The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1921-01-22
Harding Struggling for
Few Remaining Weeks
Of Privacy As Citizen
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
Copyright by The Intell!Sencer

Washington. Jan. 21.-About the last
thing most people imagined last autumn
on election day was that Warren Hard
ing and Woodrow Wilson had anything
in common but some OF the correspond
ents who will not accompany Mr. Hard
ing on his trip 20 Florida reveal the In
tercSt!nE information that the TWO men
are behaving exactly alike toward news
papCrmcN. This may or may not be
characteristic OF preSidCntS-cleCt and it
may or may not b. the result os a sud
den turn from private life TO the bur
dcas Of pubic life but RS the usual
struggle OF ! prcSidcnt-clcct 10 remain
a private ciuzra as against the scrioes
who insist shat the public has \ right
to known what y man elected 10 be pres
idcat Of the United States does from
day to day
Sir. .Hardiag told the correspondents
that Ae didnt want them 10 follow
WHEN ne boards the houscboat. He will
confer with :ne newspapermen but he
warned them that they would Incur
mountains q .iISp.ea sure" IL they trail
ed along. TIL ot"rr day. too. when he
set out for Cir'cland he asked the cor
respondents 81 say nothing about &C.
He wanted Ia shop in privacy. So they
agreed not - announce 1t in advance
provided two or three correspondents
could So ul"mC TO report on any possi-
bic emergency.
Mr. Harding isn't bit different from
Woodrow Wilson in all this. Corre-
spordentS who remember what happened
just after the election in November a9l
are authority for the statement that
when Mr. Wilson decided 70 20 10 Bcr-
muda for a rest. he was very much dis
turbed when the newspapermen told
him that OF course they would have 20
accompany him He insisted thal thers
would be no news-just rs Mr.. Hard
~, y fp.r - ~ ~
rest on his southern trip. But the cor
respondents said II didn't matter. They
must accompany. him and NJ. Wilson
was so much unset by 1t that he threat :
cn"d TO travel on q ship that WASH I
cQuinTc! with wireless. but he hnaliy
resented.
Mr. Harding started out during the
cHmU,tgH with intimate talks with the
correspondents but since election ne mas
hnrnmr tar;trra aud unommunicattve;
Mr.. Wilson ~, ~" moss tri"aH,y an,
chummy individual in the world with
the correspondents aboard his train IN
ta, ramprisn Of 1872 but when ne got
t. 'n, White House ne changed. Most
people 10 HCt i;mowu the extremes ="
which ih,. prrSi,rnt went t. shut him
s.'s orr from dire, contact with the
urrS~ TwiC" 4. ordered secret service
rncn ~ KEEP newS2aD"ru"n away from
him on Summc. vacations.
Mr.. Wilson's Course.
IN the hr~t :wo years he gave occa-
,lonal RudicuCeS To the entire corps or
correspondents but these were discon-
,iaved about the time the war broke
ous and were never resumed. Mr.. VIII
son rarely ID ever gave any newspaper
w-iter y private audience. IL IS prop
ably no cNagSHratton 10 say t"at Mr
Wilson never .i'sul = tpSSl "i more thah
six OF seven hours in private audiences
wiki correspondents IN the eight years
h. has bCcu 1T III" White House. Ana
II * as" a fact that oaly one or TWO
correspondents rN.T saw him more th;;n
tarc, ur four ;U"> ~ the entirf tiEnt
>rlrS RutH,Nir Roosevelt and Mr.. Tart
S.lIom lot 4 week EO ny without = psI-
yatn conference with 1T least one or Two
t.urrpSnoNGCnls or writer's. Mr wilson
r,rye- would have hc-a able I" WanaSc
IN. bu-lpaSS " contact with the puol'c
-, ,rr ,,.-n = not for the ShrewdneSs ana
,rr7nn~ a,wS instinct Of his private
G.. s,.,r,.,.-r. J,S,ph - TUmulty. who prom
ably "'u Ways y" r"tn"rnocr"d as "tF,
- H.. b. r-i.nG~ the Washington cor
r,,~p0nd,:.l- eyer had.
Mr. IarGtTg may b. counting on doing
rhr SAM. 5fin-:--u -u.;u,'iN taking 20 to"
,n,ntrv iu,ii-c.tIv hUt hoth Mr.. kooS' =
vel, ard MI. ~rrr found It more rif"c'
~. % tax dir ct,i {" th" press th"L-
~clyr, Niue 20: IN" Observation-Disclosures :
on1,,. fN., rrl r.cS e" the Wilson admin
:,rrati,n ,au =" traced directly l" q
b.,ugbtv u- indifferent attl'Cd" toward
ne p-ssS and such dctanS" as vas given
mo Wilson administration BY CORE
spond.n,S from time 70 time VAS hardly v
cyrr duo e. any inspiration from tn"
White House out largely 10 the volu"-
tary effort and enterprise OF writers
bo,b snS.dr and outside Of Washington
wno eiNcr brlirS ed sincerely In thH
nus they were defending editorial y
irrrspertive Of tho persons or party io-
,o)yed n- who believed they we're oi =
charging their journalistic duty Of tell
ing tha truth as they saw It.
Thee may be q chang" "hen Mr.
HARDING gets TO Washington but the
verdict Cr most OF the correspondents
thus far Is that the new preSldent'eLec'
- starting of as did his predecessor.