Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1920-02-17
VII SON PROTESTED ]
HOLDING CABINET
MEET|NCSIN
Differences Between PreSi-
dent and Lansing Of Long
Standing, but Resignation
5 a Surprise

WASHINGTGON, d. C.--Rebukea
by President Wilson for calling cabs
met meetings during his illness, Sec@
rotary Lansing has resigned.
The president has accepted thA
resignation with appreciation and
Mr.. Lansing becomes the second Sec
of state to leave the admins,
istration over a disagreement with
his chief. I'l
Although the correspondence beS
tween Mr.. Lansing and the president
which appears on page nine in to-
days Semi Weekly. makes the 5calI-
ing of the cabinet meetings the inE
cident which leads directly to stha
secretary's resignation, persons on
the inside" of the administrations
who know what has been going on
say that was only an incident and
that the real reasons for the break
go back over a perior of many
months and come from fundamentaE
differences of opinion in policy.
The disagreement between tho
president and the head of the states
department even ante-date the entry
of the United States into the ware
The relations between the two mem
almost reached the breaking point
early in 31917 when Mr.. Lansing is~
sued his, celebrated statement says
ing the United States was daily be.
ing drawn nearer and nearer to fore-
cast the entry of the United States!
The president made every effort
to overtake the statement after it
had been given&out at the state de-
partment, built was impossible.
When Mr.. Lansing went as q men,
Der of the American peace delega.
ton to Paris more differences de-
VelOped. With other members OF
the American mission he was not in
accord with the presidents idea OF
making the treaty of peace and the
covenant of the League of Nations
one and the same inseparable doe
ument. 1t was Mr.. Lansing's idea
that such plan would delay the
ratification of a peace treaty and an
this he was supported by Henry
White and e. NJ. House..
1t may be said with a great de-
gree of authority that while thu
president and Mr.. Lansing were tor !.
gether in Paris other differences OF
more than minor nature developed
and this is confirmed by the refer
ence wl1fch~tIle president makes note
in one Of his letters.
Saw Wilson Rarely
When President Wilson went back
to Paris last March and found that
during his brief absence in the United
States Mr.. Lansing and the others
Of the American mission had agreeds
tentatively at least, to have the peace
terms and the League of Nations cov%
enant separated, the situation came
very near a breaking point and prob1
ably was avoided only because the
president thought it more Important
not to let European statesmen see cd
split in the American peace delega4
ton. While Mr.. Lansing probably
saw and conferred with the president
in Paris as much as any other mem
Der of the American mission, it was
a matter of remark that he saw him
very little.
However, the incident which cama
nearer break than any other wag
the sensational testimony of William.
G. Bullitt, one of the experts attached
to the American peace mission, BED
fore the senate foreign relations CONS
mittee. Bullitt, as will be recalled
reading from q diary, quoted Secre~
tary Lansing as having told him hSa
was out of sympathy with the League
of Nations covenant and as predicts
ing that the treaty would fail If tll@
American people ever learned of it's
full import.
Mr.. Lansing, obviously in a vertS
difficult position, did not repudiates
Bullitt'S statements although it WaS
momentarily expected in Washington
that he either would repudiate them
on +
son was at the time on his speaks
ing tour in the west. To say heswaa
upset by Bullitt's story and his Quo-
tations of the secretary of state puts
it mildly. Officials in the presidential
party who knew the workings Of the
presidents mind expected to see the
secretary's resignation asKeG fior
when the president returned to Wash.
ington These same officials believe
now that the breakdown when sent
the president home a very sick man
was the only thing which preyented
it.
Mr.. Lansing. however, never saw
the president again, and did all his
business with the chief executive As
writing. The relations between the
men remained very much strained.
and then Mr.. Lansing's action in
calling the cabinet together brought
them to the breaking point. Fa
Ugly Rumors Afloat
Those WHO were present at the
flls@ cabinet meeting describe a
rather tense and dramatic scene
Congress was full of rumors that
the president was so disabled as to
be constitutionally unable to dis
charge the functions of his office.
There was talk of what migha be-
none TO place Vice President Mar
shall at the head Of the government
and now congrcs 50 might go about
Continued on Page IL, Col. To