The New York herald., 1922-11-05


resort for those who are discouraged
elsewhere for Washington is no longer
city of set routine and fixed habit.
1t is at last the center of the nation.
New York is no longer even the
financial center The newspapers are
edited from here. Society centers
here All the industrial chiefs OF
the nation spend most of their time
here. 1t is easier to find great cattle
king or automobile manufacturer or a
railroad president or a banker at the
Shoreham or the Willard Hotel than it
is to find him in his own town. The
surprising thing is that these great
men who have made our country do
not loom so large when brought to
Washington and put to work.
Every day I find some man of many
millions who has been here for months
and whose movements used to be
matter of newspaper notoriety, but
did not know even, that he was here.
1 leave my office at o'clock, not bav-
ing been out of it during the day ex-
cept for Cabinet or Council meeting,
take a wink of sleep. change my
clothes and go to a dinner, for this. as
you will remember, is the one form OF
entertainment that Washington has
permitted itself in the war. The din,
ners are Hooverized-three courses.
little or no wheat, little or no meat,
little or no sugar, a few serve wine.
And round the table will always be
In, init mr.
some missionary from some great
Power who comes begging for boats
or. food. These dinners used to be
places of great gossip. and chiefly
anti administrators gossip. but the
spirit of the people is one of unequaled
loyalty. The Republicans are as glad
to have Wilson as their President aS
are the Democrats, think sometimes
a little more glad, because many of the
Democrats are disgruntled over pat
ronage or something else. The women
are ferocious in their hunt for spies,
and their criticism is against what
they think is indifference to this dan
ger. Boys appear at these dinners in
the great houses, because OF their uni
forms. who would never have been
permitted even to come TO the front
door in other days. for all are po-
tential heroes. Every woman carries
her knitting, and ii Is seldom that you
hear q croaker even among the most
luxurious class. Well, the dinner Is
over by half past 10, and I go home
to an hour and a half's work, which
has been sent from the office, and fall
at last into n more or less troubled
sleep This is the daily round.
/ haye not been to New York since
the war began. / made one trip across
the continent speaking for the Liberty
Loan. day and night. And this life Is
pretty much the life Of all OF us here.
The President keeps up his spirits by
going to the theater three or four
times n week. There are no official
functions at the White House. and
everybody's teeth are set. The Allies
need not doubt our resolution. Eng
land and France will break before we
will, and do not doubt their steadfast
purpose. 1t is. as you said long ago.
their fault that this war has come, for
they did not realize the kind of an
enemy they had. either in spirit. pur-
pose or strength. But we will in
creasingly strengthen that western
gate so that the Huns will not break
through.
We do. things fast here. but never
realized before how slow we are In
getting started. IL takes a long time
for us to get n new stride. I did not
think that this was true industrially
have known that II was true politi-
cally for long time, because this was
the most backward and most conser-
vative of all the democracies. We
take up new machinery Of govern
ment so slowly. But industrially It Is
also truey When told to change step
we shift and stumble and halt and
hesitate and go through all kinds of
awkward misses. This has been true
as to ships and airplanes and guns,
big and little, and uniforms. What
ever the Government has done itself
has been tied by endless red tape. IT
is hard for an army officer to get out
OF the desk habit. and caution, con-