Omaha daily bee., 1920-02-20

IL uSpl plSSSilS CuSSl ou MI. WILSON, .
spirits. Little things provoke him.
For instance on the boat going over
to France, he took considerable Of
tense because the George Washing
ton carried number of minor Of
hcials of the State department staff.
He held Secretary Lansing respon-
sible for this and fretted the first
two days out at sea and wouldn't
receive the secretary of state SIM
ply because his instructions about
keeping the number on the boat
down to a minimum had not evil
IDENTIFY been Carried out.
"Just why Mr.. Wilson wanted the
whole boat to himself, people
couldn't understand, nor was it CON-
prehensible why the president al
lowed only a handful of people to
accompany him on the return jour
ney and left lots of space in the
vessel which it had been thought
would be occupied by returning
troops, but the boat was only half
filled when it started from Brest
and the only explanation which any
body could deduce from the strange
demeanor of the president was that
he wanted to be all alone and didn't
want to be annoyed.
Became Irritable.
Instances, trivial indeed. could be
cited to show that the president was
weighed down by official burdens
to an extent that the public has
little known, and that gradually he
has developed all irritability which
has not been known except to he
inner circle. Twice on the west.
ern trip, which he took Immediately
after his return from Europe, the
president showed his temper.
In St. Louis, just as he was about
to begin his speech at night, a
photographer took hashlight. Now
Mr.. Wilson has had that happen to
him many times before, but on this
occasion he blurted out angrily
I'VE out not to care how we look, 4
but how we act" and the crowd,
which had been amused at is always
is by a sudden fashlight picture,
stopped its laughter. abruptly and
wondered.
Again at Salt Lake a fort
night later, the president was talk
ing about Article,>X, and asked
rhetorical questiol-the kind that
e>crowd isn't supposed to answer,
but Mr.. Wilson's delivery was so
forceful and he had been getting
such enthusiastic applause at the
end of almost every sentence that
somebody applauded in the wrong
place | am sure it was uninten-
tional, the president stopped short
and issued an angry rebuke in the
direction from which the applause
came-"Better wait till you hear it
all. before you applaud"-was his |
reprimand, and the crowd wondered.
Grown Intolerant.
Time was when Mr.. Wilson |
schooled himself to repress his tenn
per. Once or twice when delega-
tons visited him in the White House
he got his dander up, but usually the
stenographic record of what was
said never was issued, and the pub
lie was none the wiser. 1t has been
however, that in the last
Two years the president has been
given every now and then to intem- -,
perate expression. In nutshell, his
duties and his burdens got on his
nerves. They are still on his nerves.
Woodrow Wilson three years ago
would never have done what Wood
row Wilson is doing today.
Cabinet members have led him
astray and gotten him into worse
and uncomfortable moods
than did Secretary Lansing's adven-
ture i'll projecting the president from !
adverse criticism when he was una
bic TO discharge the duties of his !
Office The man who has long stood !
Tor the inefhciency of the Postoffice
department. and the public criticism
of Secretary Baker, Secretary Dan
Icls and others in the senate and
house whom he has been accustomed !,
to support without regard to public
opinion is not the same Who dis
missed Robert Lansing as secretary
of state. He is man upon whom
the burdens of the war and peace
Jobs have left a residue of nervous
ness, irritability aud intolerance that
Will be repressed with difficulty as
Wilson serves the re-,
naming II months of his term.
(TOmorr0w's article--the last OF the
deal with Secretary I.ansing's
policies and the probable significance Of
tie episode 'front.' ap international as well
IS national point OF vfew). Il