The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-02-23
THE PRESIDENTS ILLNESS

has been nofcrscusiy unwilling
To confer or TO conciiiste. or 20
take advice. and perhaps this
Characteristic may eventually oe
xt-rituis6 10 the process OF sr-
rzrio-sc3erusis, which he has
a<-en undergoing. Last year. N
Paris. his blood pressure, always
disqnfsfinEly high. ran TF to ~
and even 10 gsn- II cSn harofr
he asserted. therefore. that the
ssord:-5Qn into which the henl-
glegls has cast The president has
rendered him FIT 10 discharge.
mentally. the duties OF his office
As write TINS. DR. Hugh n
Young. head Of the department
Of uroiosr al Johns Hopkins hos
as-sl, Baltimore. who wss one OF
5he medical experts called IN TO
examine President Wilson last
September. gives an interview
10 The public press stating that
the president had suffered from
q cerebral blood rlof which para
lived his left side. this is, OF
course hemiplegia But Why.
the American public may well
ask we're we not informed OF
this fouy months ago. We have
the first right 10 know about the
condition OF a president He is
q necessary factor in the admin
is-ation OF the country. II he Is
incapable OF functioning. We
should be told so. Have silence
and justification been resorted
TO in the hope Of preserving his
official control even after he Is
physically and mentally incapaci-
tatedg"
The case Of President Wilson
is without parallel in our history
President Taylor died in office,
but after SO brief sickness that
there was no need to take special
action TO determine as to his
ability TO serve. President Gar
field was shot on July 2-~lsSl.
and fingered until September
ls. But there was no pressing
public business which required
immediate attention. and the
country, kept honestly Informed
as to the condition OF the patient.
did not wish TO put in jeopardy
his slight chance OF recovery by
taking action which must have
been depresipg to him. Presi-
dent Wilson, on the other hand.
has remained for more than
twice as long as President Gar
field did, and the truth about his
condition has been hidden from
the public Accordingly. there is
no reason why an honest medical
examination should not be made
and published. Congress would
thereby establish a much needed
precedent and it would be pre-
pared to take any further steps
which were required
In 1869, when the French En-
peror Napoleon III was regarded
az the arbiter OF Europe's destiny,
his serious illness, due to the
stone. held up international bust
ness. John Hay, who was at that
time secretary of the American
legation at Madrid, reports an in
teryiew he had with Emilio Cas-
tellar. the famous Spanish states
man. she spoke" Hay writes
in his journal. "of Napoleon's
sickness, and of the humiliating
spectacle OF a great nation look
ing for its destiny in the cuvette
OF an old man. Napoleon was
then 81 years old. Woodrow VIII
son is now So, and probably un-
willing to be regarded as an old
man. But since he is incapaci-
tated himself from making his
decision, and since Mrs. Wilson,
Admiral Grayson and Secretary
Humility will not make it, the
congress of the United States
should act in the manner which
the constitution authorizes. Let
us have the truth.