Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1920-02-20
PEOPLE LOOKING +.
FOR NEXT MOVE.
FROM MR.. WILSON
BY DAVID LAWRENCE

BY DAVID LAWRENCE
J ~tGcpyright, 1920, for The Atlanta Journal
WASHINGTON. Feb. 19NThree
days outside of Washington, talking
| with people in all walks of life, peo-
! pIe in New York state, Michigan and
| Illinois. has given the writer an
| idea of how a cross section of Amer
lean public opinion feels about the
Wilson-Lansing break. And the one
! part of it is, that on my return to
| Washington. find hardly a realiza-
| ton of the astounding political et-
| fecc which the episode has had.
The national capital has so many
sensations that it is often calloused
to cabinet designations and regards
them as mere flurries.
1t is true thai the editorial eX-
! preston has been almost unanimous
in denouncing the abrupt dismissal
Of Secretary Lansing, but even ed-
toriaIs are sometimes brushed aside
in this intensely political year by aG-
rlinictraton men as an ephemeral
bound to pass sooner or later.
Not so. however, is the judgment
of the average man 1 encountered in
such places as Binghamtou and SYRIA
Cuse in New York state, Detroit or
Chicago and on the trains travelling
between these points. Never in my
own experience has it seemed to me
that opinion was so uniform. DEM
4crats and Republicans alike dlsap
! prove of what the president has done
hut the regrettable and significant
fact, however, is lot mere conedMna-
| ton of what has happened, but wen
der about what will happen,
The Inevitable Question
No matter where one went, the
question that was shot back, "dla
the presidents illness have anything
to do with that Lansing letter.?
Try as one might to offset such
an impression, there is no doubt that
every act of President Wilson from
this time en- will be subjected to ar!
embarrassing scrutiny. The incident
has made amazing inroads on that
intangible yet all important factor
in government, namely, public COLI
fidence Once that is forfeited, poll
ticians of the opposite party seem
| strengthened and permitted to reap
the benefits of the situation.
AS for morale among the Demo
Gratis, I talked with few leaders
who are dyed in the wool Wilson
men, the kind who will defend to the
last ditch the presidents appeal n
1918 for a Democratic congress and
who will excuse nearly everything
he has ever done in seven years.
But their frame of mind on the
Lansing episode was one of helpless
ness and bewilderment. Their atti-
tude was analogous to that of the
hero worshiping fans who have adj
mired all season long the brilliant
playing of fielder only to see him
throw the telling game in the world
series by dropping the ball in the
ninth inning with three men on base.
They. have memories~of brilliant past
performance and their chagrin is
mingled with disappointment of the
keenest sort.
Effect on Europe
1t Is curious indeed that much of
the feeling is that of pity. People
wonder why the president wasn't
stopped by some one in the inner
circle from passing out the Lansing
letter. People suspect even that
the presidents outburst on the
Fiume question is pique and temper.
I find here in Washington a little
| echo of that. Foreign diplomats
think the effects of the dismissal
of Lansing was to create an impress
sion in Europe that the president
was suffering from the tedium of a
long illness and now they believe
his threat to withdraw the treaty is
part and parcel of the circumstances
surrounding his illness. 1t would
be tragic if Europe began discount
ing American action because of the
indisposition of the president real
or imaginary.
But out in the country away
from Washington, there really isn't
much interest in the Fiume ques-
ton. 1t is little too involved and
Intricate for the average man to I'M
derstand without study, and he is
far too busy attending to his do
nestle troubles TO read up on the
quarrel with the Jugo-Slavs.
The expulsion Of Lansing from the
cabinet is something he can under
stand. He never knew much about
Lansing. If one wants to discover
how important q cabinet job is as .
rule let him ask somebody outside
| of Washington to give the names Of
| half the members Of the cabinet Of
this Or any other president. 1t wasn't
sympathy for Lansing or even a
passing concern about the secretary
| of states differences of opinion with
! his superior officer that occasioned
the outburst on the part of the aver
age man. 1t was merely that his
credulity was taxed by the first sen
tence in Mr.. Wilson's letter, which
| asked. Us it true, etc." that cabi-
net meetings had been held during
| mis- illness. 1t was a simple set Of
! circumstances, easy to grasp.
Loss of Prestige
People remembered that when the
president got sick, the cabinet did
meet. They don't understand yet why
it shouldn't have met, even if tech
nically it was wrong to do so. They
have grown accustomed during the
war period of seeing technicalities
| brushed aside in the interest of the
war emergency and they still expect
government officials to go ahead
when there is no specific provision
of law and do the best thing for the
country. They seem to think 4
was right to call cabinet meetings.
That's why it is no exaggeration
| to say Mr.. Wilson hurt himself i'm
measurably with the people of the
country and damaged to an extent
Iyet not valcu1able his leadership in
| the Democratic party. Instead OF
being the greatest asset for the cam
paign, Mr.. Wilson is at present writ