New-York tribune. [volume], February 26, 1920, Page 12, Image 12

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
ffltao fork ftnfanw
Flnt to Laut?the Troth: News?Edi?
torials?Advertisements
H?*n*?r m tht Audi! Hurra? of Ctn-ulattona
TnURSDAY;~FE?KllARY 26, 192ft.
Ownist Mi.1 publlsW lUlly by New York Tribun?
tue?. ? New Y or* Corporation. O?rtrn UeU. I-resi?
den-: G Vorn r llur.-r.. Vice rr?*Mfnt : Helen
Rn?ran Tlnt't. Socrw?ry; H. K. M?\fl?M. Treasurer.
Ad<ires?. Trlt>i?;ip Bn Idtnc, 154 Nassau Street. New
Tork. Teli'-iLTio, Iteekinan 3000.
?SUBSCRIPTION KATES?By nun. Including
tm\*te. Hi TUK UNITED STATES AXl?
CANADA.
One Six On?
Year. Month?. Month.
Dan? and Btindtjr.$11.09 $?.00 $1.00
pally only . 8.00 4 00 .:;
8?ind?y only . 4 00 2 00 .48
Bund?? only. Cain!?. 6.00 3.23 .68
FOREIGN RATES
Dally ?ml Bund?.$26 08 $13.3? $148
pally only . 17.40 3 70 1.45
Sunday only . 8.75 5.12 .8?
bt?r?d at the r>o?.toflVe at New Tork as Second
Class Mail Matter
GUARANTY
Ymi Mfi puren??.? merchandise advertised In THE
TRIBUNE with absolute safety?for If dissatisfac?
tion result? In any case THE TRIBUNE guarantee?
i? pay your money back upon request. No rod tape.
N? quibbling. We make good promptly It the
advertiser does not.
MEMBER OF TUB ASSOCIATED rRESS
The Associated I'rea? 1? ?acluslToly entitled to the
Me for republicatlon of ?ll news dispatches credltcO
to It or not otherwise rredlti-il In this paper and
?i?o the local news of spontaneous origin published
herein
AU ri?hta of ?publication of all other matter
herein alsa aro reserved.
Why Leonard Wood?
By his appearance in South Dakota
General Leonard Wood formally
consents to the use of his name as
a Presidential candidate.
The question may thus now be
asked, "Why Wood?" What reasons
justify his candidacy? What claims
has he on the consideration of the
American people?
In the way of giving honoring
testimony where it seems richly due
these things may be said: He has
earned a place as a great national
figure; he has shown the rare quality
called vision; he has been a doer
throughout a crowded life, and his
repute rests not on words. He has
a character whose soundness and
beauty have endured many search?
ing tests.
General Wood belongs to no state
or section. It happens he was born
amid the Cape Cod folks of Massa?
chusetts, but is at home anywhere
in America?in New Mexico as much
as in New York, in South Carolina
as much as in Illinois. He is big
enough to be seen across the con?
tinent, and is not called on to ask
for support as a favorite son.
General Wood has vision?that in?
stinctive quality by which some men
sense the future and its problems.
In 1902 he attended the maneuvers
of the German army. The Kaiser
thought his quiet, unilatterable
visitor was dull?was not aware
that his keen mind had clearly
pierced the Kaiser's secret. A
danger threatened America and the
world, and General Wood saw it.
He refused the Order of the Black
Eagle, but subsequently accepted a
decoration from France. Other men
were blind. Let us rejoice he was
not.
The vision guided him. Two un?
forgettable things he contributed to
winding the war. He laid the
foundations of the public opinion
that brought conscription promptly,
and he was the father of the Platt's
burg idea. He endured the reproach
of being a militarist to secure the
one, and pushed the other despite
the frantic threats of the Adminis?
tration. Except for conscription and
the Plattsburg preparation of offi?
cers the 2,000,000 Americans would
scarcely have arrived in time.
Princeton University paid a
merited tribute when it conferred
a degree and said:
"In our defenseless state he has
Bounded the reveille to awaken a
slumbering nation from \ts dream
of security, bidding xis rise and take
our place like men to save our'
freedom ayid help to tare the
freedom of the world."
