Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 44, Number 221, 28 June 1919 — Page 8
THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM, SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 1919.
RESULTS OF PRESIDENT'S TRIP TO EUROPE REVIEWED BY SIMONDS
(Copyright, 1919. by The McClure Newspaper Syndicate) BY FRANK SIMONDS Every circumstance ot the president's foreign mission has In recent months been subject to so much controversial comment that it is difficult in the extreme to discuss this visit
without seeming to join In the controversy. Yet it is patent that there w as a fact, that there were many facta about the stay of Mr. Wilson In the French capital, which can be described as they existed without reference to the domestic' political differences at home, just as misapprehensions exist at home which can be explained away without dealing with the main Issues of Parisian dispute. For example, when I landed in New York, the newspapers were filled with the terms ot the preliminaries of peace which had several weeks before been served upon the Germans, and the Republican half of the senate was criticising an apparently unsuccessful effort of the v president to withhold these terms from it and from the American public. But the fact was that Mr. Wilson had tried frequently and earnestly to have these terms published. He had urged such publication from the very hour when they had been served upon the Germans,
believing and declaring that the people of the world were entitled to know what the Germans knew as a
matter ot right. - ' Clemenceau had readily consented
a . . i . i . i ij . i j
I f i II f puoucauon, remarking as an experienced journalist, that it was
useless to try to suppress them and
: foolish to attempt to do something at
once unpopular and impossible. Orlando had made no objection and had
little concern, since Italy was not af
fected by the settlement with Germany. But Lloyd George had rtoutly opposed the publication. Once, when the British Premier had left Paris for a visit to the north, the three other members of the Big Four had reached an agreement to publish the terms, but on his return Lloyd George overbore all three. What George's objections to publicity were, must be conjectured but it is a fact that he was at all times and in all circumstances opposed to publicity. Certainly Mr. Wilson might have given the terms out, despite George's objection, but to do this would have been to create bad feeling and the president in this instance as In so many others yielded to a colleague. Criticism is Baseless. But there is a much larger field of criticism of the present, which rests upon misapprehension. There seems to be a widespread belief in this country that the president by his incessant urglngs of the League of Nations actually delayed the progress of settlement of terms upon the material problems. This is totally inexact
When Mr. Wilson reached Europe in December, he did not find France
ana Britain with programs arranged or with policies agreed upon. On the contrary neither country had framed a program, jointly or separately. Britain, under Lloyd George's impulsion, had gone through the throes of an election, which had consumed all the energies and attention of its statesmen, France was wrestling with the prim problems of reorganizationtemporary, incipient reorganization after four years and a half of invasion and devastation. More than this, the president did not bring his League of Nations plan to Europe and force it upon a reluctant or hostile conference. Before he had even reached Europe Great Britain had decided to champion this great experiment and many British ministers had taken their turn at devising actual machinery, for the president had not gone beyond the vagu
est conception of a world league. If the French were frankly incredulous and openly critical, they were on the
otner nana totally unreaay with a program for the peace conference and
their own plans were not disarranged
by Mr. Wilson's purposes. At all times
and under all circumstances the League of Nations part of the business of the Peace conference was in more advanced shape than the balance
nor was the attention of the conference diverted from actual peace making by this detail. When the president reached Europe he received one of the most astonishing welcomes ever given to any pub
lic man in history. He was hailed with enthusiasm by millions who saw j in him the promise of a new age, without any clear notions in their own minds as to what this new and golden age was to be, but with a plain and poignant appreciation of what the world they lived in, had been in recent years. For a moment tht, president was the most popular man in Europe. On the whole he lost nearly if not all of this popularity in the following months, but not all of the responsibility was his, although in the case of France, it was largely per1 k J ,k. .1 1 ; : .
suiiai. ajliu lug ueciuie iu popularity of Lloyd George and Clemenceau was at least proprotionate. Expected Miracle. The fact that the millions who welcomed the president with an unf or-
gettaDie entnusiasm, expected a miracle. They did not, as many now argue, look for a -peace of conciliation with Germany which should be obtained by letting Germany off lightly and putting on their own shoulders the burden of the costs of the war and German depredations. On the contrary, they hated Germany with just as intense a hatred as ever and they
Folks who like rfood eats'rlike Post
ties
JOAS
says
were prepared to stand behind their respective governments in. all de
mands, however extreme, which ad
vanced themselves. The mood of the
masses was something quite different from what has been asserted. ' These
masses had fought the war through,
they were dog-tired with the agonies
and sufferings; they hated this recent
war, they hated all wars, they wanted peace and the millenium, but they did
not want to pay the price, if any price
could contribute toward the end de
sired.
