Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-04-15
WILSON'S CAREER DOTTED
BY CLASHES WITH PRESS;
RESENTED ALL CRITICISM

paper attacks made upon him that
| he wrote to the newspapers and asked
! that certain reporters be removed
| from the White House assignment.
In no case did the newspapers COM
| ply with his request.
Mr.. Wilson was the type Of Presi-
| dent who rarely saw newspapermen
| individually but when he did he usu-
ally asked them to retain in conf
dence all that he had said. FIRE.
| quently the same information was
! obtainable from other sources. The
author found it to his advantage not
to ask for audiences with the presi
dent, but to get information about
MIR. Wilson'S activities from mem
bers of the cabinet and other sources
| in Washington This often irritated
Mr.. Wilson because he dislilSed to see
! his plans and intentions revealed
prematurely, yet it was in conson-
ance with the newspaper practice or
| the day.
/ Peace Conference Secrecy
An interesting converse ton with
| Mr.. Wilson in Paris illustrates to
some extent the attitude Of the pres
ident on publicity at the peace con-
ference One Of the first steps taken
after the American newspaper corps
| arrived was a, decision on the part
of the allied statesmen to bar the
| neWspaperm en- from attendance at
| the peace conference. 1t was report
ed that Mr.. Wilson had voted IN IA
vor Of secrecy. When the author
spoke to Mr.. Wilson about it and
asked him if it were true, he replied
that it was not, and that he did not
| favor secrecy, but when urged TO
make such a statement to the pubic
he said he believed the American
people knew his position we'll enough.
AS to the suggestion that people
back home would not undefstaho
how "open covenants openly arrived
at" was discarded and that his &C
tion would be felt politically, he re-
piled somewhat impatiently:
at don't give q damn about the pol
itics of tiff this thing is a success
we will get the benefit Of 1t, and IL
| it isn't, we will be attacked anyhow.
Had Mr.. Wilson known more about
the processes of news making ne
would have probably developed a
more favorable public opinion on TINS
side of the Atlantic during the time
that he was at the peace conference
The American eWspapermen were
to a large extent at disadvantage
! in Paris The representatives OF Lhe
nj ess from other countries were kept
CLOSELY informed and even were per
nitted to read the documents OF the
peace DELEGATIONS. 1t looked Tor
| time as if the French press was pc
ing given verbatim copies OF every
thing that occurred. Mr.. Wilson IN
nocentlv kept to the letter or the uu-
| derstanding between the allies Win
rasnect to secrecy and not only qua
| the American press fail to report MI
Wilson'S valiant fights for peCIeI
neace but all Europe was given an
| INTERPRETATION colored by the BRUSH
French and Italian viewpoints.
The authors relations with WOOD
row Wilson have themselves peeh
! the basis of so much editorial com
ment and misrepresentation froin
time to time that the true story Is
set forth herein.
Having been assigned by the AS
ISOLATED Press to cover GoNernol
Wilson'S headquarters at Sea Glrt,
N. T.. in the summerSof 1917, had
a frank talk with Mr.. wilson at
, the very outset stating that Whlle
we had known each other intimately
at Princeton, my function as a re-
porter for the Associated Press
would be disinterested and that the
organization [ represented was, OIL
course. not interested in advocating
| the candidacy of any such man but
simply in chronicling the news. Mr.:
! Wilson was at that time preJudlced
against the Associated Press because
of a belief that it had not given MN
/ the benefit of his victory In the
! Texas primaries until two days alter
/ the balloting, when the truth was
/ the votes were slow in being counted
and. as was its custom, the Asso'
ciated Press did not make guesses
but waited for the final returns.
Assured Square Deal
When I told Mr.. Wilson that my
( purpose was to give him square
/ deal" he said he wanted nothing
else. In all the years that the au>
/ thor covered for the Associated
Press the daily news events relating
to Mr.. Wilson's public career, dur
/ ing the 1912 campaign and subse-
uuently at the White House, he
never made a complaint. / accom-
panied him on practically all of his
! trips but saw no more of him than
4 did the other correspondents. When
/ he was inaugurated, l realized that
anything like personal relations
with Mr.. Wilson while 1 was engag-
ed in the task OF writing impartial
reports might be misunderstood. Al
1 though there were frequent charges
that Mr.. Wilson. inspired my articles,
especially when I left the Associated
Press in 1915 to become a special
/ correspondent, the truth is saw
4 him alone much less than did some
other men in the newspaper bust
ness and I never received from him
in private conversation any stories
which could be used in the newspa-
pers at the time.
Nevertheless, the author obtained
from other sources several items OF
news of a sensational character and
published them ahead of COmpetl-
tors and found no difficulty in re
flecting the presidents views with
out even seeing him. Any neWSpa'
per correspondent who has been in
/ Washington through several admin
istrations realizes the futility of de
/ pending on the president OF the
United States himself for news, gel
ting it instead from the many men
who see him from day to day JIM
Guiding members OF the cabinet,
congress and callers generally.
Although Mr.. Wilson occasionally
sent me personal messages of re-
gard and imposed in me sufficient
confidence on two occasions to ask
that I undertake delicate missions
which related to our negotiations
with foreign governments, I was
never in any sense his 'mouthpiece"
or his spokesman" in the press.
Some editorial writer's fell into the
habit Of designating me as such
during the war because of the belief
on their part that accurate refleC-
ton nf The 1.ie1,,S Of The White House