Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-11-29
MOB INFLUENCES ITS
CHIEF JUST AS LEADER
INFLUENCES THE MOB
Many Persons accept Promises and Euen Mere Phrases
Without Stopping to AnalySe Them, Without
Asking Their PracticabiIity'
EAGERNESS FOR Il NEW FUTURE LIKE
RUSH FOR NEW VEIN OF PURE GOLD
EUerybody Listened to the Gro,ols Of Germany and Often
1rembled-Mr Wilson Listened to What His O,un
Country Was Saying, Often Ansiously'

practicable promises. AS a matter of
| fact, publicity took care of itself. After
the Peace Conference lost self conf
dence, the delegates ran around seeking
the newspaper men to pour secrets into
their ears, thus putting up their little
trial balloons to test public opinion. A
few secrets were well kept. like the
embarrassing French alliance, but on
the whole there never was q gathering
in which there was a free publicity nor
as much pressure of public opinion. It
became as leaky in the end as an exec
utive session of the United States
Senate.
Then came the mandates. 1t looked
like mere playing with facts to in
sist that there was some vast difference
between taking over the German colo
nies in outright ownership and taking a
perpetual mandate for them, which
could be only terminated by the ac
quiescence, by vote in council, of the
power holding the mandate. If you
have a thing that cannot be taken away
from you without your censent, to all
practical intents you own it. The
mandate meant at most that the hold
ing of a colony was affected with a
public interest" but one hard to in
sist upon.
Then the fourteen points were
strangely interpreted in Mr.. Wilson S
absence by Colonel House, his agent, to
give many Germans to Poland to set
up a Rhenish republic, and u Saar val
ley settlement provided for in the secret
treaties. To be sure, the boches were
greatly modified later, but they gave a
dsquieting glimpse of the secret trea-
ties, of the control old diplomacy had
over meeting supposed to belong to
u new and better era.
Shantung Settlement
And finally came the Shantung set
tlement, that final proof of the dom
ination of the secret treaties. Nobody
defends the Shantung settlement. Mr..
Wilson openly deplores its necessity.
Mr.. Lansing says it was against the
fourteen points. 1t completed the dis
illusionment. The secret treaties had
largely prevailed. The new age had not
arrived Balance of power diplomacy
meanwhile was busy in eXtorting the
French alliance from Mr.. Wilson in set
ting up block of Slavic states friendly
to England and France between Ger
many and Russia, in encouraging a
Spontaneous recurrence of the Rhen-
ish republic and in the prohibition
against Austrias joining Germany,
clear violation of the self determination
of peoples
These were my main establishments
at Paris. |, for my part now know
that ! felt them more sharply than
was reasonable because of the extrav-
agant expectations with which I had
gone to Paris. l had not thought clear
ly about what could be accomplished
there because no one, except few cold
s1,a al
ist Mr.. White pointed out at Paris,
could think clearly while we were ali
working ourselves up to great faith
in new and perfectly organized future.
You cannot go into things like the
league of nations coldly and with all
your wits about you. 1t was like a
gold rush. A great vein of ore had
been discovered and people could see
gold at every seam in the rocks. / think
I have shown that Mr.. Wilson had
partly lost his own power to think clear
ly on his own confession in one in
stance And l am sure that | have
shown that those about him, intimately
associated with him, had lost their
power to think clearly. Two things re-
suited: First. /, and ] take it most
of you, the mere spectators to the
scene, were sunduly detected as a con-
than it was reasonable to expect and
got rather less than we might reason
ably have expected; and second, as
consequence of his preoccupations, Mr.
Wilson, our negotiator and representa-
tive, was in no fit state of mind for
his task He was too possessed with
one idea to sit in on even terms hag-
Cling about other things with cold, cal
culating bargainers like Mr.. Lloyd
George and M. Clemenceau.
Leaders Ears to the Ground
IF had not been led to expect too
much ! should have known that Paris
would be what it was, exactly like other
peace conferences, except that it would
be little more open and little more
responsive to the public opinion. Those
two would come from changed condi
tions, from more democratic world.
AS a matter of fact they did for the
publicity in the end was remarkable.
The big three finished by having their
ears to the ground for all the world like
the timidest senator or representative in
Washington. Everybody listened to the
growls Of the crowd in Germany and
often trembled. MIR. Wilson listened
to what his own country was saying,
often anXiously. Once
WHeu England ana FRANCE caught MIN
in difficulties and intimated an un-
willingness to let him have Monroe
doctrine amendment to the league
covenant being demanded in Washing
ton, he was frightened.
Mr.. Lloyd George, on one occasion,
rushed in TO Mr.. Wilson when there
was an especially loud grumble from
home, threw a telegram down before the
President saying; ''See what l am
up against !" Moreover, both he and
NJ. Clemenceau were terribly afraid 10
have the specific amount of damages
to be collected from Germany named
in the treaty on account of public
opinion in their own country. II one
is looking for democratic control of
the peace making as an evidence of
progress, it was there, only the people
were not equal to the task. They were
not well informed enough either here
on abroad. There is a saying that the
people get as good government as
they deserve. And one can say, after
Paris, that they will always get as
good a peace as they deserve.
Moreover, if / had not been made to
think that the world in which bargains
and compromises ruled had somehow
given way TO world in which per-
feet justice got itself done automatically
the impartial justice Mr.. Wilson
spoke of that should go to the foe
whether we liked ii or not-I should
have expected just the kind of trading
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