Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-09-02
SWINGING SENTIMENT.

When q person looks back over the
last three years he sees that Won
derful change OF viewpoint has found
lodement In the American mind. 1t
did not come as a sudden opening or
the eyes TO the truth. but was grad
ual evolution. Just how much the
president himself has been subject 10
this growth. or how much OF 1t was
planned In his mind while the public
, vet thot he was OF a different opinion.
probably not even Mr.. Wilson himself
could tell. II he has shared the gem
eral evolution OF opinion along with
the rest Of US, IL is not TO his discredit
I that he could not see farther than
/ the rest of us, but II Is TO his credit
that he had the courage TO change his
mind when he found his former view
was wrong. II, on the other hand.
as appears most likely, he has gently
and unostentatiously led the public to
see things as he saw them without
giving them a shock. he must be cred
I tied with being a very astute states
/ II.
out It would probably describe a COM
promise between these two PROPOSE
I tions. The president mas evidently
changed his mind frequently and
radically. yet at the same time in
many things, while halting behind the
radicals, he has been considerably in
advance Of the masses and has chosen
to draw them up to his standard al
most imperceptibly, rather than TO
precipitate n violent division Of senti-
ment by radical procedure.
Much has been said about the ex-
traordlnary powers which the presi-
dent of this nation holds. He is more
OF an autocrat should he choose TO
exercise them, than some of the
crowned heads OF the old world. The
checks which congress holds upon
him are less rigorous than the consti-
tutional limitations placed upon the
king of England. But there is one
power that even the president must
consult and that is public sentiment.
He cannot go far in advance of that
/
no avail II he runs counter to II.
Necessarily therefore, he must wait
for the development Of favorable
sentiment before he can take any rad
ical steps, for to do otherwise would
doubtless imperil himself II not pre-
cipitate internal disturbances which
he would be unable to control. 1t has
been the part OF wisdom, therefore, if
Mr. Wilson, instead OF proclaiming the
full import OF his intents point blank,
has been content to take step at n
time and let the public have time to
digest one innovation before it was
called on to face another.
We can all remember that back in
1914 there were few people in Amer
lea with the courage to declare that
this nation had any interest in the
copflict that would justify It's taking
any part in the fray Those who did
- were denounced as agitators and
disturbers, as having more zeal than
Judgment. II was the prevailing
opinion that the conflict was one in
that the wisest as well rs the best,
way for us was to keep n level head
and refrain from taking sides in any
way Even the president himself eau
toned us TO be strictly neutral and
: give neither party cause for offense.
1t was long time before he would
even acknowledge that the possibii-
ties OF the case made 1t imperative
for us TO prepare to defend ourselves,
= and then 1t was not contemplated
that we should be an active partici-
pant unless directly attacked. II was
thot to be unreasonable that we
should send men and ships to a for
eign shore TO aid in checking the peril
Of Prussianism. We did not recog-
nize the peril to ourselves and our
institutions Many who were willing
TO take up arms to resist an invader
would have baked at the idea Of
fighting on foreign soil.
But II is not primarily the presi-
dent who has brought us to n different
opinion. The course pursued by Ger
) many, beginning with the Lusitania
murder. has been one calculated to
make us resentful. Instead of encour-
aging this resentment, the president
= counseled moderation and argument.
The result was. as outrage after out
rage was heaped upon us. that the
time came when the people actually
demanded that the president act forci-
: bly,, and he was bitterly criticized for
: his slowness. Little by little the senti-
: hment OF America has shifted until
: now we are not only feverishly pre-
pairing for q big fight but are ac-
tually sore because the die was not
cast sooner. As we said in the begin
ming. If Mr.. Wilson engineered his
'oolicy along with the development of
events so as 10 keep just little in
rdvance of prevailing public senti-
ment, so that he should be called
hpon TO declare war instead of in
flicting war upon doubtful people.
he certainly Is entitled for great credit