All this the president was to dis
cover the . moment he undertook to apply cold logic to the claims; of the
French, for example. Actually, he dis
covered it even before this,. for with in one month after he reached Paris
he had lost French sympathy forever,
by a single action. All France, every French man and French woman demanded, expected, awaited, a presidential visit to the devastated areas. France desired that Mr. Wilson should appraise German offendings, and therefore deal with them more severely. Seeing what the Germans had done in all the industrial-districts of the north, the French believed Mr. Wilson would the more readily accept French estimates of the bills Germany must pay. On bis part, hpwever, the president promptly but firmly declined these invitations. He explained that he desired to act without passion and that if he saw Flanders and Artols, he might "see red" where it was essential to see without emotion. The refusal marked the immediate end of Mr. Wilson's popularity in France. Thereafter he disappeared from the
thoughts of the masses; henceforth he was no more than Orlando or Lloyd George, a visitang statesman. When in the course of the discussion, the voice of America was raised to reduce French demands on the financial side, the disappointment flamed Up into something like positive anger, "He has not seen our wounds, yet he would reduce our indemnities," so the mass of French people, big and little, said. Criticism Unjust Yet since this is the case, it is plain to perceive how unjustly the presi
dent is criticised by those who de
nounce the terms of the treaty itself and assert that, had he chosen to insist upon more liberal terms, the plain people of Europe would have supported him against their own statesmen. What happened, when the president
did appeal to the people of Italy over
the heads of their diplomats, is a final example of the inaccuracy of this assertion. But the French case is quite
as illuminating. To preserve his mental balance so his friends asserted the president stayed away from the devastated districts, but this single
course was as fatal to his popularity
in France as was his Italian gesture ,
destructive to his support in Italy. j
The truth, which certain glib com
mentators do not seem to appreciate
yet, is that Mr. Wilson was never mas
ter of the Paris conference, and exercised a steadily declining influence as
the debate shifted from general questions, like the League of Nations, to specific problems concerning Europeans directly. He came to Europe
with a very clear idea in his own mind that by applying his fourteen points quite literally and following them up with a League of Nations, he could put world peace on a solid foundation. He discovered very nromDtly
that his fourteen points were really
no points at all, since they could be i Py , ?sf wno 1 iispd pffpotivew hv hnth tM'4n omr lual statements
real controversy, and , he discovered that the millions who cheered the idea of permanent peace, turned from him with cold hostility, when he demanded of them sacrifices which to him seemed essential to obtaining such peace. The fact, of course, is that Mr. Wilson, like every other American, who went to the peace conference, discovered Europe as a thing totally different from that Europe he had imagined. He discovered that problems which have provoked centuries of war and remained insoluable from generation
to generation, cannot be solved by any merely academic formula. Take Flume j for example, and you see an Italian town in a Slav land, necessary to the Jugo-Slavs, if they are to have adequate commercial outlet, an inefface
able wound to Italian pride, if assigned to the Slavs, who would be certain to expel the Italians. Mr. Wilson believed, when he arrived in Europe, that the people of all the allied countries would support him and his fourteen points against their governments. He discovered that the British would support the fourteen points at the expense of the French, on occasion, and the French and British at the expense of the Italians, but even here he found such support strictly limited by a series of secret treaties, which bound all three countries to bargains which were not only in conflict with his fourteen points, but with elemental justice. Had To Choose Course There came a time, then, when Mr.. Wilson had to choose between doing the best he could and coming home and leaving Europe to fight it out. He is gravely criticised by so-called liberals for electing to remain in Europe, but in the main this criticism is accompanied by the assertion that had
he actually started for home the gov
ernments which existed would have come crashing down and new governments would have replaced them and done as he advised. Here again is the familiar argument that Mr. Wilson
