Pueblo chieftain., 1921-03-13
EYES FOLLOW WILSON
INTO RETIREMENT
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the painstaking and conscientious quail
ity of his inquiry into the facts But
most decidedly the judicial and I'M
partial quality of Mr.. Bakers forth
coming history will be challenged. All
who are close to the situation know
that MIR. Baker has towards Mr.. VIII
son 4 devotion so loyal and line rhat
from the standpoint of the coldly de-
tached historian he win be regarded
as orring on the side of PERSONAL scnu-
ment.
In addition to the work Mr.. Baker
will do. the voluminous letters, mem
oranda and other documents in Mr..
Wilson's possession are to be put at
the disposal of George Creel. Creels
personal devotion to Mr.. Wilson is as
great Mr.. Bakers, but Cresl dit
fers from Baker in being one OF the
most bellicose persons in the fraternity
of literary artisans.
From Mr.. Creel there will be nothing
in the way of merely sentimental
justification. There will be hard hitting
and pungent assaults on Mr.. WILSON'S
enemies and critics. 1t is such a situa-
tion as Creel was born for, such sit
uation as his temperament rises TO.
All George Crcel wants to know ABOUT
controversy 10. who is the under
doG?"
In tho present case Crecl Will pic
ture Wilson as fine and beneNo!cnt
mastiff beset by n large variety OF
viudictive monCrels. Creers natural
sympathy for any one who is on the
defensive, added to his almost pas
sionate devotion to Wilson, is sure TO
make whatever he writes reading that
will be most interesting to the public
and most uncomfortable to those Wao
have opposed Wilson.
out of all this and out of other ma
terial we shall have in due course the
material for an adequate history OF
tod
has walked the earth in our time.
One point which will undoubtedly
emerge from these researches is the
fact that during the peace conference
Wilson was not a well man.
The formal records say it was on
September 26. 1919. that Wilson fell
sick. That however, is merely the day
his illness became sensauonally ap-
parent. Everybody knows that any
sickness. and especially the KIND OF
sickness that struck Wilson down. has
its beginnings long before the collapse
that attracts public attention. In the
case OF Wilson the period when, 1t
will be found. the beginnings of his
illness showed their effects on the
quality of his acts was more than
year beforo-during August, 1915.
In the opinion of the best judges, his
Russian notes of that month sowed the
recession from that accuracy of think
ing and clarity OF expression which
raised his Documents far beyond any
other utterances of statesmanship
during the war. Il
II is true that n month later he dc
livered one of the several speeches
which formed the high spots in the
acknowledged superiority of his utter
ance. 1t is also true that still another
month later, in October 1878 was the
time of the supcrbly directed corre-
spondcnce with Germany leading up TO
the armistice. But also 1t was in this
same month that Wilson fell into the
lapse which he himself thought was
the most unwisc act of his career-the
request to tho country to elect
partisan Democratic congress.
The latter part of October, 1918. and
November when Wilson made his de-
cision to go in person to tho peace
conference. was well known at the time
to those close to the situation to be
period when tho state OF the presidents
health impaired tho value of his de-
cisions. That he was not well man
thruout tho peace conference was well
known to everybody who had contact q
with him.
That the impairment OF his health |
affected tho quality Of tho tremendous I
decisions he was compelled to mako ]
from hour to hour was not obvious TO /
those who only sec tho obvious. but II
was sombrely apparent to everyone
with thought enough TO understand
that no man can be Ill In health with |
out being also below his best in
thought |
The state of Wilson'S health during
tho pcace conference and during the
League Of Nations debate was an os-
scntial factor in tho history of the per
! iod and has n profound effect upon IT.
That the future OF tho world would
/ be different IL tho Wilson of 1918 had
had the strength and endurance of
the Wilson Of 1918 no ono whatover will
deny. and II is only hfs enemies who
will deny that II would be n better fu
ture. What might have been Is. of
course. tho least exact OF all possible
| fields of discussion.
But omitting all that and taking for
ono moment such detachment as is
now possible, and merely comparing
Wilson with tho other figures of his
| time, II is simply fact TO saw he had
reaches of Imagination and vision that
no others attaipcd.
| n his health had endured maybe he
might have carried tho world into
| those higher reaches with him and
occurred it there forever.
| Copyright, 1921. by the New York
Evening Post)
cuSs it but that Clara must leave MS