The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1920-02-14

a reports that the secretary Oh state III
tended TO resign. Mr. Lansing. him.
self, sets forth three occasions on
D which he was about to have sent q
= letter OF resignation TO the president.
zone OF these was while he was still a
, member of the American comm ission
|, TO negotiate peace. but at that time he
felt that his resignation might be mis-
, construed. another was upon his re-
turn 10 the United States, but again
the treaty prevented his action, md
the third time he was thwarted in his
attempt by the serious Illness of the
president.
Mr.. Iansing's wish is now finally
crati1cd. chiefly as the result of the
presidents amazing question: rs II
true. as have been told, that durin z
my illness you have frequently called
the heads Of the executive depart
ments OF the government into con-
ference ?"
The letter bearing this question was
written by the president on February
T. The president returned 10 Wash
jngton on September 2S. last very
sick man, according to. his physician.
The first cabinet meeting called by
Mr.. lansing was held carly in October
and here in Washington tonight the
only inference drawn from the prosl-
dents remarkable question was that
ne was in total ignorance or all caoi-
net meetings between october and
February.
RESIGNATION \ SURPRISE.
The news Of Mr.. lanstnE's resiEna
ton was com plete surprise tonight.
This afternoon al the customary
hour. the secretary saw the news
paper correspondents and seemed in
especially good humor. He said he
had no news for them, but that he
had learned p meteorological fact
which was that the Russian port OF
odessa, on the Black Sea. was ice
bound
Tonight at 80 o'clock it was an
noun~cd that the state department
would make a statement "aggTegat
ing in all, about 500 words" it was
eaia II was indicated at the White
House this fternoon that something
was In the air bu1 that was as far as
insormants would go, While waiting
for the release OF the departments
announcement speculation AS to what
It would bc ranged all the way from a
lifting of the embargo on exports to
Russia TO the possibility of the presi-
dent reiinquishing office for a period
uf recuperation away from Washing
ton.
Mr. Lansing has been secretary OF
state since June 20. 1915, when he
succeeded William Jennings Bryan.
The flourish q friendship" in the
letters between tho president and Mr..
Lansing suggests the famous fare
weli rendered Mr. Wilson by MIR.
Bryan when he stepped out OF Office.
Mr.. Bryan said.
Goodbye Mr.. president. May God
bless you
MIR. Lansing would make no state
ment tonight in amplification of hts
correspondence and all that is
known Of his plans is that he intends
to return To New York to re-engage
In the practice of law. He will prob
ably take a long rest. however, be-
fore returning to active practice. Be
fore becoming secretary of state Mr..
Lansing was counsellor OF the state
department. Ever since 1892, Mr.
Lansing has specialized in interna
tional law and has been a we'll known
figure in diplomatic circles.
DIFFERENCES IN OPINION
Relations between the president and
Mr.. Lansing were Of the most cordial
nature until the Paris peace confer
enc@, MIR. Wilson, ever since he be-
came president, has been unable to
! brook "a state department head whose
E
I tone in exactly with his own.
While the war was on. the president
took over the duties of secretary of
, state. rs ne did the duties the secre-
I - tsA-ef-~af and the seeFetary-ef tho
( navy and most OF the notes bore the
( signature Lansing" were the handi-
/ work OF the man In the White
House. Indeed, this became so well
known toward the end of the war
( that the communications were CALI
ed Wilson notes" and treated editor
tally as such. This was true, to a
lesser degree because of a lesser mag
nitude with regard To the Mexican sit
uation,
During all this period the secre-
tary Of state. apparently was con
tent with his lot fro he enjoyed the
likewise the hih honors of his own
office. IT was not until the peace
conference that Secretary Lansing
vas shuntel into the background and
gradually became mere figurehead
IN the Kaleidoscope series of events
that occurred at Paris
The lessening of Importance Of Sec
retary Lansing became increasingly
evident 10 all observers at Paris.
When the American plenipotentia-
ries took the Hotel GdilIon and au-
diences were iven by the entire dele
resident, MT. Lansing always acted
az spokesman. although Colonel House
would INTERCEPT comment every now
ana then, The audiences were un-
successful chiefly because Mr. Lam
sing had no information 10 give and
secondly because private conferences
with Colonel House proved to be much
more fruitful 10 the seekers OF infor-
nation.
DROPS OUT OF CONFERENCES
Things came to pass that finally
Mr. Lansing did not appear at the
conferences. The secretary of state
had a thankless task, in a great mea
sure, in Paris. There he was the
leading diplomatic officer OF the United
States, the holder of position which
corresponded TO that of Clcmen-
ceaus or Lloyd Georges, but II slowly
dawncd on the plenipotentiarxies Of
other nations that Mr. Lansing was
not the reository Of the Presidents
secrets, but that Colonel House was
Mr.. Lansings lack of information
regarding certain phases of the
treaty negotiations was pitiful at times
compared with the fund of knowledge
TN the 1ssfrfe subjects possessed by
Colonel House, The reason for this
was. OF c0ure. the fact that the Pres
ident informed Colonel House OF