Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-11-08

fections. Never did any man show
greater patience than did Woodrow
Wilson in his attitude toward Nc
Combs. The illness of McCombs dur
ing the campaign fed fuel to the
fires of his naturally jealous dispo-
sition. He suspected everybody,
trusted no one, and suspected that
the presidents friends were engaged
in a conspiracy to destroy him. or
course, it is true that Mr.. Wilson
refused to give him the post of at
torney general, which he greatly
coveted, for reasons have fully
stated above; but at the very time
when McCombs' friends were saying
that the president had ignored him
and failed to offer him any place
in his administration, the president
had already rendered McCombs his
choice of two of the most important
diplomatic posts at his disposal-the
ambassadorship to Germany and the
ambassadorship to France. An in
teresting incident in connection with
the offer of the French post to Nc
Combs and his acceptance OF 1t is
worth relating.
The president arrived in Wash
ington on the third Of March and
went to the Shoreham hotel. Nc
Combs had already received Mr.. Will
sons offer of the French ambassa-
dorship and on the night of the third
, Of March he concluded he would &C
cept it. He sent a messenger to
the Shoreham hotel, with his letter
of acceptance. Before the arrival of
McCombs' letter at the Shoreham
the president had retired for the
night and the message was inserted
under the door or his room. How
ever, it seems that shortly after
sending the message Of acceptance
McCombs changed his mind and sent
friend to the Shoreham to recov-
er the letter, and at IL o'clock at
night I found him outside Of the
presidents room on his knees bust
ly engaged in digging out McCombs'
letter Of acceptance from under
meath the door.
McCombs' Vacillation
From that time on, with every
chinging mind, McCombs would
first accept and then reject the Of
fer of the French post. By his vac
illation he prevented the appoint
ment Of an ambassador to France
for four months. He had easy &C
cess to the president and saw him
frequently. AS he left the White
House, after calling on the presi-
dent one day, Mr.. Wilson showed
sharp irritation and said to me: "1f
McCombs would only discuss some
body else for office save himself 1
would be more interested"
That the offer of the French post
was made by the president and re-
jected by McCombs Is evidenced by
the following letter, addressed to
the president by McCombs. under
date Of April 8, 1918:
William F. McCombs,
Counselor at Law
93 Broadway and Wall Street
New York, April 3, 1913.
My Dear Mr.. President:
Since saw you on Saturday 1
have been making continuous eff
forts to dispose Of my affairs so
that I might accept your very flat
tering offer. I have been in touch
with Tumulty from day to day to
find out whether my delay was en-
told me it was not. OF course, I
AS have told you before, my diff
ficulty in accepting the post has lain
in the adjustment Of my financial
affairs here and in the forming of
a connection which would continue
in some degree, my practice. The
clientele, which any lawyer has is
very largely personal to himself, and
it is almost impossible to arrange
"a offoir-d af cI1oh q n1innfQIQ
be handled by others. This is the
difficulty under which I have Ia
bored.
After limitations to my clients, I
find my absence would, in their
view, be prejudicial to their inter
ests and that they would each seek
separate counsel. This would mean
my return to New York without any
clientele whatsoever and a new start.
After the statement which you so
kindly issued, it occurred to me that
I might make an arrangement under
which my affairs could be handled.
/ am convinced now that it is impos-
sible, and that must remain here to
maintain myself. During the past
two years I have been compelled to
neglect my business to very large
essential for me to recoup. In view
of the very great honor of the
French post l was quite willing to
sacrifice almost anything. I now
know that the sacrifice would be
complete.
was sorry to see in the New York
papers of yesterday, under Wash
ington date line, that I had accept
ed the embassy. 1t has placed me
in most embarrassing position, and
has caused general comment of vac
illation. I cannot imagine how the
fact that I was reconsidering be-
came public. The press clippings
I got in the matter are most annoy.
ing to me, and must be to you. I
suppose the only thing to say in the
matter is that my position is the
same as it was when my statement
was given out in Washington.
Let me again thank you very
deeply for the great honor you have
| conferred upon me. I sincerely wish
it was within my power to accept.
1t is such a thing as rarely comes
in a mans lifetime. Believe me as
ever, always yours to command.
VIM. f. McCOMBS.
Hon. Woodrow Wilson, the White
House, Washington, D. c.
Text of kilograms
Even after McCombs had declined