The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-07-17

BY J. r.. Jones.

BY j. E. Jones.
It Is doubtful whether the national
capital has ever, in all history, given
to any one, so generous and sponta-
neous a welcome as that which was
extended to President Wilson upon
his return to this country. For once
the folks just went down to the
train and waited"-and 1t was a long
wait, for the belated train did not
pull into the train shed until mid
night. Finally the President and Mrs.
Wilson arrived, and as usual, they
were whisked through the crowds,
with the usual amount of cheering,
and the President bowling to right
and left from his swiftly moving au-
tomobile. Down the avenue, with
more crowds, and more cheering
and then through the gates to the
White House-home again!
To the initiated the event might
have seemed like a very ordinary
form Of greeting to the head of the
nation. But those who have been in
Washington long years know that 40
president ever received such a wei
come from the capital The reasons
are two-fold, and prosaically stated,
the party of the first part is the
public" which rubs elbows daily
with the great and near-great, and
comes to the inevitable conclusion
that all men and women are made Of
the same kind of clay, and possessed
Of the same foibles and virtues as
all the other people. With this sort
OF a pessimistic outlook on life the
President is not apt to become as
famous" in Washington as the aver
age congressman back home where
his identity is impressed upon the
masses once or twice year
President Wilson as party of the
second part, has not been a popular
hero" in Washington. He never has
mixed" as did Mr.. Taft and Colonel
Roosevelt and his aloofness has not
served to make him personally popu-
lar Likely, had Washington been an
enfranchised part of the United
States in the last election, Mr.. Hughes
would have had landslide. When
the armistice was arranged, the OPP
position to Mr.. Wilson was terrific.
1t may be large task to interpret
the feelings and sentiments of a
crowd especially in heterogeneous
Washington; but as the correspond
ent of the Register watched this great
event it seemed that here was an
instance where men and women from
all over the country gathered to
quietly express their approval of the
efforts made for the highest ideals
of civilization. In their minds poll
tics was adjourned"
Critical Washington did not mean
to say that it unreservedly approved
the work of the peace conference,
and the plan Of the League of Ma
tions. But what this great welcome
home expressed emphatically was the
confidence of the people. and i'm.
measurable respect for the way in
which the President has handled the
biggest problems that have ever been
put up to any human being in the
history of the world. 1t was non-par-
tisan Americanism Of the finest kind,
for this exactng crowd stood, more
than any l have ever seen before,
for the finest ideals that America
can hope to achieve. 1t was that
rarest of rare things; the heart Of
the capital OF the nation expressing
itself
In the subsequent events much has
and will happen, that will change the
attitude of our public" as party Of
the first part, and our president, as
party of the second part; but the
two never got closer to each other
than they did on the night of the
homecoming Of Woodrow Wilson.
The condition that the government
is trying to produce by way of rail-
road reconstruction. in order that the
lines may be turned back to their
owners on a workable basis. seeks
to make the properties pay their own