As a doer General Wood revealed
himself when he was administrator
of Cuba, and later of the Philip?
pines. His repute is International.
His achievements are compared to
those of Cromer and Milner. Tact,
foresight, patience, business judg?
ment, imagination and sympathy?
. these elements were mixed in him
and won him the confidence of proud
but backward peoples.
Touching the character of the man
only one incident need be mentioned.
In July, 1918, his division, the 89th,
reached th? port of debarkation.
The general's baggage was aboard1
when an order came from Washing?
ton relieving him of command.'
There was almost a mutiny. He
called his officers together and said
to them: "I nm going back to Camp
Funston to-morrow, where I shall
give the best that is in me to the
training of the new troops. Do not
concern yourselves with my case, but
pet your mind on the war. If you
would please me play your part
cheerfully, and well?that means
When In action never fail to take
your objective, and never be late on
your objective."
It's the way, as Kipling bat told
us, a man takes a "facer" that
proves his stuff. Should General
Wood reach the White House we
may be sure there will be a man
there with ruggedness of character
equaling that ?f the most illustrious
of his predecessors.
The Erzberger Scandal
Mathias Erzberger's enforced res?
ignation from the German Cabinet
comes as the climax of a scandal
v.'hich has long been gathering. Erz?
berger had been made the target of
accusations brought by former Vice
Chancellor Helfferich and by other
high officials under the imperial
r?gime. To meet them he brought
a libel suit The trial of that suit
has been his undoing.
It has been testified that he smug?
gled large amounts of his private
funds into Switzerland, following a
practice popular among Germans
who want to escape reparations
taxation. It has also been charged
that under the Empire Erzberger
used his political power as a leader
of the Centrum party in the Reichs
I tag to increase his fortune and that
! as a minister of the republic he was
! mixed up in many dubious transac
| tions connected with the issuance of
i import and export permits.
Erzberger was a pseudo-imperial
? ist and a pseudo-republican. He
was distrusted in both camps. Dur?
ing the war he had intimate connec?
tions with the Austro-Hungarian
Foreign Office and was employed by
Count Czernin to promote Austrian
interests in Germany, especially in
connection with the long wrangle
over the Polish settlement.
Furthermore, he was one of the
disbursers of the German corruption
fund in neutral countries. The im?
perial government found him a use?
ful go-between in such transactions.
The republic has tolerated him be?
cause he brought it votes in the
Reichstag. But he seems to have
overplayed his hand and to have at
last aroused fatal personal enmities.
No one will accuse the old r?gime
of having had much squeamishness
about political morals. It is signifi?
cant of Erzberger's general repute
to-day that Helfferich should have
pone on the witness stand and said
that he was "a menace to the purity
of our (German) public life" and
that he "must be removed from pub?
lic office if our political life again is
to become healthy and normal."
German public life has touched the
low-water mark of cynicism and
materialism. But even on that low
level Erzberger seems to have made
himself intolerable to his former as?
sociates.
Mr. Lansing's Successor
President Wilson has taken the
country by surprise in selecting
Bainbridge Colby as his new Secre?
tary of State. Our foreign rela?
tions just now are exceedingly com?
plicated. Probably they are more
tangled and intricate than they have
been at any other period in our his?
tory.
But, so far as is known, Mr. Colby
has given no special study to ques?
tions of world politics and has no
training or special aptitude in that
field. Yet the President is entitled
to liberty of action in naming the
chief agent through whom foreign
affairs are to be conducted. Mr.
Wilson has been, for all practical
purposes, his own Secretary of State.
He has shaped and executed his own
foreign policy. And, as he recently
explained in the Lansing correspond?
ence, the chief qualification he seeks
in a Secretary is a mind which will
"willingly go along" with his own.
It is entirely within his pjovince to
choose an agent and coun?elor who
seems to him to measure up to that
standard.
Mr. Colby will have ample oppor?
tunity to prove his quality in that
respect and in others. There should
be no desire to prejudice his work.
