The sun., 1919-10-05
SECTION 8
EIGHT PAGES

but permissible whenever the Interna-
uonal Council has been unable to ar
rive at a unanimous decision regard
ing the solution Of any dispute sub
mitted; that there is to be apparently
no international police and no limi-
tation OF ornaments, the world of the
woodrow Wilson millennium in fact
building warships and making soldiers
IKE the very devil then democ-
racy cannot help but think that Mr..
wilson has become q political poker
piayer-that the league is a frameup,
and expresses its opinion In leading
labor paper to. the effect that 1t
would welcome the news that the
American Senate had rejected 1t ale
together. 1t Is confirmed in It's con-
clusions by the news Of a proposal to
establish League OF Nations under
German auspices as a rival to the al
lied league. Now when these two
leagues are fighting for the peace of
the world
The last straw that broke democ-
racy's belief in the Wilson myth was
his acQuiescence in the handing of
Shsntung over to the japanese be-
cause OF the necessity Of a unanimous
decision OF the Allies. even though 1t
was against his personal convictions.
What President Wilson has done is
to accentuate the distrust Of the Brit
ish democracy of secret diplomacy and
the diplomat, and. regret to say, to
Undue II with a distrust Of President
Wilson himself. II the President will
make Independent inquiry and eschew
the views of interested persons he will
fnd this to be no overstatement. De-
mocracy regards him not as a demo-
crat but as a masked reactionary;
autocracy with smiling condescension.
He has pleased no one.
The Presidents Progress.
The Presidents progress, forming a
picture for a twentieth century Ho-
garth, is interesting to the social
psychologist. Nor is. 1t difficult to fol-
low. 1t has had SO many predecessors.
In the beginning Wilson. probably
sincere souled democrat and idealist,
set out to reform the world. In that
"Ecce Homo" psychology Of his hc
saw in himself the divinely inspired
author OF a league OF nations, saw his
descent down the avenue of time as
its founder, caught his reflection in
the mirror OF history. . Then
he went to Paris. Paris has always
been the grave OF reputation.
Somebody, somewhere, somehow,
some day, will tell the story of his
study with Col. House of the maze Of
European treaties before he left. That
is not my business. 1t is enough here
to say that he was attempting to mas
ter in a month what European diplo-
macy had studied through genera
tions. When he reached the confer
ence table he was the amateur playing
against the professional. He was
matching himself. with their own
weapons and on their own ground.
against the astutest brains in Europe.
And he had the same chance as tall
low rabbit in hell with an asbestos
greyhound trailing his heels.
The result, which any one could
foresee. was pointed by his confession
before the Foreign Relations Com
mittee that he brought America into
the war without any understanding
with the Allies as to their treaty obn-
cations. so displaying an ignorance Of
international diplomacy which helped
to explain his failure at the Peace
Conference. Had he kept to his
original weapons-the weapons of the
layman-he was safe. The moment he
took up the poisoned rapiers of diplo-
macy he was finished.
So it was that he found himself en-
tangled in Europe's labyrinthine diplo-
macy, giving a point here. yielding a
principle there. And so there almost
certainly came to him in the privacy
of his room the moment when he had
to make the great choice: whether to
throw up his hands go back to Amer
lea. and make appeal to the democra-
cies OF the world-or to yield and go
down In history as father of the
league. How he choose we now know.
He Is not the first great man to yield
to the personal equation. His Is that
damned idealism" which. with dts
good intentions. has been the pavior OF
Hades.
Europes democracies to-day see the
foundation of a League of Nations
possible only upon the ashes OF the
present league. That Is the point to
which Mr.. Wilson, democrat, has
brought his constituency.