The Washington herald., 1921-12-23
KING PASSES DEAR COUNTRY
ANDNON CANLFTE XCALBUR
Fellow knight Tells Of Colonies Long Adven.
ture on Rough Roads to Shining Light.

had laid hold of 1t until the sIen-
der boy from Tennessee grasped IL
in the press gallery of Congress
Gave Up Early Dreams.
1t was early IN his career that
he realized that journalism is only
a distant kinsman OF literature,
with charm. and by sheer genius
might have in the, method for the
better doing of the task. He had
had his dreams of poems and PLAYS
and novels. and the fre of genius
that burned in him would have
given him dominance in the lit
erdry field. But he came on the
natio1al scene at time when his
powers could accomplish more for
the world by writing of the cur
rent, and into the current he threw
himself.
Henry Watterson was the leading
genius of the elder day. The Cou-
rier-Journal. like every other pubIi-
cation to which he put his yiriIe
hand. was the expression of his
personality. But being a genius
With a sound head on his shoulders
and great concepts of patriotism
and public service, he managed to
do the incredible thing OF publish
ing o newspaper that possessed the
virtues of both the old and the new
school. 1t takes genius to do this
and a good partner on the bust
ness eLd-and they are not har-
moniously Joined very often.
Bound Up Wounds Of War.
when he came to the editorship
of the Courier-Journal, in 1865. Mr..
Watterson was fresh from the sor-
row and sacrifice OF the Confed-
crate cause. At heart always a
Union man, he went out with his
people. as was the Southern senu-
ment in those days.
The war ended, he set himself
to binding up the wounds II 'ne
war. which ran chiefly along ;he
border marked in part by the State
of Kentucky. Slavery to him was
always abhorrent and he proceed
ed at once to stamp out the linger-
ing tendrils of the system that
chung around the Sentiment of the
South. An appreciation OF Abraham
Lincoln he considered necessary to
restoring a North and South en-
tente. and he gave the best years
and the best work of his life to
that effort
The naturalization Of the Demo
cratic party he believed 70 be vital
to the success of the Republic, ard
in convention, in committee, on
platform and on stump. as well as
in his newspaper columns, he de-
voted himself to that cause.
PLAYED Great Part.
In all of these things he was
successful A dominant personal
ity. a great oratorical gift an abh-
ity to write with music and with
fire. all Joined with a level head
to accomplish the tasks Of recon-
struction In avertihg worse evils
than the South ever experienced
the fate of a conquered province
Henry watterson played a greater
part than any man in the Unite;
States.
Through the darkness OF know
nothing days, in the fantasy OF free
silver, the nightmare OF government
ownership and the menace OF the
Roosevelt dynasty. Mr.. Watterson FOL-
lowed his brilliant course as a planet
flames through Zimmerman murk. In
every great issue that arose before
the American people for over fifty
years. his voice and his pen welded
more influence than nearly any other.
Fart In World War.
His greatest day came. however.
with the bomb of Serajevo. After
Austria presented her ultimatum to
Serbia, and Russia and France and
Germany modified. and Britain came.
into the arena like Herailes into
Hades, at a time when the American
world could not see any local con-
nection with the conflict, Mr.. Wat
terson sounded his battle cry. On
September 3. 1914. when this ma
ton merely thought of the war as
Europe's encounter. the editor of the
wrote and few at his
masthead the words that eventu-
ally became the battle cry of the
allies and the United States:
ITO He'll with the Hohenzollerns
and the Hapsburgs.
: From that moment until the war
was ended. Mr.. Watterson bombarded
the military and imperial idea rep
resented by the Kaiser until his own
had Joined the defenders C,
and had called prophet
him whom in 1914 they considered
. lingo.
Mr.. watterson had been the stages
foremost literary patron. himself the
intimate of the Belascos, the Froh-
mans, the Jeffersons. the Irvings and
the Mansfields. He had been the
foe OF prohibition and all forms Of
laws. In short. he had
written his name in slashing let