As to the political aspects of the ap?
pointment, it doesn't establish any
new precedent. Mr. Colby was a Re?
publican up to 1912 and a Progres?
sive from 1912 to 1916. In the elec?
tion of 1916 he actively supported
Mr. Wilson against Mr. Hughes, but
he also ran for the Senate as a Pro?
gressive. In 1893 President Cleve?
land appointed Walter Q. Gresham
as Secretary of State. The latter
had been a conspicuous candidate for
the Republican Presidential nomina?
tion in 1888, and before that time
had served as Postmaster General in
President Arthur's Cabinet In 1892
he was on the Federal bench, and as
a judge was precluded from taking
an active part in the national cam?
paign of the year, although he had
a bitter personal feud with Presi?
dent Harrison.
Even more than in Judge
Gresham's case it must be assumed
that the choice of a Secretary of
State was made not for political but
for purely personal reasons.
No Martyrs on the Buford
An attempt has been made to cre?
ate the impression that many "Reds"
were "railroaded" to Russia on the
transport Buford. Few critics of
the deportations are ready to say
that Emma Goldman and Alexander
Berkman hadn't grossly abused
American hospitality and hadn't
qualified by their activities as ua
desirable aliens. But it is Intimated
that there were other Involuntary
passengers on the "Soviet Ark"
whose anarchistic or direct-action
tendencies had not been established
or even carefully inquired into.
Vague charges of this sort are In?
tended to raise a suspicion of over
zeal and strong-arm methods on the
part of the Labor Department For?
tunately, they are met by the direct
counter testimony of a competent
witness. Representative Isaac Sigel,
of this city, a member of the House
Committee on Immigration, visited
the Buford just before she sailed.
Mr. Sigel is keenly interested in im?
migration legislation and its enforce?
ment He may have heard rumors
that some of those ordered deported
were not, in fact, direct actionists or
believers in proletariat terrorism.
At any rate, he took the trouble to
question all the Buford passengers.
Ho even gave them the opportunity
of saying that, although they had
formerly held opinions subjecting
them to deportation, they had
changed their minds after being ar?
rester*? He found twelve persons
against whom the evidence seemed to
be open to question, and at his in?
stance twelve were left behind.
The government was entitled under
the immigration law to take sum?
mary action against aliens violating
the conditions on which they were
allowed to enter this country and to
remain here. It acted energetically
after a long period of excessive tol?
erance. Its agents might have
failed in some instances to give sus?
pects the benefit of the doubt. But
Mr. Sigel's personal intervention re?
sulted in granting before sailing
what amounted to a rehearing of all
dubious cases.
In the light of these facts sym?
pathy with those who did sail seems
decidedly misplaced.
Are Americans Musical?
Is New York the most musical
city in the world? Or is it the least
musical? There is evidence looking
in both directions, and it was all
brought to the front of discussion by
the highly successful Music Week
which New York enjoyed. Other
communities are planning similar
exhibitions and celebrations. Echoes
of the local festival still are rever?
berating. There is no question of
the volume of interest and musical
activity throughout the nation. But
r.re Americans really musical?
The most obvious items that pre?
sent themselves here are the list of
concerts and the record of opera.
These are appallingly large. So far
as quantity goes this has surely be?
come the musical center of the
world. And we think it would be
the consensus of expert opinion that
in respect of quality also there is lit?
tle anywhere to surpass the best that
we have to enjoy.
Against this direct evidence the
critics of our musical ability set our
undoubted lack of widespread musi?
cal training, technically speaking.
We have been neither a singing peo?
ple nor a playing people. The Amer?
ican home heard very little music?
until recent years. There was the
daughter who played "The Maiden's
Prayer" or "Narcissus" or Men?
delssohn's "Spring Song." There
was some elementary hymn singing.
There was Brother Bob's mandolin
?converted to Sister Violet's ukelele
in recent years. Solid musical ef?
fort, either in voice training, the
learning of any instrument or
choral singing, was the extraordi?
nary exception. We had developed
no national folk-song since the negro
spirituals; and these were all but
ignored.
