New-York tribune., 1919-04-26
Wilson and France
Daniel Halevy Gives His
Interpretation of
President

! lHESlDENT WILSON BY Dants
II ~@H. usn s5aes Tsss''a Nsw tFs 48Ga '9s Tssf
Company. 1919. 2ss pp ,i.s5. 4''' Ia '''
HIS IS ali eminent.y readable book
written by Frenehman for French
men' on the whole successful al
TEMPT af interpreting the man and
STATESMAN Woodrow Wilson as prod
| Nel a. american past aud laetor oi
american pFesent aad future Ad-
10 lfedlY computation, the volume has
NA pfetanee ~ deepeuItlng Fsseateh pi
hfNslfHilng aNalyss, II IL, nhpNe all
y narrative, Hnd ann clearly aud
hNenily ield, With an eeeasianal live.
llNpHs ~ NisuaiisAtaA and STYLE
silshtIp fnWihleesnt al 4aiue, Nf the
two main diFhnultiea lehaernt ia hi.
lAak The author has acquitted llmself
Nalit GA the one hand, thtnuehnut the
psaaf he narieates Hlnat at llu shaui
~ hera Nnfahip, inlHptatien and ruin
AZ lNAnf hneraphnY dpaine with
sNhleets much less Fascinating Tbs
hn8b has q seheG quality whleh lifts
aheNe nefa afief was pfnnasaHia
literature, in tbs othef hand ~ r,es
sth'ihp y ipmoia character ~ "a
ii0fe mlliuu 80 the French public, ~
many ways The most provincial IA ia
ruun Just because OF its cultural seif
sulllcishtt, he avoids taking t0e much
Ter granted His explanations nf
American institutions and pecularities
are. considering the limitations of
space, on the whole adequate. To be
sure, there are slips, but this Ia only
natural Thus. the author reveals a
rather unwarranted optimism when ex-
pressing the belief that the election
by direct popular vote OF the presi-
nf INF o.,
efficient corrective to the evils of
party machinery and bosssm. For
tunately he does not mention the Vice
President, at least. He discovers a
tendency to elect Presidents from
among state Governors--an example
of what logicans call hasty induction,
He would have hit closer to the mark
by ascribing to state Governors a ten
dency to launch themselves as Presi-
Dental possibilities. Furthermore, we
read that "the President (Mr. Wilson,
is extremely careful not to lose con
tact with the press. The press is able
to manage the people. He desires as
much as possible to manage the press.
This man, who receives nobody, de-
votes a special afternoon every week
to q journalistic reception" This was
evidently written before the days Of
Mr.. Creel. Since then, Mr.. David
Lawrence has visited France, and NJ
Halevy thus had an opportunity to
have his wrong impression corrected
by first-hand witness. That NJ
Halevy is unable to clear up the mys-
terry Of Mr.. Wilson's Mexican policy is
not surprising; so is il to every bory else
When the author speaks Of the po-
tential necessity, on the eve of war,
of coercing ten or twenty millions"
of dsloyal residents and includes in
this number not only Germans and
Austrians, but also Irish and Jews,
his sweeping inaccuracy becomes IL
rtating. 1t is to be regretted that the
book ends with September, 1917. Some
how a volume on Mr.. Wilson, minus
the fourteen points, is like treatise
on Luther without reference to the
church door of Wittenberg. The
translation is good, although the usage
OF retranslating English terms with
out checking them up must be dis
couraged. 1t results in faux pas, like
speaking of the league to impose
peace" or calling Roosevelt's following
in 1912 "Progressists." Also, the use
of the French term syndicate for rail
road brotherhood will be misleading
for 95 per cent of American readers.
Probably many Democrats will object
to the translator's employment Of the
lower case I'd" in denoting the Demo-
cratic party. Slips of grammer such as
very discredited" viii be frowned
upon by purists like President Wilson,
who, with ali his lavish display OF the
adverb, would never use it with the
past participle.
EUGENE s. BAGGER.