EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER PHILADELPHIA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1919
STQRY OF A SOUL'S ADVENTURE WITH THE WORDS,
THOUGHTS AND THE DEEDS OF WOODROW WILSON
4
J
DREAMS OF "POLITICAL
TRIP TO THE MOON" AT
PARIS PEACEPARLEY
Thing Called "Bunk" a Big Factor in League of Nations
Conference President "'Takes the Limit
Off the Game of Faith"
"THREE MEN AROUND A TABLE CAUGHT
IN A WHIRL OF MUDDLED THINKING"
"Move to End All Wars Didn't Create Anything" "Thing
Couldn't Be Done; This Wasn't the Millennium."
"Hope of the World in Young Men"
By CLINTON V. GILBERT
Staff Corrfipnndfnt of His Ermine Public Lrilgrr
CcpvrlBht, tlli, bu tilt: I'ulilto Ledaer Company
Mr. Gilbert represented the Eve
ning 1'ublio Ledger at 'nrt! timing
the Peace Conference and rallied daily
reports of the deliberation nf the
representatives of the Allird nafioni.
Be returned to the United States
uith President Wilson, Ki'ncc then he
has been in intimate tourh with the
progress of the struggle in "Washing
ton over ratification of the treaty.
rpHlS article is confessional. I seek tu
" justify tho fnitli flint is in mc re
garding the league of nntions. To do
so may help some others who nre also
troubled with the common doubts. I
accept that league with "reservations"
of mi own. perhaps not merely
"interpretative rcscivutions," but
"amendatory reservations," for I nm
pot sure that, it jou will have the pa
tience to follow me, T shall not he
found to have struck out a figurative
article X and placed mj fnitli not hi
the league itself nt all, but in some
thing thnt will use the league tlic peo-
) pie. Rod. the power not ourselves that
I makes things muddle along which
A Matthew Arnold suw in his clegnnt
classical way.
I begin my confession in Paris, in the
press room nt 4 Place do la Concorde,
where homesick men daily met and re
solved Unit whatever the world might
henceforth be forced to endure it should
never suffer from another Peace Con
ference not even if there hnd to be a
league of nations to m event it! Wil
liam Allen White was there. He was
looking depressed. It takes a great
deal to make William Allen look de
pressed, but It was the month of Mnj.
perhaps, and men had seen the worst.
Their souls had been tried bv six
months of nence conferring. I was
t', feeling depressed nnd doubtless looking
? tft? for 1 lnnk ilenresm-d much more
easily than does AVillium Allen, He
tried to avoid mc. but unsuccessfully;
V am bigger nnd quicker than he.
'William Allen." I said it was not
necessary to enter into explanations. At
pTfu wrtn iihi'firR mnrplv resumed-
"DWflf'lViillnm All-n. .In votl'-" "I still
doL'Vhe replied weakly. "At least,"
ha.arldcd. "I think I do."
"I do not!" 1 retorted, for a mo
ment almost with a note of triumph nt
thinking that I hnd reached a point in
conviction one stage in advance of his.
"I am through!"
He did not reply.
"Wlllinm Allen," I pursued, "be
honest. I shall. I shall set jou an
example. I have fallen for every bit
of bunk there has been in the world
since I was old enough for people (o
think it worth while to offer bunk
to me."
"So have I." he said more cheerfully.
"I can't get on without it. I don't even
pretend to myself that I can swear off
and thnt I only take bunk now nnd
then, for company's sake, nndran stop
whenever I want to. I can't
"I fell," I continued nlentlessl.
"for direct primuries and wrote power
ful articles to prove how much better
Uic world would be when the people
.ruled the elections. William Allen, they
don't rule the elections. The old gang
rules the elections. It is the same old
ithlpg."
"Fell" for Direct Elections
"I know, I know." he said. "It was
disappointing, nut it is not quite ns
tou saV. Now in Kansas "
, "William Allen," I cut him olf. "I
ffell for the direct election of senators,
to Improve the Senate. And now for a
Judgment upon me I have to spend my
Lfe In Washington, much of the time
In the Senate press gallery."
He opened bis mouth as if to say
something.
"There was your man, Thompson, the
pride and joy of the direct elector of
Kansas," I went on severely.
"I know," he said, and like the
.carpenter he shed a bitter tear.
"I fell for Charles Evans Hughes of
hirsute idealism, when he was governor
of New York and I wrote many power
ful articles to prove that he could save
the world."
William Allen stirred as if in de
fens, but I drowned out his words,
"and flnallv." I continued, "I fell for
Woodrow Wilson, and, hardest of all, I
fell for his league of nations. And now
I am through 1 Never again!"
Just at that moment n brilliant Amer
ican journalist entered the room. Wil
liam Allen White's eyes rested upon him
a moment and he turned to mc smll-
.Ing!
"There's Blank. He's never fnllen
for anything in bis whole life. His mind
sever stoops to folly. He sees clean
through every bit of buuk there is.
He's never known the joy- of being
f fooled. Ha can't. No. I am not
In t- T - -.it... 11. .... n.wl I
IDrOUfin Jl III fcVIUS M6iH uu umi
know it. Bunk springs eternal in the
1 human breast. It Is falling for bunk
that keeps me young. I know this
league of nations looks bad from here
nrt rlzht now. But then you can't tell
, what the people may do with It, I can
tee how they may yet fool the fellers
' vho have fooled us with It. And you,
iroii are not through. A man who has
fallen for bunk so long as yon have
can t stop now. its a name, its nis
suture. And I wouldn't change mine,"
in- went An with a dance at the brll-
Z 1anf faurnulUt who r-erer suffered from
illusions, "with the clear-eyed mad who
always knows to a certainty that tho
j future will be no better than the past."