These criticisms are all true, and
yet the concert record of New York
is. not an isolated and unrepresenta?
tive fact To the contrary, it is a
true indication of a widespread re?
birth of musical interest in America,
due entirely to the mechanical music
so foolishly disdained by some musi?
cians. It is not with a musical coun?
try like Italy that America of to-day
is to be justly compared. The fair
comparison is with America of a
generation ago. Any such checking
up will reveal the very real progress
which "music week" is recording
wherever it is held.
The supercilious folk who suspect?
ed "canned" music of all sorts of
evil influences lacked faith in their
art as a matter of fact. There is
only one way to develop taste in any
art, and that is by saturating one's
self in. it To learn rules, or hear
an occasional concert, or memorize a
few pieces on a piano after years of
disagreeable endeavor, is not to be?
come musical. The beauty of
the player-piano and the talking
machine artistically speaking was
that they laid down no rules what?
ever. They simply filled the Ameri?
can home with music?good, bad, in?
different as the taste of the owner
elected. Taste does not remain sta?
tionary, however. There would be
no progress in any art if it did.
Mus'ic develops its own standards ; it
improves ears, comprehension, taste,
as it goes along. That is the ex?
perience and testimony of every one
who has watched the progress of
mechanical music.
The development of community
singing is an interesting by-product
that confirms this view. So in its
way is the revival of dancing. And,
best of all, here, as throughout this
whole renaissance of music in Amer?
ica, pleasure is the motive and goal
of those who participate. We should
rata this aa the most Important fact
in the present rise of America from
being one of the least musical coun?
tries toward, we hope, becoming one
of the most musical. We are not
taking our music sadly, as a painful
duty to the gods of uplift. We are
listening and Binging and playing
because we enjoy it. This is as
music was intended. We may have
still a long way to travel. But we
are on the right road.
Every yachtsman, whether he goes
to sea in his own vessel or his own
rocking chair, will be relieved to know
that the fire at City Island spared the
cup yachts, challenger and defender.
The Shamrock has faced many vicis?
situdes. A great war prevented her
appearance. For three years she
has waited her chance. It would
have been a cruel fate for her to be
destroyed, now that at last the
weather clears. There will be ear?
nest hopes that every wind favors a
fair and sportsmanlike test. We
need the America's Cup race to give
peace its last touch of reality. We
need it to prove again that there is
no sport as marvelous as the boat
to-boat striving of these great, swift
wheeling thoroughbreds of the sea.
The Business of Politics
We Should Learn It, Not Try to
Ignore It
To the Editor of The Tribuno.
Sir: In these days approaching the
Presidential election when you hear
upon every hand the discussion of "get
rid of the politician," "give us a busi?
ness man for President," etc., has it
ever occurred to you that the one who
is most prone to criticize the politician
and the policies of our government
is most likely to be the one who seldom
exercises his right of ballot? Always
willing to tell us wherein wo err, he is
never willing to busy himself enough
to learn the qualifications of the can?
didates for office or the policies of the
day and then go to the polls and vote.
Politics is an American institution.
It is itself a business. What could the
successful business man do if he were
elected to office if he didn't know
politics? How could his business poli?
cies bo put into force without the op?
eration of politics?
It seems to me the best way to re
Americanize ourselves is to get back
to the older days when every man that
ealled himself an American citizen made
an honest attempt to know a bit about
our politics and was not too busy to
get out and vote. We sometimes for?
get that it is votes that put into office
dishonest politicians and wrong policies
of government, and it also takes votes
to get them out. C. M. E.
New York, Feb. 24. 1920.
German Children vs. French
Children.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: An American committee for the
relief of German childrgn is publishing
half page advertisements in the press
seeking to create sympathy for the poor,
starving children of Germany, while
the Committee for tho Children's Hospi?
tal of Lille, France, in a modest folder
reports that nine children in ten at Lille
show signs of consumption; that out of
157 factories in operation In Lille in
1914 only seven or eight are now work?
ing, the remaining 149 being still in the
guttered condition in which they were
left by the Germans; that the hospitals
at Lillo are crowded with sick children,
and their financial situation is so criti?
cal that they can no longer give even
cod liter oil free.
