New-York tribune., 1919-06-24
The Tank and the Rosebush

The Tank and the Rosebush
No one can accuse Mr.. Walter Lipp-
mann of membership in the anti-Wilson
cult. He was long upon terms Of init
mate approval with the administration,
and his pen served the President ably
and we'll Therefore his summary of
the peace conference and what hap
pened there to the millennium makes ex-
ceedingly valuable and interesting read
ing in The Yale RevieaO.
In order to understand what has hap
pened in Paris Mr.. Lippmann outlines
the technique of the Wilson diplomacy.
By way of introduction he reminds US
that "the grammar Of Mr.. Wilson's
thought is fusion of Jeffersonian de-
mocracy with kind of British Golden
ism"-which is to say that Mr.. Wilson
stands for the conviction that what the
world needs is not so much to be ad-
ministered as to be released from con-
troll:
ut is a state of mind which in its
deeper phases acts passionately on the
doctrine Of consent, the ultimate
righteousness Of popular judgment a
warm hatred of imperialism, and quick
sympathy with rebellion against political
despotism In the more temperate zones
Of its feeling it leans toward free trade
and philosophical laissez-faire. But its
controlling characteristic is lack Of
interest in procedure, organization, ma
chinery and technical methods. The
world is to be set right by the COM
munion Of consciences. The world set
right it envisages as q spontaneous CO.
operation Of uncorrupted people. Per-
fectly convinced Of the innate desire
Of all men for righteousness, it assumes
that once certain conspicuous obstacles,
like the Prussian power, are removed the
souls of men will come together in har-
mony. THAT is why asserted President
Wilson September 27, 191S 4 have
said this is a peoples war; not states
mems. Statesmen must follow the 'clari-
fled common thought or be broken"
Mr.. Lippmann proceeds to trace the
consequences of this attitGde-that Mr..
Wilson worked not at all through the
ordinary diplomatic machinery and that
he refrained utterly from participating
in the preliminaries Of peace negotia-
tlons. He was convinced that the
masses in Europe were passionately
determined upon the kind of peace which
he himself desired; and having "clari-
fed" this common thought as he co6-
ceived he had, it was his thought no
one could resist this democratic insist
ence.
The misreading Of human motive
involved was great. The idealism of
Europe was not, like the Presidents, a
disinterested, highly cultivated sense Of
justice, Mr.. Lippmann states; it was
anything but clarified common
thought" 1t was in part an attempt
to end the war;. in part a reaction
against governments, in part the kind
Of "millennial hope which accompanies
human tragedy" Therefore, when war
ended and peace neared, the whole tenn
per radically changed. The "let-down
resurrected the personal hopes Of indi-
vidual men," Politicians playing upon
the shift in human sentiment diverted
the clarified common thought" into
little separate channels of special in
terest." After all, what had Mr.. Will
son to offer? The hope of an enduring
peace? Yes, but there was not going to
be another war, anyway, in lifetime.
The alternative was rich territories,
trade and quick return to prosperity.
In an incredibly short time-by Christ
mas, in fact-Mr. Wilson's support was
reduced to "a section Of the working
class somewhere about the Left Centre"
And as final catastrophe he was
forced to plunge into the intricacies Of
closed conference. This tragedy Mr..
Lippmann sums up in this immortal
scene:
Now, closed conferences was, of
course, the most unfavorable terrain for
the exercise Of Mr.. Wilson's virtues. If
there is one thing you cannot do to an
old salt like M. Clemenccau 1t is to in
toxicate him with visions and eloouence.
That inimitablc old man has none OF the
qualities OF crowd as an audience
he must be thoroughly disconccrtinp:
and as dcbater he will drive through
generalization like a tank through
rosebush. What happened In the So
called secret conferences Of the Big
Fonr Is not so secret after all. 1t Ia
written In tho Treaty Of Versailles"
However one agrees or disagrees with
Mr.. Lippmann's detailed analysis Of in