T I hope it Is not an Indiscretion for
me to record this conversation. At any
rate I did not rouse stenograpmc notes
of It and retail It to the Senate foreign
relations committee. And if William
Allen White wants to disavow It his
J word Is as good as mine, and probably
j better.
peeds of Woodrow Wilson
At this rolnt William Allen White
disappears from tho story, to its dis
advantage, and it becomes a plulu con
fasofrm of- faith, n. simple- record of my
6w xierlenfB -with the thing we called
"bBjk' bt which we never even in
i'arii pirir licu'd to be "bunk,"
the story of n soul's ndvcntme with
the words nnd deeds of Woodiow
WIRon. There are ninny souls which
hnve hnd this adventure with these
words and deeds, nnd this plain recital
may nssit some of them; which is the
only good reason there over Is for writ
ing the nutobiogrnphv of nnv fnitli. The
autobiography of this fnitli is the nuto
bioginphy of every other faith ns Wil
liam Allen White nnd I In effect ngreed
during our little tnlk in the pressroom
tit 4 Plnee de In Concorde of the faith
in direct primaries, of the faith in the
direct election of senators, of the faith
In ilemocrncy Itself, perhaps if nny of
us were old enough to remember the
extrnvngant expectations. iustifviug the
right and left killing of disbelievers in
it upon the guillotine, thnt were enter
tained regarding the new freedom,
equality nnd fraternity thnt it was
bringing into the world, nnd it will he
the ntttobiograph of the coming
"democratization of industry," which
Mr. WiNon nnd most of mankind nre
tnlking nbout now.
There is n time when theie is nothing
so wonderful thnt J on won't believe
it of the new hope of the human race.
And there is also the time when you get
.lour William Allen AVhlte up ngiiinst
n wnll, and share confidences, telling
how man times ou hnve fallen for
"bunk" nnd how this Inst "bunk" is
the worst of nil, nnd how jou are
through for good nnd all. And nt
neither time nre you nil where nenrri
the truth than at the other! There
is always the "perhaps," which Mr.
White said so well, that the people will
take the thing Hint has been created In
hand and fool the "fellers" that have
just boon fooling sou. And that "per
haps" was all the hope there ever was
In it really nnvwav. You exaggerated
thnt perhaps Into n tremendous faith.
You forgot Hint It wns nuh a perhnps,
bucked up it mny he by the ver gen
eral conviction thnt su h was the way
the process of time worked out, nnd the
thought thnt you weie the privileged
spectator nt the final miracle when the
promise of the earth, the hope that is
alwiis in men's hearts, was in the full
ness of cars to be realized.
Capacity of Men to Forget
I suppose that the was ot pi ogress
nro ntu-nK creased bl this eapacllj of
nen to forget experience in their -nl
ind believe utterly In something new.
If there were not men who could snj to
ach other what William Allen White
.Hid 1 said to e.ieh other in the press
oom n t I'm is, if the mujoiit of men
,vere like thnt brilliant journalist who
could preserve his skepticism unmoved
through no matter what emotional
crisis, nnd no nintter whnt tremendous
birth of new hopes, the world would nut
Kct anywhere nnd life itself would not
'm much fun. Hut it Is not so. One
of the wise provisions of nature is that
most ot us fall readily for what in our
moments of swearing oil wc call
"bunk," our hearts prepared for It b.
events nnd by n carefull organized
movement led by n persuasive leader.
Without this cupacit of mankind the
Inertia of beliefs nnd social states could
not be overcome. The race would
itntid still. Hut "bunk" takes a lot
out of ou. These gicnt responses of
i whole community, n whole nation, a
whole world, in the recent instance, h
appeals of faith in better things nre ex
hausting. You pass through the huge
crisis that is necessary to overcome the
Inertia of organized thinking, nnd on
look afterward at the small apparent
result of all tin cost in the way of
faith nnd enthusiasm. You are de
pressed. There is u deep reaction
Stirred All Mankind
The most tremendous faith that has
been aroused since the Crusades was
the faith Mr. Wilsou aroused b his
plea in the midst of n war which do
stroved 10.000,000 men that this war
should end all wnr, thnt men should .
orgnnic the whole earth for nil time
against war. He stirred ull mankind
And now thnt we see the thiug, parti
realized, and perceive that we have just
a new institution bearing a striking re
semblance to other institutions of the
past for tho same purpose which failed
nnd went their way, and now that wc
fuce the old, old experience, namely,
that though the institution is new the
men who control It nre the snme old
men the same bosses sit around the
same table in the snme bnck room s
before direct primnries and that these
same old men nre the men who brought
down upon tho world the trouble in the
past, nnd thnt they show surprising
the suine selfishness nud lack of vision
as before, and facing this old, old ex
perience ivd realize that the institution
has no necessary virtue in itself, but
for Its hopeful operation depends on the
men in charge of It. we are depressed.
excessively, unreasonably dojected. The
emotions thnt we nave gone through
have taken too much out of us to fnce
even u partial disillusionment calmly.
We want to confess, and misery loviug
company, we want to take some one
else who is probably in the same stute
ot mind, some William Alien wnite,
apart and say, "Hoy, it is bunk, the
worst bunk ot all but, believe, me, this
is tho last time."
In what I have just been writing I
have spoken of what "jou" thought and
what "you" felt and how "you" re
sponded to the world-wide emotions of
tho crusade for an organization that
would bring about the brotherhood of
man and end all war. nnd I have done
so on Purpose, although, this is the
BlUljr, UUI, UIJIUI, UV u. Uljr .,
my belief and of bow my emotions ear
ned me away in mat woroy tempest.
I have done so because your thoughts
were responsible in a way for my
thoughts, and your emotions con
tributed to my emotions and because
we -were carried away together.
Every great movement strong enough
to overcome the inertia of mental habits
and stir the depths of faith is a con
tagion. The spirit of a mob has been
studied and it is known how each man
in the' mob catches fire from every dthtr
man, When scientists hays sufficiently
explored the psychology of the mob, they
will pass on to that much wider but
kindred field, the psychology ot cru
sades, the ps.vcliology of the rapid
spread of world beliefs, the psychology
of things like tho direct primaries re
form, tho league of nations agitation,
the l.ihor movement, or whatever the
latest thing is, they will find thnt whnt
"jou" think controls whnt "I" think,
thnt my emotions vibrate In response to
n universal vibration of emotions; thnt
I, ordiiinrilv critical and sanclv skenti-
eal, hnve become extravagantly hopeful
because "jou" are extraviigantly hope
ful ; that 1 lose the power to see
clenrlj because "you"' hnve, nil of you,"
lost the power to see clearly. They will
find a mob, a divinely mad mob, swept
nlong by thnt mad thing, unity of pur
pose, units of feeling, and unity of
something which for the moment is mis
taken for thought. It Is n unity not
often achieved, perhaps fortunately for
the human race, for as 1 hnve snid be
fore, it takes much out of" jou. Hut
while it lasts it is n tremendous force,
an irresistible inspiration. And the In
vestigators will ulwnjs find some one
at the head the mob always has n
leader uttering large Inspiring phrnscH
vvhidi he may believe for the moment,
himself catried away by the spirit lie
has conjured up, phrases like "all men
aie bom free nnd equnl" ; "llbertj,
equality nnd fraternity"; not to ven
ture upon more reient shibboleths still
chin ged with deep feeling.