It vould ueem as though the mattor
of A.ny>rican relief of the German chil?
dren night wait until these French chil?
dren, victim/i of German barbarism, had
bee i cared for, in view of the fact,
whi;h is only too manifest, that there
is not a single German city in which
th? plight of the children approaches
that ?f the children of Lille. If the
American Committee for the Relief of
German Children can give particulars to
the contrary they will be welcomed.
The General Committee of the Chil?
dren's Hospitals of Lille includes Mar?
shal Fotfh, Cardinal Gibbons, Admiral
Sims and Henry van Dyke, and W. It.
Graco & Co.'s Bank, Hanover Square,
New York, Is receiving remittances.
MAURICE LEON.
New York, Feb. 19, 1920.
Penny Chas'-r
To the Editor of The T>
Sir: In the midst o! avalanche
of lecturers, writers, p.,.:... is, sculp?
tors, musicians, dancer;-, collectors,
etc., that are coming from all the
European countries to tho United
States, I have hoard frequently ex?
pressed their disapproval of the ab?
normal aptitude of the Americans for
making money. "The Americana think
of nothing but making money." That
is the type of tho remarks with which
we have all become familiar.
Is it not the time now to suggest to
those who disapprove of this unedu?
cated and materialistic country to
agree to lower their prices for allowing
the citizens of the United States to
hear and see them? Or, if that method '
is not agreeable, whei\ each artist |
leaves this country for his own to j
take along merely the amount of j
money he had when he arrived here, !
leaving all he made to some charity !
for the education of the backward
American? If some such plan ?3 not!
soon followed out, I can't help but!
feel that these great artists themselves ?
will be suspected of being materialistic. J
My own experience has been that j
while many Americans are chasing the !
dollar, the Europeans are chasing the
two-cent piece, but, of course, I do
not pretend to know.
A PLAIN AMERICAN.
New York, Feb. 23, 1920.
Quantity Measurement
(From The Indianapolis Nswst
If exchange goes a bit lower it may
be found to be more convenient to
deal in German marks by the liter.
The Conning Tower,
NIGH TO JERICHO
"Landscape ?? ? ?ut* ot mind,"-?Am?.
A golden fortnight we had oom? afoot
Across the Oreen HllU. We had
looked upon
Lake Willoughby, ?? lovely as Lu?
cerne;
And MempbremsfO?, who?? discordent
name
Belles its beaaty, linked with Whit
tier's muse.
Up breezy tracks we climbed and In
dark glens
We rested, or beside a vocal brook,
In the warm odors of the evergreens.
We stood on Mansfield's summit and
beheld
A crumpled world?gigantic parapets
And headlong scarps?stretched like
a giant's dream;
While, seen afar through that un?
troubled air,
Lay shimmering the long glory o?
Champlain.
And then, as we drew on toward
Jericho,
A gaffer hailed us from a moss-hung
barn,
Wishing to know what matters called
us forth?
Old Home Week, so he ventured; or
perhaps
A ball play, or a drill at Burlington?
"No, uncle," some one said, "we're
simple chais,
Just taking in the scenery." With
mistrust
He eyed us and our budgets. "Why,"
said ho,
"I've druv across these hills fer forty
year
An' "?this with Bcornful stress?"I
never see
No scenery!" And he watched us out
of sight. G. S. B.
Only two weeks ago the new Secre?
tary of State pointed out that Ma?
homet wished prohibition on his fol?
lowers, and look what Turkey came
to; the Chinese tried it in the four?
teenth century, and look at China now.
Mr. Colby is the unprohibitionest S. of
S. since W. J. Bryan.
Mr. Feltman's poem about the Hon.
John Hylan is the best panegyric
since the Omoha lady's?
Jim Dahlman's the cowboy Mayor,
For money he don't care.
The Complet? "1492" Goer
; Sir : Your little playmate Daniel Beer
.iheba It slightly in error on the "Isabella"
6ongr In "1192." This was Dick Harlow's
entrance song: in the first act. Don't you
remember? She was announce! with a blare
of trumpets and shout? of "Here comes the
Queen," Walter Jones, as the King, whis?
pering to the audience, "I wish somebody
would como along; with the ace and take
her."