was in fact master of the situation If
he chose to use his power, but the fact is quite different. : If, for example, Mr. Wilson had quit
France, because he was displeased with the French demands in the matter of the Sarre, it is conceivable that Clemenceau might have fallen, not because of the opposition of the mass of the French people to the Sarre claims quite the contrary." He would have fallen because in the difficult months of the winter and early spring
all conditions in France were extreme
ly bad and. the people who suffered from the Inescapable consequences of the war held the ministry responsi
ble. But if Clemenceau had fallen then there would have been a prompt drift to the radical left, Bolshevism all over Europe would have received an instant stimulus and Heaven knows
that in that time it needed no stimulus. Conceivably, probably, Mr. Wilson could have wrecked the peace confere, had he chosen to quit it, as &e
threatened on one famous occasion publicly and on several occasions pri
vately. But the result would almost inevitably have been chaos, which
could not have failed to affect his own" country. Moreover, and this point
is capital, had the governments with which he, was dealing yielded to his
his demands, they would just as in
fallibly have fallen. Neither Lloyd
George nor Clemenceau could face
their publics and confess that the Ger
mans would escape paying up to the last imaginable limit, the costs of the
war. .- . ..
If the people of France, Italy and
Britain were ready to criticize their ! ministries for quarrelling 4 with the president, for letting him go home before the peace terms were agreed upon, they were quite as prepared to turn their ministries out if these ministries surrendered to the president in matters which the people held of supreme importance, and these matters were in the main financial. If the Socialists, who in France are not particularly important, continued to denounce Clemenceau, because he held out for the Sarre and certain financial
terms, the whole of the rest of France,
politically speaking, criticised and denounced the French prime minister for yielding too much in the Sarre and elsewhere, and press campaigns were openly waged against him on this ground. Might Have Had Wreck. Wreck, the president might have, in all the difficult months when Bolshevismwas marching westward and internal misery and anarchy, growing out of. the war, were supplying fresh tinder for Bolshevistic fires. But more than this he could not do. His liberal critics assert that he might have drawn strength from the radicals of Europe, but they do not recognize, as he had to, that such strength was slight and that the men with whom he was debating terms, would be turned out of office if they conceded all or most of what he was asking them to concede. It was always possible for Woodrow Wilson to become the Bolshevist leader In Europe; he had only to break with Lloyd George and with Clemenceau to replace Lenine and Trotsky and unquestionably Bolshevism would have gained instead of declining in the following months. But the Idea that Lloyd George, Orlando or Clemenceau could have accepted Mr. Wilson's leadership and permitted him to settle the European and Asiatic problems in accordance with his own personal conceptions rests upon the major fallacy that the mass of the people of the countries these men represented were themselves prepared to accept Mr. Wilson's ideas. Had this been the case all would have been simple. But as Fiume, the question of reparations, the everlasting puzzle of . Ireland, if you please, well demonstrated, the majority of the people were not willing and their ministers having to choose be
tween losing the majority or the minority, chose to stand with the ma- ' jority. . Mr. Wilson's gravest mistake, in
my judgment, lay in his original misapprehension of the real facts. He thought, he believed, that there would be a peace of conciliation; he believed the mass of the plain people of the world were prepare to make any sacrifice to bring this about, and he believed that the Fourteen Points and the League of Nations would take care of everything. Not only did he believe it, but he proclaimed the fact and many people who heard him also
believed it. Then, when it became perfectly clear that Europe was still Europe, and that no American solution, based largely on a mixture of sublime faith and appalling unfamiliarity with the underlying facts, could or would be permitted to solve anything, he was attacked on all sides
by those who had accepted his orig-
the end France would be glad that
the president had come to the peace conference, because his had been a
usefully moderating Influence.
And this raises the last point, with
which I shall deal here. Was it wise
for the president to go to Paris?
