The sun., 1919-06-10
MIR. WILSON'S TYPEWRITER.
It May Account for Certain Charac'
teristics Of His Utterances.

TO Ttfn EDITOR or THE suH--Sir: On
Memorial Day in the cemetery Of SUI
resnes, amid the graves Of the men who
gave UP their lives for their country,
President Wilson dedicated himself to
his own cause. The address OF Mr.. Will
son Is n characteristic argument in favor
Of his latest theory. There is the same
enthusiasm for the present covenant as
there was for the first. though the first
was declared to be perfect and though
there is little agreement between the two
except that the interests of Great Brit
ain are equally safeguarded In both at
the cost Of the interests OF the United
States
The argument that Mr.. Wilson uses in
this speech, as In 80 many other state
ments, is quite characteristic of his sin
gle track and singularly indirect mind.
"Posterity," says our Presidential pro-
tagonist, will acclaim my sentiments as
the absolutely right ones" statement
that Mr.. Wilson has no more right to
make than any one Of the other one hun
dred millions Of the citizens of this courl-
try. Every one OF them knows exactly as
much about the future as he does. II 10
also a statement that shows how piti-
fully weak 10 his League Of Nations
when he is obliged to appeal to the oiti-
Gems yet unborn. while It Ia the present
generations that will have to fight the
wars in which the league will embroil us.
This appeal to an impossible or rather
non-existent Judge is truly typical OF the
feminine mind, and have always in
sisted that Mr.. Wilson'S style shows the
decidedly feminine twist Of his intellect.
We have frequently heard people say
that Mr.. Wilson's success was due to his
power Of clear expression. This is not
20. ma one may SEQ by casual review OF
his writings. He Is frequently forceful
but seldom clear and as a matter of fact
he has himself often admitted that he Is
unable to think out clearly matters that
would require no enormous brain power.
There is never any evidence that Mr..
Wilson appreciates what Walter Pater
calls the aesthetic charm of clear
thought.
In the matter Of his literary compost
lions would not for n moment think OF
denying that Mr.. Wilson IL q 'fancy''
writer. Conscious OF his knowledge Of a
large number of words, he takes a very
evident pleasure in arranging them In
pleasant sounding groups. It will be
noted that the result In particularly
pleasing to people who arc not accus-
tened to much reading.
Another reason for the success OF Mr..
Wilson'S style among those who take lit
erature and history as n matter of
course. requiring no personal investiga-
ton, is that he turns out his compost
tion on a machine where he can see be-
fore him the exact type that will con-
front tho reader The type effects rather
than tho idea effects are therefore the
more insistent in his mind as he COM
poses.
This accounts for the many curious
and impossible things that he has said
war without passion" peace without
victory" too proud to fight" &C. Only
a writer who has tried to compose on a
typewriting machine can realize how
easy 1t Is to become enamored OF sem
fences that one turns out which look
good. sound well and have absolutely no
meaning. GpoRnB HENRY PAYNE
NEW YORK, June 9.