Then, too, Eddie Favor, Theresa Vaughan,
Dick Harlow, Johnny Slavin and the otherB
sang "Twinkling:, Twinkling, Always Twink
linj?, L-i-t-t-1-e Star" in the washtub scene,
which was the opening scene of the second
act and played "In One" and Immediately
preceded the Madison Square set.
Daniel is also wrong in stating that Ed?
ward favor was the Irish Ferdinand. Eddie
Favor made the hit of his life as the Prime
Minister. Walter Jones wa9 Ferdinand.
A. S. H.
And we have F. C. D.'s word for
it that Theresa Vaughan didn't sing
the newsboy song in "1492"; that she
sang, accompanying herself on the
banjo, "Little Annie Rooney."
A poor actor Is one who reads his
lines as though every personal pro?
noun were italicized.
The Diary ol Our Own Samuel Pepys
February 24?Found "Jane Clegg,"
which I saw last night, the best play
I have seen this long time, and no
flaws in the acting of It at all. To
the office, and did some work, and
much talking, and matched with coins
for luncheon, and was forced to pay
Mr. Markel's, Mr. Parsons's, Mr.
Wise's, Mr. Riegelman's and my own
reckonings, what with my usual ill
luck in gambling. Mrs. Cable to sup
with me, and thence to see "Mamma's
Affair," a diverting comedy, Miss Erne
Shannon In especiall. So home and
to bed.
25?Up, and by subway to the city,
and had a seat, too, the first time in
many months. Read Mr. Littledale's
stories about the Federal Board for
Vocational Training, and found them
full of truth, and interesting; he
makes a sorry case for the Board. At
work all day, and all ' evening, too,
doing this and that. Somo say Mr.
Hoover will be our next President,,
which I doubt; nor do I think General
Wood will be either.
The esteemed Satevepo3t this morn
! ing credits the equally esteemed Hype
| Igoe with the near-beer-bad-judge-of
j distance wheeze; and if Hype origi
! nated it he ought to collect royalties
from at least fifty musical comedies.
I But he probably won't, Maximilian
j Foster, author of the KarTee-Haag
| everything - extracted - from - the - bean
I joke, got only honorable mention for
I his cosmic jest.
"Can you figure the saving?" asks
I the Du Pont Chemlfcal Co. The sav
j ing, take it from the advertisement, Is
that of Sernaker & Moakowitz?300
per cent in electric power. "I'll
wager," offers L. D. F., "that the lad
who can figure that saving will be
sending a bill instead of a check to
Uncle Sam on March 15th."
Non soquitur No. 868 (from the
Evening Sun): "Among other things
he [Hermes] was the messenger god,
as well as the patron of thieves and
traders, so his staff came to be the
official emblem of peace envoys and
heralds."
Non sequitur No. 869 (from the
Evening "Mail): "Although not en?
gaged to marry, the duke said, they
were very much in love with each
other."
Jack Dempsey and his manager have
been indicted by the Federal Grand
Jury for conspiracy in evading the
draft.
That Milwaukee Post of the Ameri?
can Legion that elected Jack should
protest.
F. P. A
ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME WE GOT RID OF SOME OF THE CATS?
Coprr??M. MM, N?r Yen* Trama? I?.
The George Washington Again
By Frank H. Simonds
President Wilson's course in serving
a new ultimatum upon our recent Euro?
pean associates is clearly a repetition
of the George Washington incident
during the Paris Conference. It rep?
resents a deliberate and well defined
policy?that is, well defined in the Pres?
ident's mind?and not in the least
an impulsive act. It does more: it dis?
closes the President's conception of the
American mission in world affairs.
In the case of the George Washing?
ton Incident, as M. Tardieu has just
explained, France demanded of her re?
cent allies exactly the same security
against German attack which Britain
was asking, but while British demands
were for the destruction of the German
fleet and the occupation of German colo?
nies, which were the threats to Britain
of German power, France demanded the
right to occupy the left bank of the
Rhine, the sole military barrier against
German aggression.
