New-York tribune., 1919-03-10
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PR,
Reviving Johnsonism


with states which had rebelled against
the Union as Germany and her satellites
rebelled against civilization. The un-
derlying purpose of the peace sought in
1865, although relating to a more cir
cumscribed area, was the same as that
sought in 1919-namely, to restore what
had been and to safeguard the future.
Magnanimity and breadth of vision were
needed fifty years ago as now, but for
time confusion prevailed equal to that
of to-day.
The parallelism reaches beyond the
purposes of the peace--appears in the
arguments of the two sides. Lincoln had
-yaged the war on the ground that no
state had a right to secede When beat
en- the opponents cf union, quickly shift
ing their position, became loud friends
of strict constitutional union. They
twisted the doctrine that no state
had a right to secede into the doctrine
that no state had in fact seeded; with
plausible, artificial logic they argued
that, no state having been in law out
of the Union, all states must be
treated in fact as in it. Lincon's sue
cessors were fiercely assailed as false
to theiS own principles; exceptional
treatment of the defeated was denounced
as the sum of all iniquities. Ears are
now afflicted with a similar din of talk
directed to proving that the Allies, hav-
ing contended no nation has a right to
rebel against civilization, are estopped
from recognizing that some have done
so and that others must not be allowed
to repeat the offence.
The parallelism goes even further than
the field of argument In 1865 Andrew
Johnson, the original "peace without
victory man, became President, and
hotly espoused the policy that the settle
ment must not and could not include any
state. With great fury he ragged up and
down the country, misused the powers
of his office, attacked Congress and con-
demned the exaction of guarantees as
not only unconstitutional but as a be-
trayal of the sacred objects of the war.
Many were deceived by the specious
nonsense among them no less a person
than William H. Seward, who was, as
it were, the Taft of 1865. President
Johnson, his mood not dissimilar to that
now displayed in Washington, held that
the settlement was solely his business
and that the elected representatives of
the people had nothing to do with it.
History thus repeats itself in the
present general policy of the Wilson
Administration - namely, Germany as
near as may be, is to be treated as if she
had never seeded from civilization. 1t
also repeats itself in the spirit
at the White House with respect to the
privileges of the Executive Department.
The chapter on the Johnson Admins
traton in "a History of the American
People," by Woodrow Wilson, furnishes
highly suggestive reading at the present
juncture-may be said to foreshadow
President Wilson's attitude toward world
peace and Germany and toward the
legislative branch Of the government.
The chapter is prolonged sneer at the
~, l.xJl
pensable to safeguard domestic peace
The johnson policy showed a most
suspicious bulge which had the look of
the old secessionist cat, and President
johnson notably covered the principles
OF his party when he put on his hat,
often changing between dinner and tea,
but these things apparently did not in
terest DR.. Wilson, the historian. He
was not much moved by the Civil War
tragedy or sy its humanitarian issues,
and coolly assumed that in the main
johnson was right. He acknowledges
johnson lacked ability and tact. but
seems to attribute his failure to these
deficiencies rather than to the badness of
his ideas.
johnson was crude and uneducated
while President Wilson is smooth and
scholarly, but it is remarkable to what
degree the present Administrators pol
icy is a revival Of the Johnson policy. Just
as President Johnson, who escaped i'm
parchment and removal through the last
hour grace of his opponents, held that
the settlement should ignore what was
and had been, so President Wilson has