Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-03-27
WILSON REFUSED TO BE- TIED
BY PLATFORMS He DID NOT
MAKE, LAWRENCE DECLARES

became persuaded that they could
accomplish more inside of the Re
publican party toward making it
progressive than outside, so did Mr..
Wilson become convinced that he
could rid the Democratic party Of
some of its bossism and old-fashion-
ed conservatism and make it the
instrumentality of progressiVism and
liberalism.
Although Mr.. Wilson was an ex-
cellent speaker, eloquent and in
eenious in his ability to make i'm
promptu addresses, he really did not
enjoy stump speaking or back plat
form talks. His audiences were never
aware Of that fact. Every outdoor
meeting was an ordeal for him. Nor
did he like to prepare speeches in
advance, preferring to map out ad-
"dresses with a few notes ahead of
time and trusting to his power OF
concentration in developing a theme
in original fashion as he spoke. This
meant that his best speeches were
made when he had an attentive au-
dience or when he spoke in a small
hall where quiet could be assured
The speeches sounded we'll and read
well. He never edited them after de-
livery. Newspaper men who travelled
with him were impressed again and
again by his versatility in handling
from day to day the same topic in
a different way. IF his speeches were
to be examined and compared it
would be found that while he en-
ployed the same argument he never
used the same phraseoloGy. Report
ers never knew what he was going
to say-they found themselves listen
ing always for the unexpected.
Avoided Repetition
Sometimes the reporters used to
feel that he was conscious of their
presence and that he felt the neces-
sity Of making every speech differ
ent so that he would not seem to
them to be repeating, Each cam
paign held the interest of those who
were reporting it, and in this re-
spect Mr.. Wilson's publicity sense
which was none too good as a
whole, was especially effective.
Election night, 1912, was about
as uninteresting and undramatic an
occasion as it was important to the
man who was the chief figure in it..
Possibly it was that Mr.. Wilson
felt confident of the result, and pos
sibly it was Mr.. Wilson'S character
istic ability to disguise his true feel
ings. But were it not for the stu
dent body of Princeton university
who cam emarching down to the lit
tie cottage on Cleveland lane, a
stones throw from the house where
Grover Cleveland lived and died
the incident might have passed into
history without even cheer of en-
thusiasm or q note of eXultation Of
any kind.
TO the modest little cottage on
Cleveland lane. came the torchlight
procession, with fife end drum
singing, yelling and giving to the
whole atmosphere more of the ap-
pearance of an athletic victory than
a political celebration. students in
Princeton will parade anyhow on
the slightest provocation, and the
fact that graduate had been elected
president of the United States gave
them a thrilling excuse.
Down the same streets students
had tripped in the days when Gen
eral Washington received the
thanks OF the continental congress
meeting at Nassau hall after the
revolution. 1t was in the same en-
vironment that James Madison, an
other president of the United States,
had known. More recently-only
five years before election night
1912-the students had marched to
the home of Grover Cleveland to
greet him on the occasion of his sew
entieth birthday. The last presi.
dent of the United States elected on
the Democratic ticket and the first
Democrat to be elected since then
both had been vital part of Prince
ton.
Like Social Evening
Only few persons were admitted
to the Wilson cottage mostly news
paper men who had accompanied
the governor during his presiden-
tial campaign. Except for the tick
ing of a telegraph instrument in the
library one would have believed it
was a social evening in the Wilson
home.
Serenaded by the students, Wood
row Wilson made his first speech
that night as the elected chief ex-
ecutive of the American people. 1t
was an impromptu address. but it
paralleled strangely the words OF
his second inauguration address
more than four years later. He
said then in 1912 what he said in
1916-he did not feel the thrill of
triumph, but a sense only OF sol
emn responsibility,
Day by day we had our confer
encos with president-eleCt. His
answers to our questions were gen
eral-he was feeling his way. His
first impulse was to set away from
it all and think alone. This tend
ency. not unlike that ofthe artist who
seeks solitude or the literary genius
who locks himself in his study for
uninterrupted thought. was notice
able on later occasions when Mr.. Will
son was face 10 face with a crisis.
When the Lusitanja was sunk. h
shut himself off Immediately, Gom