The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1919-05-11

-tiy SHOW tnat TO-DAY the wood sentI-
ment Is genuine and spreading
lorce. Allnousn unorganiLed ana
uhdirectsd, u manIfcsts Itself IN
every quarter and IN every stratum vi
national thought
Evidences OF the movement. our
friend reported. are widespread
among the returning soldiers, - no
table thing. he SAID, is tne general
aversion they display toward political
suggestions mentioning General Per-
ahIng and Secretary Baker. They
are not as "A rule hostile 70 Presl-
dent Wilson--they fell that he Is
trying to get good results in Paris.
but mat Ii about aa far as their en-
thusisIn goes! they do not want
another Wilson administration. Per-
shing and Baker they are frankly
against
The ideal OF majority OF tho sol
diers. said the observer. was Theo-
dOre Roosevelt, they believe that II
his courageous counsel and far
sighted warnings had prevailed. the
nation and its fighting men would
have been spared much needless suf-
fering and many needless sacrifices.
With multitudes OF them. we were
told, Wood stands second to Roose-
welt, The fact that both OF them
were the objects Of vindictice partian
enmity and discrimination has had
its effect In associatlng the two
name so fas ar the returning troops
are concerned.
Another factor in the Wood
strength, as reported to us. Is that
thousands Of officers and men In the
medical department OF the army
I'ra "a with IN m
ories which recall to them his arbl-
trary exclusion from foreign serv-
ice. lie Is an army surgeon. and
these men are convinced that IL he
had had post In France commen-
surate with his military capacity the
medical organization would not have
suffered ns II did because OF mad
equate support and faulty admins
tratiOn.
A surprising feature of the situa-
tion. according to our friend, Is Cen
eral Woods strength in the south
Sentiment for him IL found 10 be
Increasing also In New England and
the west A significant circumstnce
is that In three or four states there
are claims for Wood ns "A "fayorite
son"-in New Hampshire, because he
was born there; In Masn c ustees.
sas and Nebraska. where he served
the nation so effectivly AZ n trainer
Of superb fighting divisions And
now Illinois wants to adopt him be-
cause he is commander OF the mill
tary department OF that region.
Throughout the conservative east
there are thousands OF Plattsburg
graduates who are enthusiasts for.
the creator OF thai great national as
SET
In addition to all this ran the
comment brought to us. Wood Is
the first choice OF nine-tenthy OF the
Progressives. He n regarded as the
logical inherltor OF the Roosevelt
leadership. because no other man In
the Republican party. II Is urged, has
he'd such wide and varied experiences
with the military and civil affairs of
the government; none was 10 close
10 ROOSEVELT there II none In whose
Judgment and counsel Roosevelt had
such great confidence.
Admitting that the strong devel-
opment Of the Wood movement was
surprising, the commentator found
that Il was based largely upon the
principle 10 which he had drawn
attention before---that the next pres
ldent will be man who served tho
country consplcuously in connection
with the war and demonstrated
thereby his fitness to serve II during
tho period when war-made issues will
dominate national affairs Leonard
Wood seems, said our friend. the one
man among the Republican possi-
biliues competent TO represent tho
cause for which Theodore Roosevelt
battlod TO the day of his death
"A A lion nj I.K.. ala
duty. the promotion OF ideals, OF
honor and justice. As II war figure
he stands out despite the shackling
OF his abillties by partisan decree:
for the nation owes to him the
plattsburg system. the most import
ant constructive factor In defensive
preparedness. he did tremendously
effective work In organizing and
training great bodies OF troops. and
he was made to suffer for having
championed policies that would have
shortened the war and saved the
lives OF thousands OF American sol
dlers
We present these observations by a
competent student OF political affairs
because they seem TO us highly in
teresting and enlightening. Events
move rapidly and conditions change
sometimes with puzzling complete
ness. so that no asusred forecast 50
far in advance Of presidential cam
pnign has much worth. But the
spontaneity ofthe sentiment for
Leonard Wood Is suggestive and sig-
nHicant There In unquestionab n
growing interest In him and grow
ing belief gin his equipment for iead-
ership. The movement toward his
candidacy seems to us 10 be one