Should he have stayed away? The Paris view, the view of all Americans
in Paris on this question was, I think, unanimous. With all the great and
little nations of the alliance represented by their executives, by their prime ministers, how could the United
J States have been represented except ! hv . th nrn!i1nt? We mieht have
made a separate peace, we might have chosen to let Europe make its terms, since we had no. demands of our own to make and then have accepted them,
perhaps it would have been wiser, but if we chose to go to Paris at all, we
had to go represented by the officer of the country who ranked with the representatives of the other great and
small powers of the world. Criticise Mr. Wilson as one may, it is still necessary to recognize that at a task, which to be sure was selfchosen, he worked with an energy and fidelity beyond question. He was at
it night and day. His was, in a sense, a pathetic figure. Popularity, such as had come to him in the first hours of his stay, disappeared, he was remote, he had not the capacity for making friends and he had an infinite capacity for being misunderstood. Paris by turns laughed at him and passionately criticised him, misinterpreting his adhesion to academic notions as, in fact, actual championship of Germany. Hopes Slipped Away Little by little most of what he had hoped for slipped away. He saw Europe as it was, not as he had imagined it. The little group in Grillon Hotel passed in part from open sycophancy to equally open criticism; he found the politicians, whose fervor for his ideals, as expressed in his public statements, had convinced him of their faith in them, suddenly ranged against him in disputes on which no two men could honestly differ as a matter of principle. In such political adventures he was no match for Lloyd George and could neither understand nor follow the agility with which the British prime minister leaped from one side of a question to the other, as the direction of British public opinion seemed to change. In the end the treaty terms which were made, amounted to a recognition of the reasonable and the rejection of the extreme claims of all the nations at war with Germany, so far as Germany was concerned. Had the president had his way they would have been milder, had he not been at the
peace conference I am certain they would have been more severe. But they were European terms, pure and simple, as they were always bound to be. The president had not dominated the conference. He could not domi
nate it. He had found himself in the presence of an unyielding opposition when he threatened -to go home, if his associates did not yield. He then declined the opportunity to turn the world over to Bolshevism because he could not have his own way and for this he is now being assailed by the American parlor Bolsheviki, which begins and ends with the assertion that Mr. Wilson could have had his own way and that he is to be ' blamed, therefore, for not producing that millenium. To be sure he more or less
promised this thing, but it was impos
sible at all times, for reasons whicn
are themselves the explanation of a
thousand years, and more of Euro pean, and for that matter, human his tory.
"WE WANT NO CHAOS OR ANARCHY," SLOGAN OF GERMAN BOURGEOISE
4s?v V, Her H m 1
Am.; -ret ,iL2Tx
talking act will also be on the billV
while Albert Ray will be seen In "Mar-! ried in Haste," a five-reel Fox pnH auction. The first dramatic show of; the season will be Edna Goodrich in) "When We Were Twenty-One," Sep-j tember 10, followed by the musical! comedy "Going Up" and Neil O'Brien's i Minstrels.
GIVEN SALARY INCREASE
(By AocI.tM Press) -INDIANAPOLIS. June 28. Countyi superintendents of public instruction' in seventeen counties in Indiana have: been granted salary Increases under provisions of the law enacted at the last session of the legislature. Ten of the superintendents were given the maximum increase of $1,000. The counties which increased salaries are
Wayne, Wabash. Clark, Clinton. Per-
born. Grant, Howard. Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Laporte and Newton. The law provides that a salary increase not exceeding $1,000 may begranted by the county commissioners upon petition by 400 freeholders of a county. In five counties final action has not been taken on' petitions filed.
Among German bourgeoise the fear of Bolshevism is very reaL MWfl want no chaos or anarchy," reads this banner which was carried recently through the streets of Leipzig at the head of a procession of bourgeois marchers.
Questions Unsoluble.
ARTEMAS DOCKS
fBy Associated Press
NEWPORT NEWS. Va., June 27.
