Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1920-02-17
LAWRENCE DISCUSSES
SPLIT BETWEEN
WILSON AND LANSING
Continued from Page u

House offices, and officials there
could have stopped it by notifying
the president of what was happen
ing.
why Meeting Was Held
They did nothing of the kind. What
was the atmosphere and situation
when the first cabinet meeting was
called? Congress was restless, pO-
| litical enemies of the president were
circulating stories that he was men
| tally unable to fulfill the duties OF
| the presidency and were talking
about constitutional methods of get
| ting a successor and newspapers
were clamoring to know how the gov
! eminent was functioning, if at all.
So members of the cabinet thought
! it was up to them to do something to
quiet public alarm. 1t was the po-
| iticaI and loyal side Of the Wilson
| following trying to meet public crit
| iciSm in an awkward situation. Ihe
presidents friends did not know how
sick he was. They only knew that
he needed rest and freedom from
worry. If they could only give the
| appearance of an uninterrupted gov
eminent, they felt they would be do
| ing him a service. SO the first cabl-
| net meeting was held.
| 1t is true DR.. Grayson came there
as the emissary of the president and
made it clear that Mr.. Wilson was
curious, and therefore not altogether
pleased with what was happening.
He wanted it understood that no ac-
ton could be legally taken on Ques-
ton which the president is authorized
to act upon by law, unless the presi-
dent himself approved. The cabinet
members took that as a natural linn
itation upon them, and understood
perfectly we'll what they could and
could not do.
But it was decided for the sake
of appearances as we'll as for good
that might come out of inter-depart-
mental conferences and consultation
to continue the meetings. Several
of them were held. White House Of
ficials pointed to them as proof that
the government was functioning and
that all was we'll with the affairs OF
the Republic.
Out of Clear Sky
Suddenly out of clear sky comes
a letter from President Wilson 20
Secretary Lansing asking him if it
was true that cabinet meetings had
| been held. Nobody was more sur
prised than the secretary of state.
He had had differences with the
president and had been intending to
resign, but he never dreamed that
the basis Of his retirement would be
the ealing of cabinet meetings which
had been planned as a service and
not a dis-service.
But Mr.. Lansing didn't play the
part of a little man. He took the
rebuke politely and made his exit.
He could have involved other men
in the Wilson administration who
had urged him to keep the cabinet
meetings going. He could have in
volved nearly everybody in the pres
dents official family. But, since
he was made the goat, he accepted
his fate without whimper, trusting
that the public might some day I'M
derstand.
Did the president really remain un
aware until last week of the fact
that cabinet meetings were being
held in the executive offices few
yards from his own sick room? Cir
cumstantial evidence would seem to
punt " 'tIlG aus ltIully Ol SUCH d Gull
clusion. The newspapers printed
| references to it again and again. 1
| remember clearly that Attorney Cen
eral Palmer went to the White
House before certain momentous
cabinet meeting on the coal strike,
and after a brief discussion with the
president, told the correspondents
later that the government was be-
hind him M,
of what had, been done.
Possible Impression.
The correspondents recall that Mr..
Palmer said something to them of
having Informed the president of the
cabinet situation but he may not
have gone into detail converting
meetings. The president may have
! gotten the impression that the attor-
ney general was consulting his col
! leagues in an informal way.
It. is within the range of POSSIBLE
! ty that, while Mr.. Wilson did know
| about these conferences, did read
| about them, in the newspapers and
! did regard them as inter-departmen-
| tai consultations" he may have fall
! len back on fine distinctions in the
use of words and failed to regard
| them as cabinet meetings." nor did
| he concern himself about them prob
! ably until some one told him they
| were not informal get-together func-
| tions but formal sessions and that
at one of these sessions the question
was seriously raised as to whether
or not the cabinet should ask the
vice president to come and take the
place of the president.
Maybe Mr.. Wilson didn't learn of
the latter fact till last week. Gossip
like that doesn't always travel fast
but, when it did reach Mr.. Wilson,
he gave vent to a pent-up dissatis-
faction with Mr.. Lansing's views
on the peace treaty and a deep re-
sentiment at what he considered a
desire to depose the president of the
United States.
Believes Wilson Ignorant.
Personally, L profess for the presi-
dent, to believe that the president
was for the most part, kept in ignor-
| ance of what had been going on
around him, and that those of his
| friends, who have endeavored to Gre
ate the impression that he did know
what was happening in the outside
world, said so merely as a political
stratag of those unfortunate
phases of political life in America
which regards sincerity and frank
ness as secondary to the Michiavel-
liam philosophy, that in politics, the
end justifies the means.
Every president has an outer ar
NOR which protects him from &C
cusations and at the same time safe
guards him against mistakes. The
tragedy of the presidents fit of tenn
per- is that this time nobody dared
to say him nay, and nobody let him
in on the fact that the country had
been accepting the cabinet meetings
as of his sanction.
| (Tomorrow's article will deal with
the personality of the president and
out bursts of temper that he has, up