Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-05-16
CHAPTER XII.


er to me to continue his argument
against the cancellation of the trip;
but he found he was unable to do
so. His left arm and leg refused to
function. / then realized that the
presidents whole left side was para
lyzed. Looking at me, he said: II
want to show them that 1 can still
fight and that I am not afraid. Just
postpone the trip for twenty-four
hours and I will be all right"
GraysOn Ends Trip
But DR.: Grayson and 1 resolved
not to take any risk, and an imme
date statement was made to the in
curing newspaper men that the
western trip was off.
Never was the president more
gentle or tender than on that morn
ing. Suffering the greatest pain,
paralyzed on his left side, he was
still fighting desperately for the
thing that was so close to his heart
"a vindication of the things for
which he had so CALAMITY fought
ION the other side.' Grim old war
rior that he was, he was ready to
fight to the death for the League
Of Nations.
In the dispatches carried to the
country, prepared by the fine news
paper men who accompanied us on
the western trip, it was stated that
evidences of a breakdown on the
part of the president were plainly
visible in the speech he delivered at
Pueblo on September rs.
IS had talked to him only a few
minutes before the delivery of that
speech, and the only apparent ev--
dence that he was approaching a
breakdown was in his remark to me
that he had splitting headache, and
that he would have to cut his speech
short. AS a matter of fact, this last
speech he made, at Pueblo, on Sep
tehber rs, 1919, was one of the long
est speeches delivered on the west
ern trip and, if I may say so, was
one of the best and most passionate
appeals he made for the League o.
Nations.
Great Pueblo Speech
Many things in connection with
the Pueblo meeting impressed them
selves upon me. In the peroration
of the speech he drew a picture Of
his visit on Decoration day, 1919, to
what he called beautiful hillside
near Paris, where was located the
y
given over to the burial of the
American dead. AS he spoke of the
purposes for which those departed
American soldiers had given their
lives, a great wave of emotion, such
as I have never witnessed at a pub
lie meeting, swept through the whole
amphitheater. AS he continued his
speech, looked at Mss. Wilson and
saw tears in her eyes. 1 then turn
ed to see the effect upon some Of
the "hardboiled" newspaper men, to
whom great speeches were ordinary
things, and they were alike deeply
moved. Down in the amphitheater
1 saw men sneak their handker-
chiefs out of their pockets and wipe
the tears from their eyes. The
president was like a great organist,
playing upon the heart emotions
of the thousands of people who were
held spellbound by what he said.
1t is possible, I pray God it may
not be SO, that the speech at Pueblo
was the last public speech that
Woodrow Wilson will ever make.
and I, therefore, take the liberty of
introducing into this story the con-
Guiding words of it:
What of our pledges to the
men that lie dead in France?
We said that they went over
there not to prove the prowess
of America or her readiness for
another war, but to see to it that
there never was such a war
again. 1t always seems to
make it difficult for me to say
anything, my fellow-citizens,
when 1 think of my clients in
this case. My clients are the
children; my clients are the
next generation. They do not
know what promises and bonds
I undertook when I ordered the
armies of the United States to
the soil of France, but I know,
and I intend to redeem my pledg-
es to the children; they shall
not be sent upon similar err
rand.
Again and again, my fellow
citizens, mothers who lost their
sons in France have come to me
and, taking my hand, have shed
tears upon it not only, but they
have added, God bless you, Mr.
President" Why, my fellow-cit-
liens, should they pray God to
bless me? I advised the con-
gress of the United States to
create the situation that led to
the death of their sons. I or
dered their sons overseas. I con-
scented to their sons being put
in the most difficult parts of the
battle line, where death was
certain, as in the .impenetrable
difficulties of the Forest of Ar
come. Why should they weep
upon my hand and call down
the blessings of God upon me?
Because they believe that their
boys died for something that
vastly transcends any of the i'm
mediate and palpable objects of
the war. They believe, and
they rightly believe, that their
sons saved the liberty of the
world. They believe that wrap
ped up with the liberty of the
world is the continuous protec-
ton of that liberty by the con-
certed powers of all the civiliz-
ed world. They believe that this
sacrifice was made in order that
other sons should not be called
upon for a similar gift-the gift
Of life, the gift of all that died
| and if we did not see this thing
through, if we fulfilled the dear
est present wish of Germany and
and now ASSOCIATED ourselves
from those alongside whom we
fought in the war, would not
something of the halo go away
from the gun over the mantle