The Glenwood post., 1918-12-07
DEMOCRATS NEED
REORGANIzING
CONTINUED from page q


touch with the true spirit of America
on domestic questions. He has listened
to q small group of advisers who have
had his ear to the exclusion of the
from the middle west and west and sec
tions of the east where people are find
ing it difficult to reconcile the brand
of democracy which Mr.. Wilson
preached at the outset of his admins
tration with the retention of distinctly
autocratic and bureaucratic advisers
and with his own seclusiveness.
Second, the friends of the president
are unable to understand why George
Creel should be taken to Europe rs the
head of any committee on public in
formation when Mr. Creel, notwith
standing his fine personality and close
personal friendship for the president,
has lost the confidence of the Ameri-
can press, and thereby the people.
Third, the friends of Mr.. Wilson be
heve grave mistake was made in an
nouncing the dispatch of Mr.. Creel TO
Europe at the same time that Post
master General Burleson was permitted
to take over control of the Atlantic
cables. These things have been de-
nounced as Colossal bunders,'' not
merely by Republicans, but by Mr.
Wilson s most loyal friends, who mean
nothing personal by it, either.
Fourth, they believe that Mr.. Will
son IS cabinet is superannuated, and in
rut, and that the resignation of Viii
liam Gibbs McAdoo deprives the ad-
ministration of one of its most eff
cient public servants, and that the
president should have never permitted
him to resign until after recon struction
was well under way, or at least Mr.
Wilson had returned from Europs
Fifth, they consider that southern
domination in congress and elsewhere
will prove fatal to the Democratic
party's chances to regain the conf
dence of western electorates.
Sixth, they are deeply disappointed
that Mr.. Wilson himself should have
kept himself aloof from men from va
rious states, who have sought to aid
him in the past, and that he should
have depended so much on his own
Judgment or the advice of small
group of provincially minded advisers
Seventh, and most important of all
there is a deep-rooted feeling that Mr.
Wilson has not taken account of the
resentment of the American people for
his failure to take into his councils on
foreign affairs Republicans as well as
Democrats. 1t is true that there are
some Republicans who are not in sym
pathy with Mr.. Wilson IS ideas, but
many Republicans would be, if taken
into the presidents S confidence.
Close friends of the president believe
it Is his duty, at least, to call into con
ference Republicans of all shades of
opinion and lay before them the pro-
gram he intends to pursue at the peace
conference.
The last suggestion probably will not
please the president, but the time is
past when friends of Mr.. Wilson ont
of mere respect for his likes and dis
likes, can afford to remain silent. One
of the most curious features of the sit
uation is that some of the men with
whom ! have talked to do not feel that
they can very well tell Mr. Wilson the
truth. Some of them would be willing
to tell him the truth about his loss of
prestige in this country if he only gave
them audience. Others would just a.
soon write him their views and some
have done 80. But the majority of
President Wilson s friends are talking
among themselves of the necessity of
bringing forcibly to Mr.. Wilson's at
tenton that he is drifting away from
the original precepts of openness and
managing the government in a personal
and private way which does not square
with his professions of democracy.
Perhaps the most severe criticism
heard is of Mr. Wilson's decision to go
to Europe at this critical time. No
body begrudges the president a great
part in the settlement of the peace of
the world, nor his remarkable influ.
ence in bringing victory to the allies.
but the feeling of the men who arc
fond of the president and who have
the courage to ~ correspondents hov
they feel is that he treated the Amcri
can people with indifference when he
failed in his first announcement to tel
the exact purpose Of his journey and