Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-01-06

one from each nation, TO dirVct it0
publicity. and tho records OF this Inn
portant commission thus came into |
his hands.
The Press Bureau. under his a.
rection, had charge of making and
transmitting the American summary
OF the treaty.
Tho writer offers no excuse for tho
personal note he employs in various
parts Of this parrative; for only thus
can no convey what ne himself saw
and knew. He is DOING II also with
the intent Of making It clear that the
Judgments OF men and events are his
own and not those OF the President.
The Presidents own views are ex-
pressed with great completeness in the
documents. memoranda and letters
which are here reproduced or quoted
from.
Sometimes Disagreed with Wilson.
1t is only honest TO say that the
writer did not agree with the Presi-
dent in some OF his conclusions at
Paris. and argued. before the decision
was made. a different course OF action
from the one taken. as In the Shan
tung matter. Hc finds in his journal
OF April 20:
II went up 10 tho Presidents house
at nine o'clock this morning where
laid before htn the notes I had made,
together with various memoranda fur
nished 10 me by williams and Horn
beck (the Far Eastern experts) and
by wellington Koo and others Of the
Chinese delegation. There II no
possible doubt where the Presidents
own sympathies lie. He In for the full
rights OF the Chinese. I told him that
the sympathy OF the world was un-
doubtedly with the Chinese.
"'I know that he said.
Il made as strong a case ss I could
for tho Chinese position, urging some
postponement At least The Presi-
dent pointed out how inextricably the
whole matter was tied ,p with the
old secret treaties, how Britain felt
herself bound 10 Japan, and how, with
Italy already out OF tho Conference
and Belgium bitterly discontented. the
detection OF Japan. not an unrea SON
able possibility, might not only break
UP the Peace Conference, but destroy
the League OF Nations"
II was also my belief that a much
broader publicity constructive pub
licity, could have been had Mt the
Conference and this Nview was fre-
quentiy urged upon the President and
upon the Commissioners. I>atiIl be-
lieve that one OF the greatest mistakes
made at tho Conference. particularly
for America. was a want OF better
understanding OF what happened there
and the exact reasons why, in zach
particular Gaze, tho President decided
as he did, for I am confident th& II
the American people could know what
the problems were In she'll hook ed
Europe in 1919, the problems those
desperately harassed leaders at Paris
had to meet. there would today be a
better and moro sympathetic under
standing Of our newly developing
international relationships. This
whole problem OF publicity and Sc
lcrecy at Paris will be considered in a
later chapter.
But ii must be clearly said that I
believed then in the essential truth
OF the great principles the President
laid down at Paris and do so still !;
that / had then, and have still, COM
plete faith in the absolute sincerity of
the Presidents purpose; and the con-
viction that whatever may have been
his mistakes, he fought for his prin-
ciples under such difYiculties and in
such an atmosphere as the American
people do not yet understand.
What Wilson's Failure Showed.
4 The President did not in those brief
months achieve the new world" the
new order" he 20 nobly phrased, so
ardently desired, and so continuously
fought for. but he chose the battle
ground and set forth the issues which
Will engage the thought of the world
for many years TO come. And there
Is no more instructive failure--if II
was failure!-than the Presidents at
Paris. for when We approach it with
desire not to condemn or defend, but
TO understand. IL reveals, as nothing
else could. the real elements of the
struggle which the liberals OF the
world have yet before them. We see
as In spotlight the defects Of our
own governmental machinery as II
concerns foreign affairs; we are able
to judge more clearly the state of our
own public opinion. and above all tc
get trues sense Of our relationships
with the other great nations of the
world.
Finally, we see in high relief the
figure OF an extraordinary human be-
ing. with supreme qualities of many
kinds. with temperamental and physi-
cal limitations. who will never cease
to fascinate the historian and biog-
, rapher OF representative and decisive
] characters.
Unless Americans can Apprehend
what really happened at Paris, what
forces we had to meet there, how we
were led, and what We did, we car
| scarcely go ahead with firm grounc
under our feet. to discuss what to dc
next. Paris must assuredly be the
spring g-board for any future plunge
8 Into foreign affairs. Consequently
this Is an American narrative, from ar
American point OF view. It is the &C.
. count OF what happened by one who
F was there. who knew the men en-,
e gagged, and who had then and has hat
. since, In even larger measure, a ful
8 access to the documents--not merel,
the formal records. but those tenta
tive proposals, memoranda. and cor
respondence. which often reveal. II
e their impulsive sincerity, late
!, smoothed into conventional complai
8 sances, the true purposes. the real dc
l slres. OF the actors upon that grea
. stage.
e Methodist Chapel Entertainment