The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1918-12-14
WILSON ABROAD FULFILLING
A GREAT NATIONAL MISSION

the president of the United States is on foreign soil, the guest
of another government.
route to Paris should gladden. the heart of every patriotic citizen.
1t was more than a personal ovation; it was a magnificent
testimonial to the part the country of which he has the disinc-
tion of being the chief executive had in the war.
Whatever satisfaction the president may feel from this out
burst from the volatile French will be shared by the American
people. There will be profound gratitude in America for every
courtesy that is extended to him.
We cherished the hope from the outset that the president
would avail himself OF this opportunity to receive in person
the plaudits of a grateful people, and that he might receive in
person their thanks, and see the gratitude written upon their
faces. 1t was just a private hope of our own, shared though,
we believe, by thousands who have resented silently the unkind
and ungenerous criticism to which he has been subjected BY a
small and inconsequential element that would make any act Of
his, no matter how worthy, the basis of political criticism.
That, of course, is aside from the motive that actuated the
president in determining his conclusion. President Wilson
would never have consented to the violation OF the ancient
tradition ~forbiddng the chief executive to remove his foot from
the soil over which he has jurisdiction, except for the reason that
he felt impened to adopt such a course in order that he might
render a great public service.
The peace conference at Versailles will be the elimination
Of the world tragedy of war. While it is almost a sacrilegc
to say so, it is so utterly %unthinkable, it would be possible for
much that has been achieved to be lost at that conference.
President Wilson goes to the conference as the spokesman
for the American people, The vast majority of the people are
in sympathy with his views, and will sustain him in every pos
sibe way. 1t may be stated further that the soldiers and sailors
are with him to a man.
Efforts have been made to accentuate apd exaggeratc the
surface indications of some slight differences Of opinion believed
TO exist between the president and the leaders, Of other nations.
The trouble with some of the presidents CRITICS is that
they don't know what his views are, and their interpretations
are OF views winch n mas never expressed. lney nave dlSueu
from their own baseless assumptions.
To begin with, the president has the confidence of his peo-
pie, and he may r~ightfuly claim to be the spokesman Of the
people il his future acts correspond as nearly with their judg-
ment as his course has in the past.
What has the president done that anyone should become
:apprehensive' Has he displayed any lack of Judgment in deal,
ing with affairs connected with the prosecution of the war
There have been times when the American people thought he
might be pursuing a doubtful course, but in the end he has been
Vindcated by results, which finally must determine the sound
ness of any proposition.
Just now the people are being treated to the revelation of
German propaganda, instituted in 1914, and carried, perhaps,
to the present day. This information was available to the
president from the beginning, and he was familiar with all of it.
There were some in Washington who rather deplored the curt
dismissal Of Won Bernstorff, the German ambassador, whose wife
was an American woman, and who had shown himself a friend
of the United States throughout a long and irreproachable
diplomatic career" The department of justice and the president,
of course, knew every move he made, and what a consummate
scoundrel he was. When the time was appropriate the facts
were revealed to the people, to their great amazement and
chagrn.
1t would not be profitable to recount the varied discussions
that arose over the policies of raising an army, shipbunding,
locating environments and other enterprises so fresh in the minds
OF the public, except to remark that the president was justified
in every instance,
VIZ do not grasp the logic of the presidents critics. A few
weeks ago they were charging himSNith tmidity, and now they
are apprehenSve over his audacity.
They feared that he would temporizc> with Germany and
fritter away the hard-earned fruits of victory, but he brought
chaos to Germany, and resolved the nation into a mass of con
tending factions, and broke down its morale, The countless
thousands Of soldiers returning safely owe to him an everlasting
debt OF gratitude for their situation, which, if the war had CON
tinucd, undoubtedly would have been different for many of
Now the fear that he may be so fixed in his opinions that
he may prove unreasonable in his demands is finding expression
There is no more reason for apprehension on one ground
than there is for the other. The president has not failed to cor
recty represent the people in the past. He has s~afeguarded
their rights with a Jealous care. He has assumed some preroga-
tves that were made necessary by the critical state of affairs
through which we were passing, but there is no disposition to
continue the arbitrary authority, since the emergency no longer
exists.
No other man is so we'll qualified to represent this country
and interpret its views. In all probability this country will
experience no inconvenience by his brief absence. but il ma,
profit greatly speaking in terms OF humanity and Justice, by
his presence at the conference. That the spokesman for the
allied nations believe he can render a splendid service is mani
tested by their eagerness to have him present. They wanted
hin there because they felt that they could work together If
harmony, and not TO promote diSscnsion, otherwise his presence
would not have been so much III demand.
This country is fortunate in having President Wilson's
counsel at the peace conference, where the work of making tn,
world safe for democracy is to be finished.
We are on the eve of an era Of great prosperity, and, if so
the same old gang will absorb the prosperity.