New Britain herald., 1919-01-03
SECRETS" "ABOUT"COL. HOUSE

they require little personal attention. There never was a time when his prl vate office consisted of more than one man, who was in the role of manager. Mir. House always conducted his bust. ness affairs in the same quiet, unosten- taious way that he has directed great political movements. He regarded his own private business interests as of no concern to the general public, and for this reason little is known of what his property holdings consist, or how much he is worth.
 If Mir. House runs true to form aE the Peace Conference, he will make no speeches there, but in. failing to do this the effect of his influence will not be lessened. Fortified as he doubtless will be with 8 mass of information drawn from all possible sources and backed up by some of the greatest ex- perts in the several subjects involved, there will be no escaping or the part of the Allies the weight that he will thus bring to bear for the adoption of any particular course of action in the draft ing of the peace treaty,
 Averse to Publicity
 It Is known that Mir Houses inveS tigat1ons during the last several months also have been directed to the oues lining of feasible and effective plan for creating 8 league of nations. It will not be surprising if he lays be- fore the Peace Conference a complete report on this subject. It was lar gely through the urgent advice of Mir. House that President Wilson decided to attend the Peace Conference. Tn arriving at this decision 1t is said that the question of possible party expediency in the President absenttng himself from the country was not con- sidered. The success or failure of the Democratic party in the next national election is viewed as a secondary mat ter, as compared with the worldwide results to be accomplished at the Peace Conference, according to the views of MT. House and coincided in by President Wilson.
 There Is nothing feigned about Mir. Houses aversion to publicity; he has been that way all of his life. The umelight is more than distastefu1 to him. It strikes & discordant note in his otherwise peaceful, smooth-run. ming career. By this it is not meant that he objects altogether to any men tion being made of him in the public press, but what he dislikes above all things is publication of stories that place him in a. wrong and sometimes ridiculous light. He is appreciative of the truth being told about him. He takes no special credit to himself for the position that he has reached in public affairs. It has come largely unsolicited and uninvited on his part. He wants always to remain in the background. He was that way during all of his activities in Demo. cratic politics in Texas. He never cultivated especially newspaper re. porters or writers, although he has some very warm friends among the fraternity. One of his practices is never to make public denial of any. thing that may be published about him. If by any chance he happens to divulge a piece of news of impor- tance, he always insists that it be not published as coming from him. Some further idea of his natural diffidencS may be had when it is stated that it was not until he became known As the private adviser of President Wil- son that his picture was published in any newspaper, When applied to in person for a, photograph of himself he made the excuse that he had none available. It was only after a long search among his friends in Austin that a photograph of him was found. Copies of this picture are still the only ones in stock in the "morgues' of most newspapers in the country.
 Like most men who are in the pub lie eye, MT. House has been credited with anecdotes that he never perpe- trated. He Is one of few men whose life has been along such even lines as not to be marked with noteworthy incidents. This statement may seem paradoxical in view of the fact that he has become one of the worlds most noted men. His elevation to this point has come without friction, without any outward personal display and with such apparent harmony in his own life movement as to appear perfectly ordinary and usual. Men in AuS+ir, yho have known NiY1 iv1%g. mataly for thirty years. when asked to tell of any unusual incident that they know concerning his life, replied that they could recall nothing about him out of the ordinary.
 Service His Ambition