Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-04-06
CHAPTER XXXVI


gentlemen who were associated
N with President Wilson on the
"other side" that he was unyielding
and dogmatic, that he insisted upon
playing a lone hand" that he was
secretive and exclusive, and that he
ignored the members Of the peace
commission and the experts who &C.
companid him to the conference.
Contrary to this criticism, after an
uninterrupted continuous and most
intimate association with him for
eleven years, an association which
brought me into close contact with
him in the most delicate crisis
through which his administration
and the nation passed, a time which
threw upon the chief executive of
the nation task unparalleled in the
history of the world, I wish to say
that there is no more frank or more
open-minded man, nor one less dog
matte in his opinion than Woodrow
Wilson. In him the desire for in
formation and guidance is a passion,
Indeed, the only thing he resents is
lack of frankness upon the part of
his friends, and no man is more
ready courageously to act and to
hold to his opinions after he has
obtained the necessary information
upon which he bases his position. 1t
is his innate modesty and a certain
kind of shyness that people mistake
for GOODNESS and aloofness. He is
not a good fellow in the ordinary
sense Of that term. His friendship
does not wear the cheap or tawdry
trappings Of the politician, but there
is about it a lepth of genuineness
and sincerity that, while it does not
overwhelm you, wins you and holds
you. But the permanent considera-
ton upon which this friendship is
based is sincerity and frankness.
No man ever worked under greater
handicaps than did Woodrow Wilson
at Paris. Repudiated by his own
people in the congressional elections;
harassed on every side and at every
turn by his political enemies, he
still pursued the even tenor Of his
ways and accomplished what he had
Judged by His Associates
In the murky atmosphere of the
peace conference where every atti-
tude Of the president was grossly ex-
aggerated, inorder that his prestige
might be lessened, it was not pos
sible to judge him fairly, but it is
now possible in a calmer day to re-
view the situation from afar through
the eyes of those who were actual
participants with him in the great
assembly, onlookers as it were, who
saw every move and witnessed every
play of the peace conference from
the side lines, and who have not al
lowed petty motives to warp their
judgments.
The testimony which forms part of
what Really Happened at Paris,
edited by Edward M. House and
Charles Seymour, comes from gen.
tlemen who were his friends and CO.
Iaborers and who daily conferred
with him upon the momentous ques-
lions that came up for consideration
at the peace conference,
Thomas W. Lamont, member Of
the great banking house Of J. p.
Morgan & Co., one of the represen-
tatives Of the United States treasury
with the American commission to
negotiate peace, gives the lie to the
unfair criticisms uttered about the
president, to the effect that he was
exclusive, secretive and refused to
confer with those associated with
him. Mr.. Lamont, in speaking Of
the presidents attitude throughout
the peace conference. said:
I am going to take this oppor-
tunity to say a word in general as
to President Wilson's attitude at the
peace conference. He is accused Of
having been unwilling to consult his
colleagues. I never saw man more
ready and anxious to consult than
he. He has been accused of hav-
ing been DESTROYS to gain credit for
himself and ignore others. I never
saw man more considerate OF
those of his coadjutors who were
working Immediately with him, nor
a man more ready to give them cred
it with the other chiefs of state.
Again and again would he say to
Mr.. Lloyd George or Mr.. Clemen-
ceau: MY expert here, Mr.. So-and-
So, tells me such-and-such and l
believe he is right. You will have to
argue with him if you want me to
change my opinion" President Will
son undoubtedly had his disabilities.
Perhaps, in a trade, some of the 9TH
err chiefs of state could have "out-
jockeyed" him, but it seldom reach
ed such a situation, because Presi-
dent Wilson, by his manifest sin
'cerity and open candor, always say
ing precisely what he thought,
would early disarm his opponents in
argument. President Wilson did not
have a well-organized secretarial
staff. He did far too much Of the
work himself, studying until late at
night papers and documents that he
should have largely delegated to
some discreet aids. He was, by all
odds, the hardest worked man at
the conference, but the failure to
delegate more of his work was not
due to any inherent distrust he had
Of men-and certainly not any de-