In this Clemenceau was opposed by
the President and by Lloyd George. But
the "Tiger" remained obstinately de?
termined to obtain for his country
what the British had obtained for their
own land?namely, security. Thereupon
Mr. Wilson sent for the George Wash?
ington and threatened to take it and
quit Paris. Even this threat did nol
dislodge Clemenceau, who could nol
have lasted a day in power if the
French people had learned that he hac
surrendered in the matter of security
In the end the President proposed a?
a substitute the Anglo-French guaran
ty, and Clemenceau accepted it. Ai
the thing was settled at Paris Franci
would not permanently occupy the lef
bank of the Rhine and the Unitei
States and Great Britain were pledget
to send their troops to the' Continent i
France were attacked by Germany, sine
! French defense would be greatly weak
ened by the elimination of the Rhin
barrier.
Our Guaranty Again
Now a similar situation is coming
We shall be asked once more to guar
antee another European frontier if w
interfere with another nation's ideas o
its own proper security. "The Italian
will suggest as a substitute for thei
settlement of the Adriatic question, an
for the compromise suggested by th
i British and the French, an America
j guaranty of Italian populations n
! Interests on the east coast of the Adr
atic. They will do it for the sarr
reason Clemenceau demanded the &im
lar guaranty, because they are dealir
with a question of national defense.
But the United States Senate has ?
far failed to make good the President
promise to France; therefore, the Ita
i ians will follow the French example ai
insist upon occupation by their troop
at least until the American guaranty b
comes absolute. We sha!l then 1
compelled to undertake two Europet
responsibilities at once, or our char
pionship of certain abstract princip'
will become, merely ridiculous. B
these tasks will be considerable.
On the other hand, if we refuse
undertake these tasks the situation
the Jugo-Slavs will be far worse thi
it might have been if we had not s
our faces, by the action of the Pr?s
dent, against the compromise propos
by the Allies, by France and Urita
It will be impossible now for a
Jugo-Slav Ministry, or Prime Minist?
to accept the Anglo - French compi
mise, because it not only does violen
to the aspirations of Jugo-Slavia and
abstract justice, but has also been i
pulsed with scorn by the President
the United States.
On the other hand, the question ct
! not remain unsettled. The possibility
' of a clash between the Italians and
1 the Jugo-Slavs is patent. Such a clash
! would involve the Rumanians, because
of their own dispute with the Serbs;
the Bulgars, with their traditional ha?
tred for tho Serbs; the Greeks, with
their claims against the Italians, quite
as just as those of the Jugo-Slavs.
Moreover, as long as the question is
not settled, France, Britain and Italy
will be divided, and Italian anger at
Anglo-French opposition to Italian
claims will continue to mount.
Compromise impossible
Actually the President's ultimatum
abolished all immediate chance of the
i compromise proposed on one of the
most dangerous of the surviving perils
to world peace. In my judgment the
President is right in viewing the pro?
posed settlement as not in accordance
with absolute justice, but is he, or the
United States, prepared to insist that
absolute justice be done, even if this
involves the sending of a new army to
Europe and war with Italy? If not,
then a refusal to let Europe settle it?
dispute seems a prolongation of f
deadly menace to all order and re
habilitation. It may prove the cause of i
new war.
President Wilson has clearly not re
nounced his purpose to have Americ.
play the r?le of world arbiter, which hi
clearly held in Paris. He discloses thi
same determination to pass upon eacl
question as it arises from, the point o
view of abstract justice?as justic
strikes him and his fellow countrymei
?for, I repeat, most informed Amori
cans will agree with Mr. Wilson ove
the merits of the Jugo-Slav contentio;
in the Adriatic. But in refusing to le
Europe reach a compromise he is com
pelled by the course of tho Unite
States Senate to refrain from any af
firmative- action.
In the end Europe will reluctant!*
because it still fears to offend th
American nation, which remains th
single source of credit and loans, tur
to the settling of its own affairs in it
own way, because America, while r<
jccting the European method, does nc
propose any other possible escape froi
the prolongation of war-breeding di?
p?tes. When Europe at last perceive
the fact, the French claim to occur,
the left bank of the Rhine and tr
Italian demand for security in tl
Adriatic will be supported by the Bri
ish, who have already realized simil;
and no more justifiable aspirations
i ho matter of the German fleet and tl
German colonies.