What Happened to .Minor
Hubert Minor, the cartoonist, a radi
cal if theie ever was one, was caught
in the Russian whiilwiuil and sacked
to I'ettogind. lie turned up iu I'm is
during the pence conference, disil
lusioned like many another at that
gathering, only for another cause.
"Why." said he to mc, "it's not so
different in Russia politically from
whnt it is iinjwheie else. You can't
take the words of l.enlne nnd Tiotskj
litcrnllj. A lot of what they say is
bunk. They talk to keep their own fel
lows going!'' lie wns disappointed,
jou see. l'or n radical, stirred to the,
depths, whnt happened in Hussiii
turned out not to be the real thing. And
certainly ninny of the things Charles
r.vnns Hughes said as governoi
of New York about direct piininrlcs
nnd what the would do to th"
bosses turned out to be whnt William
Allen White and I in our depiessioii
nt Paris called "bunk." Words used to
"keep his fellows going," part of the
exaggeration nnd self-deception without
which no movement would ever irullj
get stnrtcd.
Now ul Hie height of the league of
nnlii ns agitation what indeed was it
thnt 1 expected, thnt )ou expected, that
.vour emotioii'il exaltation made an
iiitlele of fnitli with me and my emo
tional exnltntlou made an article of
faith with ou. and the emotional
exultation of both of us innde, I suspect,
nil urticle of Increased faith with Wood
row Wilson? People, radical people,
talk of Woodrow Wilson's betrayal of
them. It Is Just ns fair to talk of their
belrajnl of Woodrow Wilson. Each
misled the other by the mob spirit for
lack of better name that possessed us
all. Whnt wns it wc expected in our
moment of highest cxpectaucj V Well,
It is n little hard to define at this
distnncc of time nnd nt this lowered
mental temperature whnt we did expect,
so thnt we can saj just how far short
we hnve toine of realising our expec
tation Whnt we renlly expected wns a sud
den perfection of mankind, achieved in
ii result of the war and through the
medium of fine phrases, which for ever
save the world. Hut we did not believe
our expectations in that way at thut
time. If we had we would have re-
lueed them to nonsen-e nud let all of
the intense feeling out of the movement.
"(Aiding of All War"
One of the definite tilings wns the
ending of nil wnr and the organization
of the wot Id s ns to make nil war
forever after impossible. Thnt is n
pretty large definite thing. Considir
whnt it means to make people believe
u thing like that. All our beliefs are
in a certain scale We believe now thnt
it will be possible to tly nround the
earth because men have nlrcadv flown
across the Atlantic ocean. We used
nnlv a short time ngo not to believe it.
We don't believe it possible to 11 to
Mars, for nothing has ever made the
transit from thnt planet to this. If
some one does so it will then become
quite easily possible to believe that
man will H to Jupiter or Saturn or to
the uttermost bounds of space, for that
mutter Since beliefs are relative,
vvlien Mr. Wilson planted In mens
minds the belief that there would he
no more war anil that the world would
bo so organized that men everywhere
would Iho ever after In peace, lie set
up a new standard of credence. He
took the limit off the game of faith.
Helieving thut, sou did not I did not
neasure suggested impossibilities by old
tandards, bj the old foot rule of ex
perience, but by the .vurdstick of faith
ind h.v the standard of a world in which
ull men were brothers nud war wns
in outworn game of perished d.v nasties.
Here are some of the suggested
tliiugs: That there would exist that
this orgunizntiou of Mr. Wilsou's
would bu a sort of United Mates ot
the world. This belief involved the
fallacy of tho international superstate
with all the responsibilities of reconcil
ing races and religions, of obtaining'
nationality of adopting fair bases ot
representation, and n dozen others.
Hut it was au extremely vital fallacy. It
was not meiely a popular fallacy. It
wns not merely my fallacy and your
fnllacy. The French, tiiat cleverest
thinking, of all races, persisted in it
right up till the time the League of
Nntions was adopted without a super
state, and they may attach a icserva
t Ion in fuvor of one to their aiceptnnce
of the German treaty. Once jour scale
of beliefs has been radically changed
by the unquestioning acceptance of the
Idea thut all war was at end nnd men
organized in perfect International har
mony, you wcro not I was not at nny
rate crlUcul of tho idea of a super
state. Mn in further excusing some
of these beliefs later in this article I
shall show how the idea of u super
state was built up, "authoritatively."
Perfect State of Future .
Here was another suggested thing:
That in this democracy of all nations,
the United States of the world, thcro
would bu n lessened International eco
nomic competition. Naturally the larger
organization would follow the lines of
the smaller, and one could not thluk of
turlff walls between New York and
Pennsylvania. This was Inference from
point three of the fourteen points, and
one easily made by n mind whose stand
ard of credence had been upset by the
- I(I'hou? "".tfES
insertion into it ot tire giant concrp-
l,f. .,..,.,l l .r. !,.,,
Nor was I aloue in this Inference. The
Republicans us a party thought that
point turee meant mat tncre snouia ne
no more tariffs and they made it a cam
paign issue in the last congressional
election.
Senator Mnrtiu, tho President's lead
er ou the Senate floor, did not know
whether in this perfect state of the fu
ture there would bo tariffs or not. No
more did Senator Hitchcock, an ex
ceedingly able Democrat, who has since
succeeded to the leadership of bis party
in tne upper couse.
