take full advantage of this opportunity in declaring + that, so far as they are concerned, they are not going to sit down at + the Council Table with William the Second, and you may be put in a + position before the world, by your acceptance of these conditions, of + seeming to be sympathetic with the Kaiser and his brood. + + May not Germany be succeeding in splitting the Allies by this offer, + just as Talleyrand succeeded, at the Congress of Vienna, in splitting + the allies who had been victorious over Napoleon? You cannot blot out + the record you have made in your speeches, which in every word and + line showed a distrust of this particular autocracy, with which you + are now asked to deal. Have you considered the possibility that as + soon as Germany read your New York speech of September 27th, knowing, + as they did, that it was neither palatable to the Allies nor in + accordance with that which they had hitherto stood for, promptly + accepted your attitude as a means of dividing the Entente at a + critical moment and robbing her of the benefits of the military + triumph? Did not Talleyrand do the very same thing to them, as the + representative of defeated France, when he sided with Russia and + Prussia as against England and thus made possible the return of + Napoleon? + + I realize the great responsibility that rests upon the President. In + any other matter, not so vital as this, you could be wrong and time + would correct it, but in a thing like this, when you are dealing with + a question which goes to the very depths of international action and + world progress, you are at the parting of the ways. If you wish to + erect a great structure of peace, you must be sure and certain that + every brick in it, that every ounce of cement that goes in it is solid + and lasting, and above all, you must preserve your prestige for the + bigger moments to come. + + Sincerely, + TUMULTY + +Upon the conclusion of the conference, I had a talk with Colonel House and +Secretaries Daniels, Lansing, and Baker, and again urged the necessity of +a refusal on the part of the President to accept the German peace terms. +Secretary Lansing informed me that the President had read my letter to the +conference and then said: "We will all be satisfied with the action the +President takes in this matter." + +While at luncheon that afternoon, the President sent for me to come to the +White House. I found him in conference with Secretary Lansing, Colonel +House, and Mr. Polk. The German reply was discussed and I was happy when I +found that it was a refusal on the part of the President to accept the +German proposal. + +The gist of the President's reply was a demand from him of evidence of a +true conversion on the part of Germany, and an inquiry on the part of the +President in these words: + +"Does the Imperial Chancellor mean that the German Government accepts the +Fourteen Points?" "Do the military men of Germany agree to withdraw all +their armies from occupied territories?", and finally: "The President +wishes to know whether the Chancellor speaks for the old group who have +conducted the war, or does he speak for the liberated peoples of Germany?" + +Commenting upon the receipt of the President's reply to the Germans, André +Tardieu says: + + It is a brief reply which throws the recipients into consternation + they cannot conceal. No conversation is possible, declares the + President, either on peace or on an armistice until preliminary + guarantees shall have been furnished. These are the acceptation pure + and simple of the bases of peace laid down on January 8, 1918, and in + the President's subsequent addresses; the certainty that the + Chancellor does not speak only in the names of the constituted + authorities who so far have been responsible for the conduct of the + war; the evacuation of all invaded territories. The President will + transmit no communication to his associates before having received + full satisfaction on these three points. + +What must be the thought of those partisans in America who were crying out +against the preliminary course of the President in dealing with Germany, +who read this paragraph from Tardieu's book as to the impressions made in +France and Germany by the notes which the President from week to week +addressed to the Germans with reference to the Armistice? + +Again Tardieu says: + + Then comes the thunderbolt. President Wilson refuses to fall into the + trap and, crossing swords in earnest, presses his attack to the utmost + in the note of October 14. A mixed commission for evacuation? No! + These are matters which like the Armistice itself "must be left to the + judgment and advice of the military advisers of the Allied and + Associated Governments." Besides no armistice is possible if it does + not furnish "absolutely satisfactory safeguards and guarantees of the + maintenance of the present military supremacy of the armies of the + United States and of its allies." Besides, no armistice "so long as + the armed forces of Germany continue the illegal and inhuman practices + which they still persist in." Finally, no armistice so long as the + German nation shall be in the hands of military power which has + disturbed the peace of the world. As to Austria-Hungary, Germany has + no interest therein and the President will reply directly. In a single + page the whole poor scaffolding of the German Great General Staff is + overthrown. The Armistice and peace are not to be the means of + delaying a disaster and of preparing revenge. On the main question + itself the reply must be Yes or No! + +In the books of Ludendorff and Hindenburg we see the shattering effect of +the President's answer upon the German military mind. Whatever +misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the President's position there +might be in his own country, whatever false rumours spread by party malice +to the effect that he had entered into negotiations with Germany without +the knowledge of the Allies and was imposing "soft" terms on Germany to +prevent a march to Berlin, the German commanders were under no illusions. +They knew that the President meant capitulation and that in his demand he +had the sanction of his European associates. + +Says Ludendorff: + + This time he made it quite clear that the Armistice conditions must be + such as to make it impossible for Germany to resume hostilities and to + give the powers allied against her unlimited power to settle + themselves the details of the peace accepted by Germany. In my view, + there could no longer be doubt in any mind that we must continue the + fight. + +Said Hindenburg in an order "for the information of all troops," an order +never promulgated: + + He [Wilson] will negotiate with Germany for peace only if she concedes + all the demands of America's allies as to the internal constitutional + arrangements of Germany.... Wilson's answer is a demand for + unconditional surrender. It is thus unacceptable to us soldiers. + +In André Tardieu's book we read that from October 5th, the day when +Germany first asked for an armistice, President Wilson remained in daily +contact with the European governments, and that the American Government +was in favour of writing into the Armistice harsher terms than the Allies +thought it wise to propose to the Germans. It will be recalled that the +popular cry at the time was "On to Berlin!" and an urgent demand upon the +part of the enemies of the President on Capitol Hill that he should stand +pat for an unconditional surrender from Germany; that there should be no +soft peace or compromise with Germany, and that we should send our +soldiers to Berlin. At the time we discussed this attitude of mind of +certain men on the Hill, the President said: "How utterly foolish this is! +Of course, some of our so-called military leaders, for propaganda purposes +only, are saying that it would be more advantageous for us to decline the +offer of Germany and to go to Berlin. They do not, however, give our +people any estimate of the cost in blood and money to consummate this +enterprise." + +The story was also industriously circulated that Marshal Foch was +demurring to any proposition for a settlement with Germany. + +It appears now that in the negotiations for the Armistice Colonel House, +representing the President's point of view in this vital matter, asked +this fundamental question of Foch: "Will you tell us, Marshal, purely from +a military point of view and without regard to any other condition, +whether you would prefer the Germans to reject or sign the Armistice as +outlined here?" Marshal Foch replied: "The only aim of war is to obtain +results. If the Germans sign an armistice now upon the general lines we +have just determined, we shall have obtained the results we asked. Our +aims being accomplished, no one has the right to shed another drop of +blood." + +It was said at the time that the President was forcing settlement upon the +military leaders of the Allies. General Foch disposed of this by saying, +in answer to a question by Colonel House and Lloyd George: "The conditions +laid down by your military leaders are the very conditions which we ought +to and could impose after the success of our further operations, so that +if the Germans accept them now, it is useless to go on fighting." + +It was all over, and the protagonist of the grand climax of the huge drama +was Woodrow Wilson, the accepted spokesman of the Allies, the Nemesis of +the Central Powers, who by first isolating them through his moral appeal +to the neutral world was now standing before them as the stern monitor, +demanding that they settle not on their terms, but on his terms, which the +Allies had accepted as their terms. + +I shall never forget how happy he looked on the night of the Armistice +when the throngs surged through Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, and +he, unable to remain indoors, had come to the White House gates to look +on, in his face a glow of satisfaction of one who realizes that he has +fought for a principle and won. In his countenance there was an expression +not so much of triumph as of vindication. + +As a light ending to a heavy matter, I may say here that when the +Armistice terms were finally accepted, the President said: "Well, Tumulty, +the war's over, and I feel like the Confederate soldier General John B. +Gordon used to tell of, soliloquizing on a long, hard march, during the +Civil War: 'I love my country and I am fightin' for my country, but if +this war ever ends, I'll be dad-burned if I ever love another country.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +APPEAL FOR A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS + + +The President's appeal to the country of October 24, 1918, asking for the +election of a Democratic Congress, brought down upon him a storm of +criticism and ridicule. Many leading Democrats who had strongly urged an +appeal by the President as a necessary and proper thing in the usual war +situation which confronted him, as the criticism directed toward it grew +more bitter, turned away from it and criticized what they said was the +ineptitude and lack of tact of the President in issuing it. As a matter of +fact, opinion in the Democratic ranks as to the wisdom and necessity of a +general appeal was unanimous prior to the issuance of the statement. What +the President was seeking to do when he asked the support of the country +through the election of a Democratic Congress was to prevent divided +leadership at a moment when the President's undisputed control was a +necessity because of the effect a repudiation of his administration would +work upon the Central Powers. He realized that the defeat of his +administration in the midst of the World War would give aid and comfort to +the Central Powers, and that the Allied governments would themselves +interpret it as a weakening of our war power and while the enemy would be +strengthened, our associates would be distressed and disheartened. + +He looked upon it, therefore, not as a partisan matter but as a matter +involving the good faith of America. + +At previous elections the White House had been inundated with requests +from particular senators and congressmen, urging the President to write +letters in their behalf, and this had resulted in so much embarrassment to +the Chief Executive that as the critical days of the November elections of +1918 approached, the President was forced to consider a more general and, +if possible, a more diplomatic method of handling this difficult +situation. The gentlemen who criticized the appeal as outrageously +partisan evidently forgot that for months Will Hays, chairman of the +Republican National Committee, had been busily engaged in visiting various +parts of the country and, with his coadjutors in the Republican National +Committee, openly and blatantly demanding an emphatic repudiation of the +Administration from the country. + +The President and I discussed the situation in June, 1918, and I was asked +by him to consider and work out what might be thought a tactful, effective +plan by which the President, without arousing party rancour or bitterness, +might make an appeal to the country, asking for its support. I considered +the matter, and under date of June 18, 1918, I wrote him a letter, part of +which was given over to a discussion of the way the matter might +discreetly be handled: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + June 18, 1918. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + I think the attitude of the leaders of the Republican party, as + reflected in the speeches of Will Hays, National Chairman, and Senator + Penrose, on Saturday last, will give you the opportunity at the + psychological moment to strike and to define the issue in this + campaign. I think for the present our policy should be one of silence + and even a show of indifference to what the leaders on the other side, + Messrs. Hay and Penrose, are saying and doing. This will, no doubt, + embolden them to make rash statements and charges and by the time you + are ready to make your general appeal, the whole country will realize + how necessary it is for you frankly to ask for the reelection of the + Democratic Congress. In a speech on Friday night, delivered at + Philadelphia, in urging the election of a Republican Congress, Will + Hays said: "We will bring the Government back to the limitations and + principles of the Constitution in time of peace and establish policies + which will again bind up the wounds of war, renew our prosperity, + administer the affairs of government with the greatest economy, + enlarge our strength at home and abroad, etc...." + + Senator Penrose at the same time urging a Republican Congress said: + "Let us keep up an efficient Republican organization in Pennsylvania + and all through the United States, and make a successful Republican + contest at every opportunity in every congressional district and at + the next Presidential election, and endeavour to assure the election + of Republican candidates." + + I think these speeches will give you an opportunity some time in + September or October frankly to state just what your attitude is + toward the coming campaign, and thus lay before the country what the + Republicans hope to gain by bringing about the election of a + Republican Congress. I would suggest that some man of distinction in + the country write you a letter, calling your attention to partisan + speeches of this character, emphasizing the parts I have mentioned, + and ask your opinion with reference to the plan of the Republican + party to regain power. In other words, we ought to accept these + speeches charging incompetency and inefficiency as a challenge, and + call the attention of the country to the fact that the leadership of + the Republican party is still reactionary and standpat, laying + particular emphasis on what the effect in Europe would be of a divided + leadership at this time. I think a letter along the lines of the + Indiana platform which I suggested a few weeks ago would carry to the + country just the impression we ought to make. This letter should be + issued, in my opinion, some time in September or October. + +[Illustration: + + In view of the unprecedented record or this Congress, doesn't the + President wish to make some statement? + + The Secretary. + C.L.S. + + (Transcriber's note: also contains two manuscript letters.) + +Incidents in the daily routine at the White House.] + +While it would seem from a reading of my confidential letter to the +President that we were engaged in preparing the way for an appeal, we were +simply doing what other administrations had done. + +Some time after this the President communicated with Colonel House, and +when I next discussed the matter with the President, he informed me that +he and Colonel House had finally agreed that the thing to do was frankly +to come out without preliminaries of any kind and boldly ask for the +election of a Democratic Congress. I told him that I thought the method I +had proposed for bringing him into the discussion was one that would be +most effective and would cause least resentment; but he was firm in his +resolve to follow the course he finally pursued. He was of the opinion +that this was the open and honourable way to ask for what he thought would +be a vote of confidence in his administration. + +It has often been stated that in this matter the President had acted upon +the advice of Postmaster General Burleson, and many of those individuals +throughout the country who criticized the President's appeal, pointed an +accusing finger at General Burleson and held him responsible for what they +said were the evil consequences of this ill-considered action. Simply by +way of explanation, it can be truthfully said, in fairness to General +Burleson, that he had nothing to do with the appeal and that he had never +been consulted about it. + +These facts are now related by me not by way of apology for what the +President did, for in openly appealing to the country he had many +honourable precedents, of which the gentlemen who criticized him were +evidently ignorant. As Mr. George Creel, in his book, "The War, the World, +and Wilson," says: "In various elections George Washington pleaded for +'united leadership,' and Lincoln specifically urged upon the people the +unwisdom of 'swapping horses in midstream.'" + +In a paragraph in Herndon's "Life of Lincoln," I find the following +appeal: + + He did his duty as President, and rested secure in the belief that he + would be reflected whatever might be done for or against him. The + importance of retaining Indiana in the column of Republican States was + not to be overlooked. How the President viewed it, and how he proposed + to secure the vote of the state is shown in the following letter + written to General Sherman: + + Executive Mansion, + Washington, September 19, 1864. + + MAJOR GENERAL SHERMAN: + + The State election of Indiana occurs on the 11th of October and the + loss of it to the friends of the Government would go far toward losing + the whole Union cause. The bad effect upon the November election, and + especially the giving the State Government to those who will oppose + the war in every possible way, are too much to risk if it can be + avoided. The draft proceeds, notwithstanding its strong tendency to + lose us the State. Indiana is the only important State voting in + October whose soldiers cannot vote in the field. Anything you can + safely do to let her soldiers or any part of them go home and vote at + the State election will be greatly in point. They need not remain for + the Presidential election, but may return to you at once. This is in + no sense an order, but is merely intended to impress you with the + importance to the army itself of your doing all you safely can, + yourself being the judge of what you can safely do. + + Yours truly, + A. LINCOLN. + +Mr. Creel shows that the precedents established by Washington and Lincoln +were followed by Presidents McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft: + + In a speech delivered at Boone, Iowa, October 11, 1898, President + McKinley pleaded for a Republican Congress in these words: + + This is no time for divided councils. If I would have you remember + anything I have said in these desultory remarks, it would be to + remember at this critical hour in the nation's history we must not be + divided. The triumphs of the war are yet to be written in the articles + of peace. + +In the same year Theodore Roosevelt, argued for a Republican Congress as +follows: + + Remember that whether you will or not, your votes this year will be + viewed by the nations of Europe from one standpoint only. They will + draw no fine distinctions. A refusal to sustain the President this + year will, in their eyes, be read as a refusal to sustain the war and + to sustain the efforts of our peace commission to secure the fruit of + war. Such a refusal may not inconceivably bring about a rupture of the + peace negotiations. It will give heart to our defeated antagonists; it + will make possible the interference of those doubtful neutral nations + who in this struggle have wished us ill. + +Ex-President Benjamin Harrison besought the people to "stand behind the +President," saying: + + If the word goes forth that the people of the United States are + standing solidly behind the President, the task of the peace + commissioners will be easy, but if there is a break in the ranks--if + the Democrats score a telling victory, if Democratic Senators, + Congressmen, and governors are elected--Spain will see in it a gleam + of hope, she will take fresh hope, and a renewal of hostilities, more + war, may be necessary to secure to us what we have already won. + +When Colonel Roosevelt himself became President, he followed the usual +precedent without even the excuse of a war emergency. In a letter dated +August 18, 1906, to James E. Watson, he wrote: + + If there were only partisan issues involved in this contest, I should + hesitate to say anything publicly in reference thereto. But I do not + feel that such is the case. On the contrary, I feel that all good + citizens who have the welfare of America at heart should appreciate + the immense amount that has been accomplished by the present Congress, + organized as it is, and the urgent need of keeping this organization + in power. To change the leadership and organization of the House at + this time means to bring confusion to those who have been successfully + engaged in the steady working out of a great and comprehensive scheme + for the betterment of our social, industrial, and civic conditions. + Such a change would substitute a purposeless confusion, a violent and + hurtful oscillation between the positions of the extreme radical and + the extreme reactionary for the present orderly progress along the + lines of a carefully thought out policy. + +Is it not clear in the light of the events that followed the repudiation +of the President and his administration in 1918 that he was justified by +reason of the unusual circumstances of a great world war, in asking for a +"team" that would work in cooperation with him? Some of those who most +indignantly criticized him for his partisan appeal attacked him and the +measures which he recommended for the peace of the world with a +partisanship without parallel in the history of party politics. Some who +most bitterly condemned what he did gave the most emphatic proof that what +he did was necessary. Nor can they honestly defend themselves by saying +that their partisan attacks on the treaty were justifiable reprisal. +Before he ever made his appeal they were doing all in their power to +undermine his influence at home and abroad, and he knew it. The appeal was +no reflection on Republicans as such, nor any minimization of the heroic +service rendered in the war by Republicans and Democrats alike in the +fighting and civilian services, but the President knew that Republicans +organized in party opposition in Congress would not assist but obstruct +the processes of peace-making under his leadership. And all the world now +knows that his judgment was correct. It will be interesting to read the +President's appeal to the country, written by him on the typewriter: + + _My Fellow Countrymen:_ The Congressional elections are at hand. They + occur in the most critical period our country has ever faced or is + likely to face in our time. If you have approved of my leadership and + wish me to continue to be your unembarrassed spokesman in affairs at + home and abroad, I earnestly beg that you will express yourself + unmistakably to that effect by returning a Democratic majority to both + the Senate and the House of Representatives. I am your servant and + will accept your judgment without cavil, but my power to administer + the great trust assigned me by the Constitution would be seriously + impaired should your judgment be adverse, and I must frankly tell you + so because so many critical issues depend upon your verdict. No + scruple of taste must in grim times like these be allowed to stand in + the way of speaking the plain truth. + + I have no thought of suggesting that any political party is paramount + in matters of patriotism. I feel too keenly the sacrifices which have + been made in this war by all our citizens, irrespective of party + affiliations, to harbour such an idea. I mean only that the + difficulties and delicacies of our present task are of a sort that + makes it imperatively necessary that the nation should give its + undivided support to the Government under a unified leadership, and + that a Republican Congress would divide the leadership. + + The leaders of the minority in the present Congress have + unquestionably been pro-war, but they have been anti-Administration. + At almost every turn, since we entered the war, they have sought to + take the choice of policy and the conduct of the war out of my hands + and put it under the control of instrumentalities of their own + choosing. This is no time either for divided counsel or for divided + leadership. Unity of command is as necessary now in civil action as it + is upon the field of battle. If the control of the House and Senate + should be taken away from the party now in power, an opposing majority + could assume control of legislation and oblige all action to be taken + amidst contest and obstruction. + + The return of a Republican majority to either House of the Congress + would, moreover, certainly be interpreted on the other side of the + water as a repudiation of my leadership. Spokesmen of the Republican + party are urging you to elect a Republican Congress in order to back + up and support the President, but even if they should in this way + impose upon some credulous voters on this side of the water, they + would impose on no one on the other side. It is well understood there + as well as here that the Republican leaders desire not so much to + support the President as to control him. The peoples of the Allied + countries with whom we are associated against Germany are quite + familiar with the significance of elections. They would find it very + difficult to believe that the voters of the United States had chosen + to support their President by electing to the Congress a majority + controlled by those who are not in fact in sympathy with the attitude + and action of the Administration. + + I need not tell you, my fellow countrymen, that I am asking your + support not for my own sake or for the sake of a political party, but + for the sake of the nation itself, in order that its inward unity of + purpose may be evident to all the world. In ordinary times I would not + feel at liberty to make such an appeal to you. In ordinary times + divided counsels can be endured without permanent hurt to the country. + But these are not ordinary times. If in these critical days it is your + wish to sustain me with undivided minds, I beg that you will say so in + a way which it will not be possible to misunderstand either here at + home or among our associates on the other side of the sea. I submit my + difficulties and my hopes to you. + +[Illustration: The President's appeal for a Democratic Congress, +as he wrote it on his typewriter and with his corrections. +[Transcriber's note: contains a reproduction of the first page of the +above-quoted letter.]] + +In an address at the White House to members of the Democratic National +Committee, delivered February 28, 1919, which was never published, the +President expressed his own feelings with reference to the defeat of the +Democratic party at the Congressional elections a few months before. +Discussing this defeat, he said: + + Personally, I am not in the least discouraged by the results of the + last Congressional election. Any party which carries out through a + long series of years a great progressive and constructive programme is + sure to bring about a reaction, because while in the main the reforms + that we have accomplished have been sound reforms, they have + necessarily in the process of being made touched a great many definite + interests in a way that distressed them, in a way that was counter to + what they deemed their best and legitimate interests. So that there + has been a process of adaptation in the process of change. There is + nothing apparently to which the human mind is less hospitable than + change, and in the business world that is particularly true because if + you get in the habit of doing your business a particular way and are + compelled to do it in a different way, you think that somebody in + Washington does not understand business, and, therefore, there has + been a perfectly natural reaction against the changes we have made in + the public policies of the United States. In many instances, as in the + banking and currency reform, the country is entirely satisfied with + the wisdom and permanency of the change, but even there a great many + interests have been disappointed and many of their plans have been + prevented from being consummated. So that, there is that natural + explanation. And then I do not think that we ought to conceal from + ourselves the fact that not the whole body of our partisans are as + cordial in the support of some of the things that we have done as they + ought to be. + + You know that I heard a gentleman from one of the southern States say + to his Senator (this gentleman was himself a member of the State + Legislature)--he said to his Senator: "We have the advantage over you + because we have no publication corresponding with the _Congressional + Record_ and all that is recorded in our state is the vote, and while + you have always voted right we know what happened in the meantime + because we read the _Congressional Record_." Now, with regard to a + great many of our fellow partisans in Washington, the _Congressional + Record_ shows what happened between the beginning of the discussion + and the final Vote, and our opponents were very busy in advertising + what the _Congressional Record_ disclosed. And to be perfectly plain, + there was not in the minds of the country sufficient satisfactory + evidence that we had supported some of the great things that they were + interested in any better than the other fellows. The voting record was + all right and the balance in our favour; but they can show a great + many things that discount the final record of the vote. + + Now, I am in one sense an uncompromising partisan. Either a man must + stand by his party or not. Either he has got to play the game or he + has got to get out of the game, and I have no more sufferance for such + a man than the country has. Not a bit. Some of them got exactly what + was coming to them and I haven't any bowels of compassion for them. + They did not support the things they pretended to support. And the + country knew they didn't,--the country knew that the tone of the + cloakroom and the tone of the voting were different tones. Now, I am + perfectly willing to say that I think it is wise to judge of party + loyalty by the cloakroom, and not by the vote and the cloakroom was + not satisfactory. I am not meaning to imply that there was any kind of + blameworthy insincerity in this. I am not assessing individuals. That + is not fair. But in assessing the cause of our defeat we ought to be + perfectly frank and admit that the country was not any more sure of us + than it ought to be. So that we have got to convince it that the ranks + have closed up and that the men who constitute those ranks are all on + the war-path and mean the things they say and that the party + professes. That is the main thing. + + Now, I think that can be accomplished by many processes. + Unfortunately, the members of Congress have to live in Washington, and + Washington is not a part of the United States. It is the most + extraordinary thing I have ever known. If you stay here long enough + you forget what the people of your own district are thinking about. + There is one reason on the face of things. The wrong opinion is + generally better organized than the right opinion. If some special + interest has an impression that it wants to make on Congress it can + get up thousands of letters with which to bombard its Senators and + Representatives, and they get the impression that that is the opinion + at home and they do not hear from the other fellow; and the + consequence is that the unspoken and uninsisted-on views of the + country, which are the views of the great majority, are not heard at + this distance. If such an arrangement were feasible I think there + ought to be a Constitutional provision that Congressmen and Senators + ought to spend every other week at home and come back here and talk + and vote after a fresh bath in the atmosphere of their home districts + and the opinions of their home folks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE GREAT ADVENTURE + + +As we conferred together for the last time before the President left +Washington for the other side, I had never seen him look more weary or +careworn. It was plain to me who had watched him from day to day since the +Armistice, that he felt most keenly the heavy responsibility that now lay +upon him of trying to bring permanent peace to the world. He was not +unmindful of the criticism that had been heaped upon him by his enemies on +the Hill and throughout the country. The only thing that distressed him, +however, was the feeling that a portion of the American people were of the +opinion that, perhaps, in making the trip to Paris there lay back of it a +desire for self-exploitation, or, perhaps, the idea of garnering certain +political advantages to himself and his party. If one who held this +ungenerous opinion could only have come in contact with this greatly +overworked man on the night of our final talk and could understand the +handsome, unselfish purpose that really lay behind his mission to France +and could know personally how he dreaded the whole business, he would +quickly free himself of this opinion. Discussing the object of the trip +with me in his usually intimate way, he said: "Well, Tumulty, this trip +will either be the greatest success or the supremest tragedy in all +history; but I believe in a Divine Providence. If I did not have faith, I +should go crazy. If I thought that the direction of the affairs of this +disordered world depended upon our finite intelligence, I should not know +how to reason my way to sanity; but it is my faith that no body of men +however they concert their power or their influence can defeat this great +world enterprise, which after all is the enterprise of Divine mercy, peace +and good will." + +As he spoke these fateful words, he clearly foresaw the difficulties and +dangers and possible tragedy of reaction and intrigue that would soon +exert themselves in Paris, perhaps to outwit him and if possible to +prevent the consummation of the idea that lay so close to his heart: that +of setting up a concert of powers that would make for ever impossible a +war such as we had just passed through. Indeed, he was ready to risk +everything--his own health, his own political fortunes, his place in +history, and his very life itself--for the great enterprise of peace. +"This intolerable thing must never happen again," he said. + +No one more than Woodrow Wilson appreciated the tragedy of disappointment +that might eventually follow out of his efforts for peace, but he was +willing to make any sacrifice to attain the end he had so close to his +heart. + +He realized better than any one the great expectations of the American +people. Discussing these expectations with Mr. Creel, who was to accompany +him, he said: "It is to America that the whole world turns to-day, not +only with its wrongs but with its hopes and grievances. The hungry expect +us to feed them, the homeless look to us for shelter, the sick of heart +and body depend upon us for cure. All of these expectations have in them +the quality of terrible urgency. There must be no delay. It has been so +always. People will endure their tyrants for years, but they tear their +deliverers to pieces if a millennium is not created immediately. Yet, you +know and I know that these ancient wrongs, these present unhappinesses, +are not to be remedied in a day or with a wave of the hand. What I seem to +see--with all my heart I hope that I am wrong--is a tragedy of +disappointment." + +The President and I had often discussed the personnel of the Peace +Commission before its announcement, and I had taken the liberty of +suggesting to the President the name of ex-Secretary of State Elihu Root. +The President appeared to be delighted with this suggestion and asked me +to confer with Secretary Lansing in regard to the matter. I conferred with +Mr. Lansing, to whom the suggestion, much to my surprise, met with hearty +response. At this conference Mr. Lansing said that he and the President +were attempting to induce some members of the Supreme Court--I think it +was either Mr. Justice Day or Chief Justice White--to make the trip to +Paris as one of the Commission; but that they were informed that Chief +Justice White was opposed to the selection of a Supreme Court Judge to +participate in any conference not connected with the usual judicial work +of the Supreme Court. + +After this conference I left for New York, there to remain with my father +who lay seriously ill, and when I returned to the White House the +President informed me that he and Mr. Lansing had had a further conference +with reference to the Root suggestion and that it was about concluded that +it would be inadvisable to make Mr. Root a member of the Commission. The +President felt that it would be unwise to take Mr. Root, fearing that the +reputation which Mr. Root had gained of being rather conservative, if not +reactionary, would work a prejudice toward the Peace Commission at the +outset. + +Mr. Taft's name was considered, but it was finally decided not to include +him among the commissions to accompany the President. + +The personnel of the Commission, as finally constituted, has been much +criticized, but the President had what were for him convincing reasons for +each selection: he had formed a high opinion of Col. E. M. House's ability +to judge clearly and dispassionately men and events; Mr. Robert Lansing as +Secretary of State was a natural choice; Mr. Henry White, a Republican +unembittered by partisanship, had had a life-long and honourable +experience in diplomacy; General Tasker Bliss was eminently qualified to +advise in military matters, and was quite divorced from the politics of +either party. The President believed that these gentlemen would cooperate +with him loyally in a difficult task. + +I quote from Mr. Creel: + + The truly important body--and this the President realized from the + first--was the group of experts that went along with the Commission, + the pick of the country's most famous specialists in finance, history, + economics, international law, colonial questions, map-making, ethnic + distinctions, and all those other matters that were to come up at the + Peace Conference. They constituted the President's arsenal of facts, + and even on board the _George Washington_, in the very first + conference, he made clear his dependence upon them. "You are in truth, + my advisers," he said, "for when I ask you for information I will have + no way of checking it up, and must act upon it unquestioningly. We + will be deluged with claims plausibly and convincingly presented. It + will be your task to establish the truth or falsity of these claims + out of your specialized knowledges, so that my positions may be taken + fairly and intelligently." + + It was this expert advice that he depended upon and it was a well of + information that never failed him. At the head of the financiers and + economists were such men as Bernard Baruch, Herbert Hoover, Norman + Davis, and Vance McCormick. As head of the War Industries Board, in + many respects the most powerful of all the civil organizations called + into being by the war, Mr. Baruch had won the respect and confidence + of American business by his courage, honesty, and rare ability. At his + side were such men as Frank W. Taussig, chairman of the Tariff + Commission; Alex Legg, general manager of the International Harvester + Company; and Charles McDowell, manager of the Fertilizer and Chemical + departments of Armour & Co.--both men familiar with business + conditions and customs in every country in the world; Leland Summers, + an international mechanical engineer and an expert in manufacturing, + chemicals, and steel; James C. Pennie, the international patent + lawyer; Frederick Neilson and Chandler Anderson, authorities on + international law; and various others of equal calibre. + + Mr. Hoover was aided and advised by the men who were his + representatives in Europe throughout the war, and Mr. McCormick, head + of the War Trade Board, gathered about him in Paris all of the men who + had handled trade matters for him in the various countries of the + world. + + Mr. Davis, representing the Treasury Department, had as his associates + Mr. Thomas W. Lament, Mr. Albert Strauss, and Jeremiah Smith of + Boston. + + Dr. Sidney E. Mezes, president of the College of the City of New York, + went with the President at the head of a brilliant group of + specialists, all of whom had been working for a year and more on the + problems that would be presented at the Peace Conference. Among the + more important may be mentioned: Prof. Charles H. Haskins, dean of the + Graduate School of Harvard University, specialist on Alsace-Lorraine + and Belgium; Dr. Isaiah Bowman, director of the American Geographical + Society, general territorial specialist; Prof. Allyn A. Young, head of + the Department of Economics at Cornell; George Louis Beer, formerly of + Columbia, and an authority on colonial possessions; Prof. W. L. + Westermann, head of the History Department of the University of + Wisconsin and specialist on Turkey; R. H. Lord, professor of History + at Harvard, specialist on Russia and Poland; Roland B. Dixon, + professor of Ethnography at Harvard; Prof. Clive Day, head of the + Department of Economics at Yale, specialist on the Balkans; W. E. + Lunt, professor of History at Haverford College, specialist on + northern Italy; Charles Seymour, professor of History at Yale, + specialist on Austria-Hungary; Mark Jefferson, professor of Geography + at Michigan State Normal, and Prof. James T. Shotwell, professor of + History at Columbia. These groups were the President's real + counsellors and advisers and there was not a day throughout the Peace + Conference that he did not call upon them and depend upon them. + +No man ever faced a more difficult or trying job than the President, when +he embarked upon the _George Washington_ on his voyage to the other side. +The adverse verdict rendered against the President in the Congressional +elections was mighty dispiriting. The growing bitterness and hostility of +the Republican leaders, and the hatred of the Germans throughout the +country, added more difficulties to an already trying situation. America +had seemed to do everything to weaken him at a time when united strength +should have been behind him. Again I quote from Mr. Creel: + + On November 27th, five days before the President's departure, Mr. + Roosevelt had cried this message to Europe, plain intimation that the + Republican majority in the Senate would support the Allies in any + repudiation of the League of Nations and the Fourteen Points: + + "Our allies and our enemies and Mr. Wilson himself should all + understand that Mr. Wilson has no authority whatever to speak for the + American people at this time. His leadership has just been + emphatically repudiated by them. The newly elected Congress comes far + nearer than Mr. Wilson to having a right to speak the purposes of the + American people at this moment. Mr. Wilson and his Fourteen Points and + his four supplementary points and his five complementary points and + all his utterances every which way have ceased to have any shadow of + right to be accepted as expressive of the will of the American people. + + "He is President of the United States. He is a part of the treaty- + making power; but he is only a part. If he acts in good faith to the + American people, he will not claim on the other side of the water any + representative capacity in himself to speak for the American people. + He will say frankly that his personal leadership has been repudiated + and that he now has merely the divided official leadership which he + shares with the Senate." + + What Mr. Roosevelt did, in words as plain as his pen could marshal, + was to inform the Allies that they were at liberty to disregard the + President, the League of Nations, and the Fourteen Points, and that + the Republican party would stand as a unit for as hard a peace as Foch + chose to dictate. + +As the President left his office on the night of his departure for New +York, preparatory to sailing for the other side, he turned to me and said: +"Well, Tumulty, have you any suggestions before I leave?" "None, my dear +Governor," I replied, "except to bid you Godspeed on the great journey." +Then, coming closer to me, he said: "I shall rely upon you to keep me in +touch with the situation on this side of the water. I know I can trust you +to give me an exact size-up of the situation here. Remember, I shall be +far away and what I will want is a frank estimate from you of the state of +public opinion on this side of the water. That is what I will find myself +most in need of. When you think I am putting my foot in it, please say so +frankly. I am afraid I shall not be able to rely upon much of the advice +and suggestions I will get from the other end." + +Before the President left he had discussed with me the character of the +Peace Conference, and after his departure I kept him apprised by cable of +opinion in this country. Appendix "A", which contains this cabled +correspondence shows how he welcomed information and suggestion. + +[Illustration: + + The Secretary thinks the President would like to read this letter. + + (Manuscript: Thank you, what's his game? + W. W. + + Dear Tumulty + + I have not sufficient confidence in the man. + + W. W.) + + Dear Tumulty, + + There is absolutely nothing new in Root's speech and I do not see any + necessity to answer it. Certainly I would not be willing to have so + conspicuous a representative of the Administration as Mr. Colby take + any notice of it. Let me say again that I am not willing that answers + to Republican speakers or writers should emanate from the White House + or the Administration. + + The President. + C.L.S. + +Some characteristic White House memoranda] + +As my duty held me in Washington, I am dependent upon others, especially +Mr. Creel and Mr. Ray Stannard Baker, a member of the President's official +family, for a connected narrative of events in Europe. + +Speaking of his attitude in the trials that confronted the President on +the other side, Mr. Baker said: + + No one who really saw the President in action in Paris, saw what he + did in those grilling months of struggle, fired at in front, sniped at + from behind--and no one who saw what he had to do after he came home + from Europe in meeting the great new problems which grew out of the + war--will for a moment belittle the immensity of his task, or + underrate his extraordinary endurance, energy, and courage. + + More than once, there in Paris, going up in the evening to see the + President, I found him utterly worn out, exhausted, often one side of + his face twitching with nervousness. No soldier ever went into battle + with more enthusiasm, more aspiration, more devotion to a sacred cause + than the President had when he came to Paris; but day after day in + those months we saw him growing grayer and grayer, grimmer and + grimmer, with the fighting lines deepening in his face. + + Here was a man 63 years old--a man always delicate in health. When he + came to the White House in 1913, he was far from being well. His + digestion was poor and he had a serious and painful case of neuritis + in his shoulder. It was even the opinion of so great a physician as + Dr. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia, that he could probably not + complete his term and retain his health. And yet such was the iron + self-discipline of the man and such was the daily watchful care of + Doctor Grayson, that instead of gradually going down under the + tremendous tasks of the Presidency in the most crowded moments of our + national history, he steadily gained strength and working capacity, + until in those months in Paris he literally worked everybody at the + Peace Conference to a stand-still. + + It is so easy and cheap to judge people, even presidents, without + knowing the problems they have to face. So much of the President's + aloofness at Paris, so much of his unwillingness to expend energy upon + unnecessary business, unnecessary conferences, unnecessary visiting-- + especially the visitors--was due directly to the determination to + husband and expend his too limited energies upon tasks that seemed to + him essential. + + As I say, he worked everybody at the Peace Conference to a standstill. + He worked not only the American delegates, but the way he drove the + leisurely diplomats of Europe was often shameful to see. Sometimes he + would actually have two meetings going on at the same time. Once I + found a meeting of the Council of the Big Four going on in his study, + and a meeting of the financial and economic experts--twenty or thirty + of them--in full session upstairs in the drawing room--and the + President oscillating between the two. + + It was he who was always the driver, the initiator, at Paris: he + worked longer hours, had more appointments, granted himself less + recreation, than any other man, high or low, at the Peace Conference. + For he was the central figure there. Everything headed up in him. + + Practically all of the meetings of the Council of Four were held in + his study in the Place des États-Unis. This was the true capitol of + the Peace Conference; here all the important questions were decided. + Everyone who came to Paris upon any mission whatsoever aimed first of + all at seeing the President. Representatives of the little, + downtrodden nationalities of the earth--from eastern Europe, Asia, and + Africa--thought that if they could get at the President, explain their + pathetic ambitions, confess their troubles to him, all would be well. + +While the President was struggling in Europe, his friends in America had +cause for indignation against the course adopted by the Republican +obstructionists in the Senate, which course, they saw, must have a serious +if not fatal effect upon developments overseas. Occurrences on both sides +of the Atlantic became so closely interwoven that it is better not to +separate the two narratives, and as Mr. Creel, upon whose history I have +already drawn, tells the story with vigour and a true perception of the +significance of events, I quote at length from him: + + The early days of February, 1919, were bright with promise. The + European press, seeming to accept the President's leadership as + unshakable, was more amiable in its tone, the bitterness bred by the + decision as to the German colonies had abated. Fiume and the Saar + Basin had taken discreet places in the background with other deferred + questions, and the voice of French and English and Italian liberalism + was heard again. On February 14th the President reported the first + draft of the League constitution--a draft that expressed his + principles without change--and it was confirmed amid acclaim. It was + at this moment, unfortunately, that the President was compelled to + return to the United States to sign certain bills, and for the + information of the Senate he carried with him the Covenant as agreed + upon by the Allies. + + We come now to a singularly shameful chapter in American history. At + the time of the President's decision to go to Paris the chief point of + attack by the Republican Senators was that such a "desertion of duty" + would delay the work of government and hold back the entire programme + of reconstruction. Yet when the President returned for the business of + consideration and signature, the same Republican Senators united in a + filibuster that permitted Congress to expire without the passage of a + single appropriation bill. This exhibition of sheer malignance, + entailing an ultimate of confusion and disaster, was not only approved + by the Republican press, but actually applauded. + + The draft of the League Constitution was denounced even before its + contents were known or explained. The bare fact that the document had + proved acceptable to the British Empire aroused the instant antagonism + of the "professional" Irish-Americans, the "professional" German- + Americans, the "professional" Italian-Americans, and all those others + whose political fortunes depended upon the persistence and + accentuation of racial prejudices. Where one hyphen was scourged the + year before a score of hyphens was now encouraged and approved. In + Washington the President arranged a conference with the Senators and + Representatives in charge of foreign relations, and laid the Covenant + frankly before them for purposes of discussion and criticism. The + attitude of the Republican Senators was one of sullenness and + suspicion, Senator Lodge refusing to state his objections or to make a + single recommendation. Others, however, pointed out that no express + recognition was given to the Monroe Doctrine; that it was not + expressly provided that the League should have no authority to act or + express a judgment on matters of domestic policy; that the right to + withdraw from the League was not expressly recognized; and that the + constitutional right of the Congress to determine all questions of + peace and war was not sufficiently safeguarded. + + The President, in answer, gave it as his opinion that these points + were already covered satisfactorily in the Covenant, but that he would + be glad to make the language more explicit, and entered a promise to + this effect. Mr. Root and Mr. Taft were also furnished with copies of + the Covenant and asked for their views and criticism, and upon receipt + of them the President again gave assurance that every proposed change + and clarification would be made upon his return to Paris. On March + 4th, immediately following these conferences, and the day before the + sailing of the President, Senator Lodge rose in his place and led his + Republican colleagues in a bold and open attack upon the League of + Nations and the war aims of America. The following account of the + proceedings is taken from the _Congressional Record_: + + _Mr. Lodge_: Mr. President, I desire to take only a moment of the time + of the Senate. I wish to offer the resolution which I hold in my hand, + a very brief one: + + Whereas under the Constitution it is a function of the Senate to + advise and consent to, or dissent from, the ratification of any treaty + of the United States, and no such treaty can become operative without + the consent of the Senate expressed by the affirmative vote of two + thirds of the Senators present; and + + Whereas owing to the victory of the arms of the United States and of + the nations with whom it is associated, a Peace Conference was + convened and is now in session at Paris for the purpose of settling + the terms of peace; and + + Whereas a committee of the Conference has proposed a constitution for + the League of Nations and the proposal is now before the Peace + Conference for its consideration; Now, therefore, be it + + Resolved by the Senate of the United States in the discharge of its + constitutional duty of advice in regard to treaties, That it is the + sense of the Senate that while it is their sincere desire that the + nations of the world should unite to promote peace and general + disarmament, the constitution of the League of Nations in the form now + proposed to the Peace Conference should not be accepted by the United + States; and be it + + Resolved further, That it is the sense of the Senate that the + negotiations on the part of the United States should immediately be + directed to the utmost expedition of the urgent business of + negotiating peace terms with Germany satisfactory to the United States + and the nations with whom the United States is associated in the war + against the German Government, and that the proposal for a League of + Nations to insure the permanent peace of the world should be then + taken up for careful and serious consideration. + + I ask unanimous consent for the present consideration of this + resolution. + + _Mr. Swanson_: I object to the introduction of the resolution. + + _Mr. Lodge_: Objection being made, of course I recognize the + objection. I merely wish to add, by way of explanation, the following: + The undersigned Senators of the United States, Members and Members- + Elect of the Sixty-sixth Congress, hereby declare that, if they had + had the opportunity, they would have voted for the foregoing + resolution: + + Henry Cabot Lodge James E. Watson + Philander C. Knox Thomas Sterling + Lawrence Y. Sherman J. S. Frelinghuysen + Harry S. New W. G. Harding + George H. Moses Frederick Hale + J. W. Wadsworth, Jr. William E. Borah + Bert M. Fernald Walter E. Edge + Albert B. Cummins Reed Smoot + F. E. Warren Asle J. Gronna + Frank B. Brandegee Lawrence C. Phipps + William M. Calder Selden P. Spencer + Henry W. Keyes Hiram W. Johnson + Boies Penrose Charles E. Townsend + Carroll S. Page William P. Dillingham + George P. McLean I. L. Lenroot + Joseph Irwin France Miles Poindexter + Medill McCormick Howard Sutherland + Charles Curtis Truman H. Newberry + L. Heisler Ball + + I ought to say in justice to three or four Senators who are absent at + great distances from the city that we were not able to reach them; but + we expect to hear from them to-morrow, and if, as we expect, their + answers are favourable their names will be added to the list. + + A full report of this action was cabled to Europe, as a matter of + course, and when the President arrived in Paris on March 14th, ten + days later, he was quick to learn of the disastrous consequences. The + Allies, eagerly accepting the orders of the Republican majority, had + lost no time in repudiating the President and the solemn agreements + that they had entered into with him. The League of Nations was not + discarded and the plan adopted for a preliminary peace with Germany + was based upon a frank division of the spoils, the reduction of + Germany to a slave state, and the formation of a military alliance by + the Allies for the purpose of guaranteeing the gains. Not only this, + but an Allied army was to march at once to Russia to put down the + Bolshevists and the Treaty itself was to be administered by the Allied + high command, enforcing its orders by an army of occupation. The + United States, as a rare favour, was to be permitted to pay the cost + of the Russian expedition and such other incidental expenses as might + arise in connection with the military dictatorship that was to rule + Europe. + + While primarily the plan of Foch and the other generals, it had the + approval of statesmen, even those who were assumed to represent the + liberal thought of England being neck-deep in the conspiracy. + + Not a single party to the cabal had any doubt as to its success. Was + it not the case that the Republican Senators, now in the majority, + spoke for America rather than the President? Had the Senators not + stated formally that they did not want the League of Nations, and was + the Republican party itself not on record with the belief that the + Allies must have the right to impose peace terms of their own + choosing, and that these terms should show no mercy to the "accursed + Hun"? ... The President allowed himself just twenty-four hours in + which to grasp the plot in all its details, and then he acted, + ordering the issuance of this statement: + + "The President said to-day that the decision made at the Peace + Conference in its Plenary Session, January 25, 1919, to the effect + that the establishment of a League of Nations should be made an + integral part of the Treaty of Peace, is of final force and that there + is no basis whatever for the reports that a change in this decision + was contemplated." + + ...On March 26th, it was announced, grudgingly enough, that there + would be a league of nations as an integral part of the Peace Treaty. + It was now the task of the President to take up the changes that had + been suggested by his Republican enemies, and this was the straw that + broke his back. There was not a single suggested change that had + honesty back of it. The League was an association of sovereigns, and + as a matter of course any sovereign possessed the right of withdrawal. + The League, as an international advisory body, could not possibly deal + with domestic questions under any construction of the Covenant. No + power of Congress was abridged, and necessarily Congress would have to + act before war could be declared or a single soldier sent out of the + country. Instead of recognizing the Monroe Doctrine as an American + policy, the League legitimized it as a world policy. The President, + however, was bound to propose that these plain propositions be put in + kindergarten language for the satisfaction of his enemies, and it was + this proposal that gave Clemenceau, Lloyd George, and their associates + a new chance for resistance. All of the suggested changes were made + without great demur until the question of the Monroe Doctrine was + reached, and then French and English bitterness broke all restraints. + Why were they expected to make every concession to American prejudice + when the President would make none to European traditions? They had + gone to the length of accepting the doctrine of Monroe for the whole + of the earth, but now, because American pride demanded it, they must + make public confession of America's right to give orders. No! A + thousand times no! It was high time for the President to give a little + consideration to French and English and Italian prejudices--time for + him to realize that the lives of these governments were at stake as + well as his own, and that Lloyd George, Clemenceau, and Sonnino had + parliaments to deal with that were just as unreasonable as the + Congress of the United States. If the President asked he must be + willing to give. + + As if at a given signal, France renewed her claim for the Rhine Valley + and the Saar Basin; Italy clamoured anew for Fiume and the Dalmatian + coast; and Japan, breaking a long silence, rushed to the fore with her + demand for Shantung in fee simple and the right of her nationals to + full equality in the United States. + +Around this time the President fell suddenly ill and took to his bed. That +the illness was serious is evidenced by the following letter which Doctor +Grayson wrote me: + + Paris, 10 April 1919. + + DEAR MR. TUMULTY: + + While the contents of this letter may possibly be somewhat out of date + by the time it reaches you, nevertheless you may find something in it + of interest. + + This has been one of the most complexing and trying weeks of my + existence over here. The President was taken violently sick last + Thursday. The attack was very sudden. At three o'clock he was + apparently all right; at six he was seized with violent paroxysms of + coughing, which were so severe and frequent that it interfered with + his breathing. He had a fever of 103 and a profuse diarrhoea. I was at + first suspicious that his food had been tampered with, but it turned + out to be the beginning of an attack of influenza. That night was one + of the worst through which I have ever passed. I was able to control + the spasms of coughing but his condition looked very serious. Since + that time he has been gradually improving every day so that he is now + back at work--he went out for the first time yesterday. This disease + is so treacherous, especially in this climate, that I am perhaps over- + anxious for fear of a flare-back--and a flare-back in a case of this + kind often results in pneumonia. I have been spending every minute of + my time with him, not only as physician but as nurse. Mrs. Wilson was + a perfect angel through it all. + + Sincerely, + CARY T. GRAYSON. + +Continuing the narrative Mr. Creel writes: + + On April 7th, the President struggled to his feet and faced the + Council in what everyone recognized as a final test of strength. There + must be an end to this dreary, interminable business of making + agreements only to break them. An agreement must be reached once for + all. If a peace of justice, he would remain; if a peace of greed, then + he would leave. He had been second to none in recognizing the wrongs + of the Allies, the state of mind of their peoples, and he stood as + firmly as any for a treaty that would bring guilt home to the Germans, + but he could not, and would not, agree to the repudiation of every war + aim or to arrangements that would leave the world worse off than + before. The _George Washington_ was in Brooklyn. By wireless the + President ordered it to come to Brest at once. + + The gesture was conclusive as far as England and France were + concerned. Lloyd George swung over instantly to the President's side, + and on the following day Le Temps carried this significant item: + + "Contrary to the assertions spread by the German press and taken up by + other foreign newspapers, we believe that the Government has no + annexationist pretensions, openly or under cover, in regard to any + territory inhabited by a German population. This remark applies + peculiarly to the regions comprised between the frontier of 1871 and + the frontier of 1814." + + Again, in the lock of wills, the President was the victor, and the + French and English press, exhausted by now, could only gasp their + condemnation of Clemenceau and Lloyd George. + +The statement of Mr. David Hunter Miller, the legal adviser of the +American Peace Commission, with reference to the debate on the Monroe +Doctrine, in which the President played the leading part, is conclusive on +this point. Mr. Miller speaks of the President's devotion to the Monroe +Doctrine in these words: + + But the matter was not at an end, for at the next meeting, the last of + all, the French sought by amendment to obtain some definition, some + description of the Monroe Doctrine that would limit the right of the + United States to insist upon its own interpretation of that Doctrine + in the future as in the past. The French delegates, hoping for some + advantage for their own proposals, urged such a definition: and at + that last meeting I thought for a moment, in despair, that President + Wilson would yield to the final French suggestion, which contained + only a few seemingly simple words: but he stood by his position + through the long discussion, and the meeting and the proceedings of + the Commission ended early in the morning in an atmosphere of + constraint and without any of the speeches of politeness customary on + such an occasion. + +Of all the false reports about the President's attitude none was more +erroneous than the combined statements that he was lukewarm about the +Monroe Doctrine and that he declined to ask for or receive advice from +eminent Americans outside of his own party. + +In Appendix "B" there will be found a series of letters and cable +messages, too long for insertion in the chapter, which will support the +statement that he not only listened to but had incorporated in the +Covenant of the League of Nations suggestions from Mr. Taft, including +important reservations concerning the Monroe Doctrine, and suggestions +from Mr. Root as to the establishment of an International Court of +Justice. + +Former-President Taft had intimated to me a desire to make certain +suggestions to Mr. Wilson, and, upon my notification, Mr. Wilson cabled me +that he would "appreciate Mr. Taft's offer of suggestions and would +welcome them. The sooner they are sent the better." Whereupon, Mr. Taft's +suggestions were cabled to the President together with Mr. Taft's +statement that, "My impression is that if the one article already sent, on +the Monroe Doctrine, be inserted in the Treaty, sufficient Republicans who +signed the Round Robin would probably retreat from their position and vote +for ratification so that it would carry. If the other suggestions were +adopted, I feel confident that all but a few who oppose any league would +be driven to accept them and to stand for the League." + +Mr. Taft's recommendations were in substance incorporated in the Covenant +of the League of Nations. + +Emphasizing further the President's entire willingness to confer with +leading Republicans, even those outside of official relationship, on March +27, 1919, Mr. Polk, Acting Secretary of State, dispatched to Secretary of +State Lansing, for the President, proposed amendments offered by Mr. Root +to the constitution of the League of Nations, involving the establishment +of a Court of Justice. Immediately upon receipt of Mr. Polk's cable, the +President addressed to Colonel House, a member of the Peace Commission, +the following letter, marked "Confidential." + + Paris. March 30, 1919. + + MY DEAR HOUSE: + + Here is a dispatch somewhat belated in transmission stating Mr. Root's + ideas as to amendments which should be made to the Covenant. I think + you will find some of these very interesting. Perhaps you have already + seen it. + + In haste. + + Affectionately yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + COLONEL E. M. HOUSE, + Hotel Crillon, + Paris. + +A comparison of the suggestions presented by Mr. Taft and Mr. Root, which +will be found in the Appendix, with the existing Covenant of the League of +Nations, will readily convince any person desiring to reach the truth of +the matter, that all the material amendments proposed by these eminent +Republicans which had any essential bearing on the business in hand were +embodied in the Covenant of the League of Nations as brought back by +President Wilson. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +WILSON--THE LONE HAND + + +It has often been said by certain gentlemen who were associated with +President Wilson on the other side that he was unyielding and dogmatic, +that he insisted upon playing a "lone hand," that he was secretive and +exclusive, and that he ignored the members of the Peace Commission and the +experts who accompanied him to the Conference. + +Contrary to this criticism, after an uninterrupted, continuous, and most +intimate association with him for eleven years, an association which +brought me into close contact with him in the most delicate crises through +which his administration and the nation passed, a time which threw upon +the Chief Executive of the nation a task unparalleled in the history of +the world, I wish to say that there is no franker or more open-minded man, +nor one less dogmatic in his opinion than Woodrow Wilson. In him the +desire for information and guidance is a passion. Indeed, the only thing +he resents is a lack of frankness upon the part of his friends, and no man +is more ready courageously to act and to hold to his opinions after he has +obtained the necessary information upon, which he bases his position. It +is his innate modesty and a certain kind of shyness that people mistake +for coldness and aloofness. He is not a good fellow in the ordinary sense +of that term. His friendship does not wear the cheap or tawdry trappings +of the politician, but there is about it a depth of genuineness and +sincerity, that while it does not overwhelm you, it wins you and holds +you. But the permanent consideration upon which this friendship is based +is sincerity and frankness. + +No man ever worked under greater handicaps than did Woodrow Wilson at +Paris. Repudiated by his own people in the Congressional elections; +harassed on every side and at every turn by his political enemies, he +still pursued the even tenor of his way and accomplished what he had in +mind, against the greatest odds. + +In the murky atmosphere of the Peace Conference, where every attitude of +the President was grossly exaggerated, in order that his prestige might be +lessened, it was not possible to judge him fairly, but it is now possible +in a calmer day to review the situation from afar through the eyes of +those who were actual participants with him in the great assembly, +onlookers, as it were, who saw every move and witnessed every play of the +Peace Conference from the side lines, and who have not allowed petty +motives to warp their judgments. + +This testimony, which forms part of "What Really Happened in Paris," +edited by Edward M. House and Charles Seymour, comes from gentlemen who +were his friends and co-labourers and who daily conferred with him upon +the momentous questions that came up for consideration at the Peace +Conference. + +Mr. Thomas W. Lamont, a member of the great banking house of J. P. Morgan +& Company, one of the representatives of the United States Treasury with +the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, gives the lie to the unfair +criticisms uttered about the President, to the effect that he was +exclusive, secretive, and refused to confer with those associated with +him. Mr. Lamont in speaking of the President's attitude throughout the +Peace Conference said: + + I am going to take this opportunity to say a word, in general, as to + President Wilson's attitude at the Peace Conference. He is accused of + having been unwilling to consult his colleagues. I never saw a man + more ready and anxious to consult than he. He has been accused of + having been desirous to gain credit for himself and ignore others. I + never saw a man more considerate of those of his co-adjutors who were + working immediately with him, nor a man more ready to give them credit + with the other chiefs of state. Again and again would he say to Mr. + Lloyd George or Mr. Clemenceau: "My expert here, Mr. So-and-So, tells + me such-and-such, and I believe he is right. You will have to argue + with him if you want me to change my opinion." President Wilson + undoubtedly had his disabilities. Perhaps, in a trade, some of the + other chiefs of state could have "out-jockeyed" him; but it seldom + reached such a situation, because President Wilson, by his manifest + sincerity and open candour, always saying precisely what he thought, + would early disarm his opponents in argument. President Wilson did not + have a well-organized secretarial staff. He did far too much of the + work himself, studying until late at night papers and documents that + he should have largely delegated to some discreet aides. He was, by + all odds, the hardest worked man at the Conference; but the failure to + delegate more of his work was not due to any inherent distrust he had + of men--and certainly not any desire to "run the whole show" himself-- + but simply to his lack of facility in knowing how to delegate work on + a large scale. In execution, we all have a blind spot in some part of + our eye. President Wilson's was in his inability to use men; and + inability, mind you, not a refusal. On the contrary, when any one of + us volunteered or insisted upon taking responsibility off his + shoulders he was delighted. Throughout the Peace Conference, Mr. + Wilson never played politics. I never witnessed an occasion when I saw + him act from unworthy conception or motive. His ideals were of the + highest, and he clung to them tenaciously and courageously. Many of + the so-called "Liberals" in England have assailed Mr. Wilson bitterly + because, as they declare, he yielded too much to their own Premier, + Mr. Lloyd George, and to Mr. Clemenceau. But could he have failed to + defer to them on questions in which no vital principle was involved? I + well remember his declaration on the question, whether the Allies + should refuse, for a period of five years during the time of France's + recuperations to promise Germany reciprocal tariff provisions. What + Mr. Wilson said to Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Clemenceau was this: + "Gentlemen, my experts and I both regard the principle involved as an + unwise one. We believe it will come back to plague you. But when I see + how France has suffered, how she has been devastated, her industries + destroyed--who am I to refuse to assent to this provision, designed, + wisely or unwisely, to assist in lifting France again to her feet." + +The question has often been asked, whether the President freely consulted +his experts on the other side, or ignored them. The experience of the +gentlemen who conferred with him is the best refutation of this +insinuation against the President. Charles Homer Haskins, Chief of the +Division of Western Europe, a member of the American Peace Conference, +answers this question in these words: + + The President was anxious to have the exact facts before him in every + situation. Doubtless, there were a number of occasions when he could + not consult with experts at a particular moment, but, in general, the + President sought such advice, although he naturally had to use his own + judgment whether that advice was to be adopted in any particular case. + +Answering this same question, Mr. Douglas Wilson Johnson, Chief of the +Division of Boundary Geography, and a member of the Peace Commission, +says: + + Whenever we, in our capacity as specialists, thought we had found + something that the President ought to know about, and believed we + could not get it across effectively in any other manner, we could ask + for a personal conference with him. He was, of course, a very busy man + because, unlike the experts who usually had only one problem to + consider, he had to do not only with all the territorial problems but + in addition with all the problems bearing on the League of Nations, + the economic problems, and many other aspects of the peace. Despite + this fact I wish to state that while I repeatedly asked for personal + conferences with the President on this and certain other problems, he + never failed to respond immediately with an appointment. He had a + private wire and on occasion he would call us at the Crillon to make + appointments on his own initiative or to secure papers, maps, or other + documents that he needed in his studies. I will not forget that in one + instance he called me on the telephone late at night in my bedroom, + asking for some papers which I had promised to supply him, and which + had not reached him with sufficient promptness. You can judge from + this that he kept closely in touch with the problems he was called + upon to consider. + +Another question that has been asked is: Did the President have an +intimate knowledge of the complicated questions that came before him like +the Adriatic problem, for instance? That criticism was answered by Mr. +Douglas Wilson Johnson in these words: + + In answer to that question I will say that the President kept in + constant touch with the experts on the Adriatic problem, not only + through the memoranda furnished by the experts but in other ways. I + can assure you that there was sent to him a voluminous quantity of + material, and I want to say that when we had personal discussions with + him upon the question it immediately became apparent that he had + studied these memoranda most carefully. _It is only fair to say that + of the details and intricacies of this most difficult problem the + President possessed a most astonishing command._ + +It has also been said that the President in his attitude toward Germany +was ruthless, and yet we have the testimony of Mr. Isaiah Bowman, Chief +Territorial Adviser of the Peace Commission who, in answer to the direct +question: "Was there not a time when it looked as if the Peace Conference +might break up because of the extreme policy of one of the Allies?" said: +"Yes, there were a number of occasions when the Peace Conference might +have broken up. Almost anything might have happened with so many nations +represented, so many personalities and so many experts--perhaps half a +thousand in all! Owing to the fact that President Wilson has been charged +on the one hand with outrageous concessions to the Allies and on the other +hand that he had always been soft with the Germans, particularly with +Bulgaria, let us see just how soft he was! On a certain day three of us +were asked to call at the President's house, and on the following morning +at eleven o'clock we arrived. President Wilson welcomed us in a very +cordial manner. I cannot understand how people get the idea that he is +cold. He does not make a fuss over you, but when you leave you feel that +you have met a very courteous gentleman. You have the feeling that he is +frank and altogether sincere. He remarked: 'Gentlemen, I am in trouble and +I have sent for you to help me out. The matter is this: the French want +the whole left bank of the Rhine. I told M. Clemenceau that I could not +consent to such a solution of the problem. He became very much excited and +then demanded ownership of the Saar Basin. I told him I could not agree to +that either because it would mean giving 300,000 Germans to France.' +Whereupon President Wilson further said: 'I do not know whether I shall +see M. Clemenceau again. I do not know whether he will return to the +meeting this afternoon. In fact, I do not know whether the Peace +Conference will continue. M. Clemenceau called me a pro-German and +abruptly left the room. I want you to assist me in working out a solution +true to the principles we are standing for and to do justice to France, +and I can only hope that France will ultimately accept a reasonable +solution. I want to be fair to M. Clemenceau and to France, but I cannot +consent to the outright transfer to France of 300,000 Germans.' A solution +was finally found--the one that stands in the Treaty to-day." + +Among the unfair things said about the President during the last campaign +and uttered by a senator of the United States, was that the President +promised Premier Bratiano of Rumania to send United States troops to +protect the new frontiers. Mr. Charles Seymour, a member of the American +Peace Commission, answers this charge in the following way: + + The evidence against it is overwhelming. The stenographic notes taken + during the session indicate that nothing said by President Wilson + could be construed into a promise to send United States troops abroad + to protect frontiers. The allegation is based upon the report of the + interpreter, Mantoux, and a book by a journalist, Dr. E. W. Dillon, + called "The Inside Story of the Peace Conference," M. Mantoux, though + a brilliant and cultivated interpreter, whose work enormously + facilitated the progress of the Conference, did not take stenographic + notes and his interpretations sometimes failed to give the exact + meaning of the original. Doctor Dillon's evidence is subject to + suspicion, since his book is based upon gossip, and replete with + errors of fact. The stenographic report, on the other hand, is worthy + of trust. I have heard the President on more than one occasion explain + to M. Clemenceau and Lloyd George _that if troops were necessary to + protect any troubled area, they must not look to the United States for + assistance, for public opinion in this country would not permit the + use of American forces_. + +Even Mr. Lansing himself in his book testified to the open-mindedness and +candour of the President in these words: + + It had always been my practice as Secretary of State to speak to him + with candour and to disagree with him whenever I thought he was + reaching a wrong decision in regard to any matter pertaining to + foreign affairs. There was a general belief that Mr. Wilson was not + open-minded and that he was quick to resent any opposition however + well founded. I had not found him so during the years we had been + associated. Except in a few instances he listened with consideration + to arguments and apparently endeavoured to value them correctly. + +No men ever winced less under the criticism or bitter ridicule of his +enemies than did Woodrow Wilson. Whether the criticism was directed at him +or at some member of his Cabinet, or, mayhap, at a subordinate like +myself, for some act, statement, or even an indiscretion, he bore up under +the criticism like a true sportsman. I remember how manfully he met the +storm of criticism that was poured upon him after the issuance of the +famous Garfield Fuel Order. He courageously took the responsibility for +the issuance of the order and stood by Doctor Garfield to the last. + +It will be recalled what a tremendous impression and reaction the Garfield +order caused when it was published throughout the country. Many about the +President were greatly worried and afraid of the disastrous effect of it +upon the country. Cabinet officers rushed in upon him and endeavoured to +persuade him to recall it and even to repudiate Garfield for having issued +the order without consulting the Cabinet, but their remonstrances fell +unheeded upon the President's ears. I remember at the time that I wrote +the President regarding the matter and called his attention to what +appeared to me to be the calamitous results of the issuance of the Fuel +Order. + +My letter to the President is as follows: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + 17 January, 1918. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + At twelve o'clock last night, Mr. Lincoln of the New York World called + me out of bed by telephone to notify me that the Fuel Administration + had issued a drastic order shutting down the factories of the country + for five days, etc. + + I do not know about the details of the order. I assume of course that + it was necessary because of the tremendous shortage throughout the + country. But what I am afraid of is that my own readiness to accept + this assumption may not be shared by people outside. In other words, + has the groundwork been laid for this radical step? Do the people know + how much coal we have on hand and what the real shortage is? Have they + not been led to believe that our chief ill was transportation and that + by subjecting themselves to hardships by cutting down trains, etc., + enough cars have been provided to carry coal? + + In other words, I am afraid the country will want to be shown that the + step just taken was absolutely necessary and if this cannot be proved, + I greatly fear the consequences upon the morale of the people. I am so + afraid that it will weaken their confidence in any action the + Government may take hereafter which depends for its execution on the + voluntary cooperation of the people. Again, it seems to me unjust that + all industries are put on the same footing. It is a difficult thing I + know to distinguish between the essential and non-essential + industries, but I am sure the country will understand if such a + distinction is made of, for instance, institutions that make pianos + and talking machines and candy and articles that are not immediately + necessary for our life, were cut down altogether and things necessary + to our sustenance kept. + + Sincerely yours, + TUMULTY + + THE PRESIDENT + +[Illustration: An inside view of a well-remembered national crisis. +[Transcriber's note: contains a reproduction of the above-quoted letter.]] + +The President's reply, written on his own typewriter, is as follows: + + DEAR TUMULTY: + + Of course, this is a tremendous matter and has given me the deepest + concern, but I really think this direct road is the road out of + difficulties which never would have been entirely remedied if we had + not taken some such action. We must just bow our heads and let the + storm beat. + + WOODROW WILSON. + +Even to Mr. James M. Beck, a prominent Republican lawyer and one of his +bitterest opponents and critics, he showed a tolerance and magnanimity +that were worthy of the man himself. It appears that Mr. Beck was invited +to confer at the White House on a matter having to do with the war, and +the question was presented to the President by Mr. Creel as to whether the +President considered Mr. Beck _persona non grata_. The President at once +sent me the following note: + + DEAR TUMULTY: + + Mr. James M. Beck expressed some hesitation about coming with the + committee which Creel has organized and which is coming to see me on + Monday afternoon, because he was not sufficiently _persona grata_ at + the White House. I think his criticism and his whole attitude before + we went into the war were abominable and inexcusable, but I "ain't + harbouring no ill will" just now and I hope that you will have the + intimation conveyed to him through Mr. Creel or otherwise that he will + be welcomed. + + WOODROW WILSON. + +While the President was busily engaged in France in laying the foundation +stones of peace, his partisan enemies were busily engaged in destroying +the things he held so dear, and had industriously circulated the story +that the mission to France was a mere political one, that the purpose back +of it was personal exploitation, or an attempt on the part of the +President to thrust himself into the councils of the Democratic party as +an active and aggressive candidate for a third term. The President's +attitude in this matter, his fear that talk of this kind would embarrass +the League of Nations, is disclosed by the following correspondence: + + Received at the White House, + June 2, 1919. + + Paris. + TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + + Have just read the editorial in the Springfield _Republican_, + discussing "_Wilson the Third Term and the Treaty_," and would very + much value your opinion with regard to the situation as it analyzes + it. Please talk with Glass, Secretary Baker, Secretary Wilson, and + Cummings and let me know what your opinion is and what theirs is. _We + must let nothing stand in the way of the Treaty and the adoption of + the League._ I will, of course, form no resolution until I reach home + but wish to think the matter out in plenty of time. + + WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + 2 June, 1919. + + THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + + Cummings on campaign trip covering Middle West and coast. Will be away + six weeks. My own opinion is that it would be unwise at this time to + act upon suggestion contained in Springfield _Republican_ editorial. + [The editorial suggested that the President withdraw his name from + consideration in connection with a third term.] This is not the time + to say anything about your attitude toward matter discussed in + editorial because there is a depression in our ranks and a feeling + that our prospects for 1920 are not bright. Republicans would say you + had retreated under the threat of defeat and the cause of the League + of Nations would be weakened instead of strengthened. The issue of the + League of Nations is so clear-cut that your attitude toward a third + term at present is not a real cause of embarrassment. In fact, I can + see great advantage to be gained for the ratification of the League by + giving the impression that you are seriously considering going to the + country on the League of Nations. Am strongly of belief, as you know, + that you should not under any circumstances consider or accept + nomination for third term. In this matter I have very few supporters + in our party. A trip I just made to Illinois and St. Louis over + Decoration Day convinces me that a big drive will be made to induce + you to allow your name to be used again. The Presidency for another + four years would not add one whit to the honour that will be yours and + the place of dignity that you will occupy in the hearts of our people + when the League of Nations is consummated and your present term + expires. + + Upon your return to this country and with a clearer perception of what + you are trying to do, there will come a turn of the tide in our + favour. Many factors not now very clear are leading in that direction. + The Republicans by the selection of Penrose have made the Republican + party again the stand-pat party of America and their failure, which + will become more evident as the days pass, to correct abuses that some + months ago they called grave, will prove more and more the strength + and value of Democratic policies. + + Prosperity now sweeping in from coast and Middle West will soon be + upon us. Even business which turned away from us in last campaign in + the hope that Excess Profit Tax and other burdensome taxes would be + reduced, will soon find out how fatuous and futile is the Republican + policy. Many Progressive leaders will soon come to the front and will + take up the work left undone by Roosevelt. My opinion, therefore, is + that what action you take in this matter should await the turn of the + tide so that as the hopes of Democracy rise and success for 1920 looks + more promising than it does to-day, then that time in my opinion will + offer the psychological moment for you to say what really is in your + heart about a third term and thus help not only the party but the + League of Nations. Therefore, until the psychological moment comes, + the politic thing to do is to keep "mum" about this matter and await + the happenings of the future. + + TUMULTY. + +A clear, inside view of the feeling of the man toward the Treaty, his deep +heart interest in it, and his characterization of the opposition were +disclosed in a speech delivered by him to the members of the Democratic +National Committee at the White House on February 28, 1919. This speech is +now published for the first time, and is as follows: + + The real issue of the day, gentlemen, is the League of Nations, and I + think we must be very careful to serve the country in the right way + with regard to that issue. We ought not, as I know you already feel + from the character of the action you have just taken--we ought not + even to create the appearance of trying to make that a party issue. + And I suggested this to Mr. Cummings and the others who sat by me: I + think it would be wise if the several National Committeemen were to + get in touch with their state organizations upon returning home and + suggest this course of action--that the Democratic state organizations + get into conference with the Republican state organizations and say to + them: "Here is this great issue upon which the future peace of the + world depends; it ought not to be made a party issue or to divide upon + party lines; the country ought to support it regardless of party (as + you stated in your resolution); now we propose to you that you pass + resolutions supporting it, as we intend to do, and we will not + anticipate you in the matter if you agree to that policy; let us stand + back of it and not make a party issue of it." Of course, if they + decline, then it is perfectly legitimate, it seems to me, for the + Democratic organization if it pleases to pass resolutions, framing + these resolutions in as non-partisan language as is possible, but + nevertheless doing what citizens ought to do in matters of this sort. + But not without first making it a matter of party record that it has + made these approaches to the Republican organizations and has proposed + this similarity of action. In that way we accomplish a double object. + We put it up to them to support the real opinion of their own people + and we get instructed by the resolutions, and we find where the weak + spots are and where the fighting has to be done for this great issue. + Because, believe me, gentlemen, the civilized world cannot afford to + have us lose this fight. I tried to state in Boston what it would mean + to the people of the world if the United States did not support this + great ideal with cordiality, but I was not able to speak when I tried + fully to express my thoughts. I tell you, frankly, I choked up; I + could not do it. The thing reaches the depth of tragedy. There is a + sense in which I can see that the hope entertained by the people of + the world with regard to us is a tragical hope--tragical in this + sense, that it is so great, so far-reaching, it runs out to such + depths that we cannot in the nature of things satisfy it. The world + cannot go as fast in the direction of ideal results as these people + believe the United States can carry them, and that is what makes me + choke up when I try to talk about it--the consciousness of what they + want us to do and of our relative inadequacy. And yet there is a great + deal that we can do, and the immediate thing that we can do is to have + an overwhelming national endorsement of this great plan. If we have + that we will have settled most of the immediate political difficulties + in Europe. The present danger of the world--of course, I have to say + this in the confidence of this company--but the present danger in this + world is that the peoples of the world do not believe in their own + governments. They believe these governments to be made up of the kind + of men who have always run them, and who did not know how to keep them + out of this war, did not know how to prepare them for war, and did not + know how to settle international controversies in the past without + making all sorts of compromising concessions. They do not believe in + them, and therefore they have got to be buttressed by some outside + power in which they do not believe. Perhaps it would not do for them + to examine us too narrowly. We are by no means such ideal people as + they believe us to be, but I can say that we are infinitely better + than the others. We do purpose these things, we do purpose these great + unselfish things; that is the glory of America, and if we can confirm + that belief we have steadied the whole process of history in the + immediate future; whereas if we do not confirm that belief I would not + like to say what would happen in the way of utter dissolution of + society. + + The only thing that that ugly, poisonous thing called Bolshevism feeds + on is the doubt of the man on the street of the essential integrity of + the people he is depending on to do his governing. That is what it + feeds on. No man in his senses would think that a lot of local Soviets + could really run a government, but some of them are in a temper to + have anything rather than the kind of thing they have been having; and + they say to themselves: "Well, this may be bad but it is at least + better and more immediately in touch with us than the other, and we + will try it and see whether we cannot work something out of it." + + So that our immediate duty, not as Democrats, but as American + citizens, is to concert the most powerful campaign that was ever + concerted in this country in favour of supporting the League of + Nations and to put it up to everybody--the Republican organizations + and every other organization--to say where they stand, and to make a + record and explain this thing to the people. + + In one sense it does not make any difference what the Constitution of + the League of Nations is. This present constitution in my judgment is + a very conservative and sound document. There are some things in it + which I would have phrased otherwise. I am modest enough to believe + that the American draft was better than this, but it is the result of + as honest work as I ever knew to be done. Here we sat around the table + where there were representatives of fourteen nations. The five great + powers, so-called, gave themselves two delegates apiece and they + allowed the other nine one delegate apiece. But it did not count by + members--it counted by purpose. + + For example, among the rest was a man whom I have come to admire so + much that I have come to have a personal affection for him, and that + is Mr. Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece, as genuine a friend of man + as ever lived and as able a friend honest people ever had, and a man + on whose face a glow comes when you state a great principle, and yet + who is intensely practical and who was there to insist that nothing + was to be done which would put the small nations of the world at the + disposal of the big nations. So that he was the most influential + spokesman of what may be called the small powers as contrasted with + the great. But I merely single him out for the pleasure of paying him + this tribute, and not because the others were less earnest in pursuing + their purpose. They were a body of men who all felt this. Indeed, + several of them said this to us: "The world expects not only, but + demands of us that we shall do this thing successfully, and we cannot + go away without doing it." There is not a statesman in that conference + who would dare to go home saying that he had merely signed a treaty of + peace no matter how excellent the terms of that treaty are, because he + has received if not an official at least an influential mandate to see + to it that something is done in addition which will make the thing + stand after it is done; and he dare not go home without doing that. So + that all around that table there was coöperation--generous coöperation + of mind to make that document as good as we could make it. And I + believe it is a thoroughly sound document. There is only one + misleading sentence in it--only one sentence that conveys a wrong + impression. That can, I dare say, be altered, though it is going to be + extremely difficult to set up that fourteen-nation process again as + will have to be done if any alteration is made. + + The particular and most important thing to which every nation that + joins the League agrees is this: That it won't fight on any question + at all until it has done one of two things. If it is about a question + that it considers suitable for arbitration it will submit it to + arbitration. You know, Mr. Taft and other serious advocates of this + general idea have tried to distinguish between justiciable and non- + justiciable subjects, and while they have had more or less success + with it, the success has not been satisfactory. You cannot define + expressly the questions which nations would be willing to submit to + arbitration. Some question of national pride may come in to upset the + definition. So we said we would make them promise to submit every + question that they considered suitable to arbitration and to abide by + the result. If they do not regard it as suitable for arbitration they + bind themselves to submit it to the consideration of the Executive + Council for a period not exceeding six months, but they are not bound + by the decision. It is an opinion, not a decision. But if a decision, + a unanimous decision, is made, and one of the parties to the dispute + accepts the decision, the other party does bind itself not to attack + the party that accepts the opinion. Now in discussing that we saw this + difficulty. Suppose that Power B is in possession of a piece of + territory which Power A claims, and Power A wins its claim so far as + the opinion of the Executive Council is concerned. And suppose that + the power in possession of the territory accepts the decision but then + simply stands pat and does nothing. It has got the territory. The + other party, inasmuch as the party that has lost has accepted the + decision, has bound itself not to attack it and cannot go by force of + arms and take possession of the country. In order to cure that + quandary we used a sentence which said that in case--I have forgotten + the phraseology but it means this--in case any power refuses to carry + out the decision the Executive Council was to consider the means by + which it could be enforced. Now that apparently applies to both + parties but was intended to apply to the non-active party which + refuses to carry it out. And that sentence is open to a + misconstruction. The Commission did not see that until after the + report was made and I explained this to the General Conference. I made + an explanation which was substantially the same as I have made to you, + and that this should be of record may be sufficient to interpret that + phrase, but probably not. It is not part of the Covenant and possibly + an attempt ought to be made to alter it. + + But I am wandering from my real point. My point is that this is a + workable beginning of a thing that the world insists on. There is no + foundation for it except the good faith of the parties, but there + could not be any other foundation for an arrangement between nations. + + The other night after dinner Senator Thomas, of Colorado, said: "Then + after all it is not a guarantee of peace." Certainly not. Who said + that it was? If you can invent an actual guarantee of peace you will + be a benefactor of mankind, but no such guarantee has been found. But + this comes as near being a guarantee of peace as you can get. + + I had this interesting experience when the Covenant was framed. I + found that I was the only member of the Committee who did not take it + for granted that the members of the League would have the right to + secede. I found there was a universal feeling that this treaty could + be denounced in the usual way and that a state could withdraw. I + demurred from that opinion and found myself in a minority of one, and + I could not help saying to them that this would be very interesting on + the other side of the water, that the only Southerner on this + conference should deny the right of secession. But nevertheless it is + instructive and interesting to learn that this is taken for granted; + that it is not a covenant that you would have to continue to adhere + to. I suppose that is a necessary assumption among sovereign states, + but it would not be a very handsome thing to withdraw after we had + entered upon it. The point is that it does rest upon the good faith of + all the nations. Now the historic significance of it is this: + + We are setting up right in the path that German ambition expected to + tread a number of new states that, chiefly because of their newness, + will for a long time be weak states. We are carving a piece of Poland + out of Germany's side; we are creating an independent Bohemia below + that, an independent Hungary below that, and enlarging Rumania, and we + are rearranging the territorial divisions of the Balkan States. We are + practically dissolving the Empire of Turkey and setting up under + mandatories of the League of Nations a number of states in Asia Minor + and Arabia which, except for the power of the mandatories, would be + almost helpless against any invading or aggressive force, and that is + exactly the old Berlin-to-Bagdad route. So that when you remember that + there is at present a strong desire on the part of Austria to unite + with Germany, you have the prospect of an industrial nation with + seventy or eighty millions of people right in the heart of Europe, and + to the southeast of it nothing but weakness, unless it is supported by + the combined power of the world. + + Unless you expect this structure built at Paris to be a house of + cards, you have got to put into it the structural iron which will be + afforded by the League of Nations. Take the history of the war that we + have just been through. It is agreed by everybody that has expressed + an opinion that if Germany had known that England would go in, she + never would have started. What do you suppose she would have done if + she had known that everybody else would have gone in? Of course she + would never have started. If she had known that the world would have + been against her, this war would not have occurred; and the League of + Nations gives notice that if anything of that sort is tried again, the + world will be against the nation that tries it, and with that + assurance given that such a nation will have to fight the world, you + may be sure that whatever illicit ambitions a nation may have, it + cannot and will not attempt to realize them. But if they have not that + assurance and can in the meantime set up an infinite network of + intrigue such as we now know ran like a honeycomb through the world, + then any arrangement will be broken down. This is the place where + intrigue did accomplish the disintegration which made the realization + of Germany's purposes almost possible. So that those people will have + to make friends with their powerful neighbour Germany unless they have + already made friends with all the rest of the world. So that we must + have the League of Nations or else a repetition of the catastrophe we + have just gone through. + + Now if you put that case before the people of the United States and + show them that without the League of Nations it is not worth while + completing the treaty we are making in Paris, then you have got an + argument which even an unidealistic people would respond to, and ours + is not an unidealistic people but the most idealistic people in the + world. Just let them catch the meaning which really underlies this and + there won't be any doubt, as to what the response will be from; the + hearts and from the judgments of the people of the United States. + + I would hope, therefore, that forgetting elections for the time being + we should devote our thought and our energies and our plans to this + great business, to concert bi-partisan and non-partisan action, and by + whatever sort of action, to concert every effort in support of this + thing. I cannot imagine an orator being afforded a better theme, so + trot out your orators and turn them loose, because they will have an + inspiration in this that they have never had before, and I would like + a guarantee that the best vocabulary they can mobilize won't be equal + to the job. It surpasses past experience in the world and seems like a + prospect of realizing what once seemed a remote hope of international + morale. And you notice the basis of this thing. It guarantees the + members of the League, guarantees to each their territorial integrity + and political independence as against external aggression. + + I found that all the other men around the conference table had a great + respect for the right of revolution. We do not guarantee any state + against what may happen inside itself, but we do guarantee against + aggression from the outside, so that the family can be as lively as it + pleases, and we know what generally happens to an interloper if you + interfere in a family quarrel. There was a very interesting respect + for the right of revolution; it may be because many of them thought it + was nearer at hand than they had supposed and this immediate + possibility breathed a respect in their minds. But whatever the reason + was, they had a very great respect for it. I read the Virginia Bill of + Rights very literally but not very elegantly to mean that any people + is entitled to any kind of government it pleases and that it is none + of our business to suggest or to influence the kind that it is going + to have. Sometimes it will have a very riotous form of government, but + that is none of our business. And I find that that is accepted, even + with regard to Russia. Even conservative men like the representatives + of Great Britain say it is not our business to dictate what kind of + government Russia shall have. The only thing to do is to see if we can + help them by conference and suggestion and recognition of the right + elements to get together and not leave the country in a state of + chaos. + + It was for that reasonable purpose that we tried to have the + Conference at a place I had never heard of before--a place called + Prinkipos. I understand it is a place on the Bosphorus with fine + summer hotels, etc., and I was abashed to admit that I had never heard + of it--but having plenty of house room, we thought that we could get + the several Russian elements together there and see if we could not + get them to sit down in one room together and tell us what it was all + about and what they intended to do. The Bolshevists had accepted, but + had accepted in a way that was studiously insulting. They said they + would come, and were perfectly ready to say beforehand that they were + ready to pay the foreign debt and ready to make concessions in + economic matters, and that they were even ready to make territorial + readjustments, which meant, "we are dealing with perjured governments + whose only interest is in striking a bargain, and if that is the price + of European recognition and cooperation, we are ready to pay it." + + I never saw anybody more angered than Mr. Lloyd George, who said: "We + cannot let that insult go by. We are not after their money or their + concessions or their territory. That is not the point. We are their + friends who want to help them and must tell them so." We did not tell + them so because to some of the people we had to deal with the payment + of the foreign debt was a more interesting and important matter, but + that will be made clear to them in conference, if they will believe + it. But the Bolshevists, so far as we could get any taste of their + flavour, are the most consummate sneaks in the world. I suppose + because they know they have no high motives themselves, they do not + believe that anybody else has. And Trotsky, having lived a few months + in New York, was able to testify that the United States is in the + hands of capitalists and does not serve anybody else's interests but + the capitalists'. And the worst of it is, I think he honestly believes + it. It would not have much effect if he didn't. Having received six + dollars a week to write for a socialistic and anarchistic paper which + believed that and printed it, and knowing how difficult it is to live + on nothing but the wages of sin, he believes that the only wages paid + here are the wages of sin. + + But we cannot rescue Russia without having a united Europe. One of my + colleagues in Paris said: "We could not go home and say we had made + peace if we left half of Europe and half of Asia at war--because + Russia constitutes half of Europe and Siberia constitutes half of + Asia." And yet we may have to go home without composing these great + territories, but if we go home with a League of Nations, there will be + some power to solve this most perplexing problem. + + And so from every point of view, it is obvious to the men in Paris, + obvious to those who in their own hearts are most indifferent to the + League of Nations, that we have to tie in the provisions of the Treaty + with the League of Nations because the League of Nations is the heart + of the Treaty. It is the only machinery. It is the only solid basis of + masonry that is in the Treaty, and in saying that I know that I am + expressing the opinion of all those with whom I have been conferring. + I cannot imagine any greater historic glory for the party than to have + it said that for the time being it is thinking not of elections, but + of the salvation of the plain people of the world, and the plain + people of the world are looking to us who call ourselves Democrats to + prove to the utmost point of sacrifice that we are indeed Democrats, + with a small d as well as a large D, that we are ready to put the + whole power and influence of America at the disposal of free men + everywhere in the world no matter what the sacrifice involved, no + matter what the danger to the cause. + + And I would like, if I am not tiresome, to leave this additional + thought in your mind. I was one of the first advocates of the + mandatory. I do not at all believe in handing over any more territory + than has already been handed over to any sovereign. I do not believe + in putting the people of the German territories at the disposition, + unsubordinated disposition, of any great power, and therefore I was a + warm advocate of the idea of General Smuts--who, by the way, is an + extraordinary person--who propounded the theory that the pieces of the + Austro-Hungarian Empire and the pieces of the Turkish Empire and the + German colonies were all political units or territorial units which + ought to be accepted in trust by the family of nations, and not turned + over to any member of the family, and that therefore the League of + Nations would have as one of its chief functions to act as trustee for + these great areas of dismembered empires. And yet the embarrassing + moment came when they asked if the United States would be willing to + accept a mandatory. I had to say off-hand that it would not be + willing. I have got to say off-hand that in the present state of + American opinion, at any rate, it wants to observe what I may call + without offense Pharisaical cleanliness and not take anything out of + the pile. It is its point of pride that it does not want to seem to + take anything even by way of superintendence. And of course they said: + "That is very disappointing, for this reason" (The reason they stated + in as complimentary terms as I could have stated it myself): "You + would be the most acceptable mandatory to any one of these peoples, + and very few of us, if any, would be acceptable." They said that in so + many words, and it would greatly advance the peace of the world and + the peace of mind of Europe if the United States would accept + mandatories. I said: "I am perfectly willing to go home and stump the + country and see if they will do it," but I could not truthfully say + off-hand that they would, because I did not know. Now what I wanted to + suggest is this: Personally, and just within the limits of this room, + I can say very frankly that I think we ought to. I think there is a + very promising beginning in regard to countries like Armenia. The + whole heart of America has been engaged for Armenia. They know more + about Armenia and its sufferings than they know about any other + European area; we have colleges out there; we have great missionary + enterprises, just as we have had Robert College in Constantinople. + That is a part of the world where already American influence extends, + a saving influence and an educating and an uplifting influence. + Colleges like Beirut in Syria have spread their influence very much + beyond the limits of Syria, all through the Arabian country and + Mesopotamia and in the distant parts of Asia Minor, and I am not + without hope that the people of the United States would find it + acceptable to go in and be the trustee of the interests of the + Armenian people and see to it that the unspeakable Turk and the almost + equally difficult Kurd had their necks sat on long enough to teach + them manners and give the industrious and earnest people of Armenia + time to develop a country which is naturally rich with possibilities. + + Now the place where they all want us to accept a mandate most is at + Constantinople. I may say that it seems to be rather the consensus of + opinion there that Constantinople ought to be internationalized. So + that the present idea apparently is to delimit the territory around + Constantinople to include the Straits and set up a mandate for that + territory which will make those Straits open to the nations of the + world without any conditions and make Constantinople truly + international--an internationalized free city and a free port--and + America is the only nation in the world that can undertake that + mandate and have the rest of the world believe that it is undertaken + in good faith that we do not mean to stay there and set up our own + sovereignty. So that it would be a very serious matter for the + confidence of the world in this treaty if the United States did not + accept a mandate for Constantinople. + + What I have to suggest is that questions of that sort ought to be + ventilated very thoroughly. This will appeal to the people of the + United States: Are you going to take advantage of this and not any of + the burden? Are you going to put the burden on the bankrupt states of + Europe? For almost all of them are bankrupt in the sense that they + cannot undertake any new things. I think that will appeal to the + American people: that they ought to take the burdens--for they are + burdens. Nobody is going to get anything out of a mandatory of + Constantinople or Armenia. It is a work of disinterested philanthropy. + And if you first present that idea and then make tentative expositions + of where we might go in as a mandatory, I think that the people will + respond. If we went in at Constantinople, for example, I think it is + true that almost all the influential men who are prominent in the + affairs of Bulgaria and were graduates of Robert College would be + immediately susceptible to American interests. They would take + American guidance when they would not take any other guidance. + + But I wish I could stay home and tackle this job with you. There is + nothing I would like to do so much as really to say in parliamentary + language what I think of the people that are opposing it. I would + reserve the right in private to say in unparliamentary language what I + think of them, but in public I would try to stick to parliamentary + language. Because of all the blind and little, provincial people, they + are the littlest and most contemptible. It is not their character so + much that I have a contempt for, though that contempt is + thoroughgoing, but their minds. They have not got even good working + imitations of minds. They remind me of a man with a head that is not a + head but is just a knot providentially put there to keep him from + ravelling out, but why the Lord should not have been willing to let + them ravel out I do not know, because they are of no use, and if I + could really say what I think about them, it would be picturesque. But + the beauty of it is that their ignorance and their provincialism can + be made so perfectly visible. They have horizons that do not go beyond + their parish; they do not even reach to the edges of the parish, + because the other people know more than they do. The whole impulse of + the modern time is against them. They are going to have the most + conspicuously contemptible names in history. The gibbets that they are + going to be executed on by future historians will scrape the heavens, + they will be so high. They won't be turned in the direction of heaven + at all, but they will be very tall, and I do not know any fate more + terrible than to be exhibited in that future catalogue of the men who + are utterly condemned by the whole spirit of humanity. If I did not + despise them, I would be sorry for them. + + Now I have sometimes a very cheering thought. On the fifth of March, + 1921, I am going to begin to be an historian again instead of an + active public man, and I am going to have the privilege of writing + about these gentlemen without any restraints of propriety. The + President, if my experience is a standard, is liable some day to burst + by merely containing restrained gases. Anybody in the Senate or House + can say any abusive thing he pleases about the President, but it + shocks the sense of propriety of the whole country if the President + says what he thinks about them. And that makes it very fortunate that + the term of the President is limited, because no president could stand + it for a number of years. But when the lid is off, I am going to + resume my study of the dictionary to find adequate terms in which to + describe the fatuity of these gentlemen with their poor little minds + that never get anywhere but run around in a circle and think they are + going somewhere. I cannot express my contempt for their intelligence, + but because I think I know the people of the United States, I can + predict their future with absolute certainty. I am not concerned as to + the ultimate outcome of this thing at all, not for a moment, but I am + concerned that the outcome should be brought about immediately, just + as promptly as possible. So my hope is that we will all put on our war + paint, not as Democrats but as Americans, get the true American + pattern of war paint and a real hatchet and go out on the war path and + get a collection of scalps that has never been excelled in the history + of American warfare. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +JAPAN--SHANTUNG + + +One of the settlements embodied in the Versailles Treaty upon which the +enemies of the President in this country concentrated their fires of wrath +and hatred against the President was the so-called Shantung settlement. +The partisan enemies of the President, realizing the irreconcilable +antagonism of certain of our people to the Japanese, did everything they +could to intensify this antagonism, picturing the President as one who had +conceded something to Japan at the expense of helpless China. + +Not love of China, but hatred of Woodrow Wilson led partisan Republicans, +without careful investigation of the actual situation, to seize on the +Shantung affair as an opportunity to embarrass the President. The +ignorances and prejudices of many of our people on the subject of China +played into the hands of those Republicans, whose main object was to +injure the President and defeat the Treaty. Very few sought to understand +the settlement or to ascertain the facts that formed the historic +background of it. + +These facts were clearly set forth by the President himself in a speech +delivered at Los Angeles, California, on September 20, 1919. The President +said: + + Let me recall some circumstances which probably most of you have + forgotten. I have to go back to the year 1898, for it was in March of + that year that these cessions which formerly belonged to Germany were + transferred to her by the Government of China. What had happened was + that two German missionaries in China had been murdered. The Central + Government at Peking had done everything that was in its power to do + to quiet the local disturbances, to allay the local prejudice against + foreigners which led to the murders, but had been unable to do so, and + the German Government held them responsible, nevertheless, for the + murder of the missionaries. It was not the missionaries that the + German Government was interested in. That was a pretext. Germany + insisted that, because this thing had happened for which the Peking + Government could not really with justice be held responsible, a very + large and important part of one of the richest provinces of China + should be ceded to her for sovereign control, for a period of 99 + years, that she should have the right to penetrate the interior of + that province with a railway, and that she should have the right to + exploit any ores that lay within 30 miles either side of that railway. + She forced the Peking Government to say that they did it in gratitude + to the German Government for certain services which she was supposed + to have rendered but never did render. That was the beginning. I do + not know whether any of the gentlemen who are criticizing the present + Shantung settlement were in public affairs at that time or not, but I + will tell you what happened, so far as this Government was concerned. + + One of the most enlightened and humane presidents we have ever had was + at the head of the Government--William McKinley, a man who loved his + fellow men and believed in justice--and associated with him was one of + our ablest secretaries of state--Mr. John Hay. The state of + international law was such then that they did not feel at liberty to + make even a protest against these concessions to Germany. Neither did + they make any protest when, immediately following that, similar + concessions were made to Russia, to Great Britain, and to France. It + was almost immediately after that that China granted to Russia the + right of the possession and control of Port Arthur and a portion of + the region of Talienwan. Then England, not wishing to be outdone, + although she had similar rights elsewhere in China, insisted upon a + similar concession and got Weihaiwei. Then France insisted that she + must have a port, and got it for 99 years. Not against one of those + did the Government of the United States make any protest whatever. + They only insisted that the door should not be shut in any of these + regions against the trade of the United States. You have heard of Mr. + Hay's policy of the open door. That was his policy of the open door-- + not the open door to the rights of China, but the open door to the + goods of America. I want you to understand, my fellow countrymen, I am + not criticizing this because, until we adopt the Covenant of the + League of Nations, it is an unfriendly act for any government to + interfere in the affairs of any other unless its own interests are + immediately concerned. The only thing Mr. McKinley and Mr. Hay were at + liberty to do was to call attention to the fact that the trade of the + United States might be unfavourably affected and insist that in no + circumstances it should be. They got from all of these powers the + promise that it should not be a promise which was more or less kept. + Following that came the war between Russia and Japan, and at the close + of that war Japan got Port Arthur and all the rights which Russia + enjoyed in China, just as she is now getting Shantung and the rights + her recently defeated enemy had in China--an exactly similar + operation. That peace that gave her Port Arthur was concluded, as you + know, on the territory of the United States--at Portsmouth, N.H. + Nobody dreamed of protesting against that. Japan had beaten Russia. + Port Arthur did not at that time belong to China; it belonged for the + period of the lease to Russia, and Japan was ceded what Japan had + taken by the well-recognized processes of war. + + Very well, at the opening of this war, Japan went and took Kiauchow + and supplanted Germany in Shantung Province. The whole process is + repeated, but repeated with a new sanction. In the meantime, after + this present war began, England and France, not at the same time, but + successively, feeling that it was essential that they should have the + assistance of Japan on the Pacific, agreed that if Japan would go into + this war and take whatever Germany had in the Pacific she should + retain everything north of the equator which had belonged to Germany. + That treaty now stands. That treaty absolutely binds Great Britain and + France. Great Britain and France can not in honour, having offered + Japan this inducement to enter the war and continue her operations, + consent to an elimination of the Shantung provision from the present + treaty. Very well, let us put these gentlemen who are objecting to the + Shantung settlement to the test. Are they ready to fight Great Britain + and France and Japan, who will have to stand together, in order to get + this province back for China? I know they are not, and their interest + in China is not the interest of assisting China, but of defeating the + Treaty. They know beforehand that a modification of the Treaty in that + respect cannot be obtained, and they are insisting upon what they know + is impossible; but if they ratify the Treaty and accept the Covenant + of the League of Nations they do put themselves in a position to + assist China. They put themselves in that position for the very first + time in the history of international engagements. They change the + whole faith of international affairs, because after you have read the + much-debated Article 10 of the Covenant, I advise you to read Article + 11. Article 11 says that it shall be the friendly right of any member + of the League to call attention at any time to anything, anywhere, + that threatens to disturb the peace of the world or the good + understanding between nations upon which the peace of the world + depends. That in itself constitutes a revolution in international + relationships. Anything that affects the peace of any part of the + world is the business of every nation. It does not have simply to + insist that its trade shall not be interfered with; it has the right + to insist that the rights of mankind shall not be interfered with. Not + only that, but back of this provision with regard to Shantung lies, as + everybody knows or ought to know, a very honourable promise which was + made by the Government of Japan in my presence in Paris, namely, that + just as soon as possible after the ratification of this treaty they + will return to China all sovereign rights in the Province of Shantung. + Great Britain has not promised to return Weihaiwei; France has not + promised to return her part. Japan has promised to relinquish all the + sovereign rights which were acquired by Germany for the remaining 78 + of the 99 years of the lease, and to retain only what other + governments have in many other parts of China, namely, the right to + build and operate the railway under a corporation and to exploit the + mines in the immediate neighbourhood of that railway. In other words, + she retains only the rights of economic concessionaries. Personally, I + am frank to say that I think all of these nations have invaded some of + the essential rights of China by going too far in the concessions + which they have demanded, but that is an old story now, and we are + beginning a new story. In the new story we all have the right to balk + about what they have been doing and to convince them, by the pressure + of the public opinion of the world, that a different course of action + would be just and right. I am for helping China and not turning away + from the only way in which I can help her. Those are the facts about + Shantung. + +Of all the important decisions of the Peace Conference, none worried the +President so much as that relating to the Shantung settlement, and in a +speech at Des Moines, on September 6, 1919, he expressed his +dissatisfaction in the following words: + + There is the settlement, which you have heard so much discussed, about + that rich and ancient province of Shantung in China. I do not like + that settlement any better than you do, but these were the + circumstances: In order to induce Japan to cooperate in the war and + clear the Pacific of the German power, England, and subsequently + France, bound themselves without any qualifications to see to it that + Japan got anything in China that Germany had and that Japan would take + it away from her, upon the strength of which promise Japan proceeded + to take away Kiauchow and occupy the portions of Shantung Province + which had been ceded by China for a term of years to Germany. The most + that could be got out of it was that in view of the fact that America + had nothing to do with it, the Japanese were ready to promise that + they would give up every item of sovereignty which Germany would + otherwise have enjoyed in Shantung Province and return it without + restriction to China, and that they would retain in the province only + the economic concessions such as other nations already had elsewhere + in China--though you do not hear anything about that--concessions in + the railway and the mines which had become attached to the railway for + operative purposes. But suppose that you say that is not enough. Very + well, then, stay out of the Treaty, and how will that accomplish + anything? England and France are bound and cannot escape their + obligation. Are you going to institute a war against Japan and France + and England to get Shantung back for China? That is an operation which + does not commend itself to the present generation. + +Mr. Ray Stannard Baker, in his book "What Wilson Did in Paris," says: + + Of all the important decisions at the Peace Conference none worried + the President so much as that relating to the disposition of the + Shantung peninsula--and none, finally, satisfied him less. Not one of + the problems he had to meet at Paris, serious as they all were, did he + take more personally to heart than this. He told me on one occasion + that he had been unable to sleep on the previous night for thinking of + it. + + Those last days before the Treaty was finished were among the hardest + of the entire Conference. As I have said before, the most difficult + and dangerous problems had inevitably been left to the last, and had + all to be finally settled in those crowded days of late April. + + Consider, for a moment, the exact situation at Paris on April 29th, + when the Japanese-Chinese crises reached the explosive point. + + It was on that very day that the German delegates were coming morosely + into Versailles, ready for a treaty that was not yet finished. The + Three--for Orlando had then withdrawn from the Conference--had been + gradually lengthening their sessions, the discussions were longer and + more acrimonious. They were tired out. Only six days before, on April + 23rd, the High Council had been hopelessly deadlocked on the Italian + question. The President had issued his bold message to the world + regarding the disposition of Fiume and the Italian delegation departed + from Paris with the expectation that their withdrawal would either + force the hands of the Conference, or break it up. + + While this crisis was at its height the Belgian delegation, which had + long been restive over the non-settlement of Belgian claims for + reparations, became insistent. They had no place in the Supreme + Council and they were worried lest the French and British--neither of + whom could begin to get enough money out of Germany to pay for its + losses--would take the lion's share and leave Belgium unrestored. The + little nations were always worried at Paris lest the big ones take + everything and leave them nothing! Very little appeared in the news at + the time concerning the Belgian demands, but they reached practically + an ultimatum: if Belgium were not satisfied she also would withdraw + from the Conference and refuse to sign the Treaty. + + It was at this critical moment that the Chinese-Japanese question had + to be settled. It had to be settled because the disposition of German + rights in China (unlike Italian claims in the Adriatic) had to go into + the German Treaty before it was presented to Brockdorff Rantzau and + his delegates at Versailles; and because the Japanese would not sign + the Treaty unless it was settled. The defection of Japan, added to + that of Italy and the possible withdrawal of Belgium, would have made + the situation desperate. + + The two principal things that Japan wanted at the Peace Conference + were: first, a recognition in the Covenant of the League of Nations of + the "equality of the nations and the just treatment of their + nationals"; and, second, the recognition of certain rights over the + former German concessions in China (Shantung.) + + After a struggle lasting all through the Conference, Japan had finally + lost out, in the meeting of the League of Nations Commission on April + 11th, in her first great contention. She was refused the recognition + of racial or even national equality which she demanded although a + majority of the nations represented on the League of Nations + Commission agreed with her that her desire for such recognition was + just and should find a place in the Covenant.... + + Few people realize how sharply the Japanese felt this hurt to their + pride: and few people realize the meaning of this struggle, as a + forerunner of one of the great coming struggles of civilization--the + race struggle.... + + Having lost out in their first great contention the Japanese came to + the settlement of their second demand with a feeling of irritation but + with added determination. The Japanese delegates were the least + expressive of any at the Conference: they said the least: but they + were the firmest of any in hewing to the line of their interests and + their agreements. It must not be forgotten also, in all fairness, that + the Japanese delegates, not less than the British, French, and + American, had their own domestic political problems, and opposition, + and that there was a powerful demand in Japan that, while all the + other nations were securing some return for their losses and + sacrifices in the war, Japan should also get some return. + + At the same time Japan was in a stronger position than any other of + the Allied and Associated Powers except the United States. She had + been little hurt, and much strengthened by the war. She was far + distant from danger; she did not need the League of Nations as much as + did the countries of Europe; and, more than anything else, she + occupied a strong legal status, for her claims were supported by + treaties both with China and the Allies; and she was, moreover, in a + position, if she were rendered desperate, to take by force what she + considered to be her rights if the Allies refused to accord them. + + At a dark moment of the war, the spring of 1917, the British and + French, in order to sharpen Japanese support of the allied cause, made + private agreements to sustain the claims of Japan at the Peace + Conference to German rights in Shantung. It thus happened, in the + Council of Three, for Orlando had then gone home, that two of the + powers, Great Britain and France, were bound by their pledged word to + Japan. Indeed, the British argued that they felt themselves indebted + to the Japanese not only as a long-friendly ally but for helping to + keep the Pacific free of the enemy while Australian troops were being + transported to Europe and thus relieving a great burden for the + British fleet. It must not be forgotten that China was also bound by + the Treaty and Notes of 1915 and the Notes of 1918 with Japan-- + although China vigorously asserted that all of these agreements were + entered into upon her part under coercion by Japan. In fact, one of + the Chinese delegates at Paris had actually signed one of the + agreements which he was now asking the Conference to overthrow. + + It was not only this wire entanglement of treaties which Mr. Wilson + found in his advance, but it must be said, in all frankness, that, in + opposing Japan's demands for economic privileges and a "sphere of + influence" in China, he was also opposing a principle which every + other strong nation at the Conference believed in and acted upon, if + not in China, then elsewhere in the world. Japan asserted that she was + only asking for the rights already conceded to other nations. Japan + was thus in a very strong position in insisting upon her claims, and + China in a very weak position. + + In this crisis Mr. Wilson was face to face with difficult + alternatives. If he stood stiffly for immediate justice to China, he + would have to force Great Britain and France to break their pledged + word with Japan. Even if he succeeded in doing this, he still would + have had to face the probability, practically the certainty, that + Japan would withdraw from the Conference and go home. This would not + only keep Japan out of the League, but it would go far toward + eventually disrupting the Peace Conference, already shaken by the + withdrawal of Italy and the dangerous defection of Belgium. Such a + weakening of the Peace Conference and of the Alliance of the Great + Powers would have the immediate effect of encouraging the Germans not + to sign the Treaty and of holding off in the hope that the forces of + industrial unrest then spreading all over Europe might overwhelm + France or Italy. It would also have a highly irritating effect upon + all the bolshevist elements in Europe--increasing uncertainty, and the + spread of anarchical conditions. With Japan out of the association of + western nations there was also the possibility, voiced just at this + time in both French and British newspapers, that she would begin + building up alliances of her own in the East--possibly with Germany + and Russia. Indeed, if the truth were told, this was probably the most + important consideration of all in shaping the final decision. It was + the plain issue between the recrudescence, in a new and more dangerous + form, of the old system of military alliances and balances of power, + and the new system of world organization in a league of nations. It + was the militaristic Prussian idea against the American Wilsonian + idea. + + No statesman probably ever had a more difficult problem presented to + him than did Mr. Wilson upon the momentous 29th of April, 1919. At + that moment three things seemed of extreme importance if anything was + to be saved out of the wreckage of the world. The first was a speedy + peace, so that men everywhere might return to the work of production + and reconstruction and the avenues of trade everywhere be opened. + Peace and work! The second was of supreme importance--keeping the + great Allies firmly welded together to steady a world which was + threatened with anarchy. It was absolutely necessary to keep a going + concern in the world! The third was to perpetuate this world + organization in a league of nations: this the most important of all, + for it had reference to the avalanche of new problems which were just + ahead. + + If the Conference were broken up, or even if Italy remained out, and + Japan went out, these things would be impossible. On the other hand, + if the Allies could be kept firmly together, peace established, and a + league of nations brought into being, there was a chance of going + forward with world reconstruction on the broadest lines, and of the + full realization of the principles of justice laid down in the + Armistice terms and accepted by all nations. The Treaty, after all, is + no final settlement; it is only one step in the great process of world + reconstruction. + + It was with all these considerations in view that the Shantung + settlement was made by the Council of Three sitting in the President's + house in the Place des États-Unis--with the Japanese in full + agreement. + + This settlement was in two parts, the first set forth in the Treaty + itself, and the second a special agreement of the three Great Powers + with Japan. I find that this fact is not clear to many people, who + look for the entire settlement in the Treaty itself. + + Under sections 156, 157, and 158 of the Treaty all the rights at + Kiauchow and in Shantung Province formerly belonging to Germany are + transferred without reservation to Japan. This conforms broadly with + the various treaties, and gives a proud nation what it considered its + full rights. + + On the other hand, the Japanese delegates at the Conference, on behalf + of their government, made a voluntary agreement "to hand back the + Shantung peninsula in full sovereignty to China, retaining only the + economic privileges granted to Germany and the right to establish a + settlement under the usual conditions at Tsingtao." + + Under this agreement, by which Japan makes an unqualified recession of + the sovereign rights in Shantung to China, she also agrees to remove + all Japanese troops remaining on the peninsula "at the earliest + possible time." + + Japan thus gets only such rights as an economic concessionaire as are + already possessed by one or two great powers and the whole future + relationship between the two countries falls at once under the + guarantee of the League of Nations, by the provisions of which the + territorial integrity and political independence of China will be + insured. + + If the President had risked everything in standing for the immediate + and complete realization of the Chinese demands, and had broken up the + Conference upon that issue, it would not have put Japan either + politically or economically out of China. Neither our people nor the + British would go to war with Japan solely to keep her out of Shantung. + The only hope of China in the future--and Wilson looks not only to the + removal of the sphere of influence which Japan controls but to the + removal of all other spheres of foreign influence in China--is + through a firm world organization, a league of nations in which these + problems can be brought up for peaceful settlement.... "The + settlement, of course, was a compromise: a balance of considerations. + It was the problem of the President, all through the Conference, when + to 'accommodate' and when to use decided policies. 'The wisdom of the + statesman,' said Cavour (quoted by Thayer in his admirable 'Life'), + 'consists in discerning when the time has come for the one or the + other.'" + + "The Shantung decision is about as good a settlement as could be had + out of a dirty past." + +Even I felt bitterly critical of what seemed to me to be the President's +surrender to Japan in the matter of Shantung. But when he returned and +told me the whole story and explained the complicated and delicate world +situation which confronted him, I agreed with him that he had obtained out +of a bad mess the best possible settlement. + +In addition to the various cabled messages which passed between the +President and myself, which will be found in Appendix "C," was the +following: + + Received at The White House, Washington, + April 30, 1919. + + Paris + TUMULTY, White House, + Washington. + + The Japanese-Chinese matter has been settled in a way which seems to + me as satisfactory as could be got out of the tangle of treaties in + which China herself was involved, and it is important that the exact + facts should be known. I therefore send you the following for public + use at such time as the matter may come under public discussion. In + the Treaty all the rights at Kiao-Chau and in Shantung Province + belonging to Germany are to be transferred without opposition to + Japan, but Japan voluntarily engages, in answer to the questions put + in Conference, that it will be her immediate policy to _Quote_ hand + back the surveyed peninsula in full sovereignty to China, retaining + only the economic privileges granted to Germany and the right to + establish a settlement under the usual conditions at Tsingtau. Owners + of the railway will use special police only to insure security for + traffic. They will be used for no other purpose. The police force will + be composed of Chinese and such Japanese instructors as the directors + of the railway may select will be appointed by the Chinese government + _End quote_. + + It was understood in addition that inasmuch as the sovereign rights + receded to China were to be unqualified, all Japanese troops remaining + on the peninsula should be withdrawn at the earliest possible time. + Japan thus gets only such rights as an economic concessionaire as are + possessed by one or two other great powers and are only too common in + China, and the future relationship between the two countries falls at + once under the guarantee of the League of Nations of territorial + integrity and political independence. I find a general disposition to + look with favour upon the proposal that at an early date throughout + the mediation of the League of Nations all extraordinary foreign + rights in China and all spheres of influence should be abrogated by + the common consent of all the nations concerned. I regard the + assurances given by Japan as very satisfactory in view of the + complicated circumstances. Please do not give out any of the above as + a quotation from me, but use it in some other form for public + information at the right time. + + WOODROW WILSON. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +IRELAND + + +To one standing on the side-lines in the capital of the nation and +witnessing the play of the ardent passions of the people of the Irish +race, demanding that some affirmative action be taken by our government to +bring about the realization of the right of self-determination for +Ireland, it seemed as if the American President, Woodrow Wilson, who first +gave utterance to the ideal of self-determination for all the oppressed +peoples of the world, was woefully unmindful of the age-long struggle that +Irishmen had been making to free their own beloved land from British +domination. But to those, like myself, who were on the inside of affairs, +it was evident that in every proper and legitimate way the American +President was cautiously searching for efficient means to advance the +cause of self-government in Ireland and to bring about a definite and +satisfactory solution of this complicated problem. + +Embarrassed as he was by a delicate diplomatic situation, which to a great +extent governed his conduct, he was not free openly to espouse the cause +of Ireland. To have done so would have been to add difficulties to an +already chaotic world situation. He was compelled in what he was seeking +to do for Ireland to move quietly and by informal conferences impressively +to lay the case of Ireland before those who sought his counsel in the +matter. Unfortunately, these quiet methods of helpfulness which he brought +to the task were the things that drew the fire of criticism and even +distrust of many men of the Irish race in America, who in their passionate +devotion to the cause which lay so close to their hearts could see only a +direct route to accomplishing what they had in mind. + +Long before the European war the President and I had often discussed the +Irish cause and how to make his influence felt in a way that would bring +results without becoming involved in diplomatic snarls with Great Britain. +He was of the opinion that the Irish problem could not be settled by +force, for the spirit of Ireland, which for centuries had been demanding +justice, was unconquerable. He pointed out to me on many occasions when we +discussed this delicate matter, that the policy of force and reprisal +which the English Government had for centuries practised in had but +strengthened the tenacious purpose of the Irish people and had only +succeeded in keeping under the surface the seething dissatisfaction of +that indomitable race. + +I recall that at the conclusion of one of our talks after a Cabinet +meeting, shaking his head as if he despaired of a settlement, the +President said: "European statesmen can never learn that humanity can be +welded together only by love, by sympathy, and by justice, and not by +jealousy and hatred." He was certain that the failure of England to find +an adjustment was intensifying feeling not only in our own country, but +throughout the world, and that the agitation for a settlement would spread +like a contagion and would inevitably result in a great national crisis. + +An interesting comment on the President's attitude toward the Irish +question appears in an article in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for October, +1921. The article is by Joseph Fort Newton, in his series, "Preaching in +London." The comment is as follows: + + To-day a distinguished London minister told me a story about the + President, for which he vouches. He had it from the late Sylvester + Horne--Member of Parliament and minister of Whitefield's Chapel--who + had known the President for years before he was elevated to his high + office. Home happened to be in America--where he was always a welcome + guest--before the war, shortly after the President was inaugurated, + and he called at the White House to pay his respects. In the course of + the talk, he expressed satisfaction that the relations between England + and America would be in safe hands while the President was in office. + The President said nothing, and Horne wondered at it. Finally he + forced the issue, putting it as a question point-blank. The President + said, addressing him in the familiar language of religious fellowship: + "Brother Horne, one of the greatest calamities that has befallen + mankind will come during my term of office. It will come from Germany. + Go home and settle the Irish question, and there will be no doubt as + to where America will stand." + +In discussing the matter with me, he said: "The whole policy of Great +Britain in its treatment of the Irish question has unfortunately been +based upon a policy of fear and not a policy of trusting the Irish people. +How magnificently the policy of trust and faith worked out in the case of +the Boers. Unfortunately, the people of Ireland now believe that the basis +of England's policy toward them is revenge, malice, and destruction. You +remember, Tumulty, how the haters of the South in the days of +reconstruction sought to poison Lincoln's mind by instilling into it +everything that might lead him in his treatment of the South toward a +policy of reprisal, but he contemptuously turned away from every +suggestion as a base and ignoble thing. Faith on the part of Great Britain +in the deep humanity and inherent generosity of the Irish people is the +only force that will ever lead to a settlement of this question. English +statesmen must realize that in the last analysis force never permanently +settles anything. It only produces hatreds and resentments that make a +solution of any question difficult and almost impossible. I have tried to +impress upon the Englishmen with whom I have discussed this matter that +there never can be a real comradeship between America and England until +this issue is definitely settled and out of the way." + +Many times in informal discussions with British representatives that came +to the White House the President sought to impress upon them the necessity +for a solution, pointing out to them how their failure was embarrassing +our relations with Great Britain at every point. I am sure that if he +could with propriety have done so, Woodrow Wilson would long ago have +directly suggested to Great Britain a settlement of the Irish question, +but, unfortunately, serious diplomatic obstacles lay in the way of an open +espousal of the Irish cause. He was sadly aware that under international +law no nation has the right to interest itself in anything that directly +concerns the affairs of another friendly nation, for by the traditions of +diplomacy such "interference" puts in jeopardy the cordial relations of +the nations involved in such controversy. + +Long before he became president, Woodrow Wilson had eloquently declared +his attitude with reference to self-government for Ireland and had openly +espoused the cause of Irish freedom. In a speech delivered at New +Brunswick, New Jersey, on October 26, 1910, he said: + + Have you read the papers recently attentively enough to notice the + rumours that are coming across the waters? What are the rumours? The + rumours are that the English programme includes, not only self- + government for Ireland, but self government for Scotland, and the + drawing together in London or somewhere else of a parliament which + will represent the British Empire in a great confederated state upon + the model, no doubt, of the United States of America, and having its + power to the end of the world. What is at the bottom of that + programme? At the bottom of it is the idea that no little group of men + like the English people have the right to govern men in all parts of + the world without drawing them into real substantial partnership, + where their voice will count with equal weight with the voice of other + parts of the country. + + This voice that has been crying in Ireland, this voice for home rule, + is a voice which is now supported by the opinion of the world; this + impulse is a spirit which ought to be respected and recognized in the + British Constitution. It means not mere vague talk of men's rights, + men's emotions, and men's inveterate and traditional principles, but + it means the embodiment of these things in something that is going to + be done, that will look with hope to the programme that may come out + of these conferences. + + If those who conduct the Government of Great Britain are not careful + the restlessness will spread with rapid agitation until the whole + country is aflame, and then there will be revolution and a change of + government. + +In this speech he plainly indicated that his plan for the settlement of +the Irish question was the establishment of some forum to which the cause +of Ireland might be brought, where the full force of the public opinion of +the world, including the United States, could be brought to play in a +vigorous and whole-hearted insistence upon a solution of this world- +disturbing question. + +As we read the daily papers, containing accounts of the disturbances in +Ireland, what a prophetic vision underlay the declaration contained in the +speech of Woodrow Wilson in 1910! + + If those who conduct the Government of Great Britain are not careful + the restlessness will spread with rapid agitation until the whole + country is aflame, and then there will be revolution and a change of + government. + +I recall his passionate resentment of the attitude and threats of Sir +Edward Carson, leader of the Unionist forces in the British Parliament, +when he read the following statement of Carson carried in the American +Press, after the passage of Home Rule through the House of Lords: "In the +event of this proposed parliament being thrust upon us, we solemnly and +mutually pledge ourselves not to recognize its authority. I do not care +two pence whether this is treason or not." + +Discussing Carson's utterance the President said: "I would like to be in +Mr. Asquith's place. I would show this rebel whether he would recognize +the authority of the Government or flaunt it. He ought to be hanged for +treason. If Asquith does not call this gentleman's bluff, the contagion of +unrest and rebellion in Ireland will spread until only a major operation +will save the Empire. Dallying with gentlemen of this kind who openly +advocate revolution will only add to the difficulties. If those in +authority in England will only act firmly now, their difficulties will be +lessened. A little of the firmness and courage of Andrew Jackson would +force a settlement of the Irish question right now." + +The President did not agree with the friends of Irish freedom in America +that coercive methods put upon England through the instrumentality of the +United States could accomplish anything. When he left for the other side +to take part in the Peace Conference, the future of Ireland was much in +his thoughts, but his solution of the problem lay in the establishment of +a forum under the League of Nations before which not only the cause of +Ireland but the cause of any oppressed people might be brought to the +judgment of mankind. + +Ireland's affairs were always in the background of the President's +thoughts and he welcomed conversations with those who were in a position +to offer helpful suggestions. I append a correspondence, intimate in +character and now for the first time "exposed to the public view," between +the President, Mr. Sidney Brooks, a noted English writer, and myself: + + Friday, April 20, 1917. + + DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: + + After several months in America I am now returning to England, + returning, I need not say, in a very happy mood and with the + consciousness that the relations between our two countries are at + length set fair. There is nothing nearer to my heart than improving + them, and I believe I see how they could be improved and particularly + how the last great obstacle to their betterment--I mean, of course, + Ireland--could be lessened, if not removed. I should very greatly + value an opportunity of setting before you some views I have formed on + the matter, if an opportunity could be found before the arrival of the + British Commission. + + I leave Washington on Sunday and sail for England on the following + Saturday, but not, I trust, without being able to pay you my respects + and say my adieux in person. + + Believe me, dear Mr. President, + + Yours very sincerely, + SIDNEY BROOKS. + + THE PRESIDENT, + The White House. + +In forwarding this letter to the President, I accompanied it by the +following note: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + April 20, 1917. