The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-02-22
BY FRANK n. sIMONDs
special csRls pl;psteh to The Ne

special Gable Dispatch to The AOws
8elmltar.
PARIS, Feb. 2s--With the departure
phase u the pSaeS conferences Il cls ar
" determined. The pu6Beatio1 OF the
constitution Of the league Of nations
At the moment OF the PRESIDENTS de-
partuTe was an obvious endeavor to
make a report Of progress 80 far
sSssiS. wo a9SS i,isIIs t Sb,,a to oo say 70 the
have been appointed the league Of ma
lions covenant represents the actual
achievement Of two months of the Paris
we have now to examine the success
or failure Of Mr.. Wilson In the two
m9nths. q, Epropeah negotiations which
followed his break with. every precedent
tory IN coming to Europe, How far
has the president succeeded and justi-
Meq his Journey How far has he failed?
These are questions that viii be asked
most insistently on all sides.
AT the outset II must be clear that
Mr; wilson's success was beyond the
expectations OF most, but 1t Is hardly
iess true that his stay In Europe since
the first two or three weeks has proved
an ahtlcNmax, and that he has left the
conference weaker in influence than at
any. moment since hts arrival.
The reasons for this slow but sure
Decline q ne presidents. prestige, II not
power, IN Paris are not far to Seek. Mr..
Wilson came to France exhausted with
four and . half years OF her struggle
against Germany, hardly yet able TO
believe herself victorious, and bearing
wounds stll unhealed, stu capable Of
becoming fatal
welcomed az he was In England, as he
was In italy. AR a RvfnhnI 40 an as-
suTsnos, alike q the reconstruction Of
the world and Of reorganization OF in
teTnatipnAl affairs, which would make
new wars Impossible, and he was gladly
hailed IN France as the spokesman OF
ne ally which had come TO the battle
oisive aid, to Insure to France repay
ment for her loss and protection as
to the future.
have tried very often in these dis.
patches OF mine TO indicate how deeply
into the French soul had sunk alike the
GERMAN barb4rism OF the last four and
. half years. No nation in the worlt
looks more eagerly to a league Of ma.
lions as p promise of q new world thar
France, but no great nation had auf,
Tered on Its own soil a millionth par
a. much as France, and no nation was
therefore NECESSARILY so completed,
committed TO take material guarantees
against the future, guarantees which
would prevent q repetition Of 1914, /
the league Of nations should become an,
other scrap Of paper.
Too Concentrated.
Mr.. Wilson's failure In France, so IA
as was . failure, lay In his concen
trating his attention and energy upol
the league Of nations TO the utter exclu
9ien OF that other equally great prob
lena before the French, the problem o
security against the tuture, To a ma
s atieai SA0 Ss,t fnssS5l's R ne sssE Fi.i sEstpS@ IN.
bone swept OF fruit trees, whose village
had been ruined, Mr., Wilson spoke onl
Of abstract principles. He talked, Q
he seemed TO talk, thus In the pres
enee Of some Of the most solid and sol
emn facts n al human history.
A single incident determined largel
the current Of French feeling, II wa
The hope Of all France that MIR. wilso
would 90 TO the northern provinces an
see with his own eyes, not alone III
destruction OF battle, but the wRnto
and selfish devastation Of the Germa
{: :ole sI,m,ns ws'; Fr. slSsls n gu EsIsium i ,y w
the economic life Of the world, an
then to take the place made vacan
This Mr.. Wilson never did. As a result
Americans, and particularly America
correspondents IN Europe reporting IN
peace conference, similarly failed 70 ez
anime this phase Of the French case
Even more than this, II not In III
case Of MIR, Wilson, in the cast Of som
Of those closely associated with him
his mission, there developed certain in,
patience and Intolerance OF the Freno
view, The FNench passion for pre-
lection against another coming Of III
Germans was easily translated into II
! renaissance Of French Chauvinism an
|. French ma~terialisfn. while on n
French side there was silence, then su,
picion, and at last profound disappoin'
ment, q feeling that America hs
changed her position with respect
France,
This wrench feeling was intensified
the fact that The British without reese
: walton bent their efforts and their 81
ergies to the realization Of the leagV
Of nations and suppotkxh Mr.. Wilson,
seemed 10 support him In at least ten
porarily setting aside those questiol
which for France. and France aloi
were questions Of life and death. In
French feeling and Into French life the
c crept a very clear sense, not only
isolation, but Of dssertion. Franc
with hsr terrible wounds still open. hl