But they did vnow
REASONABLE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
"I don't think Mr. Wilson so much got us luto n world combination as
lie got tho world combination into which we almost inevitably were forced to
enter made fnlrly respectable one presenting reasonable hopes for tho future,
one thnt substituted for the pure rule of might n sort of rudimentary Inter
national justice, not the perfect tiling, the 'impartial justice' he talked about,
but still sonic more justice Uian would otherwise hnve been there."
that some oulte hmnnn Aincrirnnn with
certnln business interests thnt might be
indecently exnosed to fnreien rntnncti-
tlon weie not taking a peifcct view of
tne simntion nnd did want tnriirs. These
lenctlonnrie.s were nil going to vote the
Republican ticket. So Mr. Martin nnd
Mr. Hltdicock both wrote to the Presi
dent quite modestly nnd nsked him what
point three did mean anyhow ; in the
Perfect future would there be nny tar
iffs; a question something like the ques
tion about mnriinges in heaven. The
answer wns thnt there would be; the
(list words which Indicated thnt some
thing of the present was going to cnirj
over intd the perfect time to come.
Now one more suggested or inferred
thing. It will be the Inst, for this is
going to up nn nrticle nnd not n boolf
I refer to the "magnanimous pence"
thnt wc were going to mnke with (ier-
mnny. Of course, In n world out of
which wnr had disappeared and wheic
selfishness hnd been diminished nnd the
brotherhood of ninti hnd been lenlized.
nnturnlly ou hnd to treat the defeated
enemy 1 ke nn erring brother. Probably
he must sit nt the pence table nnd help
write tlu' peace himself I
And bearing on this hope there wns
again the parallel the deadly parallel
of the United Stntes. This coming
International orgnnizntiou. with such
adaptations ns a superheated imnglnn
tlon would see wcro necesary, would
be the United States of the World. Re
member how we set nn example to nil
mankind in letting the South nfter the
Civil Wnr hack into the Union without
punishment of nny Kind! The very
thing! Apparent! the trick nnd I
use the word without nn evil intent
of setting n big movement going is to
implant one new big belief into men's
hearts like the belief in n world so
oignnircd as to make wnr imiwssiblo
nnd thus change the believers' stnndird
(f credence. I'vi n the idea of treating
(iermanv as the South hnd been treated
bv the North did not present difficul
ties to the imagination in those dajs.
We niav have thought that we should
have trouble to get Uurope to go thnt
far on the innil of brotherhood with us.
hut we did not reject the idea, nt least
ns an niin of our President, on the
giourid of its being preposterous. Wnit
hefoie ou exelnim out ngninst this.
It is now several months since our whole
standard of beliefs ranged nlongside the
big belief in the wnrless world. Now I
will give von a light on the origin of
such beliefs or suggestions as. this last,
Piesident Wi'son made n speech in
New Ymk on September 27, 101S, on
the occasion of tho opening of the
fourth Iiibeity loan, in whiih he said
the price of peace "is Impartial justice
in every item of the settlement, no
matter whose interest Is crossed; nnd
not on impartial justice, but also the
satisfaction of the several peoples whose
foi tunes are dealt with. The
impartial justice meted out must in
volve no discrimination between those
to whom wo wish to he just and those
to whom wo do not wish to be just."
Rending Under Illusions
Rend now in the light of whet hap
pened iu Paris those word do not seem
to mean much; no words do. So iitanv
words have been snid and so miiiiv ac
tions done, nnd there Is so much dis
pute nbout irconcillug the two thnt we
hnve grown stale upon phrases. Hut in
September, 101R, ou could not read
them iu the light of Paris; oti rend
tliein rather under the illusions of n
powerful emotion in which nil jour
standards of belief had been upset by
making .Jim believe in something bigger
Hum nn'v tiling ever experienced before,
a sort of political trip to the moon. At
lenst I did, I am not sure that Presi
dent Wilson did not spenk them iu that
spirit of exaltation.
The mob influences Its leader Just as
the leader influences the mob. The
thing Is reciprocal. I had u cm ions ex
perience with respect to those very
words, or apparently to me, with ye
spect to them, which throws n great
light ou tho exalted faithiu the league
of nations with which this countrj , or
part of it, went to Paris, a faith that
wns bound to be defeated because im
possible. I nm the Washington corre
spondent of the Kve.vino Priu.ir
tirjDOKit. Ten days or n fortnight nfter
these words were snid I was talking
with a man who was the President's in
timate associate iu the conduct of the
war. He wns ns likely to know nt that
time what the President was thinking
upon themes like these ns would have
been Secretary McAdoo, Secretary
Haki;r. Mr. Hoover, .Tudgo Biundeis,
Mr. Tumulty, Mr. Vance MeCornilek,
Mr. Rarueh, Secretary Daniels, Mr.
House. General March, Secretary Lan
sing. Mr. George Creel. I mention nt
random the men, big and little, who had
then frequent access to the White
House.
Now. remember tho words. "No
discrimination between those to whom
we wish to be just nnd those to whom
wo do not wish to be just." Those to
whom wc do not wish to be lust were
clearly the Germans. This Intimate as
sociate of the President's said to me
suddenly, npropos of nothing in partic
ular, "Our stundard of treating Ger
many in mnkiug peace with her must
be our treatment of the South nfter the
Civil AVar. Wilson must be free from
any kind of Kuropean entanglements in
order to enforce that standard of jus
tice nnd humanity upon the Allies. We
shall all hnve to live together after the
war iu the way tho North has had to
live with the South since the wnr."
This man wns not a sentimentalist. He
was not pro-German, far from it. There
was no special reason why his mind
should have run upon this particular
problem or running upon It should have
reached thin particular conclusion.
I thought then, remembering the
speech just quoted, that he wns re
flecting the way the mind of the Presi
dent wns operating at the moment. I
am still inclined to think so. I who
was here In Washington took this con
ception of peace making seriously. He
who was much nearer the President
took It mucn raore serio.usly. I cir
culated it. I don't know how the coun
try took it. Perhnps the seriousness
with which It wns taken varied In
versely 'as the square of the distance
from the White House. I think bo. Hut
it is easy to sec from UiIh instance how
un exaggerated idea spread and per
haps to see where -it centered.
Idea ot International Superstate
Take another example : Whore did the
idea of a United States of the World
originate, the idea of an international
superstate? Tho President wuh speak
ing ou Independence Duy nt Washing
ton's tomb. He said: "We take our
cuo 'from Uiem (Washington and his
associates) do wo not? Wo intend what
they intended. We, here In America,
believe our participation In the war to
be only a fruitage of what they planted.