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + I just had a little talk with Sidney Brooks who says he has been in + correspondence with Lloyd George and Lord Northcliffe with reference + to the Home Rule question. He believes that just a little push by you + in your private talk with Mr. Balfour would put over home rule. He + says if you could bring home to Balfour the amount of American public + sentiment which favours it and how a denial of it is working to the + disadvantage of England in this country, it would make a great + impression. He says after the war there will of course be a great and + generous cooperation between England and this country; but that there + will never be genuine cooperation between the people of America and + the people of England until the Irish question is settled. + + Sincerely yours, + TUMULTY. + +The President replied to me in the following note: + + DEAR TUMULTY: + + Confidentially (for I beg that you will be careful not to speak of or + intimate this), I have been doing a number of things about this which + I hope may bear fruit. + + THE PRESIDENT. + +Mr. John D. Crimmins, a leading Irish sympathizer, addressed the following +letter to the President: + + Washington, D. C., April 28, 1917. + + MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: + + The press this morning leads to the impression that at some timely + hour, in your own manner, you will have a word on the Irish problem + that at this moment appears to be near solution. + + It would be most timely and would have the heartfelt gratitude of + millions of people in this and other lands who have long hoped, and + many prayed, for Ireland as a small nation to have autonomy, thereby + establishing peace with England and among English-speaking people. + Then if an emergency should arise there would be all for one and one + for all. Mr. President, you have gone a long step in that direction in + declaring the rights of small nations--another step may be the means + of reaching the goal for the Irish people. + + Faithfully yours, + JOHN D. CRIMMINS. + + His Excellency, + Woodrow Wilson. + +The President read this letter with a great deal of interest and sent me +the following note, evidencing his sincere interest in all that Mr. +Crimmins had said: + + DEAR TUMULTY: + + You are right about Mr. Crimmins having been a good friend, but I + don't like to write any letters on this subject at present. I would + appreciate it very much if you would assure him of my interest and of + your knowledge of the fact that I am showing in every way I possibly + can my sympathy with the claim of Ireland for home rule. + + THE PRESIDENT. + +On December 3, 1919, Bishop Shahan, of the Catholic University, addressed +a letter to the President in behalf of the rector and faculties of the +Catholic University of America with reference to the question of Home +Rule, to which the President replied: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + 3 December, 1919. + + MY DEAR BISHOP SHAHAN: + + Allow me to acknowledge your letter of November 30th written in behalf + of the rector and faculties of the Catholic University of America, and + to say that it will be my endeavour in regard to every question which + arises before the Peace Conference to do my utmost to bring about the + realization of the principles to which your letter refers. The + difficulties and delicacy of the task are very great, and I cannot + confidently forecast what I can do. I can only say that I shall be + watchful of every opportunity to insist upon the principles I have + enunciated. + + Cordially and sincerely yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + The Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Shahan, Rector, + Catholic University of America, + Washington, D. C. + +On December 3, 1918, he addressed a letter to Senator Thomas J. Walsh, of +Montana, as follows: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + 3 December, 1919. + + MY DEAR SENATOR: + + I appreciate the importance of a proper solution of the Irish question + and thank you for the suggestions of your letter of yesterday. Until I + get on the other side and find my footing in delicate matters of this + sort I cannot forecast with any degree of confidence what influence I + can exercise, but you may be sure that I shall keep this important + interest in mind and shall use my influence at every opportunity to + bring about a just and satisfactory solution. + + I greatly value the expressions of your confidence and feel very much + strengthened by them. + + With the best wishes, + + Cordially and sincerely yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + Hon. Thomas J. Walsh, + United States Senate. + +While the President was in Paris, I constantly kept him in touch with the +situation in this country, and that he was interested in bringing to the +attention of the Peace Conference the cause of Ireland is made clear by +the following cables that were exchanged between us. + +On June 7, 1919, I cabled Admiral Grayson, for the President as follows: + + The White House, Washington, + 7 June, 1919. + + You cannot overestimate real intensity of feeling behind Irish + question here. It is growing every day and is not at all confined to + Irishmen. The passage of resolution of sympathy with almost unanimous + vote in Senate last night is but a slight evidence of interest here. I + wish the President could do just a little for I fear reaction here + upon League of Nations. If this situation could be straightened out, + it would help a great deal. + + TUMULTY. + +The President himself replied to this cable, showing the depth of his +interest in the matter: + + Paris, 8 June, 1919. + + I have tried to help in the Irish matter, but the extraordinary + indiscretion of the American delegation over here has almost + completely blocked everything. + + WOODROW WILSON. + +On June 9, 1919, I received a further cable from the President, as +follows: + + Paris, 9 June, 1919. + + The American Committee of Irishmen have made it exceedingly difficult, + if not impossible, to render the assistance we were diligently trying + to render in the matter of bringing the Irish aspirations to the + attention of the Peace Conference. By our unofficial activity in the + matter we had practically cleared the way for the coming of the Irish + Representatives to Paris when the American Commission went to Ireland + and behaved in a way which so inflamed British opinion that the + situation has got quite out of hand, and we are utterly at a loss how + to act in the matter without involving the Government of the United + States with the Government of Great Britain in a way which might + create an actual breach between the two. I made an effort day before + yesterday in this matter which shows, I am afraid, the utter futility + of further efforts. I am distressed that the American Commission + should have acted with such extreme indiscretion and lack of sense, + and can at the moment see nothing further to do. + + WOODROW WILSON. + +To this cable I replied as follows: + + The White House, Washington, + 9 June, 1919. + + Thanks for message about Ireland, Hope you will not allow + indiscretions of American Commission to influence your judgment + against Ireland. Lloyd George's mistakes in handling this will be his + undoing, for it has in it the elements of a revolution. It is our own + political situation here and the fate of the Treaty itself that + concern me. In this country the Irish are united in this matter and in + every large city and town are carrying on a propaganda, asking that + Ireland be given the right of self-determination. George Creel, in a + powerful article yesterday in the newspapers, said: _Quote_ The + question of Ireland cannot be ignored, either in honour or decency + _End quote_. I trust you can say a word. Could you not ask that Irish + delegates be given a chance to present their case to the Conference? + + TUMULTY. + +On June 25, 1919, I sent the following cable to the President: + + General Maurice, in wonderful article in New York _Times_ on League of + Nations, says about Ireland: _Quote_ One obvious need to complete the + process of bringing all nations together is that we should show that + we know what America did in the war, but there is another obvious + need, which presents greater difficulties. We must have a policy in + regard to Ireland, which we can explain to the American people. At + present Ireland threatens to reopen all the rifts which comradeship in + the war is closing _End quote_. + + The New York Evening _Post_ of last night prints the following + editorial: + + _Quote_ Self-Government for the Irish people, short of independence, + is a right and a necessity, and it is a satisfaction that once more a + movement is under way for the establishment of Ireland on the basis + which logic and history have determined--a dominion on an equal + footing with the other dominions under the British crown _End quote_. + + Frankly, this represents the opinion of the average man in America, + without regard to race or religion. The arrival of De Valera in + America is going to intensify the feeling and the Republicans will + take full advantage of it. Now that the League of Nations is on its + feet, we should take the lead in this matter. It would do more toward + bringing about a real comradeship between England and America than + anything that could happen. I think that the situation in Africa, + India, and the seriousness of the situation in Canada, will inevitably + force England to consider these matters. It is in anticipation of this + that I am anxious to have you play a leading part in this situation. + It would do much to make the League of Nations a living, vital force + in the affairs of the world. There are no boundary lines between free + peoples any more. + + TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + + TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + + Paris, + June 27, 1919. + + I entirely agree with the general tenor of your cable of the twenty- + fifth about the Irish question and I firmly believe when the League of + Nations is once organized it will afford a forum not now available for + bringing the opinion of the world and of the United States in + particular to bear on just such problems. + + WOODROW WILSON. + +Of course, the thing which lay close to Woodrow Wilson's heart was the +setting up of the League of Nations. Unless England and France should +consent to the establishment of a league as part of a world settlement, +any solution of the Irish question through the influence of world opinion +was not in the reckoning. The wise, prudent thing, therefore, to do was +first to establish a world court before which the cause of any oppressed +peoples might be brought. This is just what he had in mind and what he +succeeded in doing. To have thrust a settlement of Ireland's affairs into +the foreground of the Peace Conference and to have made it a _sine qua +non_ would have been futile and foolish and might have resulted in +disaster. Unfortunately, the friends of Irish freedom, deprecating and +bitterly resenting well-considered methods like this, were desirous of +having the matter thrust into the early conferences at Paris. The +President knew that England would never consent to this and would resent +any attempt on his part to carry out idea. If the President had done so, +England would undoubtedly have withdrawn from the Conference and thus the +great cause of the League of Nations, which formed the foundation stone +upon which the Armistice was based, would have gone by the board. The +President was looking far beyond a mere recognition of the Irish Republic. +He was seeking to accomplish its security and guarantee its permanency +through the instrumentality of a world court like the League of Nations. +What would it have availed Ireland to have been granted Dominion +government or independence unless contemporaneously with the grant there +was set up an instrumentality that would guarantee and protect it? The +only thing upon which the Peace Conference functioned was the settlement +of the affairs of those nations affected by the war. + +Why didn't Wilson bring Ireland's cause to the attention of the Peace +Conference? was the query which frequently reached us at the White House. +The President in his Western speeches discussed this matter in the +following way: + +"It was not within the privilege of the Conference of peace to act upon +the right of self-determination of any peoples except those which had been +included in the territories of the defeated empires--that is to say, it +was not then within their power--but the moment the Covenant of the League +of Nations is adopted it becomes their right. If the desire for self- +determination of any people in the world is likely to affect the peace of +the world or the good understanding between nations it becomes the +business of the League; it becomes the right of any member of the League +to call attention to it; it becomes the function of the League to bring +the whole process of the opinion of the world to bear upon that very +matter. + +"Article XI is the favourite article in the Treaty so far as I am +concerned. It says that every matter which is likely to affect the peace +of the world is everybody's business; that it shall be the friendly right +of any nation to call attention of the League to anything that is likely +to affect the peace of the world or the good understanding between +nations, upon which the peace of the world depends, whether that matter +immediately concerns the nation drawing attention to it or not. In other +words, at present we have to mind our own business, under the rules of +diplomacy and established custom. Under the covenant of the League of +Nations we can mind other people's business, and anything that affects the +peace of the world, whether we are parties to it or not, can by our +delegates be brought to the attention of mankind. We can force a nation on +the other side of the globe to bring to that bar of mankind any wrong that +is afoot in that part of the world which is likely to affect the good +understanding between nations, and we can oblige them to show cause why it +should not be remedied. There is not an oppressed people in the world +which cannot henceforth get a hearing at that forum, and you know what a +hearing will mean if the cause of those people is just. The one thing that +those doing injustice have most reason to dread is publicity and +discussion. At present what is the state of international law and +understanding? No nation has the right to call attention to anything that +does not directly affect its own affairs. If it does, it cannot only be +told to mind its own business, but it risks the cordial relationship +between itself and the nation whose affairs it draws under discussion; +whereas, under Article XI, which I had the honour of advocating, the very +sensible provision is made that the peace of the world transcends all the +susceptibilities of nations and governments, and that they are obliged to +consent to discuss and explain anything which does affect the good +understanding between nations." + +Sir Frederick Pollock, in his valuable work on the League of Nations, +comments pointedly on this privilege: + + Various Irish writers, including some who deserve serious attention, + have raised the question whether the standing problem of Irish + autonomy can come before the League of Nations. There is only one way + in which this could happen--namely, that the Government of the United + States should declare Irish-American sympathy with unsatisfied + nationalist claims in Ireland to be capable of disturbing good + understanding between Great Britain and the United States. That is a + possible event if a solution is not reached within a reasonable time, + but it is more likely that a confidential intimation from the United + States would not only precede a formal reference to the Council, but + avoid the necessity for it. + + The friends of Ireland in this country have often asked me the question: +"Would Woodrow Wilson have intervened in behalf of Ireland?" + + I can answer this question only by saying that Ireland has never had a +truer friend than Woodrow Wilson. From the day that we went to war it has +been his steadfast purpose to induce the Government of England to settle +the Irish question justly and permanently. His statesmanlike approach to a +settlement of the problem is the only one that holds hope of success. + + As I completed this chapter, an article appeared in a Washington +newspaper apparently confirmatory of the President's foresight, showing +that by September, 1921, Mr. De Valera had arrived at the same view. The +article seems to show Mr. De Valera as insisting that the British +Government grant Ireland membership in the League of Nations as one of the +guarantees of autonomy. + + As for myself, I believe that Ireland is going to be free in company with +the rest of the world and in accordance with a new world order which shall +function through the machinery for justice and liberty which is provided +for in the Covenant of the League of Nations, and is provided for nowhere +else. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +PROHIBITION + + +One of the things for which the Wilson Administration was held to "strict +accountability" was the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Federal +Constitution, establishing nation-wide prohibition. + +Unfair critics of the President, in their foolish attempt to charge the +Administration with every unusual happening in the eight years of +Democratic control, had stated that the President was the real motive +force that lay back of the movement to establish the Eighteenth Amendment +as part of the fundamental law of the country. As a matter of fact, during +the discussion of this amendment in the Senate and House, the President +maintained toward it an attitude of absolute neutrality. While he was an +ardent advocate of temperance, he felt that Congress in enforcing the +amendment by the passage of the Volstead Act, so extreme and unreasonable +in character, had gone a long way toward alienating the support of every +temperance-loving citizen in the country, and that certain of its +provisions had struck at the foundation of our government by its arbitrary +interference with personal liberty and freedom. He felt that the practical +unanimity with which the Eighteenth Amendment was supported arose from a +nation-wide resentment against abuses by the American saloon and the +economic evils that had grown out of the unorganized liquor traffic. He +felt that it was unreasonable for Congress, in the Volstead Act, to +declare any beverage containing an excess of one half of one per cent. of +alcohol intoxicating and that to frame a law which arbitrarily places +intoxicating and non-intoxicating beverages within the same classification +was openly to invite mental resentment against it. He was of the opinion +that it required no compromise or weakening of the Eighteenth Amendment in +order to deal justly and fairly with the serious protests that followed +the enactment into law of the Volstead Act. He was, therefore, in favour +of permitting the manufacture and sale, under proper governmental +regulations, of light wines and beers, which action in his opinion would +make it much easier to enforce the amendment in its essential particulars +and would help to end the illicit traffic in liquor which the Volstead Act +fostered by its very severity. This would put back of the enforcement of +the Eighteenth Amendment the public sentiment always necessary to the +execution of laws. Satisfied with a reasonable recognition of their rights +to personal liberty and control of their personal habits, he believed that +the American people would be the readier to turn their attention to the +grave issues of reconstruction and steadier in meeting these issues which +would test to the utmost our capacity for progressive self-government. + +Time and time again when we discussed the Volstead Act, he would say: "The +wrong way of doing the right thing. You cannot regulate the morals and +habits of a great cosmopolitan people by placing unreasonable restrictions +upon their liberty and freedom. All such attempts can only end in failure +and disappointment. In the last analysis, in these matters that seek to +regulate personal habits and customs, public opinion is the great +regulator." + +In New Jersey, where he served as governor, the liquor question had been +for many years a burning issue and had been thrust into every +gubernatorial campaign up to the time when Woodrow Wilson as governor took +hold of the situation. Many political futures had been wrecked and wasted +by ambitious politicians who tried to "pussyfoot" on this issue. But there +was no shying away from it by Woodrow Wilson. When the question was +presented to him by the ardent advocates of the Anti-Saloon League early +in his administration as governor, without evasion of any kind, he stated +his views in the following letter addressed to the head of the Anti-Saloon +League: + + Executive Office, + Trenton, New Jersey. + + I am in favour of local option. I am a thorough believer in local + self-government and believe that every self-governing community which + constitutes a social unit should have the right to control the matter + of the regulation or the withholding of licenses. + + But the questions involved are social and moral, not political, and + are not susceptible of being made parts of a party programme. Whenever + they have been made the subject matter of party contests, they have + cut the lines of party organization and party action athwart, to the + utter confusion of political action in every other field. They have + thrown every other question, however important, into the background + and have made constructive party action impossible for long years + together. + + So far as I am myself concerned, therefore, I can never consent to + have the question of local option made an issue between political + parties in this state. My judgment is very clear in this matter. I do + not believe that party programmes of the highest consequence to the + political life of the state and the nation ought to be thrust to one + side and hopelessly embarrassed for long periods together by making a + political issue of a great question that is essentially non- + political, non-partisan, moral and social in its nature. + +Holding these views, that the liquor question was one which was +"essentially non-political, non-partisan, moral and social in its +nature," the President refused by any act of his to influence public +opinion when the Eighteenth Amendment was up for consideration in the +Senate and House. + +He deeply resented and strenuously opposed the passage of war-time +prohibition as uncalled for and unnecessary. In his opinion, it was not a +food-conservation measure, but an out-and-out attempt by the anti-saloon +forces to use the war emergency to declare the country "dry" by +Congressional action. There was another reason for his attitude of +opposition to war-time prohibition. He believed with an embargo placed +upon beer, the consumption of whiskey, of which there were large stocks in +the country, would be stimulated and increased to a great extent. In this +opinion he was supported by Mr Herbert Hoover, Food Administrator. In a +letter of May 28, 1918, to Senator Sheppard, the leader of the prohibition +forces in the Senate, he explained his opposition to war-time prohibition +in these words: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + + May 28, 1918. + + HON. MORRIS SHEPPARD, + United States Senate. + + MY DEAR SENATOR: + + I was very much distressed by the action of the House. I do not think + that it is wise or fair to attempt to put such compulsion on the + Executive in a matter in which he has already acted almost to the + limit of his authority. What is almost entirely overlooked is that + there were, as I am informed, very large stocks of whiskey in this + country, and it seems to me quite certain that if the brewing of beer + were prevented entirely, along with all other drinks, many of them + harmless, which are derived from food and food stuffs, the consumption + of whiskey would be stimulated and increased to a very considerable + extent. + + My own judgment is that it is wise and statesmanlike to let the + situation stand as it is for the present, until at any rate I shall be + apprised by the Food Administration that it is necessary in the way + suggested still further to conserve the supply of food and food + stuffs. The Food Administration has not thought it necessary to go any + further than we have in that matter already gone. + + I thank you most cordially, Senator, for your kindness in consulting + me in this matter, which is of very considerable importance, and has a + very distinct bearing upon many collateral questions. + + Cordially and sincerely yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + +War-time prohibition was ingenuously made part of the Agricultural +Appropriation Bill, which contained many items necessary for the effective +prosecution of the war. So strongly did the President feel about the +matter, that I am frank to say that if war-time prohibition had stood +alone and was disconnected from any other bill, I believe it would have +been vetoed. + +After the Armistice, agitation at once began, inspired by the "dry" +advocates throughout the country, to prolong war-time prohibition, but the +President felt that the object and purpose of war-time prohibition, if any +ever existed, having been served, it was only right, proper, and fair that +there should be an immediate repeal of it, and that only resentment and +restlessness throughout the country would follow the attempt to prolong +war-time prohibition beyond the time provided in the statute which created +it. + +It was unfortunate that the "dry" advocates did not see the thing through +the eyes of the President. Apparently not fully satisfied with the victory +they had won through the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment, they sought +to push the advantage thus gained still further, and through war-time +prohibition to establish their policy of restriction as a permanent policy +of the country. Realizing that prohibition as a permanent policy and by +constitutional amendment had been definitely established in a +constitutional way, the President was reluctant to take a stand that would +even in spirit be a violation of this, but he also felt that the "dry" +advocates were simply using a war crisis ruthlessly to press forward their +views and to cajole vacillating congressmen into supporting it because it +was known as a "dry" measure. In a letter which I addressed to the +President on September 7, 1918, I strongly urged the veto of the +Agricultural Appropriation Bill containing war-time prohibition: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + September 7, 1918. + + MY DEAR GOVERNOR: + + In the discussion we had a few days ago with reference to the pending + "dry" legislation, I tried to emphasize the fact that under the Food + Control Law you had the power to do what Congress is now seeking to do + in a way that will cause great irritation. Your action of yesterday + fixing December first as the day on which the prohibition of the + manufacture of beer is to take place, I believe, strengthens what I + said. Your action and the action of the Senate a day or two ago in + giving you the right to establish zones about shipyards and munitions + plants again shows the unnecessary character of this legislation. You + are, therefore, now in a strong position to veto this legislation as + unnecessary and unwarranted. + + In view of all of this, I wish to emphasize the dangers, both of a + political and industrial character, that confront us should we agree + to go forward with those who favour legislation of this radical and + restricted character. Even the most ardent prohibitionists fear the + reactionary effect of this legislation upon the pending constitutional + amendment. I am afraid of its effects upon the voters of our party in + the large centres of population throughout the country, and of the + deep resentment from all classes that is bound to follow. + + In matters of legislation that seek to regulate the morals and habits + of the people, the average American feels the only safe course to + follow is the method set forth in the Constitution for the regulation + of these vital matters. The proponents of this measure agree that it + is not a conservation measure, but that it is an out-and-out attempt + to declare the country "dry." In my opinion, it is mob legislation, + pure and simple. + + The danger of submitting quietly to any class legislation that has its + basis in intolerance, especially at a time like this where the + emotions of people can be whipped into a fury, is obvious. Your + strength in the country comes from the feeling on the part of the + people that under no circumstances can you be "hazed" by any class. If + you yield in this instance, similar demands from other sources will + rise to harass and embarrass you. + + The viewpoint of the gentlemen on the Hill in charge of this bill is + provincial. They have no idea of the readjustments that will have to + come in the finances of our largest cities and municipalities through + the country. Tax rates are bound to go up. Increased taxation in large + cities, coming at a time when federal taxes are growing more + burdensome, is bound to play a large part in the opinion of the + people, and we cannot escape our responsibility if we seem to be + afraid to oppose legislation of this kind. Our policy in every matter + at this time should be one based upon magnanimity and tolerance toward + every class and interest in the country. + +Under date of May 9, 1919, I sent the following cable to the President who +was then in Paris: + + I sincerely hope you will consider the advisability of raising the + embargo on beer. The most violent reaction has taken place throughout + the country since the enactment of this law, especially in the larger + cities. It is not, I assure you, the result of brewery propaganda. It + comes from many of the humbler sort who resent this kind of federal + interference with their rights. We are being blamed for all this + restrictive legislation because you insist upon closing down all + breweries and thus making prohibition effective July first. The + country would be more ready to accept prohibition brought about by + Constitutional amendment than have it made effective by Presidential + ukase. The psychological effect of raising this embargo would be of + incalculable benefit to America in every way at this time. The + Springfield _Republican_ says, _Quote_ The establishment of national + prohibition by Federal statute, through the mere act of Congress, does + not appeal to one as so desirable as the establishment of national + prohibition by the direct action of three fourths of the states _End + Quote_. The war-time Prohibition Law, according to the text of the + Act, was enacted for the purpose of conserving the man-power of the + nation and to increase the efficiency in the production of arms, + munitions, ships, and for the Army and Navy. + + The New York _World_, in an editorial, says: _Quote_ This war-time + prohibition act is breeding social, industrial, and economic + discontent every day. What makes it still more infamous is that under + its provisions the rich man, because he has money, can accumulate for + his personal consumption whatever stocks of wines and liquors he + pleases, but the workingman, because he cannot afford to lay in a + supply of anything, is deprived even of a glass of beer with his + evening meal. There has never been another such measure of outrageous + class and social discrimination on the statute books of the United + States. It should never have been enacted by Congress. It should never + have been signed by the President. If it is not repealed it is bound + to cause more trouble than any other piece of Federal legislation + since the Fugitive Slave Act _End Quote_. + + By taking vigorous action in this matter, you would do more for the + cause of real temperance and hearten those people who feel the sting + of the wave of intolerance which is now spreading over the country + than anything you could think of. I wish I could meet you face to face + and try to impress upon you the utter necessity for this action. You + will have to take action soon. + + TUMULTY. + +On May 12, 1919, I received the following cable from the President: + + Paris. + + TUMULTY, White House, + Washington. + + Please ask the Attorney General to advise me what action I can take + with regard to removing the ban from the manufacture of drink and as + to the form the action should take. + + WOODROW WILSON. + +On May 12, 1919, I replied to this cable as follows: + + White House, Washington, + May 12, 1919. + + THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris, France. + + Have consulted Attorney General with regard to removing ban upon + manufacture of alcoholic liquor. Am in receipt of a letter from him in + which he says: _Quote_ The only action you can take until + demobilization may be determined and proclaimed, will be to issue a + public statement or send a message to Congress declaring that since + the purpose of the Act has been entirely satisfied, nothing prevents + your lifting the ban on the manufacture and sale of beer, wine, or + other intoxicating malt or vinous liquors except the limitations + imposed by the Act which maintains it in force until demobilization is + terminated after the conclusion of the war. _End Quote_ + + TUMULTY. + +On May 20, 1919, in a message to Congress, the President made the +following recommendation with reference to war-time prohibition: + + The demobilization of the military forces of the country has + progressed to such a point that it seems to me entirely safe now to + remove the ban upon the manufacture and sale of wines and beers, but I + am advised that without further legislation I have not the legal + authority to remove the present restrictions. I therefore recommend + that the Act approved November 21, 1918, entitled "an Act to enable + the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out, during the fiscal year + ending June 30, 1919, the purposes of the Act, entitled 'An Act to + provide further for the national security and defense by stimulating + agriculture and facilitating the distribution of agricultural + products, and for other purposes,' be amended and repealed in so far + as it applies to wines and beers." + +Congress refused to act upon the President's recommendation. + +Under date of June 27, 1919, I sent the following cable to the President: + + There are only four days left until nation-wide prohibition becomes + effective and the country will go on a whiskey basis unless you act to + suspend it. Everything that has happened in the last few weeks + confirms the views I expressed to you in May excepting that added + force has been given to every argument made, especially by the action + of the American Federation of Labour whose membership almost + unanimously voted at its convention for lifting the ban. The action of + Canada in lifting the ban is regarded by the country as significant. + Workingmen and common people all over the country cannot understand + why light wines and beer cannot be permitted until the Constitutional + amendment becomes effective. Only this week the Pennsylvania + Legislature voted to legalize two and three-quarters per cent, beer + and light wines. Similar action will follow in other states. The + consensus of opinion in the press is that if prohibition is to be + effective, it might better be by action of three quarters of the + states rather than by Presidential proclamation for which you alone + and our party would bear the responsibility. The prohibitionists in + Congress are fearful that the enforcement of wartime prohibition will + cause a harmful reaction on real prohibition, and I believe that they + are secretly in favour of your lifting the ban for this reason. + Demobilization figures officially announced by the War Department show + that the number of troops now remaining in service is practically only + the number of troops in the Regular Army. Samuel Gompers, Mary Roberts + Rinehart, Mrs. Douglass Robinson, sister of the late Theodore + Roosevelt, Miss Gertrude Atherton, Frank S. Goodnow, president of + Johns Hopkins University, and Cardinal Gibbons out in strong statement + favouring retention of beer and light wines. If you do not intend to + lift the ban on July first, you can announce your intention to suspend + it as soon as the War Department notifies you demobilization is + accomplished which, the best opinion says, will be August first. The + feeling all over the country is one of harmful uncertainty and I + strongly recommend that a definite announcement, of some nature which + will clear the atmosphere, be made. + + TUMULTY. + +On June 28, 1919, I again cabled the President, as follows: + + The White House, Washington, + 28 June, 1919. + + THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + + Received your message saying that you do not intend to lift the ban. + The Republicans have been industriously spreading the story throughout + the country that you in fact have power under the Act of November 21, + 1918, to lift the ban. I think it important, wise, and politic, + therefore, for you to make a statement which we can issue from the + White House along the following lines: _Quote_ I am convinced that I + have no legal power at this time in the matter of the ban of liquor. + Under the Act of November 21, 1918, my power to take action is + restricted. The Act provides that after June 30, 1919, until the + conclusion of the present war and thereafter until the termination of + demobilization, the date of which shall be determined and proclaimed + by the President, it shall be unlawful, etc. This law does not specify + that the ban shall be lifted with the signing of peace but with the + termination of the demobilization of the troops, and I cannot say that + that has been accomplished. My information from the War Department is + that there are still a million men in the service under the emergency + call. It is clear, therefore, that the failure of Congress to act upon + the suggestion contained in my message of the 20th of May, 1919, + asking for a repeal of the Act of November 21, 1918, so far as it + applies to wines and beers, makes it impossible to act in this matter + at this time. Of course when demobilization is terminated, my power to + act without congressional action will be exercised _End quote_. + + TUMULTY. + +The President replied to my cables as follows: + + Paris, June 28, 1919. + + TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + + Please issue following statement: I am convinced that the Attorney + General is right in advising me that I have no legal power at this + time in the matter of the ban on liquor. Under the act of November, + 1918, my power to take action is restricted. The act provides that + after June 30, 1919, until the conclusion of the present war and + thereafter until the termination of demobilization, the date of which + shall be determined and proclaimed by the President, it shall be + unlawful, etc. This law does not specify that the ban shall be lifted + with the signing of peace but with the termination of the + demobilization of the troops and I cannot say that that has been + accomplished. My information from the War Department is that there are + still a million men in the service under the emergency call. It is + clear therefore that the failure of Congress to act upon the + suggestion contained in my message of the twentieth of May, 1919, + asking for a repeal of the Act of November 21, 1918, so far as it + applies to wines and beers makes it impossible to act in this matter + at this time. When demobilization is terminated my power to act + without congressional action will be exercised. + + WOODROW WILSON. + +When the Volstead Act reached the President, he found, upon examining it, +that it in no way repealed war-time prohibition, and so he vetoed it. + +In vetoing it, he admonished Congress, that "in all matters having to do +with the personal habits and customs of large numbers of people, we must +be certain that the established processes of legal change are followed. In +no other way can the salutary object sought to be accomplished by great +reforms of this character be made satisfactory and permanent." + +The House of Representatives with its overwhelming "dry" majority passed +the Volstead Act over the President's veto. The President clearly foresaw +the inevitable reaction that would follow its passage and its enforcement +throughout the country. + +As the days of the San Francisco Convention approached, he felt that it +was the duty of the Democratic party frankly to speak out regarding the +matter and boldly avow its attitude toward the unreasonable features of +the Volstead enforcement act. In his conferences with the Democratic +leaders he took advantage of every opportunity to put before them the +necessity for frank and courageous action. So deep were his convictions +about this vital matter, that it was his intention, shortly after the +passage of the Volstead Act over his veto, to send a special message to +Congress regarding the matter, asking for the repeal of the Volstead Act +and the passage of legislation permitting the manufacture and sale of +light wines, or at least a modification of the Volstead Act, changing the +alcoholic content of beer. + +Upon further consideration of the matter it was agreed that it would be +unwise to ask for any change at the hands of a congress that had so +overwhelmingly expressed its opinion in opposition to any such +modification. We, therefore, thought it wise to conserve our energies and +to await the psychological moment at the Convention for putting forward +the President's programme. + +A few days before the Convention the President delivered to a trusted +friend a copy of a proposed "wet" plank, and asked his friend to submit it +to the Committee on Resolutions at the Convention in San Francisco. The +tentative draft of the plank was as follows: + + We recognize that the American saloon is opposed to all social, moral, + and economic order, and we pledge ourselves to its absolute + elimination by the passage of such laws as will finally and + effectually exterminate it. But we favour the repeal of the Volstead + Act and the substitution for it of a law permitting the manufacture + and sale of light wines and beer. + +Evidently, the trusted friend who had this matter in charge felt that the +"dry" atmosphere of the Convention was unfavourable and so the President's +plank, prepared by himself, was not even given a hearing before the +Committee on Resolutions. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE TREATY FIGHT + + +Upon his return home from Paris, the President immediately invited, in +most cordial fashion, the members of the Senate Foreign Relations +Committee to confer with him at the White House. Some of those who +received the invitation immediately announced that as a condition +precedent to their acceptance they would insist that the conference should +not be secret in character and that what would happen there should be +disclosed to the public. The President quickly accepted the conditions +proposed by the Republican senators and made a statement from the White +House that the conditions which the conferees named were highly acceptable +to him and that he was willing and anxious to give to the public a +stenographic report of everything that transpired. + +In view of subsequent history, the conversation between the President and +Senator Harding about the distinction between "legal" and "moral" +obligations, which was interesting at the time, takes on an added +interest. Said Senator Harding: "If there is nothing more than a moral +obligation on the part of any member of the league, what avail articles X +and XI?" + +_The President_: Why, Senator, it is surprising that that question should +be asked. If we undertake an obligation, we are bound in the most solemn +way to carry it out. + +_Senator Harding_: If you believe there is nothing more to this than a +moral obligation, any nation will assume a moral obligation on its own +account. Is it a moral obligation? The point I am trying to get at is: +Suppose something arises affecting the peace of the world, and the council +takes steps as provided here to conserve or preserve, and announces its +decision, and every nation in the League takes advantage of the +construction that you place upon these articles and says: "Well, this is +only a moral obligation, and we assume that the nation involved does not +deserve our participation or protection," and the whole thing amounts to +nothing but an expression of the league council. + +_The President_: There is a national good conscience in such a matter. I +should think that was one of the most serious things that could possibly +happen. When I speak of a legal obligation, I mean one that specifically +binds you to do a particular thing under certain sanctions. That is a +legal obligation, and, if I may say so, has a greater binding force; only +there always remains in the moral obligation the right to exercise one's +judgment as to whether it is indeed incumbent upon one in those +circumstances to do that thing. In every moral obligation there is an +element of judgment. In a legal obligation there is no element of +judgment. + +Never before did the President show himself more tactful or more brilliant +in repartee. Surrounded by twenty or thirty men, headed by Senator Lodge, +who hated him with a bitterness that was intense, the President, with +quiet courtesy, parried every blow aimed at him. + +No question, no matter how pointed it was, seemed to disturb his serenity. +He acted like a lawyer who knew his case from top to bottom, and who had +confidence in the great cause he was representing. His cards were frankly +laid upon the table and he appeared like a fighting champion, ready to +meet all comers. Indeed, this very attitude of frankness, openness, +sincerity, and courtesy, one could see from the side-lines, was a cause of +discomfort to Senator Lodge and the Republicans grouped about him, and one +could also see written upon the faces of the Democratic senators in that +little room a look of pride that they had a leader who carried himself so +gallantly and who so brilliantly met every onslaught of the enemy. The +President anticipated an abrupt adjournment of the conference with a +courteous invitation to luncheon. Senator Lodge had just turned to the +President and said: "Mr. President, I do not wish to interfere in any way, +but the conference has now lasted about three hours and a half, and it is +half an hour after the lunch hour." Whereupon, the President said: "Will +not you gentlemen take luncheon with me? It will be very delightful." + +It was evident that this invitation, so cordially conveyed, broke the ice +of formality which up to that time pervaded the meeting, and like boys out +of school, forgetting the great affair in which they had all played +prominent parts, they made their way to the dining room, the President +walking by the side of Senator Lodge. Instead of fisticuffs, as some of +the newspaper men had predicted, the lion and the lamb sat down together +at the dining table, and for an hour or two the question of the +ratification of the Treaty of Versailles was forgotten in the telling of +pleasant stories and the play of repartee. + +Although, at this conference of August 19, 1919, the President had frankly +opened his mind and heart to the enemies of the Treaty, the opposition +instead of moderating seemed to grow more intense and passionate. The +President had done everything humanly possible to soften the opposition of +the Republicans, but, alas, the information brought to him from the Hill +by his Democratic friends only confirmed the opinion that the opposition +to the Treaty was growing and could not be overcome by personal contact of +any kind between the President and members of the Foreign Relations +Committee. + +It is plain now, and will become plainer as the years elapse, that the +Republican opposition to the League was primarily partisan politics and a +rooted personal dislike of the chief proponent of the League, Mr. Wilson. +His reëlection in 1916, the first reëlection of an incumbent Democratic +President since Andrew Jackson, had greatly disturbed the Republican +leaders. The prestige of the Republican party was threatened by this +Democratic leader. His reception in Europe added to their distress. For +the sake of the sacred cause of Republicanism, this menace of Democratic +leadership must be destroyed, even though in destroying it the leaders +should swallow their own words and reverse their own former positions on +world adjustment. + +An attempt was made by enemies of the President to give the impression to +the country that an association of nations was one of the "fool ideas" of +Woodrow Wilson; that in making it part of his Fourteen Points, he was +giving free rein to his idealism. As a matter of fact, the idea did not +originate with Woodrow Wilson. If its American origin were traced, it +would be found that the earliest supporters of the idea were Republicans. + +I remember with what reluctance the President accepted the invitation of +the League to Enforce Peace, tendered by Mr. Taft, to deliver an address +on May 27, 1916, at the New Willard Hotel, Washington, a meeting at which +one of the principal speakers was no less a personage than Senator Henry +Cabot Lodge, with Mr. Taft presiding. For many months the President had +been revolving this idea in his mind and for a long time he was reluctant +to accept any invitation that would seem to give approval to the idea. He +patiently waited to make a complete survey of the whole world situation, +to be convinced that the permanent participation of the United States in +world affairs was a necessity if peace was to be secured. + +It was not an easy thing to draw the President away from the traditional +policy of aloofness and isolation which had characterized the attitude of +the United States in all international affairs. But the invitation to +discuss universal peace, urged upon the President by ex-President William +H. Taft, was finally accepted. + +In that speech he said: "We are participants, whether we would or not, in +the life of the world, and the interests of all nations are our own; +henceforth, there must be a common agreement for a common object, and at +the heart of that common object must lie the inviolable rights of peoples +and of mankind. We believe these fundamental things: First, that every +people has a right to choose the sovereignty under which they shall live. +Second, that the small states of the world have a right to enjoy the same +respect for their sovereignty and for their territorial integrity that +great and powerful nations expect and insist upon. [This idea was +substantially embodied in Article X]; and third, that the world has a +right to be free from every disturbance of its peace that has its origin +in aggression and disregard of the rights of peoples and nations." + +These statements were uttered in the presence of Senator Lodge and +applauded by Mr. Taft and his Republican associates gathered at the +banquet. + +The President, continuing his address, then gave expression to his views +regarding the means to attain these ends. He was convinced that there +should be an "universal association of the nations to maintain the +inviolate security of the highway of the seas for the common use of all +nations of the world, and to prevent any war begun either contrary to +treaty agreements or without warning and full submission of the causes to +the opinion of the world--a virtual guarantee of territorial integrity and +political independence." And he ventured to assert, in the presence of +Senator Lodge, who afterward became the leader of the opposition to these +very ideas, "that the United States is willing to become a partner in any +feasible association of nations formed in order to realize these objects +and make them secure against violation." + +Woodrow Wilson believed that the League of Nations was the first modern +attempt to prevent war by discussion in the open and not behind closed +doors or "within the cloistered retreats of European diplomacy." To him +the League of Nations was the essence of Christianity. Yet when he took up +the advocacy of the League of Nations, Senator Lodge, the spokesman of the +Republican party at the dinner of the League to Enforce Peace, became the +leader in bitter opposition to it. + +Senator Lodge at this very dinner on May 27, 1916, delivered the following +address: + + I know, and no one, I think, can know better than one who has served + long in the Senate, which is charged with an important share of the + ratification and confirmation of all treaties; no one can, I think, + feel more deeply than I do the difficulties which confront us in the + work which this league--that is, the great association extending + throughout the country, known as the League to Enforce Peace-- + undertakes, but the difficulties cannot be overcome unless we try to + overcome them. I believe much can be done. Probably it will be + impossible to stop all wars, but it certainly will be possible to stop + some wars, and thus diminish their number. The way in which this + problem must be worked out must be left to this league and to those + who are giving this great subject the study which it deserves. I know + the obstacles. I know how quickly we shall be met with the statement + that this is a dangerous question which you are putting into your + argument, that no nation can submit to the judgment of other nations, + and we must be careful at the beginning not to attempt too much. I + know the difficulties which arise when we speak of anything which + seems to involve an alliance, but I do not believe that when + Washington warned us against entangling alliances he meant for one + moment that we should not join with the other civilized nations of the + world if a method could be found to diminish war and encourage peace. + + It was a year ago in delivering the chancellor's address at Union + College I made an argument on this theory, that if we were to promote + international peace at the close of the present terrible war, if we + were to restore international law as it must be restored, we must find + some way in which the united forces of the nations could be put behind + the cause of peace and law. I said then that my hearers might think + that I was picturing a Utopia, but it is in the search of Utopias that + great discoveries are made. