Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-07-07
WILS0NSEE
HOLDING KEY
10 HIS FATE.
President Returns Chang
ed Man, With Success
or Failure Ahead.
BIZ DAVID LAWRENCE.
Copyright 1918 By The Argus.)

tOSPS AA6AL 1SL0 Dy ne uS.J
Washington. July 5.-President
Wilson comes t~e', to the White
house next He has been
away six months-an unprece-
: dented length of time in American
Mzetory. He went to Europe with
cerNan ideas and fixed notions
about American politics and con-
gressional diplomacy. But there
is something strikingIy similar in
the psychological problem-the
personal and political equation
which faced Mr.. Wilson as he
turned to the shores of Europe for
the first time and the situation
which confronts him as he ap-
proaches the shores of his own
country.
Holds Key to His Fate.
The president holds in his hands
today as he did last December the
keys to success or failure. The
great climax of his public career is
come. Mr.. Wilson's friends in the
national capital have been aware
of it. They have been thinking
hard and planning and studying
and preparing advice, oral and
written. The president acknowI-
edges that he is out of touch with
the situation inside America. He
wants the counsel of those who
have been intimately in contact
with American affairs, particularly
the maneuvers and strategy of the
Republican leaders who have been
exercising their American right to
pick flaws in the peace program
and present their views. Mr.. Will
son comes back to debate with
them before the American people,
before the bar of public opinion
which has sometimes disappointed
him, but often sustained him.
May Have ~Chip On Shoulder"
~ But it would be surprising to
folks here if Mr.. Wilson came back
with a chip on his shoulder and
figuratively accoutered in war
paint That's exactly what they
thought in England and France
when he first set sail from Amer
lea Mr.. Wilson and Prime Min
lister Lloyd George and Premier
Clemenceau had been looking at
each other through the printed
word and the stiff formalities of
diplomatic notes and messages.
British and French newspapers
looked askance at the idea of an
American president coming across
the Atlantic to tell them 'how to
run Europe" A certain stand
offishness and ado about rank and
position and prestige consumed
the month of December. And then
they got together They sat down
and argued with the American
president and found that he was
much more conciliatory than they
imagined, that he disavowed any
intention of running Europe but
made it plain that Americas sig
nature to the peace treaty was not
to be attached to a series of imper-
jalistic settlements, a mere re-
Arrangement of the map of Europe
in guaranteeing the articles Of the
but that if America was to assist
peace treaty they must be of a kind
that would produce healing peace
and not international friction and
bloodshed. His IA points were
vague expressions of principle. |
Those who like the treaty say the
IA points have been carried out. |
i
settlements say the IA points were |
wrecked on the rocRs of political |
expediency in the hope of estab- !
fishing the league of nations which |
was so close to the presidents |
heart. Mr.. Wilson himself calls |
the covenant and the peace treaty /
a start on which nations may ven |
ture in self-assurance and security |
on the always uncertain seas Of |
racial and political riv- I,
airy.
Treaty Better Than Expected.
People who have come to Wash |
ington in the last forenight from |
the vicinity of the American mis- |
sion in Paris say the president did !
not get the kind of a treaty he |
wanted but that he got something |
better than he really expected-he |
got the best he could under the cir
He conceded, yielded, /
demurred and deferred on points |
that might break up the confer |
ence He placed his hope for cor |
Ngcfio1 on the league of nations |
and its commissions and councils |
through which the provisions OF /
the peace treaty are to be executed. |
To those who find fault with the !
neace treaty, Mr.. Wilson offers the
L Ieague of Nations covenant backed
bv an awakened sense Of morality |
and conscience among the nations |
of the world To those who do not /
like the league of nations covenant, |
he offers the opportunity for revis-
ion and correction in the charter of |
the league OF nations itself. To re-
construct the worlds map in six
months, to get signature of score
CONTINUED On Page Nine.) /