There must now be settled
once for nil what was settled for Amer
ica iu the great age upon whose lu
SplraUou we draw today," I read those
words coldly today ioOHing lor mtie
meaning in them and I find little. Time
has wrought Its changes, Jtut I read
them when uttered looking for, much
meaning lu them under the sway of
the movement nnd I found much mean
ing lu them.
There were many such words in the
mnny speeches implying n united de
mocracy of the world, tho application
abroad of the American parallel. Again
the men close to the President, re
sponsible with him for the conduct of
the wnr nnd for the plnns of the future,
talked strangely In the language of
the great ijossesslon of that time which
now seems so remotn less than two
enrs Inter. More than one man of the
sort mentioned above, nt the elbow of
the President and ccrtninlv in con
tnct with his thought, explained Amer
ica's big navy program, persisted iu
after tho conclusion of the armistice,
on the ground that America, possessing
a great coast line to defend, would he
called upon to make n lurge contri
bution In ships of war to the league
uf nations. And in this case the
strength of the idea did not enrry in
veisel.v ns the squnre of the distnncc
from the Piesident, It was as strong
at Paris ns it wns nt one time In the
President's own circle nt Washington.
The Uicnch understood the league to be
a sunerstute nnd foucht for it.
And two da.v before the President's
ndliesion to the Smuts plan, a leading
American lnwjer at Paris, one of whose
duties wns supposed to be the drafting
of n plan for a lengue of nntions, said
thnt he nnd his legul associates were
doing nothing because they could not
find out whether the President favored
a superstate or not! Now, of course,
American experts at 1'oris were in u
bud way and had difficulty in nsccrtnin
ing what the President wished. It is
not conceivable,, however, that the
President himself did not know whether
he favored u superstate or not nt the
time tliis expert wns unculUhtciicd. Hut
the noinl is that nn nble lavvjer, having
access ccrtninlv to Colonel House anil
Secretnr.v Lunsnig. two dn.vs before
tbe American position was announced,
took the superstate seriousl. When
cabinet members nt Washington just
befoie the Peace Conference nnd legu
experts nt thut confluence were caught
iu this whirl of muddled thinking there
is excuse for me anil for jou if )ou
weie one of the nddle btnincd, too. For
it wns muddled thinking.
One moment's clear thought wouii
hnve shown that n supeistute was im
possible ; that it would have required
constitutional amendments in thb
country thnt would never hnve gom
through; thnt it would have demnnde
surrenders ot sovcreignt) every when
thnt no nation certninl.v iu this ng
would consider lor a moment. Hut tin
point is thnt clear thinking was im
possible. We were caught in a move
nient. We hnd come to believe one
tiling so big thnt nothing seemed im
possible. Resides theie wns the Gicnt
Wnr, tho most tiemendous thing in
history. Kver.vbody expected some
thing tremendous to come out of it.
Just now we aie surprised that so lit
tle has come out of it. Probably wi
my deceiving ourselves just ns much nt
'his moment ns we wcro two years ago
ut iu the opposite direction. The wnr
nil the movement destrojed the critica'
uicillt. The mnile us nil cieduloiis
Thej Hindi- us accept promises nnd even
meie phrases without stopping to ana
l.vze them, without asking their prnc
ticabilitj. Freedom of the Sens
Piolmbly Mr. Wilson thought almost
as loosely as the rest of us. To get
the whole world going with jou jou
hnve to let jourself go, too. And theie
is the case of tho freedom of the seas.
It was one of the fourteen points. (J rent
Hritnin hnd reserved the right to refuse
its support of that point. When Mr.
Wilson announced his decision to go
abroad he told Democratic senators that
he would go primarily to fight for the
freedom of the seas. Yet nt Paris the
issue disappeared utterly.
Mr. Wilson himself explained its dis
appearance thus:
Well, that's a joke on me. You see
1 thought before I enmo here thut there
wns such nn issue as the freedom of tin
seas. Rut I find that there is none. I
fulled to think the thing out. You see
it is this way: When there is a Icaguo
of nntions there can bo no neutrals. And
when there are no neutrals there can
he no one who is interested in the free
dom of the seas, the question only aiis
ing in case of wur." The explanation
seems to explain. At least we must ac
cept it.. Hut it shows by his own con
fession that .Mr. Wilson fulled to think
out his own program. What he took for
one of his, biggest Issues was no issue
at all!
Well, no matter whose fault it was,
whether it wnb Mr. Wilson's fault or
our own fault, oc the fault of the men
who surrounded Mr. Wilsou nnd who
misunderstood him and contributed to
muddying public thinking, whether ef
fect ot the leader on the mob and of
tho mbb on the leader, we went, tbe
whole world popularly speaking, went
to Paris in an absurdly expectant mood.
I went there in that mood.
Everj'bodj- was inevitably doomed to
disappointment. The thing simply could
not be dono. This was not the millen
nium, It was the same old wicked
world gathered together, seeking selfish
advantage nnd In many enscs 'forced to
be selfish by sheer disaster inevitably
ahead, which looked as If it would sure
lv befall if Mr. Wilson's plan of not
discriminating between those to whom
we wished to be just und those to whom
we did not wish to be just should be
carried out. It was a sinking ship,
snve-himself-who-can situation, in
which the man to whom we did not
wish to be just had little chance of
sentimental consideration.
I includo Mr. Wilson n a share of
the blame as ono possibly at fault be
cause he confessed to unclear thinking
on the freedom of the seas. And because
the unclear thinking of those close to
him. nbout the superstate and about
treating Germany like tho South sug
gests, though, of course, it does not
prove, further Unclear thinking on bis
part. And because, beyond a doubt, he
thought unclearly about the famous
secret treaties, or thought about them
not at all, believing himself sufficiently
In his own notion of tho changed spirit
of the world to conclude that the mere
publication of those treaties by Uie
Russian revolutionists had been enough
to destroy them, .
At any rale the denunciation of those
treaties was ono key to the remaking of
the world, and the President failed to
secure their denunciation in tbe arml
stlco conferenco which preceded the
Pence Conference, He failed to ask for
It, There was where old diplomacy won
as far as It has won, and so far as I
can remember no one In this country
remarked upon it at the time. The
existence of tho treaties was well known,
but we had talked ourself Into tbe un
critical notion that mere publicity had
destroved them, that u breath from the
golden uge to come naa wltnercd them
In our consciousness they were a
nothing, In Mr. Wilson's conscious
ness they were evidently ns nothing. I
suspect lie wns a victim of the popular
psychology he had created ns ti neces
sary part of his movement. At nny rnte
this victory of old diplomacy passed by
unnoticed.
