Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1921-12-29

/ e-AAsA " AAoVu men VINO say lndE u means
the same thing. The Indefinite articl,
"a" always Is used, for even the ad
mirers Of Mr.. Wilson'S origina
scheme, and Of the League as 1t ex
lists, seem by common consent to evadt
the the" which separates the Wilson
plan from the apparent Harding plan
The President has introduced moth
ing new to the public. He spoke dur.
ing the presidential campaign of an
association Of nations, but before long
ne put the subject into the back OF
MS head and kept it shut up there
TOT some time, because the utterance
apparently was not to the liking OF
certain elements which are power
IN the United States senate and are
supposed to be something of a power
In a political campaign.
The foreigners here do not care to
talk about the presidential utterance
of recent date. Perhaps dare" is
a better word to use than scare" for
probably they would like to talk about
1t, but they believe, and in fact some
of them have said, that It would be
d1pIomatically unwise. The visitors
show on every occasion a marked dis
inclination to NEEDLE in what they
think are purely American affairs. One
of them, voicing this feeling, said
that foreign official comment was
neither wise nor proper until congress
and the people of the United States
had given approval to anything which
had been put forward in the way of
suggestion.
Foreigners Entertain Writers.
The various delegations Of foreigners
who are here are giving a series of
receptions to the multitude of writer's
who are assembled In Washington. The
receptions are given under the direc-
ton or management Of the embassies
of the countries interested.
These affairs are interesting because
they are made in part vehicles by
which to communicate to the CORE
spondents the viewpoint of the gov
eminent represented by the hosts.
There is some very plain speaking
at these affairs and also at the daily
or semi-weekly meetings in which
some spokesman for each foreign gov
eminent meets the newspaper CORE
spondents. Some persons have called
these meetings propaganda affairs,
and so perhaps in a way they are,
for at them one gets the viewpoint
OF each government on the great af-
fairs in hand. However, the view
point Of Great Britain, France or
some other country is news, and as
1t is put forth as being the official
Of this nation or that ma
ton, the persons who read 1t can
draw their own conclusions as to the
nature of the material. 1t is a good
guide for every commenter on the
conference to know just how this
nation or that nation feels about this
matter or that matter.
There are no linguistic troubles at
these gatherings. Every delegation
here has members who speak the Eng
lsh language as well as any native
or native American.
Dutch the Best Linguists.
Taking 1t all In all the Dutch are
the best linguists in Washington. The
Hollander can talk almost any known 4
language, apparently, and he does 1t
we'll. The Dutch gave a reception a
night or two ago to the writer's here,
and the gathering was addressed by
the chief delegate from Holland. II
any auditor did not know in advance
what delegation 1t was of which he
was the guest, he would have SUD-
posed that his hosts were Engllshmen,
Or possibly Americans. The Dutch
spokesman here speak English with
barely trace Of Netherlands accent.
The Dutch envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipotentiary to Washing
.on is absent from his post Just at
present. The charge dafPaires Is
Tonkeer w. II. de Beaufort. He has
general charge Of matters in Wash
ngton today so far as his legations
activities are concerned. NJ. de Beau
'ort Is about the best linguist in town
lnless one makes an exception in ia
7or Of Interpreter Camerlynck OF the
conference.
Lord Rlddell Is Interesting.
Lord Riddell, concerning whom a
rood deal has been written heretofore
or the press of the country, is what
8 called the liaison officer between the |
British delegation and the newspaper |
correspondents, American and foreign,
Who now are in the city. Lord Rid
lell meets the newspaper men every
morning at 1890 sharp at the navy |
building and gives to them the British
-iewpOint Of everything that Is going
n, and he does 1t in a direct newspa-
'er way, for Lord Riddell has been a
newspaper man for a great many
ears.
The life Of this man has been an In
eresting one. He owns and publish
s a paper in London called The News
t the World. 1t is unlike other news