New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-07-03


to prevent matters from coming to such
a head until it was too late
He did not remedy these defects by
seeking aid from the collective wisdom
of his lieutenants He had gathered
round him for the economic chapters of
the treaty very able group of business
men, but they were inexperienced in
public affairs, and knew with one or
two exceptions) as little of Europe as
he did, and they were only called in
irregularly as he might need them for a
particular purpose. Thus, the aloofness
which had been found effective in Wash
lngton was maintained and the alb
normal reserve of his nature did not
allow near him any one who aspired to
moral equality on the continuous exer-
else Of influence. His fellow plenipo-
tentiaries were dummies, and even the
trusted Colonel House, with vastly more
knowledge Of men and of Europe than
the President, from whose sensitiveness
the Presidents dizziness had gained so
much, fell into the background as time
went on.
All this was encouraged by his COL
leagues on the Council! of Four, who. by
the breakup of the Council of Ten, COM
pleted the isolation which the Presi-
dents own temperament had initiated.
Thus day after day and week after
week he allowed himself to be closeted
unsupported, unadvised and alone, with
men much sharper than himself, in stu
atoms of supreme difficulty, where he
needed for success every description of
resource, fertility and knowledge. He
allowed himself to be drugged by their
atmosphere, to discuss on the basis of
their plans and Of their data, and to be
led along their paths.
AT the crisis of his fortunes the Pres
ident was a lonely man. Caught up in
the tolls of the Old World, he stood in
great need of sympathy, of moral sup
port, of the enthusiasm of masses. But
buried in the conference, stfed in the
hot and poisoned atmosphere of Paris.
no echo reached him from the outer
world, and no throb of passion, SYM
pathy or encouragement from his silent
constituents in all countries. He felt
that the blaze of popularity which had
greeted his arrival in Europe was al
ready dmmed; the Paris press jeered
at him openly; his political opponents at
home were taking advantage Of his alb
sence to create an atmosphere against
him; England was cold critical and un-
responsive. He had so formed his
encourage that he did not receive
through private channels the current of
faith and enthusiasm of which the pub
lic sources seemed damned up. He
needed, but lacked, the added strength of
collective faith. The German terror still
overhung US, and even the sympathetic
public was very cautious; the enemy
must not be encouraged, our friends
must be supported, this was not the
time for dscord or agitations, the Pres.
And in this drought the flower of the
Presidents faith withered and dried up.
Thus 1t came to pass that the Prcsi-
dent countermanded the George Wash
ington, which, in moment of we'll
founded rage, he had ordered to be in
readiness to carry him from the treach-
er0us halls of Paris back to the seat of
his authority, where he could have felt
himself again. But as soon. alas, as he
had taken the road of compromise, the
defects, already indicated, of his tenn
permanent and of his equipment, were
fatally apparent. He could take the
high line; he could practice obstinacy;
no would write notes from Sinai or
Olympus; he could remain unapproach-