Disillusionment Comes
1 went to Paris to the Teaco Con
ference ns a newspnper correspondent.
Ily this much my experience differed
from the average. My disillusionment
wns direct and speedy. Yours came
through rending the news dispntches,
moro siowlj Aery soon old diplomacy
wus noticed. A subtle something per
vaded tho atmosphere, which showed thnt
the breath of tho golden ngo had
Withered notlllnir. I nnd l-vnrv AmnrWn
observer was conscious that something
neiu tne uuropcans together their
common experiences, their common be
liefs, their secret treaties, their dif
ferent point of view. A Frenchman
oiicu explained it to mc by saying, "We
nro a very old people and experience
has made its skeptical. You arc n very
yOUUg IlCOnle nnd full of mnfldenr-r. mill
optimism of youth, it Is hard for us
to understand each other." And the
trench had taken trouble to re-enforec
their skepticism with n very thorough
and iicver-faillug understanding witli
the English.
The first sharply disillusioning thing
nt Paris was M. Clcmenceau's speech,
nt the end of December. .Mr. Wilson
wns traveling in England, receiving
every indication that the people of the
whole country were with him. M.
Clemenccau evidently did not like the
development, knowing well how Lloyd
George veers and shifts In rcspouso to
public opinion. The belief ut Paris is
that M. Clemenccau hml nrennrnl him.
self for Mr. Wilson's cominir In 1'nrls
by reaching n hard and fast understam
lug with the English premier for mu
tual support of ccrtnin alms. M. Clem
enceau spoke sharply in the Inidst of
.Mr. Wilson's triumphal tour through
Kugland, evidently to remind Lloyd
George that he wus bo.und by ccrtnin
promises to himself. Ho snid, with
chnrncteristic frankness, that he did not
believe in a lengue of nations, but did
believe in tho old-fashioned balance of
power j that what he wanted was an al
liance of the victorious countries nud
thnt this wns what he would work for.
I remember the shock I felt when I
rend M. Clcmenceau's speech, 'iWhat
blasphemy," I thought, "that this old
unregeucrnte, who has outlived his use
fulness and who docs not realize the new
age tivcn now when it is ahead- here,
should utter Such outworn doctrine."
And then with Ameiicun confidence,
I ndded "What folly!" It wns, how
ever, the first little jnr my fnitli got iu
Europe. The wicked still flourished,
nlid had not been cut down, not eVcr iu
their old age.
ISrltish Journalist's View
The das- before I had been in Man
"hester where I met that wonderful old
nan, Mr. Scott, the editor of the Man
chester Guardian. He is a friend of
Lloyd George, but nut nn indiscrimiu
ting one. The Hritish premier's reputa
tion was somewhat disquieting; so I
isked Mr. Scott about the Hritish (Me
ntion to the Pence Conference, where it
stood upon 'the league of nations.
"Lloyd Georga is for the league with
out a doubt,' he said. "You can count
upon him. Hut remember, he never
thinks un idea out or understands its
'ogicnl implications nnd lie is perfectly
capable of doing things utterly iucou
dstent with his general conviction. On
tho other hand, Loyd Robert Cecil, like
all the Cecils, is n religious man, and
the lengue is almost n religion with
him. With Mr. Halfour, too, it is prac
tically the same thing." Au extremely
accurate mini sis of the delegation.
It was u cleverly chosen delegation.
Lord Robert Cecil, the idenlist, made
Mr. Wilson perfectly nt home with
it. Mr. Halfour, too, iu a less de
giee. Lord Robert wns one of the
lemarkable men of the conference. He
was, you might sny, the point of con
tact with America. When any Hritisher
talked to the Americun press it was
usually Loid Robert. He could talk
of the league of nations more heartily
Ihun Wilsou himself. Moreover, he wus
convincing. You felt here was one man
you could rely upon, oue in whom was
no guile. You sensed, us Mr. Scott
said, his religion, his tremendous sin
cerity. I should say he wns the most
honest man in Paris.
And nn American economic adviser
told me, furthermore, that upon the
business bide of the pence ho was the
ablest of the Hritish. A rcmarkuble
man. A subtly wise choice, lie made
every American feel thut after all Hri
tnin wns a true cousin of ours, bad our
ideals, Uiat she did not belong in the
European mess. It was highly impor
tant that Americans ut Paris should
be made to feel this. I think Lord
Robert was chosen for Mr. Wilson's
especial benefit. They had the sanffc
ideals, spoke the same language. Prob
ably 31r. BonarLaw filled a similar role
with respect to tho trench. And Mr.
Lloyd George was tho connecting link of
the British delegation. He could face one
way on the general proposition and the
other on the details, as Mr. Scott had
said. He could stand for the league
and the secret treaties,
Mr. Wilson Wanted the league. Lloyd
George wuh with him on that. M.
Clemenceau wanted the nlllanc- of the
victors, especially of France, England
and tho United States, Lloyd George
was with him on that; and in the
end, after ho aided Mr. Wilson obtnin
his league, he threw his strength wholly
and openly to France, precipitating the
calling of the George Washington to
Brest, took part in blocking the Mon
roo Doctrlno nmendment to the league
until Franco received what M. Clemen
ccau wanted the alliance. France wns
ncccKsnry to England. The United
States was necessary to England. Eng
land had men In her dclcgntion ulmed
at each country. Iu the cud her rather
two-faced diplomacy succeeded. The
President was forced Into nn alliance,
although lie had said in his New York
speech ot September 27, 1018, "the'
United States will enter Into no spe
cial arrangements or understandings
with particular nations." This French
alliance and the diplomacy by which
It was reached was one of the deep
dlsillusionments of the conference.