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. + This league certainly has the highest of all aims for the benefits of + humanity, and because the pathway is sown with difficulties is no + reason that we should turn from it. + +Theodore Roosevelt, in his Nobel Prize thesis, also expressed himself as +follows, with reference to an association of nations: + + The one permanent move for obtaining peace which has yet been + suggested with any reasonable chance of obtaining its object is by an + agreement among the great powers, in which each should pledge itself + not only to abide by the decisions of a common tribunal, but to back + with force the decision of that common tribunal. The great civilized + nations of the world which do not possess force, actual or immediately + potential, should combine by solemn agreement in a great world league + for the peace of righteousness. + +Upon the President taking up the League of Nations fight, Senator Lodge +drew away from it as if in fear and trembling and began discussing our +responsibilities abroad, evidencing a complete change of heart. He no +longer asked Americans to be generous and fearless, but said: + + The hearts of the vast majority of mankind would beat on strongly + without any quickening if the League were to perish altogether. + +The first objection to the League of Nations, urged by Senator Lodge, was +that it involved the surrender of our sovereignty. There is a striking +analogy between the argument of Senator Lodge and those put forth by +gentlemen in Washington's day who feared that the proposed Constitution +which was designed to establish a federal union would mean danger, +oppression, and disaster. Mr. Singletary of Massachusetts, Mr. Lowndes of +South Carolina, Mr. Grayson of Virginia, even Patrick Henry himself, +foresaw the virtual subjugation of the States through a Constitution which +at that time was often called the Treaty between the Thirteen States. + +As Senator Brandegee and others contended that the Covenant of the League +of Nations was a "muddy, murky, and muddled document," so Mr. Williams of +New York, in 1788, charged "ambiguity" against the proposed Constitution, +saying that it was "absolutely impossible to know what we give up and what +we retain." + +Mandates and similar bogies had their counterpart in Washington's day. +George Mason, fearful like Senator Sherman of Illinois in a later day, +"apprehended the possibility of Congress calling in the militia of Georgia +to quell disturbances in New Hampshire." + +The attitude of George Washington in his day was very similar to that of +Woodrow Wilson. Writing to Knox, on August 19, 1797, he said: "I am fully +persuaded it [meaning the Federal Constitution] is the best that can be +obtained at this time. And, as a constitutional door is open for amendment +hereafter, our adoption of it, under the present circumstances of the +union, is in my opinion desirable." And of the opponents of the proposed +Constitution he said, "The major part of them will, it is to be feared, be +governed by sinister and self-important motives." + +The storm centre of the whole fight against the League was the opposition +personally conducted by Senator Lodge and others of the Republican party +against the now famous Article X. The basis of the whole Republican +opposition was their fear that America would have to bear some +responsibility in the affairs of the world, while the strength of Woodrow +Wilson's position was his faith that out of the war, with all its blood +and tears, would come this great consummation. + +It was the President's idea that we should go into the League and bear our +responsibilities; that we should enter it as gentlemen, scorning +privilege. He did not wish us to sneak in and enjoy its advantages and +shirk its responsibilities, but he wanted America to enter boldly and not +as a hypocrite. + +With reference to the argument made by Senator Lodge against our going +into the League, saying that it would be a surrender of American +sovereignty and a loss of her freedom, the President often asked the +question on his Western trip: How can a nation preserve its freedom except +through concerted action? We surrender part of our freedom in order to +save the rest of it. Discussing this matter one day, he said: "One cannot +have an omelet without breaking eggs. By joining the League of Nations, a +nation loses, not its individual freedom, but its selfish isolation. The +only freedom it loses is the freedom to do wrong. Robinson Crusoe was free +to shoot in any direction on his island until Friday came. Then there was +one direction in which he could not shoot. His freedom ended where +Friday's rights began." + +There would have been no Federal Union to-day if the individual states +that went to make up the Federal Union were not willing to surrender the +powers they exercised, to surrender their freedom as it were. + +Opponents of the League tried to convey the impression that under Article +X we should be obliged to send our boys across the sea and that in that +event America's voice would not be the determining voice. + +Lloyd George answered this argument in a crushing way, when he said: + + We cannot, unless we abandon the whole basis of the League of Nations, + disinterest ourselves in an attack upon the existence of a nation + which is a member of that league and whose life is in jeopardy. That + covenant, as I understand it, does not contemplate, necessarily, + military action in support of the imperilled nation. It contemplates + economic pressure; it contemplates support for the struggling people; + and when it is said that if you give any support at all to Poland it + involves a great war, with conscription and with all the mechanism of + war with which we have been so familiar in the last few years, that is + inconsistent with the whole theory of the covenant into which we have + entered. We contemplated other methods of bringing pressure to bear + upon the recalcitrant nation that is guilty of acts of aggression + against other nations and endangering their independence. + +The Republicans who attacked the President on Article X had evidently +forgotten what Theodore Roosevelt said about the one effective move for +obtaining peace, when he urged: "The nations should agree on certain +rights that should not be questioned, such as territorial integrity, their +rights to deal with their domestic affairs, and with such matters as whom +they should admit to citizenship." They had, also, evidently forgotten +that Mr. Taft said: "The arguments against Article X which have been most +pressed are those directed to showing that under its obligations the +United States can be forced into many wars and to burdensome expeditionary +forces to protect countries in which it has no legitimate interest. This +objection will not bear examination." + +Mr. Taft answered the question of one of the Republican critics if Article +X would not involve us in war, in the following statement: + +How much will it involve us in war? Little, if any. In the first place, +the universal boycott, first to be applied, will impose upon most nations +such a withering isolation and starvation that in most cases it will be +effective. In the second place, we'll not be drawn into any war in which +it will not be reasonable and convenient for us to render efficient aid, +because the plan of the Council must be approved by our representatives, +as already explained. In the third place, the threat of the universal +boycott and the union of overwhelming forces of the members of the League, +if need be, will hold every nation from violating Article X, and Articles +XII, XIII, and XV, unless there is a world conspiracy, as in this war, in +which case the earliest we get into the war, the better. + +Evidently Mr. Taft did not look upon Article X as the bugaboo that Mr. +Lodge pretended it was, for he said: + +Article X covers the Monroe Doctrine _and extends it to the world_. The +League is not a super-sovereign, but a partnership intended to secure to +us and all nations only the sovereignty we can properly have, i.e., +sovereignty regulated by the international law and morality consistent +with the same sovereignty of other nations. The United States is not under +this constitution to be forced into actual war against its will. This +League is to be regarded in conflict with the advice of Washington only +from a narrow and reactionary viewpoint. + +Mr. Herbert Hoover, now a member of Mr. Harding's Cabinet, in a speech +delivered on October 3, 1919, answering the argument that America would be +compelled to send her boys to the other side, said: + + We hear the cry that the League obligates that our sons be sent to + fight in foreign lands. Yet the very intent and structure of the + League is to prevent wars. There is no obligation for the United + States to engage in military operations or to allow any interference + with our internal affairs without the full consent of our + representatives in the League. + +And further discussing the revision of the Treaty, Mr. Hoover said: + + I am confident that if we attempt now to revise the Treaty we shall + tread on a road through European chaos. Even if we managed to keep our + soldiers out of it we will not escape fearful economic losses. If the + League is to break down we must at once prepare to fight. Few people + seem to realize the desperation to which Europe has been reduced. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +THE WESTERN TRIP + + +Tentative plans for a Western trip began to be formed in the White House +because of the urgent insistence from Democratic friends on the Hill that +nothing could win the fight for the League of Nations except a direct +appeal to the country by the President in person. + +Admiral Grayson, the President's physician and consistent friend, who knew +his condition and the various physical crises through which he had passed +here and on the other side, from some of which he had not yet recovered, +stood firm in his resolve that the President should not go West, even +intimating to me that the President's life might pay the forfeit if his +advice were disregarded. Indeed, it needed not the trained eye of a +physician to see that the man whom the senators were now advising to make +a "swing around the circle" was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. More +than once since his return from the Peace Conference I had urged him to +take a needed rest; to get away from the turmoil of Washington and +recuperate; but he spurned this advice and resolved to go through to the +end. + +No argument of ours could draw him away from his duties, which now +involved not only the fight for the ratification of the Treaty, but the +threatened railway strike, with its attendant evils to the country, and +added administrative burdens growing out of the partisanship fight which +was being waged in Congress for the ostensible purpose of reducing the +high cost of living. + +One day, after Democratic senators had been urging the Western trip, I +took leave to say to the President that, in his condition, disastrous +consequences might result if he should follow their advice. But he +dismissed my solicitude, saying in a weary way: "I know that I am at the +end of my tether, but my friends on the Hill say that the trip is +necessary to save the Treaty, and I am willing to make whatever personal +sacrifice is required, for if the Treaty should be defeated, God only +knows what would happen to the world as a result of it. In the presence of +the great tragedy which now faces the world, no decent man can count his +own personal fortunes in the reckoning. Even though, in my condition, it +might mean the giving up of my life, I will gladly make the sacrifice to +save the Treaty." + +He spoke like a soldier who was ready to make the supreme sacrifice to +save the cause that lay closest to his heart. + +As I looked at the President while he was talking, in my imagination I +made a comparison between the man, Woodrow Wilson, who now stood before me +and the man I had met many years before in New Jersey. In those days he +was a vigorous, agile, slender man, active and alert, his hair but +slightly streaked with gray. Now, as he stood before me discussing the +necessity for the Western trip, he was an old man, grown grayer and +grayer, but grimmer and grimmer in his determination, like an old warrior, +to fight to the end. + +There was another whose heroism was no less than his, Mrs. Wilson. She has +since referred to the Western trip as "one long nightmare," though in the +smiling face which she turned upon the crowds from Columbus to San Diego +and back to Pueblo none could have detected a trace of the anxiety that +was haunting her. She met the shouting throngs with the same reposeful +dignity and radiant, friendly smile with which she had captivated the +people of England, France, Italy, and Belgium. + +At home and abroad she has always had a peculiar power to attract the +populace, though she herself has never craved the spotlight. Like her +husband, she finds home more congenial, and, like him, she prefers not to +be written about. + +In her husband's career she has played a notable rôle, the more noble +because self-effacing. She has consistently disavowed intention to +participate actively in public affairs, and yet in many a crisis she, out +of her strong intelligence and sagacity, has been able to offer timely, +wise suggestion. No public man ever had a more devoted helpmeet, and no +wife a husband more dependent upon her sympathetic understanding of his +problems. The devotion between these two has not been strengthened, for +that would be impossible, but deepened by the President's long illness. +Mrs. Wilson's strong physical constitution, combined with strength of +character and purpose, has sustained her under a strain which must have +wrecked most women. When the strong man broke, she nursed him as tenderly +as a mother nurses a child. + +Mrs. Wilson must have left the White House for that ill-omened journey +with a sinking heart, for she knew, none better, that her husband was +suffering from accumulated fatigue, and that he should be starting on a +long vacation instead of a fighting tour that would tax the strength of an +athlete in the pink of condition. For seven practically vacationless years +he had borne burdens too great for any constitution; he had conducted his +country through the greatest of all wars; he had contended, at times +single-handed, in Paris with the world's most adroit politicians; he had +there been prostrated with influenza, that treacherous disease which +usually maims for a time those whom it does not kill, and he had not given +himself a chance to recuperate; he had returned to America to engage in +the most desperate conflict of his career with the leaders of the +opposition party; and now, when it was clear even to his men friends, and +much clearer to the intuition of a devoted wife, that nature was crying +out for rest, he was setting out on one of the most arduous programmes of +public speaking known even in our country, which is familiar with these +strenuous undertakings. Mrs. Wilson's anxieties must have increased with +each successive day of the journey, but not even to we of the immediate +party did she betray her fears. Her resolution was as great as his. + +When the great illness came she had to stand between him and the peril of +exhaustion from official cares, yet she could not, like the more +fortunately obscure, withdraw her husband from business altogether and +take him away to some quiet place for restoration. As head of the nation +he must be kept in touch with affairs, and during the early months of his +illness she was the chief agent in keeping him informed of public +business. Her high intelligence and her extraordinary memory enabled her +to report to him daily, in lucid detail, weighty matters of state brought +to her by officials for transmission to him. At the proper time, when he +was least in pain and least exhausted, she would present a clear, oral +resume of each case and lay the documents before him in orderly +arrangement. + +As woman and wife, the first thought of her mind and the first care of her +heart must be for his health. Once at an acute period of his illness +certain officials insisted that they must see him because they carried +information which it was "absolutely necessary that the President of the +United States should have," and she quietly replied: "I am not interested +in the President of the United States. I am interested in my husband and +his health." + +With loving courage she met her difficult dilemma of shielding him as much +as possible and at the same time keeping him acquainted with things he +must know. When it became possible for him to see people she, in counsel +with Admiral Grayson, would arrange for conferences and carefully watch +her husband to see that they who talked with him did not trespass too long +upon his limited energy. + +When it became evident that the tide of public opinion was setting against +the League, the President finally decided upon the Western trip as the +only means of bringing home to the people the unparalleled world +situation. + +At the Executive offices we at once set in motion preparations for the +Western trip. One itinerary after another was prepared, but upon examining +it the President would find that it was not extensive enough and would +suspect that it was made by those of us--like Grayson and myself--who were +solicitious for his health, and he would cast them aside. All the +itineraries provided for a week of rest in the Grand Canyon of the +Colorado, but when a brief vacation was intimated to him, he was obdurate +in his refusal to include even a day of relaxation, saying to me, that +"the people would never forgive me if I took a rest on a trip such as the +one I contemplate taking. This is a business trip, pure and simple, and +the itinerary must not include rest of any kind." He insisted that there +be no suggestion of a pleasure trip attaching to a journey which he +regarded as a mission. + +As I now look back upon this journey and its disastrous effects upon the +President's health, I believe that if he had only consented to include a +rest period in our arrangements, he might not have broken down at Pueblo. + +Never have I seen the President look so weary as on the night we left +Washington for our swing into the West. When we were about to board our +special train, the President turned to me and said: "I am in a nice fix. I +am scheduled between now and the 28th of September to make in the +neighbourhood of a hundred speeches to various bodies, stretching all the +way from Ohio to the coast, and yet the pressure of other affairs upon me +at the White House has been so great that I have not had a single minute +to prepare my speeches. I do not know how I shall get the time, for during +the past few weeks I have been suffering from daily headaches; but perhaps +to-night's rest will make me fit for the work of tomorrow." + +No weariness or brain-fag, however, was apparent in the speech at +Columbus, Ohio. To those of us who sat on the platform, including the +newspaper group who accompanied the President, this speech with its +beautiful phrasing and its effective delivery seemed to have been +carefully prepared. + +Day after day, for nearly a month, there were speeches of a similar kind, +growing more intense in their emotion with each day. Shortly after we left +Tacoma, Washington, the fatigue of the trip began to write itself in the +President's face. He suffered from violent headaches each day, but his +speeches never betrayed his illness. + +In those troublous days and until the very end of our Western trip the +President would not permit the slightest variation from our daily +programme. Nor did he ever permit the constant headaches, which would have +put an ordinary man out of sorts, to work unkindly upon the members of his +immediate party, which included Mrs. Wilson, Doctor Grayson, and myself. +He would appear regularly at each meal, partaking of it only slightly, +always gracious, always good-natured and smiling, responding to every call +from the outside for speeches--calls that came from early morning until +late at night--from the plain people grouped about every station and +watering place through which we passed. Even under the most adverse +physical conditions he was always kind, gentle, and considerate to those +about him. + +I have often wished, as the criticisms of the Pullman smoking car, the +cloak room, and the counting house were carried to me, picturing the +President's coldness, his aloofness and exclusiveness, that the critics +could for a moment have seen the heart and great good-nature of the man +giving expression to themselves on this critical journey. If they could +have peeped through the curtain of our dining room, at one of the evening +meals, for instance, they would have been ashamed of their +misrepresentations of this kind, patient, considerate, human-hearted man. + +When he was "half fit," an expression he often used, he was the best +fellow in the little group on our train--good-natured, smiling, full of +anecdotes and repartee, and always thinking of the comforts and pleasure +of the men gathered about him. The illness of a newspaper man, or of one +of the messengers or conductors, or attachés of the train was a call to +service to him, and one could find the President in one of the little +compartments of the train, seated at the bed of a newspaper man or some +attaché who had been taken ill on the trip. There is in the President a +sincere human sympathy, which is better than the cheap good-fellowship +which many public men carefully cultivate. + +It was on the Western trip, about September 12th, while the President, +with every ounce of his energy, was attempting to put across the League of +Nations, that Mr. William C. Bullitt was disclosing to the Committee on +Foreign Relations at a public hearing the facts of a conference between +Secretary Lansing and himself, in which Mr. Bullitt declared that Mr. +Lansing had severely criticized the League of Nations. + +The press representatives aboard the train called Mr. Bullitt's testimony +to the President's attention. He made no comment, but it was plain from +his attitude that he was incensed and distressed beyond measure. Here he +was in the heart of the West, advancing the cause so dear to his heart, +steadily making gains against what appeared to be insurmountable odds, and +now his intimate associate, Mr. Lansing, was engaged in sniping and +attacking him from behind. + +On September 16th, Mr. Lansing telegraphed the following message to the +President: + + On May 17th, Bullitt resigned by letter giving his reasons with which + you are familiar. I replied by letter on the 18th without any comment + on his reasons. Bullitt on the 19th asked to see me to say good-bye + and I saw him. He elaborated on the reasons for his resignation and + said that he could not conscientiously give countenance to a treaty + which was based on injustice. I told him that I would say nothing + against his resigning since he put it on conscientious grounds, and + that I recognized that certain features of the Treaty were bad, as I + presumed most everyone did, but that was probably unavoidable in view + of conflicting claims and that nothing ought to be done to prevent the + speedy restoration of peace by signing the Treaty. Bullitt then + discussed the numerous European commissions provided for by the Treaty + on which the United States was to be represented. I told him that I + was disturbed by this fact because I was afraid the Senate and + possibly the people, if they understood this, would refuse + ratification, and that anything which was an obstacle to ratification + was unfortunate because we ought to have peace as soon as possible. + +When the President received this explanation from Mr. Lansing, he sent for +me to visit with him in his compartment. At the time I arrived he was +seated in his little study, engaged in preparing his speech for the +night's meeting. Turning to me, with a deep show of feeling, he said: +"Read that, and tell me what you think of a man who was my associate on +the other side and who confidentially expressed himself to an outsider in +such a fashion? Were I in Washington I would at once demand his +resignation! That kind of disloyalty must not be permitted to go +unchallenged for a single minute. The testimony of Bullitt is a +confirmation of the suspicions I have had with reference to this +individual. I found the same attitude of mind on the part of Lansing on +the other side. I could find his trail everywhere I went, but they were +only suspicions and it would not be fair for me to act upon them. But here +in his own statement is a verification at last of everything I have +suspected. Think of it! This from a man whom I raised from the level of a +subordinate to the great office of Secretary of State of the United +States. My God! I did not think it was possible for Lansing to act in this +way. When we were in Paris I found that Lansing and others were constantly +giving out statements that did not agree with my viewpoint. When I had +arranged a settlement, there would appear from some source I could not +locate unofficial statements telling the correspondents not to take things +too seriously; that a compromise would be made, and this news, or rather +news of this kind, was harmful to the settlement I had already obtained +and quite naturally gave the Conference the impression that Lansing and +his kind were speaking for me, and then the French would say that I was +bluffing." + +I am convinced that only the President's illness a few days later +prevented an immediate demand on his part for the resignation of Mr. +Lansing. + +That there was no real devotion on the part of Mr. Lansing for the +President is shown by the following incident. + +A few days after the President returned from the West and lay seriously +ill at the White House, with physicians and nurses gathered about his bed, +Mr. Lansing sought a private audience with me in the Cabinet Room. He +informed me that he had called diplomatically to suggest that in view of +the incapacity of the President we should arrange to call in the Vice- +President to act in his stead as soon as possible, reading to me from a +book which he had brought from the State Department, which I afterward +learned was "Jefferson's Manual," the following clause of the United +States Constitution: + + In case of the removal of the President from office, or his death, + resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the + said office, the same shall devolve upon the Vice-President. + +Upon reading this, I coldly turned to Mr. Lansing and said: "Mr. Lansing, +the Constitution is not a dead letter with the White House. I have read +the Constitution and do not find myself in need of any tutoring at your +hands of the provision you have just read." When I asked Mr. Lansing the +question as to who should certify to the disability of the President, he +intimated that that would be a job for either Doctor Grayson or myself. I +immediately grasped the full significance of what he intimated and said: +"You may rest assured that while Woodrow Wilson is lying in the White +House on the broad of his back I will not be a party to ousting him. He +has been too kind, too loyal, and too wonderful to me to receive such +treatment at my hands." Just as I uttered this statement Doctor Grayson +appeared in the Cabinet Room and I turned to him and said: "And I am sure +that Doctor Grayson will never certify to his disability. Will you, +Grayson?" Doctor Grayson left no doubt in Mr. Lansing's mind that he would +not do as Mr. Lansing suggested. I then notified Mr. Lansing that if +anybody outside of the White House circle attempted to certify to the +President's disability, that Grayson and I would stand together and +repudiate it. I added that if the President were in a condition to know of +this episode he would, in my opinion, take decisive measures. That ended +the interview. + +It is unnecessary to say that no further attempt was made by Mr. Lansing +to institute ouster proceedings against his chief. + +I never attempted to ascertain what finally influenced the action of the +President peremptorily to demand the resignation of Mr. Lansing. My own +judgment is that the demand came as the culmination of repeated acts of +what the President considered disloyalty on Mr. Lansing's part while in +Paris, and that the situation was aggravated by Mr. Lansing's notes to +Mexico during the President's illness. + +When I received from the President's stenographer the letter to Mr. +Lansing, intimating that his resignation would not be a disagreeable thing +to the President, I conferred with the President at once and argued with +him that in the present state of public opinion it was the wrong time to +do the right thing. At the time the President was seated in his invalid +chair on the White House portico. + +Although physically weak, he was mentally active and alert. Quickly he +took hold of my phrase and said, with a show of the old fire that I had +seen on so many occasions: "Tumulty, it is never the wrong time to spike +disloyalty. When Lansing sought to oust me, I was upon my back. I am on my +feet now and I will not have disloyalty about me." + +When the announcement of Lansing's resignation was made, the flood-gates +of fury broke about the President; but he was serene throughout it all. +When I called at the White House on the following Sunday, I found him +calmly seated in his bathroom with his coloured valet engaged in the not +arduous task of cutting his hair. Looking at me with a smile in his eye, +he said: "Well, Tumulty, have I any friends left?" "Very few, Governor," I +said. Whereupon he replied: "Of course, it will be another two days' +wonder. But in a few days what the country considers an indiscretion on my +part in getting rid of Lansing will be forgotten, but when the sober, +second thought of the country begins to assert itself, what will stand out +will be the disloyalty of Lansing to me. Just think of it! Raised and +exalted to the office of Secretary of State, made a member of the Peace +Commission, participating in all the conferences and affixing his +signature to a solemn treaty, and then hurrying to America and appearing +before the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate to repudiate the very +thing to which he had given his assent." + +During the illness of the President his political enemies sought to convey +the impression that he was incapacitated for the duties of his office. As +one who came in daily contact with him I knew how baseless were these +insinuations. As a matter of fact, there was not a whole week during his +entire illness that he was not in touch with every matter upon which he +was called to act and upon which he was asked to render judgment. The +White House files contain numerous memoranda showing his interest in all +matters to which department heads felt it incumbent to call his attention +during his illness. One of the most critical things upon which he passed +was the question of the miners' strike, which resulted in the beginning +from an injunction suit by the Attorney General, Mr. Palmer, to restrain +the miners from carrying out their purpose to strike. This was one of the +most critical situations that arose during his illness and with which he +daily kept in touch. + +Uncomplainingly the President applied himself to the difficult tasks of +the Western trip. While the first meeting at Columbus was a disappointment +as to attendance, as we approached the West the crowds grew in numbers and +the enthusiasm became boundless. The idea of the League spread and spread +as we neared the coast. Contrary to the impression in the East, the +President's trip West was a veritable triumph for him and was so +successful that we had planned, upon the completion of the Western trip, +to invade the enemy's country, Senator Lodge's own territory, the New +England States, and particularly Massachusetts. This was our plan, fully +developed and arranged, when about four o'clock in the morning of +September 26, 1919, Doctor Grayson knocked at the door of my sleeping +compartment and told me to dress quickly, that the President was seriously +ill. As we walked toward the President's car, the Doctor told me in a few +words of the President's trouble and said that he greatly feared it might +end fatally if we should attempt to continue the trip and that it was his +duty to inform the President that by all means the trip must be cancelled; +but that he did not feel free to suggest it to the President without +having my cooperation and support. When we arrived at the President's +drawing room I found him fully dressed and seated in his chair. With great +difficulty he was able to articulate. His face was pale and wan. One side +of it had fallen, and his condition was indeed pitiful to behold. Quickly +I reached the same conclusion as that of Doctor Grayson, as to the +necessity for the immediate cancellation of the trip, for to continue it, +in my opinion, meant death to the President. Looking at me, with great +tears running down his face, he said: "My dear boy, this has never +happened to me before. I felt it coming on yesterday. I do not know what +to do." He then pleaded with us not to cut short the trip. Turning to both +of us, he said: "Don't you see that if you cancel this trip, Senator Lodge +and his friends will say that I am a quitter and that the Western trip was +a failure, and the Treaty will be lost." Reaching over to him, I took both +of his hands and said: "What difference, my dear Governor, does it make +what they say? Nobody in the world believes you are a quitter, but it is +your life that we must now consider. We must cancel the trip, and I am +sure that when the people learn of your condition there will be no +misunderstanding." He then tried to move over nearer to me to continue his +argument against the cancellation of the trip; but he found he was unable +to do so. His left arm and leg refused to function. + +I then realized that the President's whole left side was paralyzed. +Looking at me he said: "I want to show them that I can still fight and +that I am not afraid. Just postpone the trip for twenty-four hours and I +will be all right." + +But Doctor Grayson and I resolved not to take any risk, and an immediate +statement was made to the inquiring newspaper men that the Western trip +was off. + +Never was the President more gentle or tender than on that morning. +Suffering the greatest pain, paralyzed on his left side, he was still +fighting desperately for the thing that was so close to his heart--a +vindication of the things for which he had so gallantly fought on the +other side. Grim old warrior that he was, he was ready to fight to the +death for the League of Nations. + +In the dispatches carried to the country, prepared by the fine newspaper +men who accompanied us on the trip, it was stated that evidences of a +breakdown on the part of the President were plainly visible in the speech +he delivered at Pueblo. + +I had talked to him only a few minutes before the delivery of that speech, +and the only apparent evidence that he was approaching a breakdown was in +his remark to me that he had a splitting headache, and that he would have +to cut his speech short. As a matter of fact, this last speech he made, at +Pueblo, on September 25, 1919, was one of the longest speeches delivered +on the Western trip and, if I may say so, was one of the best and most +passionate appeals he made for the League of Nations. + +Many things in connection with the Pueblo meeting impressed themselves +upon me. In the peroration of the speech he drew a picture of his visit on +Decoration Day, 1919, to what he called a beautiful hillside near Paris, +where was located the cemetery of Suresnes, a cemetery given over to the +burial of the American dead. As he spoke of the purposes for which those +departed American soldiers had given their lives, a great wave of emotion, +such as I have never witnessed at a public meeting, swept through the +whole amphitheatre. As he continued his speech, I looked at Mrs. Wilson +and saw tears in her eyes. I then turned to see the effect upon some of +the "hard-boiled" newspaper men, to whom great speeches were ordinary +things, and they were alike deeply moved. Down in the amphitheatre I saw +men sneak their handkerchiefs out of their pockets and wipe the tears from +their eyes. The President was like a great organist playing upon the heart +emotions of the thousands of people who were held spell-bound by what he +said. + +It is possible, I pray God it may not be so, that the speech at Pueblo was +the last public speech that Woodrow Wilson will ever make, and I, +therefore, take the liberty of introducing into this story the concluding +words of it: + + What of our pledges to the men that lie dead in France? We said that + they went over there not to prove the prowess of America or her + readiness for another war but to see to it that there never was such a + war again. It always seems to make it difficult for me to say + anything, my fellow citizens, when I think of my clients in this case. + My clients are the children; my clients are the next generation. They + do not know what promises and bonds I undertook when I ordered the + armies of the United States to the soil of France, but I know, and I + intend to redeem my pledges to the children; they shall not be sent + upon a similar errand. + + Again, and again, my fellow citizens, mothers who lost their sons in + France have come to me and, taking my hand, have shed tears upon it + not only, but they have added: "God bless you, Mr. President!" Why, my + fellow citizens, should they pray God to bless me? I advised the + Congress of the United States to create the situation that led to the + death of their sons. I ordered their sons overseas. I consented to + their sons being put in the most difficult parts of the battle line, + where death was certain, as in the impenetrable difficulties of the + forest of Argonne. Why should they weep upon my hand and call down the + blessings of God upon me? Because they believe that their boys died + for something that vastly transcends any of the immediate and palpable + objects of the war. They believe, and they rightly believe, that their + sons saved the liberty of the world. They believe that wrapped up with + the liberty of the world is the continuous protection of that liberty + by the concerted powers of all the civilized world. They believe that + this sacrifice was made in order that other sons should not be called + upon for a similar gift--the gift of life, the gift of all that died-- + and if we did not see this thing through, if we fulfilled the dearest + present wish of Germany and now dissociated ourselves from those + alongside whom we fought in the war, would not something of the halo + go away from the gun over the mantelpiece, or the sword? Would not the + old uniform lose something if its significance? These men were + crusaders. They were going forth to prove the might of justice and + right, and all the world accepted them as crusaders, and their + transcendent achievement has made all the world believe in America as + it believes in no other nation organized in the modern world. There + seems to me to stand between us and the rejection or qualification of + this treaty the serried ranks of those boys in khaki, not only those + boys who came home, but those dear ghosts that still deploy upon the + fields of France. + + My friends, on last Decoration Day I went to a beautiful hillside near + Paris, where was located the cemetery of Suresnes, a cemetery given + over to the burial of the American dead. Behind me on the slopes was + rank upon rank of living American soldiers, and lying before me on the + levels of the plain was rank upon rank of departed American soldiers. + Right by the side of the stand where I spoke there was a little group + of French women who had adopted those graves, had made themselves + mothers of those dear ghosts by putting flowers every day upon those + graves, taking them as their own sons, their own beloved, because they + had died in the same cause--France was free and the world was free + because America had come! I wish some men in public life who are now + opposing the settlement for which these men died could visit such a + spot as that. I wish that the thought that comes out of those graves + could penetrate their consciousness. I wish that they could feel the + moral obligation that rests upon us not to go back on those boys, but + to see the thing through, to see it through to the end and make good + their redemption of the world. For nothing less depends upon this + decision, nothing less than the liberation and salvation of the world. + + Now that the mists of this great question have cleared away, I believe + that men will see the trust, eye to eye and face to face. There is one + thing that the American people always rise to and extend their hand + to, and that is the truth of justice and of liberty and of peace. We + have accepted that truth and we are going to be led by it, and it is + going to lead us, and through us the world, out into pastures of + quietness and peace such as the world never dreamed of before. