The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-10-12
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Especial Despatch to The Reformer
! Copyright 1920
| NEW YORK, Oct I2.-Democratic
strategy for Octobcr-
The critical month Of every Presidea-
tial campaign is to drive wedge be
tween those Republicans who favor and
those who oppose the present league of
nations
President Wilson has gotten into the
fight actively. This is all by preauange-
meat. When Governor Cox talked with
NJ Wilson at the White house, just af-
| ter the San Francisco convention, it was
agreed that the Ohio governor should
! open the campaign with Il series OF
speeches in the West and that in the
meantime, the President should remain
silent. The idea was that there should
| be no confusion in the public mind as
! 10 the identity OF the leader Of the Dem
| ocTatle party. Indeed, Governor Cox
| was to eNpound his doctrines of leader
! snip. The statement from Nh. Wilson.
| thaL he was IN entire accord with Gov
| erHor Cos, on the peace treaty and
| league on natlons was generally con-
slmed as surrender by Governor Cox
| TO the President, but the fact of the mat
! ter Is that the Democratic nominee told
| Nh Wilson hls views and the president
| expressed no objection to the plan of
| campaign or the ideas on reservations to
/ The Delcc treaty, which Governor Cox
! mentioned
! Now the western trim is over and Gov
crnor Cox has given to the people his
own views on the treaty and other is
| sues unembdrrassed by any concurrent
! statements from the White house. The
time has arrived, however, when the
! president can enter the camDaigu Gov
cruOr Cox wants him to d. So The is
suancc OF a statement refuting what SEN
! atOr Spencer said about the proceedings
| OF the peace conference and alleged
promises to give American military aid
/ to Rounauia and Siberia was the first
step. The controversy which ensued will
! be cleared M by the president i'm a day
or two. JuquestIOnably 1t has been
badly handled. The facts are coming
ont. As usual both sides had justification
| for what they said. Senator Spencer took
! a newspaper account Durportlug to give
an accurate copy of what the President
said. Mr. Wilson himself knew he had
never made such promises The writer
attended the Paris peace conference and
| remembers the difficulty which every
| body experienced in getting an accurate
| transcript of what was said in the open
| sessions. This was because half the pro-
| eeedings were in French. and the other
| llttil ia i-iiEiL'it - 7tbIi ~ itN. fte3lL
! Wilson finished speaking, lieutenant
NantouZ Of the French army, a remark
able interpreter. would arise, repeat in
| French from memory-almost verbatim
| but not actually of course-everyt thing
that had been said in English. The in
! terpreter reinforced his memory with
! long hand notes as he himself was not a
stenographer, but while he did an extra
ordinary piece of work, some times re-
peating speeches Of a half hours length
with out interruption, he did not get the
! precise meanings of many of the English
words When the President himself
said that so far as he knew no actual
stenographic transcript of his speech was
lin existence, he had in mind undoubtedly
| the fact that what Lieutenant MantouX
said was taken down by French stem
maphers and possibly translated into
English.
The copy which Senator Spencer saw.
was obtained from French sources and
the existence of an American version was
unknown until Fred Carlson of Chi
cago. an American stenographer told that
he had taken the proceedings in short
hand and was forwarding a copy to the
White house.
The discrepancy appears to be between
a specific promise OF American military