Three Men Around a Table
An earlier disillusionment xvas the
Peace Conference itself. It was most
of tbe Ume tho meeting of three men
around a table. Soon the idea dawned
upon me that I was virtually then see
ing the league itself, thut that was what
the league itself would bo In actual
operation, three men around a table,
sometning line me meeting of the polit
ical bosses that decides what the neonle
shall vote at the direct primaries. I
aumittca to myseit tnut l was u tool
even to have expected anything eise;
that nothing else wus, humuniy speak
ing, practical. But still there was the
regret. This was not a new thing, no
matter what they called It, but a very
old thing ; not democracy, but what had
ulwajs existed oven though thero might
bo democratic-looking Instruments for
carrying into effect the decisions reached
Dy me mree men in me uucuroom.
Then there was tho Issue of pub
licity. "Open covenants openly arrived
at" meant nt first, as officially inter
nreted. that lha nress should see the
i. covenants after they had been arrived '
s I at.- This ..was playing fast and Idose
. with promises, eyea if they were im-
MOB INFLUENCES ITS
CHIEF JUST AS LEADER
INFLUENCES THE MOB
"Many Persons Accept Promises and Even Mere Phrases
Without Stopping to Analyze Tliem, Without
Ashing Their Practicability"
EAGERNESS FOR A NEW FUTURE LIKE
RUSH FOR NEW VEIN OF PURE GOLD
"Everybody Listened to the
J rcmutcdMr. Wilson Listened to What His Otvn
4 Country Was Saying, Often Anxiously"
practicable promises. As n matter of
fact, publicity took care of itself. After
the Peace Conference lost self-confidence,
tho delegates ran around seeking
the newspaper men to pour secrets into
their enrs, thus putting up their little
trial balloons to test public opinion. A
few secretH were well kept, like the
embarrassing French nlliancc, but im
the whole there never was n gathering
in which there was a free publicity nor
as much pressure of public opinion. It
becamo ns lenky in the end as nn exec
utive session of the United Stntes
Senate.
Then came the mandates. It looked
liko mero playing with facts to in
sist that there was some vast difference
between tnkiug over the German colo
nies in outright ownership nnd tnking a
pcipetuul mandate for them, which
could be only terminated by the ac
quiescence, by vote in council, of the
power holding the mnndate. If you
hnve a thing that cannot be taken away
from you without your consent, to nil
practical intents you own it. The
mnnda'to meant nt most thut tho hold
ing of n colony was "affected with a
public interest," but one hard to in
sist upon.
Then the fourteen points were
strangely interpreted in Mr. AVilson's
nbseuce by Colonel House, his ngcnt.-lo
give many Germans to Poland ; to set
up a Rlicuish republic, and a Saur vnl
ley settlement provided for iu the secret
treaties. , To be sure, the boches were
greutly modified later, but they gave a
disquieting glimpse of the secict trea
ties, of tho control old diplomacy hnd
over a meeting supposed to belong to
u new nud better cia.
Shantung Settlement
And tiunlly came the Slinntiing set
tlement, thnt filial proof of the dom
ination of the secret treaties. Nobody
defends the Shantung settlement. Mr.
Wilson openly deplores its necessity.
Mr. Lansing sns it wns agniust the
fourteen points. It completed tho dis
illusionment. The secret trcnties hnd
Inrgely prcvniled. The new nge had not
nt rived. Hnlnnco of power diplomacy
meanwhile wns busy in extorting the
French alliance from Mr. Wilson in set
ting up a block of Slavic stntes friendly
to England and Franco between Ger
many nud Russia, iu encouraging u
"spontaneous" recurrence of the Rhen
ish lepublic nnd in the prohibition
ngainst Austria's joining Germany, a
clear violation ot the self-detcimiuation
of peoples.
These were my main disillusioumeuts
at Paris. 1, for my pilrt, now know
thnt I felt them more sharply than
wus reasonable because of the extrav
agant expectations with which I had
gono to Paris. I had not thought clear
ly about what could be accomplished
there because no one, except n few cold
und slteptieul persons like the journal
ist Mr. White pointed out at Paris,
could think clearly while we were all
working ourselves up to n great faith
in a new and perfectly organized future.
You cannot go into tilings like the
league of nations coldly and with all
your wits about you. It was like u
gold .rush. A grent vein of ore hnd
been discovered and pcqple could bee
gold at every seam in the rocks, I think
I have shown that Mr. Wilsou had
partly lost his owu power to think clear
ly on his own confession in one In
stance. And I am sure thnt I hnve
shown thnt Uioso about him, intimately
associated with him, had lost their
power to think clearly. Two tbitigs re
sulted : First, I, nud I tnkc it most
of you, the mere spectators to tho
scene, weremnduly dejected us a con
sequence, for wo expected so much more
than it wns reasonnble to expect nud
got rather less than we might reason
nbly have expected ; nnd becond, as n
consequence of his preoccupations, Mr.
Wilson, our negotiator und representa
tive, wns in no fit stntc of mlntl for
his tnsk. Up wns too possessed with
one idea to sit in ou even terms hag
gling about other things with cold, cal
culating bargainers liko Mr. Lloyd
Georgo and M. Clemenccau.
Leaders' Kara to the Ground
If I had not been led to expect too
much I should have known that Paris
would bo what It was, exactly like other
pcaco conferences, except thut It would
be a llttlo moro open and u little more
responsive to the public opinion. Those
two would come from changed condi
tions, from a more democratic world.
As a matter of fact they did ; for the
publicity in tho end wus remarkable.
The big three finished by having their
ears to the ground for all the world like
the tiraidest senator or representative iu
Washington. Everybody listened to the
growls of tho crowd In Germany and
often trembled. Mr. MVllson listened
to what his own country was saving.
assiduously, often anxiously. Once
when Ungmnd und i ranee caught nun
in difficulties and intimated an un
willingness to let him have a Monroe
doctrine amendment to tho league
covenant being demanded in Washing
ton, ho was frightened.
Mr. Llojd George, on ono occasion,
rushed in to Mr. Wilson when thete
was an especially loud crumble from
home, threw a telegram down before the
President saying: "Bco what 1 urn
up against!" Moreover, both he and
M, Clemenceau were terribly afraid to
have the specific amount of damages
to uo collected from Germany named
In the treaty on account of nubile
opinion in their own country. If one
is looking for democratic control of
tho peace-making as un evidence of
progress, it was there, only the people
were not equal to the task. They were,
not well Informed enough, either here
on anroaa. There In a saying thut the
people get as good u governmept as
they deserve. And one can say, after
Paris, that they will always get us
good a peace as they deserve.