The transport Artemas arrived here
today from St. Nazalre with 4, bUO officers and men, including members of
ine idea that such complicated the 54th Dioneer infantry, created
questions as those presented by the rrom the old 71st New York regiment
mixture of populations in central and
eastern Europe can be settled as not to inspire several of the races to feel themselves wronged, with a determination to fight again, Is patently preposterous, and events are proving it to be such. Mr. Bonar Law said in the House of Commons the other day that not less than twenty wars were going on in Europe at the moment; the Serbs and the Italians, the Hungarians and the Roumanians, the Poles and the Germans, will never jointly
accept any settlement of their bound
aries; the League of Nations cannot
prevent conflicts which the victorious
alliance against Germany at this mo
ment is unable to halt; and behind all else lies hidden the colossal problem
of Russia, with an infinite number of
apprehensions to be felt.
Mr. Wilson encouraged the idea that he could go to Europe and solve this problem, settle all these questions. He undoubtedly believed this
and many of his followers believed it
also. Once in Europe he found that all he could possibly accomplish was to get the best possible organization of the League of Nations and hope that out of it would develop a method for avoiding wars. Conceivably he is wrong again, in believing the League of Nations can accomplish this, conceivably he is right; this is a matter for years of controversy, but since he encouraged the idea that the insoluble could be solved, he is now attacked by those, who, not having had his experience, still believe in the efficiency of hi3 principles, and, that had they been applied, these same principles would have solved everything. But if the president is being attacked by one wing for having failed, for having stayed in Europe instead of quitting and coming home, thus bringing about a general crash, it seems to me that he deserves the approval and respect of all thoughtful men and women who do not believe
that Bolshevism, from one end oT
Europe to the other, with a possible small price to pay for for putting certain liberal, or so-called liberal ideas into effect. If Mr. Wilson, when he found Clemenceau and Lloyd George could not follow his ideas without falling, had quit Europe, I firmly believe that there would have been Bolshevistic explosions from the Channel eastward and perhaps in Britain; Germany might yet have won the war, and France, Italy, Europe have been ruined.
Stayed and Fought Facing the dilemma, the president stayed and made such fight as he could for his programme. Clemenceau told a labor delegation just before"!
left Paris that he did not believe any one could have made a better fight and odd circumstance Clemenceau, who began by sneering openly at the president, had ended by feeling for him a considerable measure of respect and liking. I have heard more than one Frenchman of real weight say that in
Many negroes, members of the 520th
engineers, also were aboard.
The light of the sun exerts a pres
sure of 70,000 tons on the earth, ac cording to a British scientist.-
RUSS BOLSHEVIKS RAISE MONUMENT
r
Bolshevik monument in Moscow.
The first Russian Bolshevik monument was recently erected in Mos
cow. The white block bears the in
scription, "A Band of White Guards," and represents the old regime. The wedge driven into the top of the
block symbolizes the Bolshevik over
throw of the White Guard. The
wedge is of brilliant red.
HELPED HER UTTtE GIRL.
Children need all their strength for
growing. A lingering cold weaken!
them so that the system Is open to at
tack by more serious sickness. Mrs.
Amanda Flint. Route 4. New Phllidel
phla, O., writes: "Foley's Honey and
Tar cured my little girl of the worst tickling cough. I had tried many things and found nothing to help until
I got Foley's Honey and uar." Gives
Immediate relief from distressing, rack
ing, tearing coughs; ' soothes and heals.
Good for colds, croup and whooping cough. For sale by A. G. Luken & Co.
Adv. ...
Big Musical Act Will Be Murray Feature Next Week The Six Musical Nosses, consisting of two handsome men and four beautiful ladies, who will headline the bill opening next Monday matinee at the Murray for the first half, are presenting this season what may be termed the very acme of musical accomplishments in. their varied and classical
programs, lnis act does not neea any introduction to patrons of vaudeville. It has toured the world extensively for
the last fifteen years, and they are able to present a program which is
bound to please all. The players are making a specialty this season of saxaphones and their jazz and popu
lar music as rendered upon these in
struments is the hit of their act. The minute your eyes rest upon this musi
cal production and you view the lav
ish investiture you realize you will see something unusual, which Is borne
out by the music rendered. This act
is credited with one of the big hits of the Keith circuit this season, and no doubt will be royally received here.