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +RESERVATIONS + + +On June 25, 1919, I received from President Wilson the following cabled +message: + + My clear conviction is that the adoption of the treaty by the Senate + with reservations will put the United States as clearly out of the + concert of nations as a rejection. We ought either to go in or stay + out. To stay out would be fatal to the influence and even to the + commercial prospects of the United States, and to go in would give her + a leading place in the affairs of the world. Reservations would either + mean nothing or postpone the conclusion of peace, so far as America is + concerned, until every other principal nation concerned in the treaty + had found out by negotiation what the reservations practically meant + and whether they could associate themselves with the United States on + the terms of the reservations or not. + + WOODROW WILSON. + +The President consistently held to the principle involved in this +statement. To his mind the reservations offered by Senator Lodge +constituted a virtual nullification on the part of the United States of a +treaty which was a contract, and which should be amended through free +discussion among all the contracting parties. He did not argue or assume +that the Covenant was a perfected document, but he believed that, like our +American Constitution, it should be adopted and subsequently submitted to +necessary amendment through the constitutional processes of debate. He was +unalterably opposed to having the United States put in the position of +seeking exemptions and special privileges under an agreement which he +believed was in the interest of the entire world, including our own +country. Furthermore, he believed that the advocacy for reservations in +the Senate proceeded from partisan motives and that in so far as there was +a strong popular opinion in the country in favour of reservations it +proceeded from the same sources from which had come the pro-German +propaganda. Before the war pro-German agitation had sought to keep us out +of the conflict, and after the war it sought to separate us in interest +and purpose from other governments with which we were associated. + +By his opposition to reservations the President was seeking to prevent +Germany from taking through diplomacy what she had been unable to get by +her armies. + +The President was so confident of the essential rightness of the League +and the Covenant and of the inherent right-mindedness of the American +people, that he could not believe that the people would sanction either +rejection or emasculation of the Treaty if they could be made to see the +issue in all the sincerity of its motives and purposes, if partisan attack +could be met with plain truth-speaking. It was to present the case of the +people in what he considered its true light that he undertook the Western +tour, and it was while thus engaged that his health broke. Had he kept +well and been able to lead in person the struggle for ratification, he +might have won, as he had previously by his determination and conviction +broken down stubborn opposition to the Federal Reserve system. + +So strong was his faith in his cause and the people that even after he +fell ill he could not believe that ratification would fail. What his +enemies called stubbornness was his firm faith in the righteousness of the +treaty and in the reasonableness of the proposition that the time to make +amendments was not prior to the adoption of the Treaty and by one nation, +but after all the nations had agreed and had met together for sober, +unpartisan consideration of alterations in the interest of all the +contracting parties and the peace and welfare of the world. + +Even when he lay seriously ill, he insisted upon being taken in his +invalid chair along the White House portico to the window of my outer +office each day during the controversy in the Senate over the Treaty. +There day after day in the coldest possible weather I conferred with him +and discussed every phase of the fight on the Hill. He would sit in his +chair, wrapped in blankets, and though hardly able, because of his +physical condition, to discuss these matters with me, he evidenced in +every way a tremendous interest in everything that was happening in the +Capitol that had to do with the Treaty. Although I was warned +by Doctor Grayson and Mrs. Wilson not to alarm him unduly by bringing +pessimistic reports, I sought, in the most delicate and tactful way I +could, to bring the atmosphere of the Hill to him. Whenever there was an +indication of the slightest rise in the tide for the League of Nations a +smile would pass over the President's face, and weak and broken though he +was, he evidenced his great pleasure at the news. Time and time again +during the critical days of the Treaty fight the President would appear +outside my office, seated in the old wheel chair, and make inquiry +regarding the progress of the Treaty fight on Capitol Hill. + +One of the peculiar things about the illness from which the President +suffered was the deep emotion which would stir him when word was brought +to him that this senator or that senator on the Hill had said some kind +thing about him or had gone to his defense when some political enemy was +engaged in bitterly assailing his attitude in the Treaty fight. Never +would there come from him any censure or bitter criticism of those who +were opposing him in the fight. For Senator Borah, the leader of the +opposition, he had high respect, and felt that he was actuated only by +sincere motives. + +I recall how deeply depressed he was when word was carried to him that the +defeat of the Treaty was inevitable. On this day he was looking more weary +than at any time during his illness. After I had read to him a memorandum +that I had prepared, containing a report on the situation in the Senate, I +drew away from his wheel chair and said to him: "Governor, you are looking +very well to-day." He shook his head in a pathetic way and said: "I am +very well for a man who awaits disaster," and bowing his head he gave way +to the deep emotion he felt. + +A few days later I called to notify him of the defeat of the Treaty. His +only comment was, "They have shamed us in the eyes of the world." +Endeavouring to keep my good-nature steady in the midst of a trying +situation, I smiled and said: "But, Governor, only the Senate has defeated +you. The People will vindicate your course. You may rely upon that." "Ah, +but our enemies have poisoned the wells of public opinion," he said. "They +have made the people believe that the League of Nations is a great +Juggernaut, the object of which is to bring war and not peace to the +world. If I only could have remained well long enough to have convinced +the people that the League of Nations was their real hope, their last +chance, perhaps, to save civilization!" + +I said, by way of trying to strengthen and encourage him at this, one of +the critical moments of his life--a moment that I knew was one of despair +for him--"Governor, I want to read a chapter from the third volume of +your 'History of the American People,' if it will not tire you." He +graciously gave his assent and I took from under my arm the volume +containing an account of the famous John Jay treaty, in the defense of +which Alexander Hamilton was stoned while he stood defending it on the +steps of the New York City Hall. There was, indeed, a remarkable +similarity between the fight over the John Jay treaty and the Versailles +Treaty. I read an entire chapter of Woodrow Wilson's "History of the +American People," including the passage: + + Slowly the storm blew off. The country had obviously gained more than + it had conceded, and tardily saw the debt it owed Mr. Jay and to the + administration, whose firmness and prudence had made his mission + possible. But in the meantime things had been said which could not be + forgotten. Washington had been assailed with unbridled license, as an + enemy and a traitor to the country; had even been charged with + embezzling public moneys during the Revolution; was madly threatened + with impeachment, and even with assassination; and had cried amidst + the bitterness of it all that "he would rather be in his grave than in + the presidency." + + The country knew its real mind about him once again when the end of + his term came and it was about to lose him. He refused to stand for + another election. His farewell address, with its unmistakable tone of + majesty and its solemn force of affection and admonition, seemed an + epitome of the man's character and achievements, and every man's heart + smote him to think that Washington was actually gone from the nation's + counsels. + +When I concluded reading this chapter, the President's comment was, "It is +mighty generous of you to compare my disappointment over the Treaty with +that of Washington's. _You have placed me in mighty good company._" + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +WILSON--THE HUMAN BEING + + +There is no one who wishes to feel the camaraderie of life, "the familiar +touch," more than Woodrow Wilson; but it seems that it cannot be so, and +the knowledge that it could not saddened him from the outset of his public +career. + +I remember a meeting between us at the Governor's Cottage at Sea Girt, New +Jersey, a few hours after the news of his nomination for the Presidency +had reached us from Baltimore in 1912. In this little talk he endeavoured +in an intimate way to analyze himself for my benefit. "You know, Tumulty," +he said, "there are two natures combined in me that every day fight for +supremacy and control. On the one side, there is the Irish in me, quick, +generous, impulsive, passionate, anxious always to help and to sympathize +with those in distress." As he continued his description of himself, his +voice took on an Irish brogue, "And like the Irishman at the Donnybrook +Fair, always willin' to raise me shillalah and to hit any head which +stands firninst me. Then, on the other side," he said, "there is the +Scotch--canny, tenacious, cold, and perhaps a little exclusive. I tell +you, my dear friend, that when these two fellows get to quarrelling among +themselves, it is hard to act as umpire between them." + +For every day of my eleven years' association with Woodrow Wilson I have +seen some part of these two natures giving expression to itself. I have +witnessed the full play of the Irish passion for justice and sympathy for +the under-dog, the man whom he was pleased to call the "average man," +whose name never emerges to the public view. I have seen the full tide of +Irish passion and human sympathies in him flow at some story of injustice +which I had called to his attention; that Irish sympathy in him expressed +itself not dramatically, but in some simple, modest way; an impulse to +lift someone, to help an unfortunate person in distress. That sympathy +might be expressed in the presence of some father, seeking pardon at the +hands of the President in behalf of a wayward son, or some mother pleading +for the release of a loved one, or it would show itself in full sway, as +it often did, when I called his attention to some peculiar case that had +evoked my sympathy and pity. And again I saw the Scotch in him--strict, +upstanding, intractable, and unrelenting. I saw the Scotch rise in him +when an attempt would be made by personal friends to influence his action +where it was evident to him there was at the base of it some hint of +personal privilege, of favouritism on grounds of friendship. I saw the +full sweep of that Scotch tenacity during the war, in the very midst of +that bloody thing, at a time when bitter ridicule and jeers were his +portion. Throughout it he was calm, imperturbable, undisturbed by the +frenzied passions of the moment. + +I saw him express the Irish sense of gratitude in a striking way in the +White House, in my presence, as the result of a conference, in which the +participants were the President and Senators Stone and Reed, both of +Missouri. + +The incident arose out of Senator Reed's failure to get the President to +agree to appoint an intimate friend of Reed's postmaster of St. Louis. +Charges, many of them unfounded, had been made to the Postmaster General's +office against the Reed candidate and, although Reed had made many appeals +to Postmaster General Burleson to send the appointment of his friend to +the President for his approval, Burleson refused to do so, and Reed +thereupon brought his case to the President. I remember how generous and +courteous the President was in his treatment of Reed and Stone on this +occasion. Senator Stone, in his usual kindly way, walked over to the +President and putting his hand on his shoulder, said: "Now, Mr. President, +I want you to do this favour for my friend, Jim Reed. Jim is a damned good +fellow." The President laughingly replied, "Why, Senator, you just know +that there is nothing personal in my attitude in this matter. I have no +desire to injure or humiliate Senator Reed, but the Postmaster General has +refused to recommend the appointment of the Senator's friend for the St. +Louis postmastership." The President then turned to Senator Reed and said, +"Senator, I will tell you what I will do for you. I will allow you to name +any other man, outside of the one whose name you have already suggested, +and I will appoint him at once without making any inquiry or investigation +whatever as to his qualifications. This I will do in order to convince you +that I have no personal feeling whatever toward you in this matter." But +Senator Reed continued to argue for the appointment of his friend. The +President was adamant. Senator Stone and Senator Reed then turned away +from the President and made their way to my office which was adjoining +that of the President. It was plain that the two Senators were deeply +disappointed and highly displeased with the President. As the President +opened the door for the Senators to make their entrance into my room +Senator Reed turned to the President again and in the most emphatic way, +said, "Mr. President, Senator Stone told me before I came to see you that +you were not a cold man and that you were a good fellow. It was upon that +hypothesis that I took the liberty of appealing to you personally in +behalf of my friend." Senator Reed then continued, and in the most +eloquent short speech I have ever heard, said, "They tell me that before +you became governor of New Jersey you had a fight at Princeton with the +Trustees of that University. You better than any one else in this country +know what it is to have a pack of enemies at your heels. This is what is +happening in my friend's case. My enemies in Missouri have conspired to +destroy this man because he has been my friend and has fought my battles +for me. This man whom I have asked you to appoint has been my campaign +manager. He has visited my home; we have been life-long friends, and I +will stake my life upon his reputation and upon his standing. But because +he has been my friend he is now to be punished and now by your action you +will complete the conspiracy that is afoot to defeat and destroy him." + +The President then said, "But, Senator, I have tried to convince you that +there is nothing personal in my attitude and that I will appoint any other +man you may name." Whereupon Senator Reed said, "If God Almighty himself +asked me to surrender in this fight for my friend, I would not do it. I +think I know you well enough to know that in the fight you had for your +ideals and your friends at Princeton, you would not have surrendered to +anybody. I am fighting now for the reputation and the character of my +friend, and you ought not to ask me to surrender him to his executioners." + +The President was standing with his arms folded while the Senator was +addressing him and was evidently deeply touched by Reed's appeal. As Reed +concluded his eloquent speech in behalf of his friend quickly the +President reached out his hand to Reed and said, "Senator, don't surrender +your friend; stick by him to the end and I will appoint him." Whereupon he +turned from the Senators, walked over to the telephone which stood on my +desk, called up the Postmaster General and directed him to send over to +the White House at once the appointment of Senator Reed's friend for the +postmastership at St. Louis. The Postmaster General protested but was +overruled by the President. As the two Senators left my room, Senator +Stone said to Senator Reed, "By God, Jim, I told you so. There is a great +man and a true friend. I told you he was a regular fellow." + +It has been said by the enemies of Woodrow Wilson that he was ungrateful, +that he never appreciated the efforts of his friends in his behalf, and +that when it came to the question of appointments he was unmindful of big +obligations to them. + +The following letter is so characteristic of the man that I beg leave to +introduce it: + + The White House, + Washington D. C. + + April 14, 1916. + + MY DEAR DAVIES: + + Thank you for having let me read this letter again. + + There is one thing that distresses me. The implication of Mr. Alward's + letter is (or would seem to one who did not know the circumstance to + be) that I had not shown my gratitude for all the generous things he + did in promoting my candidacy. Surely he does not feel that. Is it not + true that I appointed him to the office he now holds? that I did so + with the greatest pleasure as gratifying his own personal wish, and + that the office itself has afforded him an opportunity of showing his + real quality and mettle to the people of his state in the performance + of duties for which he is eminently qualified? And have I not tried, + my dear Davies, in every possible way to show my warm and sincere + appreciation and my loyal friendship both to you and to him? It + distresses me to find any other implication even latent between the + lines, and the inference left to be drawn is that if I should not + appoint him to the Federal Bench, it would be virtually an act of + ingratitude on my part. I am sure he cannot soberly mean that, for it + is so far from just. + + It seems to me my clear duty to do in this case as in all others, the + thing which commends itself to my judgment after the most careful + consideration as the wisest and best thing, both for the interests of + the Bench and the interests of the party. + + Always, with real affection, + + Faithfully yours, + WOODROW WILSON. + + Hon. Joseph E. Davies, + Federal Trade Commission. + +On one of the most critical days of the war, when Lloyd George was crying +out in stentorian tones from across the sea that the war was now a race +between Von Hindenburg and Wilson, a fine old Southern gentleman appeared +at my office at the White House, dressed in an old frock coat and wearing +a frayed but tolerably respectable high hat. He was the essence of +refinement and culture and seemed to bring with him to the White House a +breath of the old Southland from which he had come. In the most courteous +way he addressed me, saying, "Mr. Secretary, I am an old friend of the +President's father, Doctor Wilson, and I want to see Woodrow. I have not +seen the boy since the old days in Georgia, and I have come all the way up +here to shake him by the hand." + +So many requests of a similar nature came to my desk during the critical +days of the war and at a time when the President was heavily burdened with +weighty responsibilities that I was reluctant to grant the old man's +request and was about to turn him away with the usual excuse as to the +crowded condition of the President's calendar, etc., when the old man +said, "I know Woodrow will see me for his father and I were old friends." +He then told me a story that the President had often repeated to me about +his father. It seems that the old gentleman who was addressing me was on a +hot summer's day many years ago sitting in front of a store in the +business street of Augusta, Georgia, where the President's father was +pastor of the Presbyterian Church, when he sighted the parson, in an old +alpaca coat, seated in his buggy driving a well-groomed gray mare, and +called out to him, "Doctor, your horse looks better groomed than +yourself." "Yes," replied Doctor Wilson dryly as he drove on, "I take care +of my horse; my congregation takes care of me." + +I knew that if I repeated this story to the President it would be the open +sesame for the old man. I excused myself and quickly made my way to the +Cabinet Room where the President was holding a conference with the Cabinet +members. After making my excuses to the Cabinet for my interruption, I +whispered into the President's ear that there was an old man in my office +who knew his father very well in the old days in Georgia and that he +wanted an opportunity to shake hands with him. I then said to the +President, "He told me the old horse story, the one that you have often +told me. I am sure that he is an old friend of your father's." This struck +the President's most tender spot, for many times during the years of our +association the President had regaled me with delightful stories of his +father and of the tender, solicitous way in which his father had cared for +him. One of the passions of President Wilson's life was his love for and +recollection of that old father, himself a man of remarkable force of +character and intellect. Turning to the members of the Cabinet, the +President said, "Gentlemen, will you please excuse me for a few minutes?" +When I told the fine old chap that the President would see him at once he +almost collapsed. Then, fixing himself up, rearranging his old frock coat, +taking his high hat in hand, striking a statesmanlike posture, he walked +into the President's office. No words passed between the two men for a few +seconds. The old man looked silently at the President, with pride and +admiration plainly visible in his eyes, and then walked slowly toward the +President and took both his hands. Releasing them, he put one of his arms +around the President's shoulder and looking straight into the President's +eyes, he said, "Woodrow, my boy, your old father was a great friend of +mine and he was mighty proud of you. He often told me that some day you +would be a great man and that you might even become President." While the +old man was addressing him the President stood like a big bashful +schoolboy, and I could see that the old man touched the mystic chord of +memories that were very sweet and dear to the President. Removing his arm +from about the President's shoulder, the old man said, "Well, well, +Woodrow, what shall I say to you?" Then, answering his own question, he +said, "I shall say to you what your dear old father would have said were +he here: 'Be a good boy, my son, and may God bless you and take care of +you!'" + +The President said nothing, but I could see that his lips were quivering. +For a moment he stood still, in his eyes the expression of one who +remembers things of long ago and sacred. Then he seemed, as with an +effort, to summon himself, and his thoughts back to the present, and I saw +him walk slowly toward the door of the Cabinet Room, place one hand on the +knob, with the other brush his handkerchief across his eyes. I saw him +throw back his shoulders and grow erect again as he opened the door, and I +heard him say in quiet, steady tones, "I hope you will pardon the +interruption, gentlemen." + +The popular cry of the unthinking against Woodrow Wilson in the early days +of his administration was that he was a pacifist and unwilling to fight. +The gentlemen who uttered these unkind criticisms were evidently unmindful +of the moral courage he manifested in the various fights in which he had +participated in his career, both at Princeton University, where he served +as president, and as governor of New Jersey, in challenging the "old +guard" of both parties to mortal combat for the measures of reform which +he finally brought to enactment. They also forgot the moral courage which +he displayed in fighting the tariff barons and ha procuring the enactment +of the Underwood tariff, and of the fine courage he manifested in +decentralizing the financial control of the country and bringing about the +Federal Reserve Act, which now has the whole-hearted approval of the +business world in America and elsewhere, but which was resisted in the +making by powerful interests. + +I do not wish to make an invidious comparison between Woodrow Wilson and +his predecessors in the White House, but if one will examine the political +history of this country, he will find that very few Presidents had ever +succeeded, because of the powerful interests they were compelled to +attack, in finally putting upon the statute books any legislation that +could control the moneyed interests of the country. The reform of the +tariff and the currency had been the rocks upon which many administrations +had met disaster. + +Nearly every adviser about Woodrow Wilson, even those who had had +experience in the capital of the nation, warned him that he might, after a +long fight, succeed in reforming the tariff, but that his efforts would +fail if he attempted to pass a bill that would establish currency reform. +But the President allowed nothing to stand in the way of the establishment +of the Federal Reserve system without which the financing of the greatest +war in the history of the world would have been impossible. It was his +courage and his persistency that provided the first uniform and harmonious +system of banking which the United States has ever had. + +If Woodrow Wilson had accomplished nothing more than the passage of this +Federal Reserve Act, he would have been entitled to the gratitude of the +nation. This Act supplied the country with an elastic currency controlled +by the American people. Panics--the recurring phenomena of disaster which +the Republican party could neither control nor explain--are now but a +memory. Under the Republican system there was an average of one bank +failure every twenty-one days for a period of nearly forty years. After +the passage of the Federal Reserve system there were, in 1915, four bank +failures; in 1916 and 1917, three bank failures; in 1918, one bank +failure; and in 1919, no bank failures at all. + +Woodrow Wilson is not a showy fighter, but he is a tenacious and a +courageous one. + +A little story came to me at the White House, illustrating alike the +calmness and the fighting quality of Woodrow Wilson. The incident happened +while he was a student at the University of Virginia. It appears that some +of the University boys went to a circus and had got into a fight with the +circus men and been sadly worsted. They called a meeting at "wash hall," +as they termed it. Many of the boys made ringing speeches, denouncing the +brutality and unfairness of the circus people and there was much +excitement. It was then moved that all the boys present should proceed to +the circus and give proper battle, to vindicate the honour of the college. +Just before the motion was put a slim, black-haired, solemn youth arose +from his seat in the rear of the hall, and walking up the aisle, requested +a hearing. He stated that perhaps he was being forward, because he was a +"first-year" man, in asking to be heard; that he felt that the action of +the circus men deserved the severest condemnation; that it was a natural +impulse to want to punish cowardly acts and to "clean up" the show; but +that it was lawlessness they were about to engage in; that it would bring +disgrace on the college, as well as on the state and the Southland; more +than this, many of the showmen would be armed with clubs, knives, and +pistols, and if the boys did go, some of them might not come back alive +and others might be maimed or crippled for life. He then paused, but +resuming, said, "However, if my views do not meet with your approval; if +you decide to go as a body, or if a single man wants to go to fight, I +shall ask to go with him." + +Was not his attitude in this incident characteristic of his dealing with +Germany? He was patient with Germany and stood unmoved under the bitterest +criticism and ridicule; but when he found that patience was no longer a +virtue, he went into the war in the most ruthless way and punished Germany +for her attempt to control the high seas. + +I recall my own antagonism to him in New Jersey when I was engaged, as now +certain of his enemies are engaged, in attacking him, and I recall how my +opposition abated and altogether disappeared by the recital by one of his +friends to me one day of the controversy among the Princeton Trustees that +arose over the now-famous Proctor gift. I was discussing the Princeton +professor with this old friend one day and I said to him that I suspected +that Wall Street interests were back of his candidacy for the +governorship. My friend said, "Tumulty, you are wrong. There is no +unwholesome interest or influence back of Wilson. I tell you he is a fine +fellow and if he is elected governor, he will be a free man." He then +cited the instance of the Princeton fight over the Proctor gift. It will +be recalled that Mr. Proctor bequeathed to Princeton University a large +sum of money, but attached certain conditions to the gift that had to do +with the policy or internal control of the University. The gift was made +at a time when Princeton was in sore need of funds. President Wilson, in a +prolonged fight, bitterly waged by some who had been his close personal +friends, persuaded the Board of Trustees to vote, by a narrow margin, for +rejection of the gift on the grounds that a great educational institution +could not afford to have its internal policies dictated by purchase on the +part of a rich man. By his position he alienated from his leadership many +of the wealthy, influential Princeton alumni, especially in the larger +Eastern cities, but he stood like a rock on the principle that the +educational policy of a college must be made by those authorized to make +it and not changed at the bidding of wealthy benefactors. This was a +convincing answer to my attack upon the Princeton professor. + +This same moral courage was given free play on many an occasion during our +intimacy. It was made manifest in the famous Panama Tolls fight, at a time +when he was warned that a fight made to rectify mistakes in the matter of +Panama tolls would destroy his political future. + +He was always a fair fighter and a gentleman throughout every contest he +engaged in. Many unkind and untrue things were said about Woodrow Wilson +from the time he entered politics, but there is one charge that has never +been made against him and that is the charge of untruthfulness or "hitting +below the belt." No one in the country during his eight years at the White +House ever charged him with making an untrue statement. No politician or +statesman ever said that Wilson had broken a promise, though many have +complained that he would not make promises. + +In the matter of promises I never met a man who was so reluctant to give a +promise, especially in the matter of bestowing office upon willing +candidates. I have known him on many occasions to make up his mind for +months in advance to appoint a certain man and yet he would not say so to +his most intimate friends who urged it. Speaking to me one day about the +matter of promises, he said, "The thing to do is to keep your mind open +until you are bound to act. Then you have freedom of action to change your +mind without being charged with bad faith." + +One reason for the charge made against him of coldness and "political +ingratitude" was that he steadfastly refused to barter public offices for +political support. He is by instinct, as well as by conviction, utterly +opposed to the "spoils system." He considers government the people's +business to be conducted as such and not as a matter of personal exchange +of political favours. Nor can those who failed to get from him what they +fancied their political services earned, complain truthfully that they +were deceived by him into supposing that he shared their own opinion of +their deserts. Frequently they had explicit warning to the contrary. There +was the case of Jim Smith and the New Jersey machine, for instance. When +those gentlemen paid the president of Princeton University an unsolicited +call to suggest that he be candidate for the Democratic nomination for the +governorship of New Jersey, Mr. Wilson, after thanking them for the +compliment, with disconcerting directness asked, "Gentlemen, why do you +want me as the candidate?" They replied, because they believed he could be +elected and they wanted a Democratic governor. He asked why they believed +he could be elected, he who had never held any public office. They +answered that the people of New Jersey would have confidence in him. +"Precisely," said Mr. Wilson; "they will have confidence in me because +they will believe that I am free of the political entanglements which have +brought distress to New Jersey, because they are tired of political +bargain and sale, because they want their government delivered back into +their hands. They want a government pledged to nobody but themselves. Now, +don't you see, gentlemen, that if I should consider your flattering +suggestion, I must be what the people think I am. I must be free to +consider nothing but their interests. There must be no strings tied to +your proposal. I cannot consider it an obligation of returned personal +favours to any individual. We must clearly understand that we are acting +in the interest of the people of New Jersey and in the interest of nobody +else." If the self-constituted committee thought this merely handsome +talk without specific meaning, they had only themselves to thank for their +subsequent predicament. They found he meant exactly what he said. + +There has never been a public man in America with a profounder faith in +popular government, or a stronger conviction that the bane of free +government is secret bargaining among those ambitious to trade public +office for private benefits. Mr. Wilson could no more pay for political +support from public offices than he could pay for it from the public +treasury. He abhors all forms of political favoritism including nepotism. +He not only would not appoint kinsmen to office; he would discountenance +their appointment by others. He resisted the efforts of well-meaning +friends to have his brother, Mr. Joseph R. Wilson, Jr., who had rendered a +substantial service to the 1912 campaign by his effective work as a +trained journalist, elected secretary of the United States Senate, saying +that his brother in this position would inevitably be misunderstood, would +be thought a spy on the Senate to report matters to the President. His +son-in-law, Mr. Francis B. Sayre, is by profession a student of +international law, a professor of the subject in Harvard University, and +as such was employed by Colonel House on the research committee +preparatory to the Paris Conference. Mr. Sayre assumed he was to go to +Paris, but the President set his personal veto on this, saying that it +would not do for the President's son-in-law to be on a list of those who +were going abroad at the public expense. When Mr. Sayre asked if he could +not go and pay his own expenses, the President replied, "No, because it +would not be believed that you had really paid your own expenses." Mr. +Sayre, respecting the President's views, did not press the claim. + +If it has appeared that the President has sometimes "leaned backward" in +these matters, it is because of his strong conviction that politicians +have leaned too far forward in using public office for private rewards, a +bad system toward which the President's attitude may be stated in Hamlet's +impatient injunction to the players, "Oh, reform it altogether!" + +My experiences with him, where one could witness the full play of the +Scotch and Irish strains in him, came particularly in the matter of the +numerous pardon cases and the applications for Executive Orders, placing +this man or that woman under the classified civil service. The latter were +only issued in rare instances and always over the protest of the Civil +Service Commission. In many of these applications there was a great +heartache or family tragedy back of them and to every one of them he gave +the most sympathetic consideration. + +I remember his remark to me one day when I was urging him to sign an +Executive Order in behalf of a poor woman, the widow of an old soldier. +After I had argued with him for a time he turned to me and said, "Every +unfortunate person in distress seems to come to me for relief, but I must +not let my sympathies get the best of me, it would not be right to do +these things upon any basis of sympathy." Although I stood rebuked, the +order was signed. It was a thing urged against him in the last campaign, +that he held the record for the number of Executive Orders issued by him. +His Scotch nature would also assert itself on many occasions. While I was +living with the President at the White House one summer, on a night after +dinner we engaged in the discussion of an article which appeared that +month in one of the popular magazines of the country. In this article +Woodrow Wilson was portrayed as a great intellectual machine. Turning to +me, he said, "Tumulty, have you read that article? What do you think of +it?" I said that I thought in many respects it was admirable. "I don't +agree with you at all," he said. "It is no compliment to me to have it +said that I am only a highly developed intellectual machine. Good God, +there is more in me than that!" He then said, rather sadly, "Well, I want +people to love me, but I suppose they never will." He then asked me this +question, "Do you think I am cold and unfeeling?" I replied, "No, my dear +Governor, I think you are one of the warmest hearted men I ever met." + +And when I say this of Woodrow Wilson I mean it. I hope I have all of the +generous tendencies of my race and that I know a great heart when I see +its actions. I could not have been associated with him all these years, +witnessing the great heart in action, without having full faith in what I +now say. No man of all my acquaintance, with whom I have discussed life in +all of its phases and tragedies, at least those tragedies that stalked in +and out of the White House, was more responsive, more sympathetic, and +more inclined to pity and help than Woodrow Wilson. His eyes would fill +with tears at the tale of some unfortunate man or woman in distress. It +was not a cheap kind of sympathy. It was quiet, sincere, but always from +the heart. The President continued talking to me--and now he spoke as the +canny Scot--"I am cold in a certain sense. Were I a judge and my own son +should be convicted of murder, and I was the only judge privileged to pass +judgment upon the case, I would do my duty even to the point of sentencing +him to death. It would be a hard thing to do but it would be my solemn +duty as a judge to do it, but I would do it, because the state cannot be +maintained and its sovereignty vindicated or its integrity preserved +unless the law is strictly enforced and without favour. It is the business +of the judge to uphold it and he must do it to the point of every +sacrifice. If he fails, justice fails, the state falls. That looks cold- +blooded, doesn't it? But I would do it." Then his voice lowered and he +said, "Then, after sentencing my own son to death, I would go out and die +of a broken heart, for it would surely kill me." + +That is one key to the character of the man that was revealed before my +own eyes in the years of our intimacy. + +It showed itself on many other occasions. It was his idea of the duty of +the trustee, the judge, the guardian. + +I remember a visit that two very warm friends from the Pacific Coast made +to him, both of whom had worked night and day for his cause in the great +state of the Golden West. + +Their son had been convicted and was incarcerated in the Federal Prison. +They had every personal reason for feeling that a mere appeal on their +part on behalf of this son would be a winning one, for their friendship +with the President was one of long standing and most affectionate in +character. I can see him now, standing in the centre of the room, with the +two old people grouped about him, shaking his head and saying, "I wish I +could do it, but I must not allow personal consideration to influence me +in the least. I know it is hard for you to believe that I will turn away +from your request, but the only basis upon which you make it is our +friendship. I would be doing an injustice to many a boy like yours who has +similarly offended and for whom no one is able to speak or approach me in +the intimate contact which is your privilege. Please do not think me cold- +hearted, but I cannot do it." + +I remember one of the last pardon cases we handled in the White House was +that of an old man, charged with violating the banking laws and sentenced +to imprisonment. I pleaded with the President to pardon the old man; the +Attorney General had recommended it, and some of the warm-hearted members +of the President's family had gone to him and sought to exert their +influence in behalf of the old man. It seemed as if everything was moving +smoothly and that the old man might be pardoned, until the family +influence was brought to bear. It was the last pardon case I brought to +his attention before the fall of the curtain on March fourth. I went to +him, and said, "My dear Governor, I hope you will close your official +career here by doing an act of mercy." He smiled at me and I thought I +could see the prison gates open for the old man, but when I mentioned the +name in the case, the President stiffened up, stopped smiling, and looking +at me in the coldest way, said, "I will not pardon this man. Certain +members of my family to whom I am deeply devoted, as you know, have sought +to influence my judgment in this matter. They have no right to do it. I +should be unworthy of my trust as President were I to permit family +interference of any kind to affect my public actions, because very few +people in the country can exert that kind of influence and it must not be +tolerated." The case was closed; the pardon refused. + +He often spoke to me in the frankest way of his personal appearance; how +he looked and appeared and of the "old Scotch face," as he called it, +which gave him the appearance of what Caesar called a "lean and hungry +look." Speaking at the annual banquet of the Motion Picture Board of +Trade, he discussed his personal appearance in this way: + +"I have sometimes been very much chagrined in seeing myself in a motion +picture. I have wondered if I really was that kind of a 'guy.' The +extraordinary rapidity with which I walked, for example, the instantaneous +and apparently automatic nature of my motion, the way in which I produced +uncommon grimaces, and altogether the extraordinary exhibition I made of +myself sends me to bed very unhappy. And I often think to myself that, +although all the world is a stage and men and women but actors upon it, +after all, the external appearance of things are very superficial indeed." + +He knew that his facial expression gave one the impression that he was a +cold and canny Scot. In repose one would get that impression, but when +that old Scotch face took on a winning smile it was most gracious and +appealing. One of his favourite limericks was: + + For beauty I am not a star, + There are others more handsome by far. + But my face I don't mind it, + For I am behind it, + It's the people in front that I jar. + +Behind the cold exterior and beneath the "gleam of the waters" there was a +warm, generous heart. I have often thought of the character discussed by +Israel Zangwill in his book "The Mantle of Elijah." These lines, in my +opinion, draw a perfect picture of Woodrow Wilson as I knew him: + +Speaking of Allegra's father Zangwill said: + +"With him freedom was no nebulous figure, aureoled with shining rhetoric, +blowing her own trumpet, but Free Trade, Free Speech, Free Education. He +did not rail against the Church as the enemy, but he did not count on it +as a friend. His Millennium was earthly, human; his philosophy sunny, +untroubled by Dantesque depths or shadows; his campaign unmartial, +constitutional, a frank focussing of the new forces emergent from the slow +dissolution of Feudalism and the rapid growth of a modern world. Towards +such a man the House of Commons had an uneasy hostility. He did not play +the game. Whig and Tory, yellow and blue, the immemorial shuffling of +Cabinet cards, the tricks and honours--he seemed to live outside them all. +He was no clubman in 'The best club in England.' He did not debate for +argument's sake or to upset Ministers. He was not bounded by the walls of +the Chamber nor ruler from the Speaker's chair; the House was resentfully +conscious it had no final word over his reputation or his influence. He +stood for something outside it, something outside himself, something +large, vague, turbulent, untried, unplumbed, unknown--the People." + +A little incident illustrating the warmth of the heart of Woodrow Wilson +and the sympathetic way he manifested his feeling came to me in a letter +received at the White House in 1920 from a Red Cross nurse, who was +stationed at the Red Cross Base Hospital at Neuilly, France. An excerpt +from it follows: + + I might interest you to recite an incident within my own personal + knowledge that proves the depths of his sympathy--his sincerity. I was + one of the unit of Red Cross Workers who went to France to help our + soldiers blinded in battle. I was at the time of this incident + stationed at the Red Cross Base Hospital No. I at Neuilly. After a + visit of the President and Mrs. Wilson to the hospital, one of my + charges, a totally blind private to whom Mr. Wilson had spoken, said + to me: "Miss Farrell, I guess the President must be very tired." I + said, "Why do you think that, Walter?" "Well, because," replied the + soldier, "he laughed and joked with all the other fellows but was so + quiet when he talked with me and just said, 'Honourable wound, my + boy,' so low I could hardly hear him. But say," continued Walter, + "look at my hand please and see if it is all there, will you? The + President sure has some hand and he used it when he shook hands. I'll + say." + + The fact was, Walter was the first blind soldier the President had met + in France and knowing from experience the appeal the blind make to our + emotions, I knew the President was so touched that he was overcome and + couldn't joke further--he was scarcely able to manage the one remark + and could not trust himself to venture another, 'Twas with tears in + his eyes and a choking voice that he managed the one. Both he and Mrs. + Wilson wept in that blind ward. + +As a political fighter, he was gallant and square. No one ever heard him +call an opponent a name or knew him unworthily to take advantage of an +opponent. + +Illustrative of the magnanimous attitude of the President toward his +political enemies was the striking incident that occurred a few weeks +before the close of the last Presidential campaign, 1920. Early one +afternoon two Democratic friends called upon me at the Executive offices +and informed me that they could procure certain documents that would go a +long way toward discrediting the Republican campaign and that they could +be procured for a money consideration. They explained the character of the +documents to me and left it to me to say what I considered a fair price +for them. They explained the serious nature of these documents, and it was +certainly a delicate situation for me to handle and embarrassed me +greatly. I was reluctant to offend these gentlemen, and yet I was certain +from what they said that the documents, as they explained them to me, even +though they might discredit the Republican campaign, were not of a +character that any party of decent men ought to have anything to do with. +When the gentlemen told me the name of the person who claimed to have +these damaging papers in his possession, I at once recalled that we had in +the files of the White House certain letters that could be used to +discredit this very man who claimed to possess these incriminating +documents. I thought it wise, therefore, to listen politely to these +gentlemen until I could get a chance to confer with the President. I did +this at once. + +At this time the President was lying ill in his sick room at the White +House. The nurse raised him up in the bed and I explained the whole +situation to him, saying to him that it was my opinion that the Democratic +party ought not to have anything to do with such a matter and that I +thought we should at once apprise the Republican managers of the plan that +was afoot to discredit by these unfair means the Republican candidate and +campaign. When I told the President of the character of these documents +that had been offered to me he was filled with indignation and said, "If +we can't win this fight by fair means, we will not attempt to win it by +unfair means. You have my authority to use whatever files we have against +this party who would seek unfairly to attack the Republican nominee and +you must at once notify the Republican managers of the plan proposed and +explain the whole situation to them. Say to the Attorney General that he +must place at the disposal of Mr. Harding and his friends every officer he +has, if necessary, to disclose and overcome this plot. I am sure that +Governor Cox will agree with me that this is the right and decent thing to +do." + +Acting upon the President's suggestion, I at once called upon a certain +Republican senator from the West, now a member of President Harding's +Cabinet, and told him of the proposed plot that was afoot to discredit the +Republican campaign. I told him I was acting upon the express authority of +the President. He expressed his high appreciation of the information I had +brought him and informed me that he would place the matter in our hands +with the utmost confidence in us to handle it honourably. + +It ought to be said here that upon investigation, personally made by +myself, I found that there was nothing in this whole matter that in the +slightest degree reflected upon the honour or the integrity or high +standing of President Harding. + +One of the things for which President Wilson was unduly censured shortly +after he took office was the recognition he gave to his political enemies +in the Democratic party. The old-line politicians who had supported him in +1912 could not understand why the loaves and fishes were dealt out to +these unworthy ones. Protests were made to the President by some of his +close personal friends, but he took the position that as the leader of the +party he was not going to cause resentment and antagonisms by seeming to +classify Democrats; that as leader of his party he had to recognize all +factions, and there quickly followed appointments of Clark men, Underwood +men, Harmon men, all over the country. A case in point illustrates the +bigness of the President in these matters--that of George Fred Williams as +Minister to Greece. In the campaign of 1912 Mr. Williams had travelled up +and down the state of Massachusetts making the bitterest sort of attacks +upon Woodrow Wilson. I remember how I protested against this appointment. +The President's only reply was that George Fred Williams was an eccentric +fellow, but that he believed he was thoroughly honest. "I have no fault to +find, Tumulty, with the men who disagree with me and I ought not to +penalize them when they give expression to what they believe are honest +opinions." + +I have never seen him manifest any bitterness or resentment toward even +his bitterest, most implacable enemies. Even toward William Randolph +Hearst, whose papers throughout the country have been his most unrelenting +foes, he never gave expression to any ill feeling or chagrin at the unfair +attacks that were made upon him. I remember a little incident that shows +the trend of his feelings in this regard, that occurred when we were +discussing the critical Mexican situation. At this time the Hearst papers +were engaged in a sensational propaganda in behalf of intervention in +Mexico. The President said to me, "I heard of a delightful remark that +that fine old lady, Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, made with reference to what she +called her 'big boy Willie.' You know," he continued, "Mrs. Hearst does +not favour intervention in Mexico and it was reported to me that she +chided her son for his flaming headlines urging intervention, and told him +that unless he behaved better she would have to take him over her knee and +spank him." + +The President has one great failing, inherent in the very character of the +man himself, and this is his inborn, innate modesty--his unwillingness to +dramatize the part he played in the great events of the war, so that the +plain people of the country could see him and better understand him. There +is no man living to-day who has a greater power of personal appeal or who +is a greater master in the art of presenting ideals, facts, and arguments +than Woodrow Wilson. As his secretary for nearly eleven years, I was often +vexed because he did not, to use a newspaper phrase, "play up" better, but +he was always averse to doing anything that seemed artificially contrived +to win applause. Under my own eyes, seated in the White House offices, I +have witnessed many a great story walk in and out but the President always +admonished us that such things must not be pictured or capitalized in any +way for political purposes; and thus every attempt we made to dramatize +him, as Colonel Roosevelt's friends had played him up, was immediately +placed under the Presidential embargo. + +His unwillingness to allow us in the White House to "play him up" as the +leading actor in this or that movement was illustrated in the following +way: On July 1, 1919, a cable reached the White House from His Holiness, +Pope Benedict, expressing the appreciation of His Holiness for the +magnificent way in which the President had presented to the Peace +Conference the demands of the Catholic Church regarding Catholic missions, +and conveying to the President his thanks for the manner in which the +President had supported those demands. The cable came at a time when +certain leaders of my own church, the Roman Catholic Church, were +criticizing and opposing the President for what they thought was his anti- +Catholic attitude. I tried to induce the President to allow me to give +publicity to the Pope's cable, but he was firm in his refusal. The cable +from the Pope and the President's reply are as follows: + + Rome, The Vatican. + 1 July, 1919. + + TO HIS EXCELLENCY, + Doctor Woodrow Wilson, + President of the United States. + + EXCELLENCY: + + Monsignor Carretti, upon his return from Paris, hastened to inform us + with what spirit of moderation Your Excellency examined the demands + regarding the Catholic Missions which we presented to the Peace + Conference, and with what zeal Your Excellency subsequently supported + these demands. We desire to express to you our sincere gratitude and + at the same time we urge Your Excellency to be good enough to employ + your great influence, also, in order to prevent the action, which + according to the Peace Treaty with Germany it is desired to bring + against the Kaiser and the highly placed German commanders. This + action could only render more bitter national hatred and postpone for + a long time that pacification of souls for which all nations long. + Furthermore, this trial, if the rules of justice are to be observed, + would meet insurmountable difficulties as may be seen from the + attached article from the _Osservatore Romano_, which deals + exclusively with the trial of the Kaiser, the newspaper reserving + right to treat in another article the question of the trial of the + generals. + + It pleases us to take advantage of this new occasion to renew to Your + Excellency the wishes which we entertain for your prosperity and that + of your family, as well as for the happiness of the inhabitants of the + Confederation of the United States. + + (Signed) BENEDICTUS PP. XV. + + * * * * * + + The White House, + Washington, D. C. + + 15 August, 1919. + + YOUR HOLINESS: + + I have had the pleasure of receiving at the hands of Monsignor Cossio + the recent letter you were kind enough to write me, which I now beg to + acknowledge with sincere appreciation. Let me assure you that it was + with the greatest pleasure that I lent my influence to safeguarding + the missionary interests to which you so graciously refer, and I am + happy to say that my colleagues in the Conference were all of the same + mind in this wish to throw absolute safeguards around such missions + and to keep them within the influences under which they had hitherto + been conducted. + + I have read with the gravest interest your suggestion about the + treatment which should be accorded the ex-Kaiser of Germany and the + military officers of high rank who were associated with him in the + war, and beg to say that I realize the force of the considerations + which you urge. I am obliged to you for setting them so clearly, and + shall hope to keep them in mind in the difficult months to come. With + much respect and sincere good wishes for your welfare, + + Respectfully and sincerely yours, + (Signed) WOODROW WILSON. + + His Holiness, + Pope Benedict XV. + +[Illustration: Correspondence with the Pope +(Transcriber's note: contains a reproduction of the two above-quoted +letters.)] + +There was something too fine in his nature for the dramatics and the +posturings of the political game, as it is usually played. He is a very +shy man, too sincere to pose, too modest to make advances. He craves the +love of his fellow-men with all his heart and soul. People see only his +dignity, his reserve, but they cannot see his big heart yearning for the +love of his fellow-men. Out of that loving heart of his has come the +passion which controlled his whole public career--the passion for justice, +for fair dealing, and democracy. + +Never during the critical days of the war, when requests of all kinds +poured in upon him for interviews of various sorts, did he lose his good- +nature. Nor did he show that he was disturbed when various requests came +from this or that man who claimed to have discovered some scientific means +of ending the war. + +The following letter to his old friend, Mr. Thomas D. Jones of Chicago, is +characteristic of his feeling toward those who claimed to have made such a +scientific discovery: + + The White House, Washington, + 25 July 1917. + + My dear friend: + + It was generous of you to see Mr. Kenney and test his ideas. I hope + you derived some amusement from it at least. I am afraid I have grown + soft-hearted and credulous in these latter days, credulous in respect + to the scientific possibility of almost any marvel and soft-hearted + because of the many evidences of simple-hearted purpose this war has + revealed to me. + + With warmest regard, + + Cordially and faithfully yours, + (Signed) WOODROW WILSON. + +Nor did the little things of life escape him, as is shown by the following +letter to Attorney General Gregory: + + The White House, Washington, + 1 October, 1918. + + MY DEAR GREGORY: + + The enclosed letter from his wife was handed to me this morning by a + rather pitiful old German whom I see occasionally looking after the + flowers around the club house at the Virginia Golf Course. I must say + it appeals to me, and I am sending it to you to ask if there is any + legitimate way in which the poor old fellow could be released from his + present restrictions. + + In haste, + + Faithfully yours, + (Signed) WOODROW WILSON. + +[Illustration: An evidence of the tender-heartedness which Mr. Tumulty +claims for the President. +(Transcriber's note: contains a reproduction of the above-quoted letter.)] + +I recall a day when he sat at his typewriter in the White House, preparing +the speech he was to deliver at Hodgensville, Kentucky, in connection with +the formal acceptance of the Lincoln