The Winslow mail., 1924-02-08
Woodrow Wilson, Prophet,
Scholar and Statesman
CONTINUED from page one)

attained by man. In him was cent
cred the hope of the World. Then
there passed one of the most tragic
moments in the history of the human
race. He fell, misunderstood and re-
,, jected. Infinite hopes had been
aroused that his utterances would be-
come the realty of the new order.
In the words of General Smuts, the
great South African soldier and
statesman:
"In this atmosphere of extravagant
almost frenzied expectation, Wilson
arrived at the Paris Peace Confer
ence. Without hesitation he plunged
into that inferno of human passions.
| He went down into the pit like a
second Hercules to bring back the
! fair Alcestis of the worlds desire.
There was six months of agonized
waiting, during which the world stu
alton rapidly deteriorated. And then
he emerged with the Peace Treaty.
1t was not a Wilson peace, and he
made fatal mistake in somehow
giving the impression that the peace
was in accord with his Fourteen
Points and his various declarations.
| This was a Punic peace, the same
sort Of peace as the victor had die
tated to the vanquished for thousands
of years. 1t was not Alcestis, it was
a haggard, unlovely woman with
features distorted with hatred greed,
and selfishness, and the little child
that the woman carried was scarce
ly noticed. Yet it was for the saving
of the child that Wilson had labored
until he was a physical wreck. Let
our other great statesmen and lead
ers enjoy their we'll earned honors
for their unqueStioned success at
Paris. To Woodrow Wilson, the ap
parent failure, belongs the undying
honor, which will grow with the
growing centuries, of having saved
the little child that shall lead them
yet. No other statesman but Wilson
could have done it."
The covenant of the League of
Nations is Wilson's souvenir of the
future of the World. Another great
World Statesman says: at is one
of the greatest creative documents
of human history. The Peace Trea
will fade into merciful oblivion, and
its provisions will be gradually OBJ
liberated by the great human tides
sweeping over the world, but the
Covenant will stand as sure as fate. !"
Indeed, it was not Wilson who
failed but the human spirit itself
In the presence of this first practical,
concrete plan for the consummation
of the dream of the ages, humanity
wavered. Facing this magnificent
inspiring world ideal it failed. But
the forces and ideals released and
set in motion by Woodrow Wilson
will not stop until mankind shall
have marched far toward that haven
of Universal peace. He led the peop-
les of the earth upon the mountain
top and pointed out to them the pro
missed land. Many grew faint of
heart and fell back, but few OF
the worlds brave souls caught me
vision and said "We can possess the
land" We will possess the land if
democracy, liberty and justice are
anything more than mockery, if the
fatherland of God and the brother
hood of man are anything more than
a CHASTITY hallucination The magni-
ficent, overpowering and inspiring
ideals of his soul will yet become a
realty-in the League or otherwise.
The passion of Woodrow Wilson's
soul was for peace. With every fiber
of his being he hated war. He held
our nation in neutrality in the most
trying circumstances Of the world
conflict. Though his heart famed
at the outrages conpnitted by Ger
many, he knew the responsibility of
his office, he knew the peoples
minds were not prepared for war.
But the parting of the ways was
reached and on April 6, 1917, he
went to the capital and amid wild
cheers from the galleries read his
great war message, one of the I'M
mortal documents of history that will
continue to be read so long as civili-
zation lasts. When he returned to
the White House with the applause
still sounding in his ears, he express
sed himself in these words: "Think
what it was they were applauding.
1t means death for our young men:
How strange it seems to applaud
that"
We again see the. great heart of
Woodrow Wilson in action when he
ordered Admiral Mayo to take Vera
Cruz. He said: 81 can not get i
off my heart. 1t had to be done.
1t was right. Nothing else was
pOSSlUlG, UuL Netu hOS AOA s."
it was 1 who had to order those
young men to their deaths" The
sacredness with which he viewed
humanity made his responsibility
weigh all the more heavily.
While these things would indicate
that his heart had within it the
tenderness of child, yet we know
that it also possessed the courage OF
q Napoleon.
When the bodies of the Marines
who were killed at Vera, Cruz were
brought back to New York, he deter
mined that he should march along the
whole dangerous line of the parade,
despite the rumors that an attempt
would be made upon his life. His
friends and advisors attempted to
reason and argue with him, about the
danger of such an undertaking, say
ing, the country could not afford to
lose it's President. His prompt and
brief reply was "The country cannot
afford to have coward for Presi-