Appearing upon the same bill will
be Eary and Eary, man and woman
acrobats and contortionists, and Newell and Most, a very clever comedy
duo. Bryant Washburn in his latest
Paramount picture, "The Way of a
Man With a Maid," will be the pictor
ial offering. "Love and Kisses," a
miniature musical .comedy composed
of seven girls and two men with spe
cial scenery and music will be the
headline attraction opening Thursday
for the week-end. This act is headed
by Eddie Riley and Jack Collins, two
clever comedians, and Louise Baxter,
a winsome souDrette, supporteu dv a
rosebud chorus" of seven girls. .Grun
dy and Young, two colored comedians,
and Burnum and Yant, singing and
Henry J. Pohlmeyer Harry C DowningOr XL StegsU Murray Ck DHavea
Pohlmeyer, Downing & Co.
Funeral Directors
13 N. 10th 8t
Phone 1335
Suits Dry Cleaned
and Pressed
$1.25
CATARRH is worse in Winter. Get rid of it now in a month, and permanently, by using Brazilian Balm as directed. Get to spot twice a day. Get the 50 cent or $1 size and be thorough.
SUITS PRESSED, 50o TROUSERS Cleaned and Pressed 50c CARRY AND SAVE PLAN Altering, Repairing and Pressing done by practical tailors
JOE MILLER, Prop. 617J Main Street. Second Floor.
They Are Always Grateful For Cuticura Soap Because it means skin comfort and skin health. For shaving, bathing and shampooing it is wonderful. Its pore-cleansing, sterilizing properties will prove a revelation to those who use it for the first time. Assisted by touches of Cuticura Ointment, it does much to clear the skin of pimples, rashes, eczemas and irritations and the scalp of dandruff and itching. SW Cuticura Toilet Trio "W3 Consisting of Soap: Ointment and Talcum are indispensable adjuncts of the daily toilet in maintaining skin purity and skin health. By bringing these delicately medicated emollients in frequent contact with your skin as in use for all toilet purposes, you keep the skin, scalp, hair and hands clear, sweet and healthy. The Soap, Ointment and Talcum 25c each everywhere.
Dr. E. B. Grosvenor Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat, Scientific glass fitting. 32 S. 8th, City Light Bldg.
0ldest,Largest and Strongest Trust Company,
nuascern inaian
CAPITAL AND
SURPLUS
$350,000.00.
Make This Bank Your Bank For many years we have been in close touch with the banking requirements of this section of Indiana and we have developed our equipment to a point of unexcelled completeness and efficiency. Make this progressive bank your bank. Checking and Savings Accounts invited, 3 interest is paid on savings.
UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION PENNSYLVANIA LINES EVERY SUNDAY EXCURSION , TO CINCINNATI
Q-H 65
1
We have several cars of Nut Antricite en route, it will bunch on us This is LACKAWANNA COAL None better. Must be delivered from cars. Our bins are full and we are short of yard room. HERE IS YOUR CHANCE Give us your order and save money The Independent Ice & Fuel Co, Phone 3465
Round
Trip
Including War Tax
Excursion Trains leave Richmond 4:45 and SiOO m. m. Central Time.
Dr. J. J. Grosvenor Practice Limited to Internal Medicine City Light Building, 32 S. 8th St
DO IT NOW !
The rapidity with which recovery often occurs as a result of Expert Chiropractic Adjustments, seem to those without experience, almost incredible. The time is coming when everybody will have their spine adjusted, thereby adding years to their lives and life to their years. We assure you there are no embarrassing examinations, as our examinations are all made from the spine. Don't say it can't be done Investigate. Consultation and Spinal Analysis Free at the Office Do It Now ..... 1 "In Business for Your Health" "3'!$? CHIROPRACTORS G. C. Wilcoxen, D. C. C. H. Groce, D. C, Assistant Phone 1603. Res. Phone 1810. 35 S. 11th St Hours 1 to 4; 6 to 7 p. m. and by appointment
53
El