Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-02-18
WORRIES REST
HEAVILY UPON
The PRESIDENT

fContinued from Page One.)
hxticularly did he seem to allow
III fierce gleam TO enter his face II
Haybody suggested that perhaps
tSere might have been some incon-
|risfency on the part Of himself or
fS member Of his administration.
Ike would tolerate no criticism in
k4he queries Of correspondents and
tAjs cabinet officers found the same
fthtng true. They didn't dare to
Icfos0 him. He didn't like 1t. Sec
Efstary Garrison tried to do 1t and
feocn found himself out of'the cab
E5net.
Lansing Knew Situation.
Now Mr.. Wilson's idea Of gov
|tkfnment BY cabinet IL that cabinet
IoAicer 10 merely general counsel
Ton adviser, subject to the authority
ENnd instructions Of the president
|tGnd - such necessarily subservant
|kf0 presidential command. When
|tBryan resigned, the president, who
thAd been writing notes to Germany
land handling foreign affairs. made
Emo secret Of the fact that he wanted
b Il counsellor and not secretary
I0f state, and Mr.. Lansing had no
3Idoubts about the position In which
The would be placed by taking the
|EOffice.
The president has from time to
mime shown q disposition to regard
cabinet meetings as superfluous.
Thine and again, however. whenever
|Inewspapers would print stories say
ing be didn't think cabinet meetings
H were necessary he would issue
|tyehement denials through admin
/ jstrati0n officials, but there Is no
/ Equestion in my mind that Mr.. Will
Iaon's conception of cabinet govern
LIinent Is decidedly different from
H1hat had by some Of his predeces-
lBors. He feels that cabinet officers
Hare advisers and subordinates who
Hare to give advice when asked for
Il and to take orders and carry
them out according to the wishes of
their chiefs.
Il The war has unquestionably had
Il D depressing effect on Mr.. Wilson's
|EDptrits. Little things provoke him.
EFor instance, on the boat going over
i 70 France he took considerable Of
! Tense because the George Washing
Il ton carried a number of minor Off
cials of state department staff. He
| held Secretary Lansing responsible
4 for this and fretted the first two
h days out at sea and would not re-
n ceive the secretary Of state simply
a because his instructions about
III keeping the number on the boat
II down to a minimum had not evil
Il IDENTIFY been carried out.
Few Came Back.
H Just why Mr.. Wilson wanted the
boat to himself people
couldn't understand, nor was it
III comprehensive why the president
allowed only handful of people
Tito accompany him on the return
| fjourney and left lots Of space in
the vessel which it had been
| thought would be occupied by re-
troops. The boat was only
half filled when it started from
lBrest and the only explanation
(which anybody could deduce from
the strange demeanor Of the presi-
Fdent was that he wanted to be all
alone and didn't want to be an
| noyed.
Instances, trivial indeed, could be
Itcited to show that tile president
Twas weighed down by Official bur-
| sdens to an extent that the public
has little known and that gradually
he has developed an irritability
which has not been known except
Ito the inner circle.
Twice on the western trip, which
3lhe took Immediately after his re-
[Eturn from Europe, the president
Ehowed his temper. In st. Louis,
ljust as he was about to begin his
speech at night, photographer
took fiashlight. Now Mr.. Wilson
Ehas had that happen to him many
times before, but on this occasion
The blurted out angrily: I'VE ought
not to care how we look but how
we act" and the crowd, which had
been amused as always by sudden
hashlight picture, stopped its laugh
tier abruptly and wondered.
Again at Salt Lake, a fortnight
later, the president was talking
about article 10 and asked a rhetor-
EicAl Question-the kind that the
lcrowd isn't supposed to answer but
Mr.. Wilson's delivery was so force
Hui and had been getting such on