Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1920-02-13
STATEMENT OF
DR.. H. H. YOUNG
STIRS CAPITAL


Copyright, 1920. for The Atlanta Journal.l
WASHINGTON, Fob. 12.-Soms-
thing of a mystery envelopes the
issuance by DR.. Hugh M. Young, Of
Johns Hopkins university, of state
ment describing in detail, the illness
Of President Wilson, and revealing
particularly what the White House
has so long declined to admit, name
ly that the president has suffered
from an impairment of the left leg
and arm.
So far as can be discovered. neith-
er President Wilson nor DR.. Cary
T. Grayson, his physician, were con-
suited concerning the statement and
there IS good reason to believe thai
its publication was hardly pleasing
to them. On the other hand it is
thought :nconceivable that man of
DR.. Young's position would so far
violate professional ethics as to au-
thorize newspaper interview re-
vealing the nature Of the illness Of
one of his patients without sanction
The plain Inference Is that some
body in the government who has
felt that the White House policy Of
concealing the facts Of the presi-
dents illness was misleading aid I'M
fair to the public told DR.. Young to
go, ahead. 1t is not important to
know who the person was, but 1t is
a confession that the curiosity Of the
public to know the truth about the
presidents ailment has at asl
reached a point where the wishes of
the presidents own household to
keep the matter a private affair are
to some extent being. set aside in the
interest Of the public
a Question
The whole situation develops out
of the conflict between the rights
4of the public and the rights OF the
president and his family to keep
their privacy from being invaded.
Just where does the right of the
public end and the right of a public
official Begin?
There are those who defend vigor-
ously the White House. policy of ST.
lence on the ground that while the
president was in the midst Of the Sc
rlous stage Of mis- illness, and nobody
could tell just what developments
Nigh: bring, 1t would have been po-
1itical1y disastrous to hand over to
Mr.. Wilson'S political opponents
lever with WHICH to delay action on
lily - OdbJ ~ 4otSAAAS SAAO AoCoIAOAL u
the presidents incapacity to dis
charge his public duties. Now that
the president has passed tn, crisis,
now on the road to recovery, 1t is in
sisted that no harm can be done by
revealing in retrospect the fact of
the case.
On the other hand. the distinct
loss to the White House in the cir
cumstances, is the Impression that 1t
has given to so many persons that
Informal utterances on subjects of
interest to the public may have to
be taken with grain Of salt. There
always arises moment in every
administration when the newspaper
correspondents begin to lose faith in
the sincerity in the public men who
do not deal frankly. -
Correspondents Cup a Tree'
Usually when an embarrassing
question arises officials have been
known to make a clean breast OF a
case, and point out the reasons why
secrecy is necessary. This was par
ticularly true during the war, and
there are no cases of Importance on
record wherein confidence was vio-
lated. ..-
But in the matter of Mr.. Wilson's
illness, the correspondents have, lit
orally been "up a tree" Torn be-
tween desire not to pry too close
ly into the private affairs of the
president, and consciousness at
the same time that the public has a
right to know whether it's chief eX-
ecutive can transact public business,
the newspaper men have consistent
| ly accepted statements made to
them from authoritative quarters as
being frank and complete. DR..
Young's revelations give the impress
sion, that on more than one occa-
sion, the correspondents were DELHI
erately misled.
This may not be important from
the viewpoint of officials, for they
frequently imagine the public much
less interested in events than are
the inquiring correspondents. More
than one request for information
has been lightly dismissed as idle"
curiosity. In this particular in
stance. however, the policy of with
holding the truth served only to in
! tensify the eagerness of the public
to know the true state of Mr.. Will
sons health. Demands for Informal
/ ton have come from newspapers
usually very friendly. but these edi-
torials have had little effect. Some
body then hit upon the idea of issu-
ing an inspired statement giving de-
tails.
Mystery Deepens
/ This appeared nearly a month ago
| In a Baltimore newspaper, but the
name Of the physician was not given
| and the story was not given wide
circulation because of its anonymity.
Then the same newspaper. actuated
no doubt. by the desire to keep faith
with its readers. printed a second
statement, this time by the authority
of DR.. Hugh Young himself.
Just how much the White House
| played a part in the effort to set
| the public straight cannot be ascer-
tanned as yet. Certainly the most
| direct method would have been to
issue a statement to the Associated
Press or the United Press or Inter-
Q.