Moreover, If I had not been made to
think that the world lu which bargains
and compromises ruled had somehow
given way to a world in which per
fect justice got itself done uutomutlcallv
the impartial justice Mr. Wilson
spoke ot thut should go to the foe
whether we liked it or not-! should
whether we liked it or not-I should
have expected Just the kind of trading
that took place at Paris, and should
Groivh of Germany and Often
have been fnlrly well satisfied with the
result. But I should have had n right
to expect our own representatives to
drive better bnrgnins than they ac
tually did. Wo wero mooning when
Wr" Sx?t,',W ,lavo ,lad our ' !otifc ua.
Jir. Wilson was so taken up with his
mission that ho neglected tho simp "
precaution of sotting himself free Trim
tho secret treaties nt the armlstlco con-
EmS" ul V8-, I tIlInk' th Ins
table result of tho psjchology of the
crusade Moreover, Mr. Wilson, even
liberated from this exalted mental
state, probably Is not tbo best bar
gainer in the world.
Bargaining is a trade (n Itself. And
Mr. Wilson's trade Is swaying great
iT.ot L1en' ove,n BWy,nK tho whole
world by his words. Details aro irk
some to him, ns they always aro to
Inm ?f hl?, typc : R0 is th conflict of
vv lis in n limited circle around a coun
cil, table. And. Mr. Wilson did not
bring along a good bargainer with him
to nid him. rVilniml tt,, ...
chief agent, nnd Colonel House is too
nf .li.n'h i J'"""181- t0 impatient
of details himself and too ready a com
promiser to drive a hard bargain. Mr.
Wilson was best at n fight in the open
in which ho could enlist nil the great
moral forces of humanity on his side,
Colonel House wus always an influ
ence, perhaps just tho sufficient in
lluencc. ngainst nnv snei. rsi-
Lookiug upon it then as coldly as I
can at this short distance of time, Paris
turned out to bo a plucu of bargaining
and wo were not the best bargainers.
h c got nbout CO or CO per cent of what
we should have got. But docs that
prove that we must never do the thing
again, as Senators Borah nn'd Johnson
so solemnly assure us? That is not n
very sportiug way of looking at it or a
very American way. It is like a man's
saying becuuse his first venture in busi
ness turned out u half failure that he
will never try business again. Such
is not thu way great business successes
are miidc. most of which nre founded
on the lessons of the first failure. This
time, nt Paris, we were totally inex
perienced. Tho next time we shall have
hud experience. This timo wo fooled
ourselves. The next time wc shall send
better bargainers, for uo President will
ever venture to dispatch such a dele
gation to n great international con
ference as Mr. Wilbou sent to Paris.
Membership Inevitable
And by the next time I mean when
we are members of the league of na
tions which Messrs. Borah and Johnson
so much dread. For I believe that
membership in it is Inevitable. The
combination wus not created at Paris:
it was rather named at, Paris. That
was all. Tho war has narrowed the
world and we can't keep out of the
ruling group whether wo will or uo, or
if we can we cannot escape the conse
quences of its actions. Wo did not es
c1u , , c"sequeuces of the actions
of the bulunce.of power In Europe when
we thought we were completely Jso
lu ' ". Mere drawn inevitably into
the wnr thnt resulted from its mis
tnkes. v The grent wnr was sure to end in a
combination of the victorious nations
for the purpose of ruling the world,
the combination would probably havs
.. uu auiuucc, openiy one and so
i.?mvilI..,by nam(' Iiarsh and arbitrary.
Mr. w ilson succeeded in getting it call
ed n league of notions and In admitting
others into Its deliberations, with, rather
limited powers, to be sure, than Un
three or four big nations that would
have made up tho alliance. He also
induced tho combination to adopt a pact
which, in effect, is a ielf-denylng oVdl
nunca by which members agree to b,
governed by certain principles of Jus-
wflla y their own cci
We Americans sit In this organization
and bv our nn f,if , t.r" 1 "i.
npon its activities. If we don't lik .i
Ltirono we run -cetr. w.. u .. !l
have tho courage and strength of'charao VI
n,iiIf.niei.dr! H?' enWr- tho n!lianeiAl
WOUld Still havo heen th.rn T -,-..tl ,W' 1
have probably been composed of Eng.
land, rrance nnd Japan, one of tht
three being a slightly unfriendly powel
or; at any rate, a power with 'a grievi
unco nguinst us. We should have lid
alliance. But when it went xvronff ol
largo scale wo should have borne till
fionsequences, Just as we .did when th
balance of power went wrong.
I don't think Mr. Wilson so mud
got us into a world combination as ht
got the world combination into whicl
w-o almost Inevitably wcro forced to en,
ter made fairly resnectable one pre
senting reasonable hopes for the fu
turc, one that substituted for the pun
rule of might n bort of rudimentary In
ternatlotial justice, not the perfec!
thing, the "Impartial justice" he tallied
about, but still some moro justice thai
would otherwise havo been there.
And a,s Allen Whlto said at Parl
there remains the hope for tho futuri
The politics of tbe world Is now In til
hands of tho men who failed in the past
whoso blindness and injustice brougS
me wur. j.ne situation, as at larj
uuuruuy iooks somewnat pad. 1
.., u. ...w ui,u, iiuevcrv is not
these men, who will soon pass, but
the young nicn who are ronilnr- km a
who' learned the lessons of life on thl
neiu 01 name ana in tne bitter tmcxl'
flees of the trenches. And even no
there nre men like General Smuts oni
Lord Robert Cecil with a vision bayonl
that of Tarls.
You see all Uiat b left' of my faith
the hot faith of the crusade days, I
the belief that Mr. Wilson did not realh
irento anything at Paris, but gave J
name with some Inspiration in ft, aa
a constitution with some possibility
In It, to a thing Uiat surely existed k
any event and which, left to Itself, wouS
have been much narrower, harder, mor)
arbitrary and mora dangerous thai
that which is now in the hands of mair'
hind. It is iji the hands of mankind
It depends iu tho long future upon thl
people. It will be as good B league, m
the people of the world deserve to hum
The best faith one can bold is that th
people lu tho end will, as William Alice
White (uilil. "fool tho feller"wao trlS ' At
to fool .' f -
a
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