Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-08-08
NATIONAL CAPITAL
is .BEWILDERED
OVER GRAVEISSUES
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
jCopyright, 1919 for The Atlant<
Journal.)

WASHINGTON, Aug. domestic
and foreign pl oblems croWding each
OF. er in unprecedented congestion
an. i4ritatinr confusion make a
clear Interpretation of what is hap
pening nowadayf, 4 Washington no
les difficulty to the person in posi-
ton of official responsibility than to
disinterested observers. All that the
cabinet officer of high official
knows outside of the pressing ques-
ito within his own jurisdiction was
that with the return of President
Wilson from Europe and the ending
of the, peace negotiations almost all
zthee aceuInulMted Or POSTPONED dt=
lemmas of more than two y
standi- have S ddenly thrust them
selves to the front with irresistible
momentum to demand attention.
Congress seems rLdderless. The
Republican party has not yet found
itself. Sharp criticisms inside the
party indicate a desire to reach an
equilibrium and a definite program
in both houses. Also the executive
branch of the :.oyernment being
opposite ! ."ty introduces element
of sub ed and occas ally open
hostility between two coordinate
parts of the .1vernment when the
general public is anxious shali work
together harm oloa yrr IN critical DAYS
(
The senate is leisL- rly considering
the peace treatv. The house is In a
| of unpleasant expectation, for
President Wilson on Friday Will de-
liver an address devoted entirely to
the cost of livi~~ and giving tho
gress lies some relief from the con-
ditions which are producing such
widesnrc dissatisfaction and un-
rest. Menacing too is the. virtual
holdup by the railroad brotherhoods
Which in itse!" is not causing SO
much apprehension but when 1t IS
feared may prove contagious ana
mean serious efforts to convert other
Industries to the soviet system OF
mana genl.nt.
While the peace treaty lies in the
senate foreign relations committee
the hostility between republican SEN
ators and the president is tending to-
ward increase rather than dlnunltIoIl'
At the White House Mr.. Wilson calm
ly takes his time answering the
numerous requests for information
embodied in a Series of senate resolu-
lions.
At the capitol, quizzing and cross
examination of the various officials,
on the American mission to nego-
Siate peace continues.
Secretary Lansing's discontinue
as the embarrassing line of inquiry
pursued by the questioners will not
soon beforgotten. What is revealed
in black and hite was simply what
everybody who knew went to Paris,
that the American peace mission was
a one-man affair with woodrow
Wilson the sole director and execu-
tive thereof. Mr.. Lansing really
ceased to be secretary of state and
became merely a member of the peace
mission.
To Colonel House, for exemple,
was delegated much more important
and vital tasks than Secretary Lans-
ing. What the senate has just
brought out is that as secretary of
state, Mr.. Lansing was without
knowledge of many things that hap
pened while he was a member of
the American peace mission. If they
call other officials of the mission,
they will find others equally ,ignor-
ant.
The important councils were those
in which only the four premisers
and President Wilson participated.
Frequently those lasted all day and
the end of a nerve wracking ordeal
which was practically without recess,
Mr.. Wilson often found himself un-
able to repeat all the conversation
of many hours duration. Minutes
were kept for a while but even this
provided stumbling block.