Evening star., 1924-03-12
The True Story of
Woodrow Wilson
By DAVID LAWRENCE.

| of the members of Col. Houses fam
lily and visited in Texas. His quail
fications were presented to Mr.. Will
son by Col. House. He was accepted
on paper so to speak. and was one
Of the first to be decided on for the
cabinet.
An Outspoken Critic.
In later years a GOODNESS developed
between Woodrow Wilson and Frank
lin Lane. MI. Wilson once said the
Secretary Of the Interior was too
visionary" and, while he was the
sponsor of many good ideas, they did
not always seem possible of execu-
tion. Mr.. Lane was outspoken. He
frequently criticized things the ad-
ministration did and volunteered his
, opinions on many matters outside the
Interior Department.. all Of which
was bound sooner or later to create
friction in a cabinet as sharply de-
| partmentalized as was that of Wood
row Wilson.
Mr.. Wilson's greatest trouble in
making up his cabinet developed in
filling the portfolio of Attorney Cen
| eral. Throughout the campaign he
had made considerable use of the ar
guments of Louis D. Brandeis on
government regulation of big busi-
ness. Again and again the corre-
| spondents accompanying Gov. Will
son would hear from his lips words
of praise for the magnificent ar
! ticles written by Brandeis, some of
which were paraphrased in the
speeches of Mr.. Wilson on the trust
! question. His hearts desire was to
appoint Mr.. Brandeis Attorney Cen
! eral, but he was afraid to do go be-
! cause of the reputation Mr.. Brandeis
had a radical.
When he was. taken to task later
by a friend for not appointing Mr..
Brandeis the President said:
I'm the position of Attorney Gen
eral l simply could not appoint a
radical-that is, l could not appoint
known radical. The people must
have confidence in the Department
Of Justice-they must lave conf
dence in the Attorney General. He
cannot be a person of the crusader
type in public life. L have tremen-
and I know Of his great mental
capacity, but he just doesn't fit in
that particular place because he is
known all over the country as a
crusader and it would shock the sem
sibilities of the public to appoint him
to that particular position
Wanted Brnndeis In Cabinet.
Mr.. Wilson's unwillingness to ap-
point Mr.. Brandeis as Attorney Cen
eral led him to consider tentatively
appointing Mr.. Brandeis as Secretary
of Commerce. He really wanted him
at the cabinet table. Just about the
time he was inclined to make the ap-
pointment the Boston critics of Mr.
Brandeis, who had fought many a
fight in New England against the
railroads. and the conservative in
terests in both the democratic and
republican parties came to the Presi-
dent-elect and told him he would lose
the support of the democratic or
ganization in Massachusetts IL he
nominated Mr. Brandeis to his. cab
met. Mr.. Wilson did not believe
comments made about Mr.. Brandeis'
alleged inconsistencies as a lawyer
and sent Dudley Field Malone, who
was at that time a close friend of
Mr.. Wilson. to New England as a +!
sort of Investigator. \ While the re-
port of MIR. Malone was not un-
friendly to Mr.. Brandeis. the con-
troversial aspect of the case was |,
such as to cause Mr.. Wilson at the F,
last minute to eliminate the name of |
Mr.. Brandeis and choose another Sec
retary Of Commerce, namely, William
{. Redfield of New York. In later
years MIR. Wilson regretted his omis-
sion of Mr.. Brandeis from the cab
met and made amends by appointing
him to the Supreme Court of the
United States. While it was not
generally known, Mr.. Wilson fire.
quently consulted Justice Brandeis
during the war and in reconstruct
tion days. He was an inconspicuous
but influential adviser
What Mr.. Wilson liked about Mr.
Redneid was his knowledge of the
tariff question. Although Mr.. Red
field as a member of Congress had
attacked Mr.. Wilson's candidacy in
the days prior to the Baltimore con-
vention. Woodrow Wilson forgave
that opposition and accepted the !
estimate which so many people gave
him of the business ability of William /
=. Redheld During the campaign, at
Sea Girt. Mr. Wilson had occasion to /
confer frequently with Mr.. Redfield |
and found him SO familiar with the
tariff question that he came to re. |
spect his Judgment on business ques- i
tions very highly.
Palmer Versus McReynoIds. !
Another intimate friend Of Mr.. |
Wilson who felt that he should be |
Attorney General was A Mitchell |
Palmer of Pennsylvania, the floor i
leader of the Wilson forces in the |
Baltimore convention. Mr. Wilson :
did not think Mr.. Palmer was as i
brilliant a lawyer as James c. Nc. /
Reynolds, whom he had fixed upon
as his choice for Attorney General. ,
Mr.. McReynolds owed his appoint
ment not to any political influence
but his achievements Mr.. McRey-
nolds had appeared in the federal
courts under Judge William Howard
Taft, and when the latter became
President, