The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-04-14
DID WILSON
BREAK WITH
j. TUNUL TY?
Reputation of Political
Message Dis m avs
Both Parties.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Copyright, 1929. by The Argus.)
Washington, D. c., April IL
Woodrow Wilson's public repudia-
ton of a brief and innocuously
worded message conveyed to New
York political dinner by the man
who for 10 years has been his pri-
vate secretary, none other than JOS
eph Tumulty, who lately has pub
lished a most laudatoTy biography
of his former chief, has brought
diSmay TO Democrats and RepuDn-
cans alike in the national capital.
What does it mean? Is it a break
between Woodrow Wilson and an
intimate friend, another chapter in
the series of personal differences
with his. supporter which began
first with the break between Mr..
Wilson and George Harvey, then
between Mr.. Wilson and Colonel
House and now between Mr.. Wilson
and his own private secretary of
official days?
The former president lives in Sc
clusion. Nothing was said on his
behalf today by anybody. And Mr..
Tumulty maintained a melancholy
silence. It's not happy moment
for the man who battled faithfully
for his chieftain only to be publicly
repudiated on a relatively incon-
sequential matter, for all political
folks are agreed that what ,Mr. .Tuz
mHlty brought to the New York
diners was so generally phrased as
to be OF no especial significance
even though friends of Mr. Cox may
have for their own reasons seen fit
to interpret it as an endorsement
of the former Ohio governor.
Letter Shows PiQue.
In other days Woodrow Wilson
would have written to a New York
newspaper in a different vein. He
would nave admitted having dis
cussed the matter of a message to
the New York dinner with Mr.. Tu-
multy and would have said in a
public statement that he didn't in
tend his remarks to be construed
for or against any candidate now
or in the future. This would have
confirmed Mr.. Tumulty's own state
ment of his conversation with Mr..
Wilson and would have disclosed
exactly how the misunderstanding
arose between the two men.
The fact that Mr.. Wilson, without
consulting Joseph P. Tumulty,
wrote a letter to New York news
paper stating that the MESA ge read
at the dinner was not authorized
and did not see fit to confirm the
conversation in which the remarks
attributed to him were voiced is ac-
cepted on it's face as an evidence
of pique on the part of the former
president and desire to show the
public that Mr.. Tumulty is not his
spokesman.
Rap Secretary's Book.
Incidentally political Washington
has been buZzing for months with
the reports of visits made to the
Wilson shrine by worshippers of
the former president who are un-
derstood to have criticized severely
some of the chapters in Mr.. Tumul-
tvs book. They are said to have
urged Mr.. Wilson to say something
publicly or write something which
would offset the impressions Great
ed by certain Tumulty writings.
Many of these visitors are known
to have been Influenced by the
surprisingly unfriendly twist which
critics gave excerpts from the Tu-
multy volume.
Everybody who knows Mr.. Tu-
multy is aware that he had no
idea of writing anything that would
reflect unfavorably on his former
chief, There is a circumstantial
story that Mr.. Wilson didn't see the
book when it was published in the
newspapers and that only portions
were read to him-chapters which
it was supposed would arouse his
Continued nn paua EnnrtaanA