Memorial, built over the log cabin +birthplace of Lincoln. When he completed this speech, which I consider one +of his most notable public addresses--perhaps in literary form, his best-- +he turned to me and asked me if I had any comment to make upon it. I read +it very carefully. I then said to him, "Governor, there are certain lines +in it that might be called a self-revelation of Woodrow Wilson." The +lines that I had in mind were: + + I have read many biographies of Lincoln; I have sought out with the + greatest interest the many intimate stories that are told of him, the + narratives of nearby friends, the sketches at close quarters, in which + those who had the privilege of being associated with him have tried to + depict for us the very man himself "in his habit as he lived"; but I + have nowhere found a real intimate of Lincoln. I nowhere get the + impression in my narrative or reminiscence that the writer had in fact + penetrated to the heart of his mystery, or that any man could + penetrate to the heart of it. That brooding spirit had no real + familiars. I get the impression that it never spoke out in complete + self-revelation, and that it could not reveal itself complete to any + one. It was a very lonely spirit that looked out from underneath those + shaggy brows, and comprehended men without fully communing with them, + as if, in spite of all its genial efforts at comradeship, it dwelt + apart, saw its visions of duty where no man looked on. There is a very + holy and very terrible isolation for the conscience of every man who + seeks to read the destiny in the affairs for others as well as for + himself, for a nation as well as for individuals. That privacy no man + can intrude upon. That lonely search of the spirit for the right + perhaps no man can assist. + +To Woodrow Wilson the business of government was a solemn thing, to which +he gave every ounce of his energy and his great intellectual power. No +President in the whole history of America ever carried weightier +responsibilities than he. Night and day, with uncomplaining patience, he +was at his post of duty, attending strictly to the pressing needs of the +nation, punctiliously meeting every engagement, great or small. Indeed, no +man that I ever met was more careless about himself or thought less of +vacations for the purpose of rest and recuperation. + +There are three interesting maps which show the mileage covered by +Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson. These maps show the states +traversed by each of the Presidents. Great black smudges show the trail +covered by President Roosevelt, which included every state in the Union, +and equally large black marks show the territory covered by President +Taft, but only a thin line shows the peregrinations and wanderings of +President Wilson. The dynamic, forceful personality of Mr. Roosevelt, +which radiated energy, charm, and good-nature, and the big, vigorous, +lovable personality of Mr. Taft, put the staid, simple, modest, retiring +personality of the New Jersey President, Mr. Wilson, at a tremendous +disadvantage. Into the atmosphere created by these winning personalities +of Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Taft the personality of Mr. Wilson did not easily +fit, and he realized it, when he said to me one day, "Tumulty, you must +realize that I am not built for the dramatic things of politics. I do not +want to be displayed before the public, and if I tried it, I should do it +badly." + +Without attempting to belittle the great achievements of former Presidents +of the United States, particularly Roosevelt, it is only fair to say that, +comparing the situations which confronted them with those that met +President Wilson from the very beginning of his incumbency, their jobs +were small. As a genial Irishman once said to me, "Hell broke loose when +Wilson took hold." Every unusual thing, every extraordinary thing, seemed +to break and break against us. From the happening of the Dayton flood, +which occurred in the early days of the Wilson Administration, down to the +moment when he laid down the reins of office, it seemed as if the world in +which we lived was at the point of revolution. Unusual, unprecedented, and +remarkable things began to happen, things that required all the patience, +indomitable courage, and tenacity of the President to hold them steady. +The Mexican situation, left on our door-step, was one of the great burdens +that he carried during his administration. Then came the fight for the +revision of the tariff, the establishment of the Federal Reserve System, +all items that constituted the great programme of domestic reform which +emanated from the brain of Woodrow Wilson, and then in the midst of it all +came the European war, the necessity for neutrality, the criticism which +was heaped upon the President for every unusual happening which his +critics seemed to think called for intervention of the United States in +this great cataclysm. It was not a time for the camaraderie and good- +fellowship that had characterized the good old days in which Mr. Roosevelt +served as President. + +And yet no man was less exclusive in dealing with the members of the +Senate and House. In preparing the Federal Reserve Act in collaboration +with Senator Glass, he was constantly in touch with the members of the +Senate Banking and Currency Committee, in an endeavour to make clear the +road for the passage of this important piece of constructive legislation. +Constant demands were made upon his time and he gave of his energy and of +the small reserve of strength that he had uncomplainingly and without a +protest. No rest, no recreation, no vacation intervened. Every measure +that he sought to press to enactment was the challenge to a great fight, +as, for instance, the tariff, the currency, the rural credits, and the +Panama tolls acts. + +I have often been asked whether anger or passion ever showed itself in the +President, and I am reminded of a little incident that happened at the +White House during one of those conferences with the newspaper men, which, +before the days of the war, and for a long time afterward, took place in +the Executive offices. At the time of this particular conference, the +President's first wife lay seriously ill at the White House, and stories +were carried in the various newspapers exaggerating the nature of her +illness, some of them going so far as to say she was suffering from this +or from that disease. At the very time these stories were appearing in the +newspapers there were also articles that his daughter, Margaret, was +engaged to marry this man or that man. The President came to the newspaper +men's conference this morning fighting mad. It was plain that something +serious was afoot. Taking hold of the back of the chair, as if to +strengthen himself for what he had to say, he looked squarely at the +newspaper men and said, "I hope that you gentlemen will pardon me for a +personal word this morning. I have read the stories that have appeared in +certain newspapers of the country, containing outrageous statements about +the illness of my wife and the marriage of my daughter. I realize that as +President of the United States you have a perfect right to say anything +you damn please about me, for I am a man and I can defend myself. I know +that while I am President it will be my portion to receive all kinds of +unfair criticism, and I would be a poor sport if I could not stand up +under it; but there are some things, gentlemen, that I will not tolerate. +You must let my family alone, for they are not public property. I acquit +every man in this room of responsibility for these stories. I know that +you have had nothing to do with them; but you have feelings and I have +feelings, even though I am President. My daughter has no brother to defend +her, but she has me, and I want to say to you that if these stories ever +appear again I will leave the White House and thrash the man who dares to +utter them." + +A little letter came to my notice in which the President replies to an old +friend in Massachusetts who had asked him to attempt to interpret himself: + + MY DEAR FRIEND: + + You have placed an impossible task upon me--that of interpreting + myself to you. All I can say in answer to your inquiry is that I have + a sincere desire to serve, to be of some little assistance in + improving the condition of the average man, to lift him up, and to + make his life more tolerable, agreeable, and comfortable. In doing + this I try hard to purge my heart of selfish motives. It will only be + known when I am dead whether or not I have succeeded. + + Sincerely your friend, + WOODROW WILSON. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +THE SAN FRANCISCO CONVENTION + + +During the winter of 1919-1920 President Wilson was the target of vicious +assaults. Mrs. Wilson and Admiral Grayson with difficulty curbed his +eagerness to take a leading hand in the fight over the Peace Treaty in the +Senate, and to organize the Democratic party on a fighting basis. It was +not until after the Chicago Convention had nominated Mr. Harding and +enunciated a platform repudiating the solemn obligations of the United +States to the rest of the world that the President broke his silence of +many months. Because he had something he wanted to say to the country he +asked me to send for Louis Seibold, a trusted friend and an experienced +reporter, then connected with the New York _World_. When Mr. Seibold +arrived in Washington on the Tuesday following Mr. Harding's nomination, +the President talked unreservedly and at length with him, discussed the +Republican Convention, characterized its platform as "the apotheosis of +reaction," and declared that "it should have quoted Bismarck and Bernhardi +rather than Washington and Lincoln." During the two days of Mr. Seibold's +visit to the White House he had abundant opportunity to observe the +President's condition of health which had been cruelly misrepresented by +hostile newspapers. Mr. Seibold found him much more vigorous physically +than the public had been given to understand and mentally as alert and +aggressive as he had been before his illness. Mr. Seibold's article, which +by the way was regarded as a journalistic classic and for which Columbia +University awarded the author the Pulitzer prize for the best example of +newspaper reporting of the year, exposed the absurd rumours about the +President's condition and furnished complete evidence of his determination +to fight for the principles to establish which he had struggled so +valiantly and sacrificed so much. + +As the days of the San Francisco Convention approached those of us who +were intimately associated with the President at the White House were +warned by him that in the Convention fight soon to take place we must play +no favourites; that the Convention must be, so far as the White House was +concerned, a free field and no favour, and that our attitude of "hands +off" and strict neutrality must be maintained. Some weeks before the +Convention met the President conferred with me regarding the nominations, +and admonished me that the White House must keep hands off, saying that it +had always been charged in the past that every administration sought to +use its influence in the organization of the party to throw the nomination +this way or that. Speaking to me of the matter, he said, "We must make it +clear to everyone who consults us that our attitude is to be impartial in +fact as well as in spirit. Other Presidents have sought to influence the +naming of their successors. Their efforts have frequently brought about +scandals and factional disputes that have split the party. This must not +happen with us. We must not by any act seek to give the impression that we +favour this or that man." + +This attitude was in no way an evidence of the President's indifference to +the nominee of the Convention, or to what might happen at San Francisco. +He was passionately anxious that his party's standard bearer should win at +the election if for no other reason than to see his own policies continued +and the League of Nations vindicated. + +There was another and personal reason why he insisted that no White House +interference should be brought into play for any particular nominee. His +son-in-law, Mr. William G. McAdoo, was highly thought of in connection +with the nomination, and therefore the President felt that he must be more +than ordinarily strict in insisting that we keep hands off, for anything +that savoured of nepotism was distasteful to him and, therefore, he +"leaned backward" in his efforts to maintain a neutral position in the +Presidential contest and to take no part directly or indirectly that might +seem to give aid and comfort to the friends of his son-in-law. While Mr. +McAdoo's political enemies were busily engaged in opposing him on the +ground of his relationship to the President, as a matter of fact, the +President was making every effort to disassociate himself and his +administration from the talk that was spreading in favour of McAdoo's +candidacy. While every effort was being made by Mr. McAdoo's enemies to +give the impression that the Federal machine was being used to advance his +candidacy, the President was engaged wholly in ignoring Mr. McAdoo's +candidacy. + +Every family visit which Mr. McAdoo and his wife, the President's +daughter, paid the White House, was distorted in the newspaper reports +carried to the country into long and serious conferences between the +President and his son-in-law with reference to Mr. McAdoo's candidacy. I +know from my own knowledge that the matter of the nomination was never +discussed between the President and Mr. McAdoo. And Mr. McAdoo's real +friends knew this and were greatly irritated at what they thought was the +gross indifference on the part of the President to the political fortunes +of his own son-in-law. So meticulously careful was the President that no +one should be of the opinion that he was attempting to influence things in +Mr. McAdoo's behalf, that there was never a discussion even between the +President and myself regarding Mr. McAdoo's candidacy, although we had +canvassed the availability of other Democratic candidates, as well as the +availability of the Republican candidates. + +I had often been asked what the President's attitude would be toward Mr. +McAdoo's candidacy were he free to take part in the campaign. My only +answer to these inquiries was that the President had a deep affection and +an admiration for Mr. McAdoo as a great executive that grew stronger with +each day's contact with him. He felt that Mr. McAdoo's sympathies, like +his own, were on the side of the average man; and that Mr. McAdoo was a +man with a high sense of public service. + +And while the President kept silent with reference to Mr. McAdoo, the +basis of his attitude was his conviction that to use his influence to +advance the cause of his son-in-law was, in his opinion, an improper use +of a public trust. + +That he was strictly impartial in the matter of Presidential candidates +was shown when Mr. Palmer, the Attorney General, requested me to convey a +message to the President with reference to his [Palmer's] candidacy for +the nomination, saying that he would be a candidate and would so announce +it publicly if the President had no objection; or that he would resign +from the Cabinet if the announcement would embarrass the President in any +way, and that he would support any man the President saw fit to approve +for this great office. + +I conveyed this message to the President and he requested me to notify Mr. +Palmer that he was free to do as he pleased, that he had no personal +choice and that the Convention must be left entirely free to act as it +thought proper and right and that he would gladly support the nominee of +the Convention. + +Mr. Homer S. Cummmgs, the permanent chairman of the Convention, Senator +Glass of Virginia, and Mr. Colby, Secretary of State, called upon the +President at the White House previous to taking the train for San +Francisco to inquire if the President had any message for the Convention +or suggestion in the matter of candidates or platforms. He informed them +that he had no message to convey or suggestions to offer. + +Thus, to the end, he maintained this attitude of neutrality. He never +varied from this position from the opening of the Convention to its +conclusion. There was no direct wire between the White House and the San +Francisco Convention, although there were frequent long-distance telephone +calls from Colby, Cummings, and others to me; never once did the President +talk to any one at the Convention. At each critical stage of the +Convention messages would come from someone, urging the President to say +something, or send some message that would break the deadlock, but no +reply was forthcoming. He remained silent. + +There came a time when it looked as if things at the Convention had +reached an impasse and that only the strong hand of the President could +break the deadlock. + +I was informed by long-distance telephone that the slightest intimation +from the President would be all that was necessary to break the deadlock +and that the Convention would nominate any one he designated. + +[Illustration: + + THE WHITE HOUSE + WASHINGTON + + 26 September 1920. + + My dear Governor: + + I think I have found a suitable way to begin our attack if you care to + take part in this campaign. The whole country is filled with the + poison spread by Lodge and his group and it has to do principally with + the attacks made upon you for failing to consult anyone about possible + changes in the Treaty and your reluctance toward suggesting to your + associates on the other side changes of any kind. + + George Creel and I have examined the cables that passed between you + and Mr. Taft and we have prepared a statement which is attached to + this letter. This statement, with the Taft cables will be a knockout + (I know that Mr. Taft is already preparing a book on the Treaty which + will carry these cables) and will clear the air and show how + contemptible our enemies have been in circulating stories. We have + carefully gone over the Covenant and find that nearly every change + suggested by Mr. Taft was made and in come cases you went further than + he asked. + + George Creel is of the opinion that the statement should come from the + White House. + + Sincerely, + (signed) Tumulty + + * * * * * + + Dear Tumulty, + + I have read your letter of September twenty-sixth with a sincere + effort to keep an open mind about the suggestions you make, but I must + say that it has not changed my mind at all. No answers to Harding of + any kind will proceed from the White House with my consent. + + It pleases me very much that you and Creel are in collaboration on + material out of which smashing answers can be made, and I beg that you + will press those materials on the attention of the Speakers' Bureau of + the National Committee. It is their clear duty to supply those + materials in turn to the speakers of the campaign. If they will not, I + am sorry to say I know of no other course that we can pursue, + + The President. + C. L. S. + +An inside view of the Cox campaign] + +I conveyed this information to the President. He shook his head. This told +me that he would not act upon my suggestion and would in no way interfere +with the Convention. To the end he steered clear of playing the part of +dictator in the matter of the nomination. That he took advantage of every +occasion to show that he was playing an impartial hand is shown by the +documents which follow. The Associated Press had carried a story to the +effect that Senator Glass had notified certain delegates that Governor Cox +was persona non grata to the President. When Governor Cox's friends got me +on the long-distance telephone and asked me if there was any foundation +for such a story and after Governor Cox himself had talked with me over +the 'phone from Columbus, I addressed the following note to the President: + + + 4 July, 1920. + + DEAR GOVERNOR: + + Simply for your information: + + Governor Cox just telephoned me from Columbus. He felt greatly + aggrieved at the statement which it is claimed Glass gave out last + night, and which he says prevented his nomination. He says that Glass + made the statement that the President had said that "Governor Cox + would not be acceptable to the Administration." + + He says he has been a loyal supporter of the Administration and has + asked no favours of it. He also says that Mr. Bryan has been attacking + him in the most relentless way and that Mr. Bryan's antagonism toward + him became particularly aggravated since the Jackson Day dinner, when + the Governor went out of his way to disagree with Mr. Bryan in the + matter of the Lodge reservations. + + He thinks, whether he himself is nominated or not, this action of + Glass's has hurt the Democratic chances in Ohio. He says he does not + ask for any statement from the Administration, but he would leave it + to the President's sense of justice whether or not he has been treated + in fairness. + + Sincerely, + TUMULTY. + +The President read my note and immediately authorized me to issue the +following statement: + + The White House, Washington, + 4 July, 1920. + + When a report was brought to Secretary Tumulty's attention of rumours + being circulated in San Francisco that the President had expressed an + opinion with reference to a particular candidate, he made the + following statement: + + "This is news to me. I had discussed all phases of this convention + with the President and had been in intimate touch with him during its + continuance, and I am positive that he has not expressed an opinion to + any one with reference to a particular candidate for the Presidency. + It has always been his policy to refrain from taking any stand that + might be construed as dictation." + +The proceedings of the Convention finally resulted in the nomination of +Governor Cox. The President expressed his great pleasure at the nomination +for Governor Cox had long been a devoted friend and admirer of his, and he +was certain that he would not desert him on the issue so close to his +heart--the League of Nations. + +When Governor Cox visited the White House and conferred with the +President, the Governor assured the President that he intended to stand by +him. The President showed deep emotion and expressed his appreciation to +Governor Cox. Governor Cox afterward told me that no experience of his +life had ever touched him so deeply as that through which he had just +passed at the White House. He spoke of the modesty of the President, his +simplicity and the great spiritual purpose that lay back of his advocacy +of the League of Nations. Turning to me, he said, "No man could talk to +President Wilson about the League of Nations and not become a crusader in +its behalf." Governor Cox may have entered the White House that day as a +politician. He left it as a crusader, ready to fight for the cause. + +As the campaign progressed we attempted to induce the President to issue +weekly statements from the White House, but after long consideration he +concluded that in view of the Republican strategy of trying to make him +personally, instead of Governor Cox and the League of Nations, the issue, +it would be better tactics for him to remain silent. He broke his silence +only once, a week before the election, in a message to the people +insisting upon the League of Nations as the paramount issue of the +campaign. + +It was really touching when one conferred with him to find him so hopeful +of the result. Time and time again he would turn to me and say, "I do not +care what Republican propaganda may seek to do. I am sure that the hearts +of the people are right on this great issue and that we can confidently +look forward to triumph." + +I did not share his enthusiasm, and yet I did not feel like sending +reports to him that were in the least touched with pessimism because of +the effect they might have upon his feelings. + +Then came the news of Governor Cox's defeat and with it the news of the +defeat of the solemn referendum on the League of Nations. + +The loneliest place in the country on election night is the White House +Office, especially when the tide of opinion throughout the country is +running strongly against you. I have noticed the difference in the +atmosphere of the place and in the crowds that come to congratulate and to +rejoice when you are winning and the few loyal ones that remain with you +throughout the night of defeat. It takes a stout heart to withstand the +atmosphere of the White House on election night. + +The first reports from the country were overwhelming, and there was no +spot in the country where we could look for hope and consolation. In the +early hours of the evening I sent whatever few optimistic reports I could +get to the President, so that at least he would not feel the full weight +of the blow on election night. His intimate friends had told me that they +feared the effect of defeat upon his health; but these fears were +groundless and never disturbed me in the least, for I had been with him in +many a fight and I was sure that while he would feel the defeat deeply and +that it would go to his heart, its effect would only be temporary. + +My feeling in this regard was justified for in my talk with him the day +after the election no bitterness was evident. He said, "They have +disgraced us in the eyes of the world. The people of America have +repudiated a fruitful leadership for a barren independence. Of course, I +am disappointed by the results of the election for I felt sure that a +great programme that sought to bring peace to the world would arouse +American idealism, and that the Nation's support would be given to it. It +is a difficult thing, however, to lead a nation so variously constituted +as ours quickly to accept a programme such as the League of Nations. The +enemies of this enterprise cleverly aroused every racial passion and +prejudice, and by poisonous propaganda made it appear that the League of +Nations was a great Juggernaut which was intended to crush and destroy +instead of saving and bringing peace to the world. The people will have to +learn now by bitter experience just what they have lost. There will, of +course, be a depression in business for the isolation which America covets +will mean a loss of prestige which always in the end means a loss of +business. The people will soon witness the tragedy of disappointment and +then they will turn upon those who made that disappointment possible." + +[Illustration: + + THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON. + + 20 October 1920. + + My Dear Governor: + + Of course nothing will be done in the Root matter, according to your + suggestion to me of this morning; but I feel it my duty to advise you + that nearly all the reports from the men whose judgment and opinion + are usually good are to the effect that unless you will intervene and + take a more active interest in the campaign, the Administration will + be repudiated at the election. + + There is a slight drift towards Cox, but unless you take advantage of + it and speed it up, there is very little hope. + + The President. + + * * * * * + + The White House, + Washington + + (Manuscript: Of course I will help. I was under the impression that I + was helping. But I will do it at my own time and in my own way. + W. W.) + +Further light on the Cox campaign.] + +When I intimated to him that the Cox defeat might in the long run prove a +blessing, he rebuked me at once by saying: "I am not thinking of the +partisan side of this thing. It is the country and its future that I am +thinking about. We had a chance to gain the leadership of the world. We +have lost it, and soon we will be witnessing the tragedy of it all." + +After this statement to me with reference to the result of the election, +he read to me a letter from his old friend, John Sharp Williams, United +States senator from Mississippi, a letter which did much to bolster and +hearten him on this, one of the most trying days of his life in the White +House. The letter follows: + + DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: + + God didn't create the world in one act. I never expected that we would + win in the United States the first battle in the campaign for a league + of nations to keep the peace of the world. Our people were too "set" + by our past history and by the _apparent_ voice of the Fathers in an + opposite course, a course of isolation. This course was hitherto the + best for accomplishing the very purpose we must now accomplish by a + seemingly contrary course. We must now begin the war in earnest. We + will win it. Never fear, the stars in their courses are fighting with + us. The League is on its feet, learning to walk, Senate coteries + willy-nilly. + + As for the vials of envy and hatred which have been emptied on your + head by all the un-American things, aided by demagogues who wanted + their votes and got them, abetted by yellow journals, etc., these + lines of Byron can console you: + + "There were two cats in Kilkenny + They fit and fit until of cats there weren't any." + + This is almost a prophecy of what will happen now between Borah, + Johnson & Co. and Root, Taft & Co., with poor Lodge mewing "peace" + when there is no peace--except a larger peace outside their horizon. + They have been kept united by hatred of you, by certain foreign + encouragements, and by fear of the Democratic party. With the + necessity to act, to do something, the smouldering fire of differences + will break forth into flame. Conserve your health. Cultivate a cynical + patience. _Give them all the rope you can._ Now and then when they + make too big fools of themselves, throw in a keynote veto--not often-- + never when you can give them the benefit of the doubt and with it + responsibility. They have neither the coherence nor the brains to + handle the situation. Events will work their further confusion, events + in Europe. God still reigns. The people can learn, though not quickly. + + With regards, + (Signed) JOHN SHARP WILLIAMS. + +One would think that after the election the President would show a +slackening of interest in the affairs of the nation; that having been +repudiated by a solemn referendum, he would grow indifferent and listless +to the administrative affairs that came to his desk. On the contrary, so +far as his interest in affairs was concerned, one coming in contact with +him from day to day after the election until the very night of March 3rd +would get the impression that nothing unusual had happened and that his +term of office was to run on indefinitely. + +One of the things to which he paid particular attention at this time was +the matter of the pardon of Eugene V. Debs. The day that the +recommendation for pardon arrived at the White House, he looked it over +and examined it carefully, and said: "I will never consent to the pardon +of this man. I know that in certain quarters of the country there is a +popular demand for the pardon of Debs, but it shall never be accomplished +with my consent. Were I to consent to it, I should never be able to look +into the faces of the mothers of this country who sent their boys to the +other side. While the flower of American youth was pouring out its blood +to vindicate the cause of civilization, this man, Debs, stood behind the +lines, sniping, attacking, and denouncing them. Before the war he had a +perfect right to exercise his freedom of speech and to express his own +opinion, but once the Congress of the United States declared war, silence +on his part would have been the proper course to pursue. I know there will +be a great deal of denunciation of me for refusing this pardon. They will +say I am cold-blooded and indifferent, but it will make no impression on +me. This man was a traitor to his country and he will never be pardoned +during my administration." + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +THE LAST DAY + + +I was greatly concerned lest the President should be unable by reason of +his physical condition to stand the strain of Inauguration Day. Indeed, +members of his Cabinet and intimate friends like Grayson and myself had +tried to persuade him not to take part, but he could not by any argument +be drawn away from what he believed to be his duty--to join in the +inauguration of his successor, President-elect Harding. The thought that +the people of the country might misconstrue his attitude if he should +remain away and his firm resolve to show every courtesy to his successor +in office were the only considerations that led him to play his part to +the end. When I arrived at the White House early on the morning of the 4th +of March, the day of the inauguration, I found him in his study, smiling +and gracious as ever. He acted like a boy who was soon to be out of school +and free of the burdens that had for eight years weighed him down to the +breaking point. He expressed to me the feeling of relief that he was +experiencing now that his term of office was really at an end. I recalled +to him the little talk we had had on the same day, four years before, upon +the conclusion of the ceremonies incident to his own inauguration in 1917. +At the time we were seated in the Executive office. Turning away from his +desk and gazing out of the window which overlooked the beautiful White +House lawn and gardens, he said: "Well, how I wish this were March 4, +1921. What a relief it will be to do what I please and to say what I +please; but more than that, to write my own impressions of the things that +have been going on under my own eyes. I have felt constantly a personal +detachment from the Presidency. The one thing I resent when I am not +performing the duties of the office is being reminded that I am President +of the United States. I feel toward this office as a man feels toward a +great function which in his working hours he is obliged to perform but +which, out of working hours, he is glad to get away from and resume the +quiet course of his own thought. I tell you, my friend, it will be great +to be free again." + +On this morning, March 4, 1921, he acted like a man who was happy now that +his dearest wish was to be realized. As I looked at Woodrow Wilson, seated +in his study that morning, in his cutaway coat, awaiting word of the +arrival of President-elect Harding at the White House, to me he was every +inch the President, quiet, dignified; ready to meet the duties of the +trying day upon which he was now to enter, in his countenance a calm +nobility. It was hard for me to realize as I beheld him, seated behind his +desk in his study, that here was the head of the greatest nation in the +world who in a few hours was to step back into the uneventful life of a +private citizen. + +A few minutes and he was notified that the President-elect was in the Blue +Room awaiting his arrival. Alone, unaided, grasping his old blackthorn +stick, the faithful companion of many months, his "third leg," as he +playfully called it, slowly he made his way to the elevator and in a few +seconds he was standing in the Blue Room meeting the President-elect and +greeting him in the most gracious way. No evidence of the trial of pain he +was undergoing in striving to play a modest part in the ceremonies was +apparent either in his bearing or attitude, as he greeted the President- +elect and the members of the Congressional Inaugural Committee. He was an +ill man but a sportsman, determined to see the thing through to the end. +President-elect Harding met him in the most kindly fashion, showing him +the keenest consideration and courtesy. + +And now the final trip to the Capitol from the White House. The ride to +the Capitol was uneventful. From the physical appearance of the two men +seated beside each other in the automobile, it was plain to the casual +observer who was the out-going and who the in-coming President. In the +right sat President Wilson, gray, haggard, broken. He interpreted the +cheering from the crowds that lined the Avenue as belonging to the +President-elect and looked straight ahead. It was Mr. Harding's day, not +his. On the left, Warren Gamaliel Harding, the rising star of the +Republic, healthy, vigorous, great-chested, showing every evidence in his +tanned face of that fine, sturdy health so necessary a possession in order +to grapple with the problems of his country. One, the man on the right, a +battle-scarred veteran, a casualty of the war, now weary and anxious to +lay down the reins of office; the other, agile, vigorous, hopeful, and +full of enthusiasm for the tasks that confronted him. Upon the face of the +one were written in indelible lines the scars and tragedies of war; on +that of the other, the lines of confidence, hope, and readiness for the +fray. + +The Presidential party arrived at the Capitol. Woodrow Wilson took +possession of the President's room. Modestly the President-elect took a +seat in the rear of the room while President Wilson conferred with +senators and representatives who came to talk with him about bills in +which they were interested, bills upon which he must act before the old +clock standing in a corner of the room should strike the hour of twelve, +noon, marking the end of the official relationship of Woodrow Wilson with +the affairs of the Government of the United States. It was about eleven- +thirty. Senators and congressmen of both parties poured into the office to +say good-bye to the man seated at the table, and then made their way over +to congratulate the President-elect. + +It was a few minutes before twelve o'clock. The weary man at the table was +still the President, still the ruler of a great people, the possessor for +a little while longer, just a little while longer, of more power than any +king in Christendom. + +Presently there appeared at the door a gray-haired man of imperious +manner. Addressing the President in a sharp, dry tone of voice, he said: +"Mr. President, we have come as a committee of the Senate to notify you +that the Senate and House are about to adjourn and await your pleasure." +The spokesman for the committee was Henry Cabot Lodge, the distinguished +senator from Massachusetts, the implacable political foe of the man he was +addressing. + +It was an interesting study to watch the face and manner of Woodrow Wilson +as he met the gaze of Senator Lodge who by his attacks had destroyed the +great thing of which the President had dreamed, the thing for which he had +fought and for which he was ready to lay down his life. It appeared for a +second as if Woodrow Wilson was about to give full sway to the passionate +resentment he felt toward the man who, he believed, had unfairly treated +him throughout the famous Treaty fight. But quickly the shadow of +resentment passed. A ghost of a smile flitted across his firm mouth, and +steadying himself in his chair, he said in a low voice: "Senator Lodge, I +have no further communication to make. I thank you. Good morning." + +Senator Lodge and the committee withdrew from the room. I looked at the +clock in the corner. A few minutes more and all the power which the weary +man at the table possessed would fall from his shoulders. All left the +room except the President, Mrs. Wilson, Admiral Grayson, and myself. + +The old clock in the corner of the room began to toll the hour of twelve. +Mechanically I counted, under my breath, the strokes: "One, two, three," +on through "twelve," and the silent room echoed with the low vibration of +the last stroke. + +Woodrow Wilson was no longer President. By the votes of the American +people he had been returned to the ranks of his fellow countrymen. A great +warrior had passed from the field, a leading actor had made his exit. The +dearest wish of his political enemies had at last been realized. The +prayers of his devoted friends that he would live to see the eight years +of his administration through, had been answered. His own bearing and +attitude did not indicate that anything unusual had happened. + +Quickly Woodrow Wilson, now the private citizen, turned to make his way to +the elevator, leaning on his cane, the ferrule striking sharply on the +stone pavement as he walked; but his spirit was indomitable. A few minutes +before all interest had been centred upon him. Now but a few loyal friends +remained behind. Interest was transferred to the scene being enacted a few +feet away in the Senate Chamber, the induction into office of Vice- +President Coolidge. By the time we reached the elevator, the brief +ceremony in the Senate Chamber had ended, and the multitude outside were +cheering Mr. Harding as he appeared at the east front of the Capitol to +deliver his inaugural address. We heard the United States Marine Band +playing "Hail to the Chief." For a few seconds I looked toward the +reviewing stand. The new President, Warren G. Harding, was taking his +place on the stand amid the din and roar of applause. He was the focus of +all eyes, the pivot around which all interest turned. Not one of the +thousands turned to look at the lonely figure laboriously climbing into +the automobile. The words of Ibsen flashed into my mind: + + The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone. + + +THE END + + + + +APPENDIX "A" + + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 10 December, 1918. + + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris, France. + +Stories that you have agreed to sinking of German ships have caused great +deal of unfavourable comment here. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 16 December, 1918. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + C/O American Embassy, Paris, France. + +Most popular note in this country in your speech are the words _Quote_ We +must rebuke acts of terror and spoliation and make men everywhere aware +that they cannot be ventured upon without certainty of just punishment +_End Quote._ + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 21 December, 1918. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +If it is America's intention to back up the Allies in sinking German +ships, the idea is so vague in this country that there ought to be a great +deal of elucidation if the President intends to take this stand. Hope the +President will be more definite than he has been in speeches in reference +to League of Nations and freedom of the seas. His enemies here and abroad +hope that he will particularize so that they can attack him. People of the +world are with him on general principles. They care little for details. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + + _Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 22 December, 1918. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + American Embassy, Paris. + +Springfield _Republican _editorially gives expression to fear that +President may be made captive by Allied Imperialism and says _Quote_ The +conditions and atmosphere which now envelop him may be calculated to fill +his mind with doubts as to the wisdom of his previous views and to expose +him to the peril of vacillation, compromise, and virtual surrender of +vital principles _End Quote_. Country deeply pleased by impression Mrs. +Wilson has made abroad. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 24 December, 1918 + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Care Of American Embassy, Paris, France. + +Stories appearing here stating in effect that you intend to appeal to +people of Europe bound to do great deal of harm. My affectionate Christmas +Greetings to Mrs. Wilson and you. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 31 December, 1918. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris, France. + +Clemenceau's speech, wherein he advocated a world settlement based upon +the old balance of power ideas, demonstrates necessity for and wisdom of +your trip, and has set stage for final issue between balance of power and +League of Nations. If America fails now, socialism rules the world and if +international fair-play under democracy cannot curb nationalistic +ambitions, there is nothing left but socialism upon which Russia and +Germany have already embarked. You can do nothing more serviceable than +without seeming to disagree with Clemenceau, drive home in your speeches +differences between two ideals, one, the balance of power means +continuance of war; other, concert of nations means universal peace. One +has meant great standing armies with larger armaments and burdensome +taxation, consequent unrest and bolshevism. If the statesmanship at +Versailles cannot settle these things in the spirit of justice, bolshevism +will settle them in a spirit of injustice. The world is ready for the +issue. Clemenceau has given you great chance; this country and whole world +will sustain you. Country ready to back you up when you ask for its +support. Everything fine here. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 6 January, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +Hope you will consider the suggestion for your return trip. Your personal +contact with peoples of Europe has done much to help your programme. Our +people will be with your programme, but it (the programme) must be +personally conducted. If you return here without reception or ovation, +public opinion on other side liable to misunderstand. The time of your +return (in my opinion) is the hour for you to strike in favour of League +of Nations. Lodge and leading Republicans constantly attacking, excepting +Taft, who is daily warning them of political dangers of their opposition +to your programme. Could you not consider stopping upon your return at +Port of Boston instead of New York. The announcement of your stopping at +Boston would make ovation inevitable throughout New England and would +centre attack on Lodge. You have not been to New England in six years. It +would be a gracious act and would help much. It would strengthen League of +Nations movement in House and Senate and encourage our friends in Senate +and House and throughout country. Our people just as emotional as people +of Europe. If you return without reception, Lodge and others will construe +it as weakness. If the people of our country could have seen you as people +of Europe, our situation would be much improved, especially result of last +November would have been different. My suggestion would be speech at +Faneuil Hall, Boston; speech in Providence, New Haven, New York and +reception upon return to Washington, to be participated in by returning +soldiers. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 6 January, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +The attitude of the whole country toward trip has changed. Feeling +universal that you have carried yourself magnificently through critical +situations, with prestige and influence greatly enhanced here and abroad. +The criticisms of the cloak-room statesmen have lost their force. I +realize difficulties still to be met, but have no doubt of result. Trip +admitted here by everybody to be wonderful success. Last week with perils +of visit to Vatican most critical. The whole psychology favours the +success of your trip. The peoples of Europe and the United States with you +for League of Nations and against settlements based upon balance of power. +Opinion here is that cards are stacked against you. My own opinion your +influence so great in Europe that European leaders cannot stand in your +way. Now is the critical moment and there must be no wasting away of your +influence in unnecessary delay of conference. Hearts of the peoples of the +world for League of Nations and they are indifferent to its actual terms. +They are against militarism and for any reasonable plan to effectuate +peace. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 13 January 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT, + Paris. + +In past two weeks the trend of newspaper dispatches from Paris has +indicated a misunderstanding of your general attitude towards problems +pending at peace conference. One newspaper cablegram says today that +France, Italy and Great Britain have agreed to subordinate your league of +nations programme to the need for counteracting bolshevism and collecting +damages from Germany. Another a few days ago reported that Clemenceau had +made headway with his insistence upon maintenance of balance of power. +Still another outlined victory of Great Britain in her opposition to +freedom of seas, stating that you had abandoned your position in response +to arguments of France, supporting Great Britain. Similar stories would +give impression that you were yielding, although we are aware that some of +the suggestions for compromise are probably your own. Situation could +easily be remedied if you would occasionally call in the three press +association correspondents who crossed on _George Washington_ with you, +merely giving them an understanding of the developments as they occur and +asking them not to use information as coming from you, but merely for +their own guidance. It would show wisdom of various compromises as well as +circumstances of such compromises. Proposal of Lloyd George that the +Russian Bolshevik be invited to send peace delegates to Paris produced +very unfavourable impression everywhere. It is denounced here as amazing. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 16 January 1919. + +REAR ADMIRAL CARY T. GRAYSON, + Care of President Wilson, Paris. + +American newspapers filled with stories this morning of critical character +about rule of secrecy adopted for Peace Conference, claiming that the +first of the fourteen points has been violated. In my opinion, if +President has consented to this, it will be fatal. The matter is so +important to the people of the world that he could have afforded to go any +length even to leaving the conference than to submit to this ruling. His +attitude in this matter will lose a great deal of the confidence and +support of the people of the world which he has had up to this time. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + January 16, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +Your cable about misunderstandings concerning my attitude toward problems +created by the newspaper cablegrams concerns a matter which I admit I do +not know how to handle. Every one of the things you mention is a fable. I +have not only yielded nothing but have been asked to yield nothing. These +manoeuvres which the cablegram speaks of are purely imaginary. I cannot +check them from this end because the men who sent them insist on having +something to talk about whether they know what the facts are or not. I +will do my best with the three press associations. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + January 17, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +Distressed to hear of your illness. Beg that you will make it your chief +duty to take care of yourself and get well. All unite in most affectionate +messages. Everything going well here. Very few of the troubles spoken of +by the newspapers are visible to me on the spot. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + January 21, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +The issue of publicity is being obscured by the newspaper men and we have +won for the press all that is possible or wise to win, namely, complete +publicity for real conferences. Publicity for the conversations I am +holding with the small group of the great powers will invariably break up +the whole thing, whereas the prospects for agreement are now, I should +say, very good indeed. Delighted that you are up and beg that you will not +expose yourself or exert yourself too soon. Affectionate messages from us +all. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 29 January, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +Notice in morning papers discussion with reference to disposition of +German colonies. Call your attention to speech of British Premier +delivered in January as follows: _Quote_ with regard to German colonies, I +have repeatedly declared that they are held at the disposal of a +conference whose decision must have primary regard to the wishes of the +native inhabitants. The general principle of national self-determination +therefore is applicable in their cases as in those of the occupied +European territories _End quote_. I believe that Balfour made a similar +statement. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris_. + +Received at White House, Washington, + March 15, 1919. + +President's Residence, Paris +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +The Plenary Council has positively decided that the League of Nations is +to be part of the Peace Treaty. There is absolutely no truth in report to +the contrary. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 16 March 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +Believe your most critical time in setting forward America's position at +conference has come. Opposition to League growing more intense from day to +day. Its bitterness and pettiness producing reaction. New polls throughout +country indicate strong drift toward league. League of Nations and just +peace inseparable. Neither half can stand alone. Know you will not be +drawn away from announced programme to incorporate League covenant in +treaty. You can afford to go any length in insisting upon this. There is +no doubt of your success here and abroad. The real friends of a +constructive peace have not begun to fight. Everything fine here. