Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-03-16
MAKING WAR EASIER
THAN OBTAINING PEACE.
Ruling Score of Peace Delegates and Keeping an Eye
People and Their Interests Proves
Big Proposition.
by JOIN ;. Steele.

BY JOHN >. STEELE.
Paris, March l5-Any one who inn
AGNES that making Dcucc il an easier
business than making war. or that
PRESIDENT Wilson has easier joO
than General l'crshing had. has an
othe: guess coming. Ruling AN army
Of a couple Of millions OF doughboys
ana watching out for the tricks OF the
task Of looking after Il few score Of
peace delegates and Keeping an eye
on all the people and interests. enemy
and otherwise. who are anX ious TO pui
something over at the peace confer
ence. And make no mistake about it,
y lot OF the European politicians
thought they were going TO find AN
easy mark in our idealistic President,
and that l. would he easy 10 work their
little schemes Of personal and narrow
national interest. They have found out
their mistake. Woodrow Wilson in
i'dris l. the same au;ocrat that Wood
row wilson in Washington was and i.
and the conference had been IN ses-
IN the cafes and on the boulevards and
IN the other places where The political
Eossips meet. ceased asking. What
does the conference think" and be-
gan asking. What does Mr.. Wilson
say
And there you have q subtle disiinc-
ton. Nobody cared what the Old
Statesmen OF the conference said
Everybody wanted 10 know what they
really thought No one asks what Mr.
that what he thinks he says
THREE MEN ATTENDING
THE CONFERENCE COUNT
( Right here. lest there should he any
/ misundersta ndng. let me say that. al
/ IL By no means AN unyieidinS OF un-
! rcasona BILE autocrat. As matter OF
,act. there are three men at the con
feernce who matter. They are Wood
[ row Wilson. Of the United States; Lloyd
I George. OF England. and Clemenceau. of
I France All the rest ar. nowhere 4
/ lot Is written about the Big EiN,'' "A nd
I the Council OF Ten but there really
is only a Big Three. and in that Big
Three Mr.. Wilson claims no pre-
I cedence. but like an English arch
| bishop among his bishops is merely
PFimus Inter Fares. which in ordin-
AIRY United states means first among
| equals
/ Clemenceau is satisfied because it is
perfectly well understood that the
/ powers at present in possession OF the
; colonies Will be the mandatory powers.
and IL is equally we'll understood that
| istration they never viii be compelled
10 reiinquish them. The President is
satiSned because he has made the title
/ 20 the colonies rest on good admins
/ tration. and ii can be evoked in the
| case OF outrages like those falsely at
! trlbuted by German agents 70 the Bel
! gian administration in the konga
SAYS PRESIDENT is NOT
IMPRACTICAL IDEALIST
Let II not be understood. however.
that the President is proving AN i'm
I
who must be KEEP; in check by his
/ more practical colleagues. Woodrow
wilson; while his principles are founded
! on nigh ideals. is an exceedingly prac-
/ tical politician when il comes TO put
tins those principles into effect All
! the European politicians. for Instance
I Understood by his phrase open cove
! nants openly arrived at" that he would
/ insist on public meetings OF the peace
conference. and they proceeded with
Z meetings
! The proprietor of one OF The great
est French newspapers described this
! situation TO me in an epigram last
I nigh; and described il with absolute
! accuracy. We have at the confer
encc he said. three great men. We
/ have on the one side NJ Wilson. IN.
idealst. on the other NJ. ClerncncentI,
I the realiSt, and between them NJ Iloyd
! George. the opportuniSt." This may
SOUND rather cruel 10 Mr.. Lloyd George.
! but he did not use the word ''opporrun-
Which II usually bears in England
re meant IL as compliment and in
mat sense IL is absolutely true LLOYD
Georges genius for arriving at a com
/ nonsense compromise is nowhere more
nseful than in reconciling the perhaps
sometime simpracticaI idealism of the
! PRESIDENT with the stark realism and
practically of the old French Premier
whose own people love 10 refer 10 him
as the Tiger"
FUTURE CONTROL. OF COLONIES
PROVES IMPORTANT SUBJECT
An excellent example of compromise
OF this sort is the decision arrived ut
about the future control Of tho colo
MES formerly owned by Germany by
civilized powers acting under a man
date from the league Of nations Ii is
no secret that the preSi dcnt wanted
these colonies administered directly By
the league OF nations and the eiimina-
/ ton of all European national inter-