The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-03-04
THE MN yTIEY C.1NNOT FOR.
GET.
{ From Celliel.'s Weekly,

OI. IL DuHtoIl QtIl.l. iS lIle Ilel!lOTN Oh
its great eat!lusiasms. You may
have come to disdain and even
despise them, but they are never
uprooted Then you reached your
! hishest-and you know it.
When a noble ideal kindles such
enthusiasns. that ideal becomes
one of those things that without
/ warning, at rare intervals. flares
! up. and you Sit IN the light OF the
flare and ponder Why did it fail?
Not because il was not beautiful
right--desirable Was i, because
you were not fit for Eeau,y, right
eousnesS, dcsirability?
i Peoples arc like, men. Tincy may
laE aside their great hopes. but to
the end there are hours when they
sit With them and ponder.
Perhaps that is the explanation
Of the persistent, mysterious. un-
conscious way in which men today
draw together around Woodrow
Wilson. Ii requires explanation.
Why, in Washington for months
now has the sightseeing wagon
followed his car? Why do the
chat1ering tourists inside grow ST.
lent as they pass il? They don't
peer They lift their hats and
! sigh. and it sometimes takes min
utes and striking sights 10 break:
the mood the f1eeting glimpse Of
; rha,- drawn, long white face has
! stirred
Why is it that on Sundays and
(, holidays men and women and chill
dren-lnost Of them busy through
! the wcek--walk TO his house and
stand there in groups, speak to-
Gether in hnshed tones, rs if some
thing solemn and ennobling mov-
ed them? Curiosity? Men chat
lei and gibe aid jostle in curiosity.
/ These people are silent, gentle and
! orderly You Will see them before
! the 1heaIer on nights when il Is
known that Mr.. Wilson is within.
I quietly waiting for him TO come out.
There will be fifty. q hundred. cven
sometimes q thousand.
Z! They cheer him as he passes.
and there are often, chokes IN the
(; cheers. and always tenderness.
Why do they do it? Nothing more
instructive, more unplanned, goes
on in Washington. Let it be
known that he is in his seat n! D
,heater, and the whole house will
rise in homage. Let his face be
/. thrown on the screen, and il Will
draw Il greeting that the face OF no
/ other living American receives. And
that is not true in Washington
alone.
Why should the vast throns that
packed Pennsylvania avenue from
end TO end on .armistice Day have
stood reverentiy, with heads barred
in silence as the bier OF the un-
l:eGwn soldier passed, attended by
all the official. greatness of the mo-
.nent-tae president, his cabinet.
the supreme court, the house, the
senate, the diplomatic corps. Per
sling, Focli-why should this great
crowd have waited III Silence until,
auirc unexpectedly, carriage far
down the line came TO view? Why
should this crowd, unconscious OF
:; what it was doing, have broken
into q low cry Of sympathy and
{: grief: There's. Wiison!" The cry
flew down the long avenue.
!. They saw him as the man who
had called into service the boy
they honored. who had put the
wonderful light in his eye, that
light OF which q great French sur
geon said: THE American soldier
* different from all others. [
don't know what it .is, whether 1t
Is Cod, the Monroe doctrine. O.:
President Wilson; but he has some
thing in, his eye Yes, Wilson's
place was by the dead soldier, and
the people knew il, and told him
SO by their unconscious outburst
{ Woodrow Wilson means some-
'ithing 10 the people of the United
States: something profound, some
thing they cannot forget. People
think OF him now as the man who
was behind the inspiration or their
greatest moments: who stirred them
TO fresh understanding Of the
meaning OF words that had become
mere patter Oh many tongues
..democracy," union He. made
! them realities, personal. deep
showed them as The reason OF all
that IS 5000 in our present, all
that is hopeful in our future, the
working basis on which men may
S,rivo TO liberty of soul ana peace
:. full achievement fle made them
literally things 10 die for, lifting
all Of our plain, humble thousands
j who never knee applause or
) wealth or tho honor OF Office into
the ranks OF those who. are willing
TO die Tor an idtal--thc highest
/, plane. lha: humans reach.
People are thinking, also. Of his
work in that ;Lfter-war period wh3n
The hate, revenge, and bitterness
/! that war has loosed have none OF
the restraints that war cOmpcls,
and we mu.r by reason and good
Will and patience, restore our con-
trolls - that terrible period We
sneak of rs reconstruction. There.
100. he kindled enlhusiasms. Nov,
he SAID "let us do what men haze
long dreamed--gire TO each people
its chance. cut down the foolish
barriers of trade, limit our atnla-
n,ents. enter into II union oi all ma