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 25 March, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +There is great danger to you in the present situation. I can see signs +that our enemies here and abroad would try to make it appear that you are +responsible for delay in peace settlement and that delay has increased +momentum of bolshevism and anarchy in Hungary and Balkans. Can +responsibility for delay be fixed by you in some way? + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cable From the Associated Press at Paris._ + +Paris, March 27, 1919. + +President Wilson to-day issued the following statement: + +_Quote_ in view of the very surprising impression which seems to exist in +some quarters, that it is the discussions of the commission on the league +of nations that are delaying the final formulation of peace, I am very +glad to take the opportunity of reporting that the conclusions of this +commission were the first to be laid before the plenary conference. + +They were reported on February 14, and the world has had a full month in +which to discuss every feature of the draft covenant then submitted. + +During the last few days the commission has been engaged in an effort to +take advantage of the criticisms which the publication of the covenant has +fortunately drawn out. A committee of the commission has also had the +advantage of a conference with representatives of the neutral states, who +are evidencing a very deep interest and a practically unanimous desire to +align themselves with the league. + +The revised covenant is now practically finished. It is in the hands of a +committee for the final process of drafting, and will almost immediately +be presented a second time to the public. + +The conferences of the commission have invariably been held at times when +they could not interfere with the consultation of those who have +undertaken to formulate the general conclusions of the conference with +regard to the many other complicated problems of peace, so that the +members of the commissions congratulate themselves on the fact that no +part of their conferences has ever interposed any form of delay _End +quote_. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 25 March, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +St. Louis _Republic_ of Saturday reporting speech of Senator Reed +referring to provision naming members of League says: _Quote_ he told of +what he called a secret protocol and intimated that Germany is included in +this secret protocol _End quote_. Advise whether or not there is any +secret protocol such as Senator claims or of any character, attached to +League Covenant. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris_. + +Received at White House, Washington, + March 27, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +Statement that there is any sort of secret protocol connected with or +suggested in connection with the League of Nations is absolutely false. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + March 28, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +Stories here this morning that amendment for Monroe Doctrine and racial +discrimination to be excluded from covenant causing a great deal of +uneasiness. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + March 30, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +In an editorial entitled _Treat or Fight_, Springfield _Republican_ says: +_Quote_ It is plain that the Allies dare not commit themselves to an +avowed war on the soviets and that it is not possible for the Allies with +the world in its present temper to take the position that the existence of +the soviet form of government in any country constitutes a casus belli; +that the world would recoil from the proposal to begin a new series of war +with so dubious an object; that Russia should be left to manage her own +affairs _End Quote_. Editorial disagreed with policy of French Government +towards Russia and soviets. Calls attention to disastrous results of +foreign intervention during French Revolution, Editorial further says: +_Quote_ Impossible to fight revolution in one place and be at peace +elsewhere. If Allies mean to fight Hungary because it has set up a soviet +form of government and allied itself to Russia they will have to fight +Russia. If they fight Russia they will have to fight the Ukraine. Such a +war would mean the end of the League of Nations. It is plain that the +Allies dare not commit themselves to an avowed war on the Soviets _End +Quote_. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + March 30, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +Dispatches from Simonds and others prove stories of weeks ago were most +optimistic now touched with deep pessimism. Simonds in article on Saturday +says: Quote No common objective in council; no dominating influence; +drifting, etc. End Quote. I fear your real position in council not +understood here and that lack of publicity strengthening many false +impressions. The responsibility attaching to those associated with you, +including France and England, when they accepted Fourteen Points evidently +lost sight of by them. Do not know what your real situation is, but it +appears to me that Germany is not prepared to accept the kind of peace +which is about to be offered, or if she does accept, with its burdensome +conditions, it means the spread of bolshevism throughout Germany and +central Europe. It seems to me that you ought in some way to reassert your +leadership publicly. I know the danger, but you cannot escape +responsibility unless you do so. Now is the moment in my opinion to strike +for a settlement permanent and lasting. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 2 April, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +The proposed recognition of Lenine has caused consternation here. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + April 4, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +Am still confident that President will win. Encountering difficulties; +situation serious. President is the hope of the world more than ever, and +with his courage, wisdom, and force he will lead the way. Have you any +suggestions as to publicity or otherwise? + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + April 4, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +The President took very severe cold last night; confined to bed. Do not +worry; will keep you advised. + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + April 5, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +We are naturally disappointed at progress being made but not discouraged. +Hopeful everything will turn out all right. Will advise you if anything +definite develops. The President is better this morning but confined to +bed. No cause for worry. + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + April 5, 1919. + +GRAYSON, + % President Wilson, Paris. + +In my opinion the President must in some dramatic way clear the air of +doubts and misunderstandings and despair which now pervade the whole world +situation. He must take hold of the situation with both hands and shake it +out of its present indecision, or political sabotage and scheming will +triumph. Only a bold stroke by the President will save Europe and perhaps +the world. That stroke must be made regardless of the cries and +admonitions of his friendly advisers. He has tried to settle the issue in +secret; only publicity of a dramatic kind now can save the situation. This +occasion calls for that audacity which has helped him win in every fight. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + April 6, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + Washington. + +The President says the situation here is extremely complex and intricate, +but seems to be improving and he expects to have it in hand this week, but +if necessary will act according to your suggestions. The President is +confined to bed but steadily improving. Thanks for your telegram. + +Grayson. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + April 8, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + Washington. + +President attended conference in his study this afternoon. Situation shows +some improvement. President has ordered _George Washington_ to proceed +here immediately. + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + April 9,1919. + +GRAYSON, + Care President Wilson, Paris. + +The ordering of the _George Washington_ to return to France looked upon +here as an act of impatience and petulance on the President's part and not +accepted here in good grace by either friends or foes. It is considered as +an evidence that the President intends to leave the Conference if his +views are not accepted. I think this method of withdrawal most unwise and +fraught with the most dangerous possibilities here and abroad, because it +puts upon the President the responsibility of withdrawing when the +President should by his own act place the responsibility for a break of +the Conference where it properly belongs. The President should not put +himself in the position of being the first to withdraw if his 14 points +are not accepted. Either he should put himself in the position of being +the one who remained at the Conference until the very last, demanding the +acceptance of his 14 principles. Nothing should be said about his leaving +France, but he ought when the time and occasion arrive to re-state his +views in terms of the deepest solemnity and yet without any ultimatum +attached and then await a response from his associates. In other words, +let him by his acts and words place his associates in the position of +those who refuse to continue the Conference because of their unwillingness +to live up to the terms of the Armistice. Then the President can return to +this country and justify his withdrawal. He cannot justify his withdrawal +any other way. Up to this time the world has been living on stories coming +out of Paris that there was to be an agreement on the League of Nations. +Suddenly out of a clear sky comes an order for the _George Washington_ and +unofficial statements of the President's withdrawal. A withdrawal at this +time would be a desertion. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 9 April, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +A great number of your friends here fear that the interposition of United +States in matter of indemnity and reparation which is a paramount question +with European nations and only of indirect interest to us will solidify +the opposition of England, France, Italy, and Belgium to a league of +nations. Our friends believe that any necessary sacrifices to assure a +league of nations should be made. Your supporters would be happy if you +could throw upon the other nations the burden of exacting indemnities and +at the same time win their support to a league of nations. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + 10 April, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + Washington. + +President made good progress to-day by hammering ahead with his own force. +His health is improving; out for a short drive this afternoon; first +outing since last Thursday. + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + April 10, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +Have shown your message to the President. From your side of the water your +points are well taken, but he has formed his ideas through immediate +contact with actual conditions on this side of the world.... More progress +has been made in the last two days than has been made for the last two +weeks. Am spending all the time I can in guiding correspondents and +showing them every attention. I confer with Grasty every day. The +President is working too hard following his recent illness. To know that +things are going on and not properly handled, and yet be responsible for +them, causes him more worry and anxiety and does more harm than actual +participation. This is a matter that worries me. If his health ca hold out +I am still confident he will win handsomely. Am keeping as cheerful a +front as possible over here. + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + April 12, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + Washington. + +So far as it is possible to tell amidst complexity of selfish interests +things seem to be slowly clearing. President sends you his love and says +keep stiff upper lip. + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + April 24, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House. + +Thank you for your cable about Industrial Board. On the whole I think they +have got into a blind alley, but I am glad you are going to obtain Hines' +opinion. _Do not give yourself any concern about secret treaties. You may +be sure I will enter into none._ + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 30 April, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +Beg to call your attention to following editorial from Springfield +_Republican_. _Quote_ The critical period in the peacemaking has been +reached when progress can win over reaction the very least of victories +only by a resolute stand of the most commanding figure in Paris. France +and England cannot desert the President without branding themselves as +hypocrites and ingrates. Worse things could happen than for the President +to come home without a peace treaty, leaving Europe to wallow in the mire +of national rivalries and hates to which reaction would sentence it for +all time. There is no compelling reason why America should sign a treaty +that would merely perpetuate ancient feuds and make new wars a certainty. +Our chief interest in the Conference at Paris, as the President declared +at Manchester, is the peace of the world. Unless that can be made +reasonably sure, with Europe's sincere cooperation, the time is near when +'pack up and come home' will be America's only policy _End Quote_. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 8 May, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +In your cable you spoke of forwarding message to Congress. Have you made +up your mind as to what you will discuss? Would like to suggest certain +things I believe vital. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +Received at White House, Washington, + May 9, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +Happily there is no mystery or privacy about what I have promised the +Government here. I have promised to propose to the Senate a supplement in +which we shall agree, subject to the approval of the Council of the League +of Nations, to come immediately to the assistance of France in case of +unprovoked attack by Germany, thus merely hastening the action to which we +should be bound by the Government of the League of Nations. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 22 May, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +Great demonstration New York last night, addressed by Hughes, to protest +killings in Poland, Galicia, Roumania and elsewhere. Feeling in this +matter growing more intense throughout the country. Cannot something be +done? It is evident that Germany is doing everything to separate the +Allies. A great many newspapers in this country are worried lest you be +carried away by the pleadings of Germany for a _Quote_ softer peace _End +Quote_. I know you will not be led astray. There is an intense feeling in +the Senate in favour of the publication of the terms of the Treaty. Can +anything be done to straighten this out? + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 23 May, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +Mr. Taft in signed article this morning says: _Quote_ Find it hard to +believe that President Wilson sent sympathetic note to women who plead for +Huns _End Quote_. I think this matter of sufficient importance to be +cleared up from this side. There is great deal of unrest here owing to +talk in newspapers of return of German ships to Great Britain. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + May 24,1919. + +TUMULTY, + Washington. + +I think our friends in the Senate ought to be furnished very frankly with +the following reason, which seems to me quite convincing, for not at +present publishing the complete treaty: namely, that if our discussion of +the treaty with the Germans is to be more than a sham and a form it is +necessary to consider at least some of the details of the treaty as +subject to reconsideration and that, therefore, it would be a tactical +blunder to publish the details as first drafted, notwithstanding the fact +that there is no likelihood that they will be departed from in any +substantial way. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + May 25, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +No one need have any concern about the return of the German ships in our +possession. Full understanding has been reached about them. As for Mr. +Taft's criticism, I am quite willing to be responsible for any sympathetic +reply I make to appeals on behalf of starving women and children. Please +give following message to Glass: You may take it for granted that I will +sign the Urgent Deficiency Bill and go forward with the plans you mention +in your cable. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 26 May, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +Every Republican member of new Foreign Relations Committee openly opposed +to treaty, a majority in favour of its amendment. Every Democratic member +of Committee, including Thomas, for treaty and against separation. There +is a decided reaction evident against the League, caused, in my opinion, +by dissatisfaction of Irish, Jews, Poles, Italians, and Germans. +Republicans taking full advantage and liable, in order to garner +disaffected vote, to make absolute issue against League, Reaction +intensified by your absence and lack of publicity from your end and +confusion caused by contradictory statements and explanations of _Quote_ +so-called compromises _End Quote_. Simonds' article appearing in certain +American newspapers Sunday, admirable, explaining reasons for Saar Valley +and French pact and other controversial matters. + +There is a tremendous drive against League, resembling German propaganda, +backed by Irish and Jews. Irish openly opposing; Jews attacking along +collateral lines. Could not Lansing or perhaps White, because he is a +Republican, or yourself inspire publicity or give interview explaining-- +officially or unofficially--the following matters: + + _First_--America's attitude toward publication of terms of Treaty, along + lines of your last cable to me. + + _Second_--That the fourteen points have not been disregarded. + + _Third_--The underlying reason for French pact emphasizing the point as + Simonds' says _Quote_ That French pact is merely an + underwriting of the League of Nations during the period + necessary for that organization not merely to get to work, but + to become established and recognized by all nations + _End quote_. + +I am not at all disturbed by this reaction--it was inevitable. The +consummation of your work in the signing of the Treaty will clear the air +of all these distempers. Your arrival in America, your address to the +Congress and some speeches to the country will make those who oppose the +League to-day feel ashamed of themselves. The New York _World_ had a very +good editorial favouring the mandatory of Turkey. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + June 16, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +If Germans sign the Treaty we hope to get off the first of next week, +about the 24th or 25th. It is my present judgment that it would be a +mistake to take any notice of the Knox amendment. The whole matter will +have to be argued from top to bottom when I get home and everything will +depend upon the reaction of public opinion at that time. I think that our +friends can take care of it in the meantime and believe that one of the +objects of Knox and his associates is to stir me up, which they have not +yet done. I may nevertheless take the opportunity to speak of the League +of Nations in Belgium. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 21 June, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +The fight against the League in Knox resolution faces utter collapse. Root +and Hayes here advising Republican leaders. I learned that Root is +advising Republicans to vote for the League with reservations. He is +advising Republicans to concentrate their forces upon a resolution of +ratification, which would contain specific reservations on the Monroe +Doctrine, immigration, tariff, and other purely American questions. I +believe that this is the course the Republicans will finally adopt. A +confidant of Mr. Taft's yesterday wanted to know from me what your +attitude was in this matter, saying that Mr. Taft might favour this +reservation plan. I told him I had no knowledge on the subject. It is a +thing that you might consider. To me it looks like cowardice. + +The American Federation of Labour adopted a resolution favouring the +League of Nations by a vote of twenty-nine thousand seven hundred fifty +against four hundred twenty. Andrew Furuseth led the fight against it. The +resolution supporting the League contained a reservation in favour of home +rule for Ireland. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, Washington, + June 23, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + Washington. + +My clear conviction is that the adoption of the Treaty by the Senate with +reservations would put the United States as clearly out of the concert of +nations as a rejection. We ought either to go in or stay out. To stay out +would be fatal to the influence and even to the commercial prospects of +the United States, and to go in would give her the leadership of the +world. Reservations would either mean nothing or postpone the conclusion +of peace, so far as America is concerned, until every other principal +nation concerned in the Treaty had found out by negotiation what the +reservations practically meant and whether they could associate themselves +with the United States on the terms of the reservations or not. Moreover, +changes in the Treaty seem to me to belong to the powers of negotiation +which belong to the President and that I would be at liberty to withdraw +the Treaty if I did not approve of the ratifications. I do not think it +would be wise for me to wait here for the appropriation bills. I hope to +sail on the twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth and suggest that you consider +the plan of sending a vessel to meet me. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + + _Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + June 23, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +Your cable concerning reservations in ratification would make fine +statement for the public. The country would stand back of you in this. Can +I use it in this way or can I at least furnish copies to Senator Hitchcock +and Mr. Taft? If you allow me to make public use of it may I change +_Quote_ leadership of the world _End Quote_ to _Quote_ a notable place in +the affairs of the world _End Quote_. This in order to avoid possibility +of hurting feelings of other nations. Now is time to issue statement of +this kind as Lodge has practically withdrawn Knox resolution and opponents +seem to be concentrating on _Quote_ reservations _End Quote_. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +June 25, 1919. + +I am quite willing that you should make public use of my cable to you +about reservations by the Senate in regard to the treaty, with this change +in the sentence to which you call my attention: + +_Quote_ And to go in would give her a leading place in the affairs of the +world, _End Quote_ omitting also the last sentence about changes belonging +to power to negotiate treaties. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +June 25, 1919. + +Secretary Tumulty to-day gave out a message which he had received from the +President, as follows: + +My clear conviction is that the adoption of the Treaty by the Senate with +reservations would put the United States as clearly out of the concert of +nations as a rejection. We ought either to go in or stay out. To stay out +would be fatal to the influence and even to the commercial prospects of +the United States, and to go in would give her a leading place in the +affairs of the world. Reservations would either mean nothing or postpone +the conclusion of peace, so far as America is concerned, until every other +principal nation concerned in the treaty had found out by negotiation what +the reservations practically meant and whether they could associate +themselves with the United States on the terms of the reservations or not. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram from Grasty to New York_ Times + +June 29, 1919. + +Aboard the _Oklahoma_. + +President's sailing from Brest most auspicious. Most beautiful weather and +promise of more of same. President and Mrs. Wilson showed no ill effects +from strenuous activities of past few days and while both formed sincere +attachment for France, they are glad to turn faces homeward. Contrary to +some reports current in America he is in excellent health. While element +of novelty which entered his reception on arrival last December +disappeared, there was deeper feeling manifested toward him last night in +Paris than ever before. Thousands of _Quote_ Vive Wilson _End Quote_ came +from French heart and continuous ovation. Paris showed popular recognition +of leadership of American in securing peace. One very old Frenchman sprang +in front of President's carriage in Champs Élysées and shouted in English: +_Quote_ Mr. Wilson, thank you for peace _End Quote_. That was the keynote +and same sentiment was echoed in thousands of ways. Although owing to +different American viewpoints, Wilson has been frequently antagonistic +during this month, at end relations with other governments' heads most +cordial. Lloyd George came over to Place des États-Unis last night and +told President _Quote_ You've done more to bring English-speaking people +together than ever before done by any man _End Quote_. Clemenceau looked +as if losing his best friend when he said Good Bye in Invalides Station. +Many representatives of smaller nations have expressed to me within past +few days hope that President be able to return to Europe and continue his +work of reconciliation and reconstruction, which they said nobody else in +position to do or able to do so well. + +GRASTY. + + + + +APPENDIX "B" + + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 16 March, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +Former President Taft asks if he may cable to you direct, for your +consideration only, some suggestions about which he has been thinking a +great deal and which he would like to have you consider. He said that +these suggestions do not look to the change of the structure of the +League, the plan of its action or its real character, but simply to +removing objections in minds of conscientious Americans, who are anxious +for a league of nations, whose fears have been roused by suggested +constructions of the League which its language does not justify and whose +fears could be removed without any considerable change of language. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram--Paris._ + +Received at White House, + March 18, 1919. + +In reply to your number sixteen, appreciate Mr. Taft's offer of +suggestions and would welcome them. The sooner they are sent the better. +You need give yourself no concern about my yielding anything with regard +to the embodiment of the proposed convention in the Treaty. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 18 March, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +Following from Wm. H. Taft: + +_Quote_ If you bring back the Treaty with the League of Nations in it, +make more specific reservations of the Monroe Doctrine, fix a term for the +duration of the League and the limit of armament, require expressly +unanimity of action in Executive Council and Body of Delegates, and add to +Article XV a provision that where the Executive Council of the Body of +Delegates finds the difference to grow out of an exclusively domestic +policy, it shall recommend no settlement, the ground will be completely +cut from under the opponents of the League in the Senate. Addition to +Article XV will answer objection as to Japanese immigration as well as +tariffs under Article XXI. Reservation of the Monroe Doctrine might be as +follows: + + Any American state or states may protect the integrity of American + territory and the independence of the government whose territory it + is, whether a member of the League or not, and may, in the interests + of American peace, object to and prevent the further transfer of + American territory or sovereignty to any European or non-American + power. + +Monroe Doctrine reservation alone would probably carry the treaty but +others would make it certain. (signed) Wm. H. Taft _End Quote_. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 21 March, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +The following letter from Hon. Wm. H. Taft. _Quote_ I have thought perhaps +it might help more if I was somewhat more specific than I was in the +memorandum note I sent you yesterday, and I therefore enclose another +memorandum _End Quote_. + + _Duration of the Covenant_ + + Add to the Preamble the following: + + _Quote_ From the obligations of which any member of the League may + withdraw after July 1, 1829, by two years' notice in writing, duly + filed with the Secretary General of the League _End Quote_. + + _Explanation_ + + I have no doubt that the construction put upon the agreement would be + what I understand the President has already said it should be, namely + that any nation may withdraw from it upon reasonable notice, which + perhaps would be a year. I think, however, it might strengthen the + Covenant if there was a fixed duration. It would completely remove the + objection that it is perpetual in its operation. + + _Duration of Armament Limit_ + + Add to the first paragraph of Article VIII, the following: + + _Quote_ At the end of every five years, such limits of armament for + the several governments shall be reëxamined by the Executive Council, + and agreed upon by them as in the first instance _End Quote_. + + _Explanation_ + + The duration of the obligation to limit armament, which now may only + be changed by consent of the Executive Council, has come in for + criticism. I should think this might thus be avoided, without in any + way injuring the Covenant. Perhaps three years is enough, but I should + think five years would be better. + + _Unanimous Action by the Executive Council or Body of Delegates_ + + Insert in Article IV, after the first paragraph, the following: + + _Quote_ Other action taken or recommendations made by the Executive + Council or the Body of Delegates shall be by the unanimous action of + the countries represented by the members or delegates, unless + otherwise specifically stated _End Quote_. + + _Explanation_ + + Great objection is made to the power of the Executive Council by a + majority of the members and the Body of Delegates to do the things + which they are authorized to do in the Covenant. In view of the + specific provision that the Executive Council and the Body of + Delegates may act by a majority of its members as to their procedure, + I feel confident that, except in cases where otherwise provided, both + bodies can only act by unanimous vote of the countries represented. If + that be the right construction, then there can be no objection to have + it specifically stated, and it will remove emphatic objection already + made on this ground. It is a complete safeguard against involving the + United States primarily in small distant wars to which the United + States has no immediate relation, for the reason that the plan for + taking care of such a war, to be recommended or advised by the + Executive Council, must be approved by a representative of the United + States on the Board. + + _Monroe Doctrine_ + + Add to Article X. + + (a) _Quote_ A state or states of America, a member or members of the + League, and competent to fulfil this obligation in respect to American + territory or independence, may, in event of the aggression, actual or + threatened, expressly assume the obligation and relieve the European + or non-American members of the League from it until they shall be + advised by such American state or states of the need for their aid + _End Quote_. + + (b) _Quote_ Any such American state or states may protect the + integrity of any American territory and the sovereignty of the + government whose territory it is, whether a member of the League or + not, and may, in the interest of American peace, object to and prevent + the further transfer of American territory or sovereignty to any + European or non-American power _End Quote_. + + _Explanation_ + + Objection has been made that under Article X, European governments + would come to America with force and be concerned in matters from + which heretofore the United States has excluded them. This is not + true, because Spain fought Chili, in Seward's time, without objection + from the United States, and so Germany and England instituted a + blockade against Venezuela in Roosevelt's time. This fear could be + removed, however, by the first of the above paragraphs. Paragraph (b) + is the Monroe Doctrine pure and simple. I forwarded this in my first + memorandum. It will be observed that Article X only covers the + integrity and independence of members of the League. There may be some + American countries which are not sufficiently responsible to make it + wise to invite them into the League. This second paragraph covers + them. The expression _Quote_ European or non-American _End Quote_ is + inserted for the purpose of indicating that Great Britain, though it + has American dominion, is not to acquire further territory or + sovereignty. + + _Japanese Immigration and Tariffs_ + + Add to Article XV. + + _Quote_ If the difference between the parties shall be found by the + Executive Council or the Body of Delegates to be a question which by + international law is solely within the domestic jurisdiction and + polity of one of the parties, it shall so report and not recommend a + settlement of the dispute _End Quote_. + + _Explanation_ + + Objection is made to Article XV that under its terms the United States + would be found by unanimous recommendation for settlement of a dispute + in respect to any issue foreign or domestic; that it therefore might + be affected seriously, and unjustly, by recommendations forbidding + tariffs on importations. In my judgment, we could only rely on the + public opinion of the world evidenced by the Body of Delegates, not to + interfere with our domestic legislation and action. Nor do I think + that under the League as it is, we covenant to abide by a unanimous + recommendation. But if there is a specific exception made in respect + to matters completely within the domestic jurisdiction and legislation + of a country, the whole criticism is removed. The Republican senators + are trying to stir up anxiety among Republicans lest this is to be a + limitation upon our tariff. The President has already specifically met + the objection as to limitation upon the tariff when the Fourteen + Points were under discussion. Nevertheless in this respect to the + present language of the Covenant, it would help much to meet and + remove objections, and cut the ground under senatorial obstruction. + + _Prospect of Ratification_ + + My impression is that if the one article already sent, on the Monroe + Doctrine, be inserted in the Treaty, sufficient Republicans who signed + the Round Robin would probably retreat from their position and vote + for ratification so that it would carry. If the other suggestions were + adopted, I feel confident that all but a few who oppose any league + would be driven to accept them and to stand for the League. + + (End letter) + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 28 March, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +Following just received from Mr. Taft: _Quote_ Venture to suggest to +President that failure to reserve Monroe Doctrine more specifically in +face of opposition in Conference will give great weight to objection that +League as first reported endangers Doctrine. It will seriously embarrass +advocates of League, it will certainly lead to Senate amendments embodying +Doctrine and other provisions in form less likely to secure subsequent +acquiescence of other nations than proper reservation now. Deems some kind +of Monroe Doctrine amendment now to Article Ten vital to acceptance of +League in this country. I say this with full realization that +complications in Conference are many and not clearly understood here. A +strong and successful stand now will carry the League _End Quote_. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +_Letter from Mr. Taft._ + +New York, N, Y., April 10, 1919. + +MY DEAR MR. TUMULTY: + +We are very much troubled over the report that the Monroe Doctrine +amendment to the Covenant is being opposed by England and Japan. Will you +be good enough to send the enclosed to the President? We had a meeting to- +day of the Executive Council of the League to Enforce Peace. Doctor Lowell +and I, at the instance of the League, will be glad to have this matter +presented directly to the President by cable. + +Sincerely yours, + WM. H. TAFT. + +HON. JOSEPH P. TUMULTY, + Secretary To The President, + The White House, + Washington, D. C. +Enclosure. + + * * * * * + +_Cablegram_ + +The White House, Washington, + 13 April, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +Following is sent at the request of Mr. Taft: _Quote_ Friends of the +Covenant are seriously alarmed over report that no amendment will be made +more specifically safeguarding Monroe Doctrine. At full meeting of +Executive Committee of League to Enforce Peace, with thirty members from +eighteen states present, unanimous opinion that without such amendment, +Republican senators will certainly defeat ratification of Treaty because +public opinion will sustain them. With such amendment, Treaty will be +promptly ratified. + +(Signed) WILLIAM H. TAFT A. LAWRENCE LOWELL _End Quote_ + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +March 27, 1919. + +_Admission--Paris._ + +For Secretary Lansing from Polk. + +Following are proposed amendments to the Constitution of the League of +Nations which have been drafted by Mr. Root: + +_First Amendment_: Strike out Article XIII, and insert the following: The +high contracting powers agree to refer to the existing Permanent Court of +Arbitration at The Hague, or to the Court of Arbitral Justice proposed at +the Second Hague Conference when established, or to some other arbitral +tribunal, all disputes between them (including those affecting honour and +vital interests) which are of a justiciable character, and which the +powers concerned have failed to settle by diplomatic methods. The powers +so referring to arbitration agree to accept and give effect to the award +of the Tribunal. + +Disputes of a justiciable character are defined as disputes as to the +interpretation of a treaty, as to any question of international law, as to +the existence of any fact which if established would constitute a breach +of any international obligation, or as to the nature and extent of the +reparation to be made for any such breach. + +Any question which may arise as to whether a dispute is of a justiciable +character is to be referred for decision to the Court of Arbitral Justice +when constituted, or, until it is constituted, to the existing Permanent +Court of Arbitration at The Hague. + +_Second Amendment_. Add to Article XIV the following paragraphs: + +The Executive Council shall call a general conference of the powers to +meet not less than two years or more than five years after the signing of +this convention for the purpose of reviewing the condition of +international law, and of agreeing upon and stating in authoritative form +the principles and rules thereof. + +Thereafter regular conferences for that purpose shall be called and held +at stated times. + +_Third Amendment_. Immediately before the signature of the American +Delegates, insert the following reservation: + +Inasmuch as in becoming a member of the League the United States of +America is moved by no interest or wish to intrude upon or interfere with +the political policy or internal administration of any foreign state, and +by no existing or anticipated dangers in the affairs of the American +continents, but accedes to the wish of the European states that it shall +join its power to theirs for the preservation of general peace, the +representatives of the United States of America sign this convention with +the understanding that nothing therein contained shall be construed to +imply a relinquishment by the United States of America of its traditional +attitude towards purely American questions, or to require the submission +of its policy regarding such questions (including therein the admission of +immigrants) to the decision or recommendation of other powers. + +_Fourth Amendment_. Add to Article X the following: + +After the expiration of five years from the signing of this convention any +party may terminate its obligation under this article by giving one year's +notice in writing to the Secretary General of the League. + +_Fifth Amendment_. Add to Article IX the following: + +Such commission shall have full power of inspection and verification +personally and by authorized agents as to all armament, equipment, +munitions, and industries referred to in Article VIII. + +_Sixth Amendment_. Add to Article XXIV the following: + +The Executive Council shall call a general conference of members of the +League to meet not less than five nor more than ten years after the +signing of this convention for the revision thereof, and at that time, or +at any time thereafter upon one year's notice, any member may withdraw +from the League. + +POLK, Acting. + + * * * * * + +The first suggestion made by Mr. Root is not only substantially expressed +in Article XIII of the Treaty, but almost literally, in its very text, +appears in this section of the Covenant. + +Mr. Root's proposition that "the high contracting powers agree to refer to +the existing permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague or to the court +of arbitral Justice proposed at the Second Hague, when established, or to +some other arbitral tribunal, all disputes between them," etc. This is +actually done by Article 13, the reference being not to the Hague or to +the proposal of the Second Hague Convention, but to a court of arbitration +"agreed on by the parties to the dispute or stipulated in any convention +existing between them." + +As will readily be seen, Mr. Root's definition of "disputes of justiciable +character" is embodied literally in Article XIII of the Covenant, Mr. +Root's exact language having been appropriated at the Peace Commission. + +Mr. Root's second proposed amendment provided for calling "a general +conference of the powers to meet in not less than two years, or more than +five years, after the signing of this convention for the purpose of +reviewing the condition of international law and of agreeing upon and +stating in authoritative form the principles and rules thereof." + +In Article XIX of the Covenant it is provided that the Assembly meet from +time to time to engage in "the consideration of international conditions +whose continuance might endanger the peace of the world." If it may be +said that this provision of Article XIX does not make it mandatory upon +the council to meet at fixed periods, for the purpose of reviewing +international conditions, on the other hand it may be urged that it +empowers the Assembly to advise such a review at any time, and the Council +to make such review at any time and as often as the necessities might +permit. "The consideration of international conditions" certainly +comprehends a review of international law and a rectification of its +imperfections, so that substantially the whole of this suggestion by Mr. +Root is in the Covenant. + +The third amendment of the Covenant suggested by Mr. Root is exceedingly +interesting in several particulars. Those who would invoke the aid and +sympathy of the Government of the United States in the effort for Irish +freedom will observe that Mr. Root herein precludes the United States from +having any interest in, or wish to intrude upon or interfere with, the +political policy of the internal administration of any foreign state. +Contrast this with Article XI of the Covenant, which President Wilson in a +speech on the Pacific coast said was peculiarly his own and in which it is +declared to be the friendly right of any member of the League to bring to +the attention of the Assembly or of the Council any circumstances whatever +affecting international relations which threaten to disturb the internal +peace or understanding between nations, and if this may be regarded as +outside the question, let it go, and turn to another significant phrase +contained in Mr. Root's suggested amendment. It will be noted that nowhere +in his suggested modifications of the Covenant does Mr. Root suggest any +alteration whatsoever of Article X, as it stands. On the contrary, in Mr. +Root's third suggested amendment he proposed to put the United States +definitely on record as acceding "to the wish of the European states that +this nation shall join its powers to theirs for the preservation of +general peace." + +The final proposition contained in Mr. Root's proposed third amendment is +broadly cared for in Article XXI of the Covenant relating to the Monroe +Doctrine, and by implication in paragraph 8 of Article XV, which prohibits +any recommendation by the Council as to the settlement of the matters +solely within the domestic jurisdiction of any member of the League. + +It may, furthermore, be stated that the President cheerfully agreed to a +reservation presented by Mr. Hitchcock, of the Senate Foreign Relations +Committee, even more specifically withholding all domestic questions from +the jurisdiction of the League. + +Mr. Root's fourth suggested amendment proposed to permit any member of the +League to terminate its obligations, under Article X, by giving one year's +notice of its desire. While no such modification of Article X was made, +the much broader right was given to any nation to renounce all of its +obligations to the League and to terminate its membership of the League +upon two years' notice at any time after joining. + +The fifth suggested amendment by Mr. Root, proposing a modification of +Article IX, by empowering a commission to inspect and verify, either +personally or by authorized agents, all armaments, equipment, munitions, +and industries relating to the manufacture of war material, does not +appear to have been adopted, nor can any one rationally insist that it was +essential to accept this suggestion. Article IX provides for the +appointment of a permanent commission to advise the Council of the +execution of those provisions of the Covenant. relating to armament, +equipment, munitions, etc., in the military and naval branches of +industry. + +A sane interpretation of this article would imply that the commission has +power to inspect and verify facts, because in no other way could it +possibly function. + +Mr. Root's sixth proposed amendment makes it mandatory upon the Executive +Council of the League to call a general conference of members to meet not +less than five years or more than ten years after the signing of the +Covenant for purposes of revision, etc. This modification of the Covenant +was not made, but the fact that it was omitted by no manner of means +precludes the exercise of that particular function by the Council. Without +Mr. Root's amendment it is perfectly competent for the Council to convene +such a meeting of the members of the League at any time. It might do this +in less time than five years, or it might postpone the doing of it for ten +years or a longer period. + + + + +APPENDIX "C" + + +THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + +24 April, 1919. + +PRESIDENT WILSON, + Paris. + +As we see it from this distance, the selfish designs of Japan are as +indefensible as are those of Italy. The two situations appear to parallel +each other in their bearing upon the fate of weak and helpless nations. +Would it not be an opportune time to cast another die, this one in the +direction of Japan, that the whole world may know once and for all where +America stands upon this, the greatest issue of the peace we are trying to +make? Now is the time to use your heavy artillery and emphasize the danger +of secret treaties and selfish designs of certain big nations. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +Received at The White House, Washington, + 11:48 A.M. + +April 26, 1919. + +Paris. +TUMULTY, + White House, + Washington. + +Am very grateful for your message of approval about the Japanese business. +It has warmed my heart mightily. The difficulties here would have been +incredible to me before I got here. Your support kept me in heart. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + +26 April, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +It appears to me from this end that the Japanese demands will soon produce +another crisis. If such a crisis arises, I hope you will in any statement +you make emphasize again America's purpose and her unwillingness to +consent to any imperialistic peace. The whole country will be with you in +this matter as never before. I think that your Italian statement was the +beginning of a real peace and a real league of nations. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +Received at The White House, Washington, + April 29, 1919. + +Paris. +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +Situation still difficult. President putting up great fight against odds. +Japanese claims now under discussion. + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + +Paris. + +Received at The White House, Washington. + April 30, 1919. + +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +Japanese situation hanging by a thread. They are in conference now. These +are terrible days for the President physically and otherwise. + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + +Received at The White House, Washington, + May 1, 1919. + +Paris. +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +The solution of the Kiauchau question is regarded here both generally and +by special friends of China, like Charles R. Crane, as remarkably +favourable and fortunate considering its rotten and complicated past and +the tangle of secret treaties in which she was enmeshed and from which she +had to be extricated. It is regarded as a wonderful victory for the +President. The Japanese themselves admit that they have made far greater +concessions than they had even dreamed would be required of them. The +Chinese agreed that they have great confidence in their interests being +safeguarded in every way and they appreciate that the League of Nations +eventually will look after them. + +GRAYSON. + + * * * * * + +THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + +1 May, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +I have not made use of the Japanese statement but am keeping my ear to the +ground and waiting. My feeling is that an attempt to explain the +compromise when no demand is made, would weaken our position instead of +strengthening it. I will therefore do nothing about the Japanese matter +unless you insist. It would help if I could unofficially say: First, the +date of your probable return to this country; Second, whether tour country +to discuss the League of Nations is possible. The adoption of the labour +programme as part of the peace programme is most important, but not enough +emphasis is being placed upon it. Could you not make a statement of some +kind that we could use here, showing the importance of this programme as +helping toward the stabilization of labour conditions throughout the +world? + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + +2 May, 1919. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, + Paris. + +Sympathetic editorial New York _World_ reference Japanese settlement. I +have not given out statement as yet. It does not look now as if any would +be necessary. + +TUMULTY. + + * * * * * + +Received at The White House, Washington, + 2 May, 1919. + +London. +TUMULTY, + White House, Washington. + +Am perfectly willing to have you use your discretion about the use you +make of what I sent you about the Chinese-Japanese settlement. Sorry I +cannot predict the date of my return though I think it will be by June +first. Am expecting to make a tour of the country but even that is +impossible to predict with certainty. + +WOODROW WILSON. + + * * * * * + +THE WHITE HOUSE, + WASHINGTON + +4 May, 1919. + +GRAYSON, + Care President Wilson, Paris. + +Papers here very critical of Japanese settlement. Chinese statement given +great publicity. + +TUMULTY. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, WOODROW WILSON AS I KNOW HIM *** + +This file should be named 8124-8.txt or 8124-8.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. 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