// Jugo-Slavs Call
But the President will still be ab
for a certain length of time to preve
European settlement, because his chai
pionship of the claims of the Jug
Slavs, for example, will lead these pe
pie to reject what are on the who
unfair terms, in the hope of Americ.
support. But 3ince the situation in t
Senate and in the country is what it
to-day it is highly probable that wh
the crisis arrives and the Jugo-Sla
are confronted with Ita iun arm
forces, authorized by the Anglo-Frenc
Italian concert to carry out the ten
of a compromise, the Jugo-Slavs w
call upon th? President and the Ame
can people for military and naval i
sistance in vain.
And if America refuses that aid, tl
the Jugo-Slavs will feel, not withe
justice, that they have been abandon
betrayed into hopeless resistance s
then deserted in the moment of dea
peril.
(Copyright, 1920, by the McClure N'ewspa
Syndicate).
Mr, Wilson's Failure
An Estimate of His Character
and His Service
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Had Woodrow Wilson retained &
hold upon his passion for talk and bees
a man filled by desire for duty, he h*4
been a wiser man. A wi?h for fame, an
obstinate determination to be a rulsr
rather than a servant of the people,
grows daily, fatally destroying his in?
fluence. In his desire to rule, Mr.
Wilson has lost a sense of values,
without which no work is possible for
the good of the world. He ha? been
a drag in Paris, but he has there dis?
illusionized the peoples of Europe, wit?
their wild enthusiasm for him. R)
attained a height as a leader unto s
great ideal, of a fair world of liberty
and righteousness. He lost this fan?
in the conference by a rage for power.
He lost the devotion of the common
people by arrogance. He has been ?
bad President because he has never
consulted the people and has new
been ready to accept any suggestion.
To a world of thoughtful men. it
seemed for a time that this man would
be a tower of strength. He is not Hii
motives are wrong, and his result??
means of making those motives a part
of the governing force of the peace
conference made for evil. It brought
upon many nations, beginning with hii
own, a state of unrest difficult to cope
with and greatly to be dreaded. His
actions were despotic and never finely
determined by justice to other es?
tions. France has much te forcira
ere she can again care for the Ameri?
cans, as a government or a people, in
the world's policies. England, too, hu
many carking cares due to the inter?
vention of the American government t?
her own policies, and tte little nat?o?!
have aches and bndsM? of feelings
made by the perfectly unwarranted
manner, that Mr. Wilson took Into the
conference as a dictator, of unreason?
able demands for concessions o? rights
won in war.
His making of a policy was needful
perhaps as a tentative statement of
his position, but the m3n who had not
cared for the dark days of France suf?
ficiently, to make for peace, by ?
greater force against a wicked foe; the
man who denied that the Belgium
crime warranted an interference, eren
by a word of rebuke; who was willing
to condone the sinking of ships and the
loss of life; not concerned in the ?ones
of battle; who knew nothing nor cared
anything concerning the deportation of
innocent young women and old men;
the man who could say of Germany
that to be a German wa9 not neces?
sarily to be in cause of the war a par?
tisan, is such a character as had no
right to speak with authority concern?
ing the peace of the war he was nol
in accord with waging.
Mr. Wilson's conduct cf affaire 1?
nearest failure a President has erer
come. The people who believe in hi?
aro not highly intelligent if they ?e
not recognize his failures and not
highly moral if they do not recognise
the wrong and injustice such failures
have brought upon other lands. Ad?
miration that has no critica! judgment
is that which people not burdened with
brains give to the man who can fool
them. Admiration of this order >?
neither wholesome nor to be desired
Poor Mr. Wilson has fed on flatter/
until his craving for the drug i? M
great as the craving for morphine ?
the user of the hypodermic needle.
No man can be flattered to his advan?
tage. He must grow by opposition he
respects; he must strengthen beeauie
ie wishes to combat and down honest
apposition. Sycophancy weakens: who?
soever lets himself be surrounded j>f
lesser men who flatter is the ?nan ww
dare not be surrounded by his peer*.
New York, Feb. 22, 1920. A. **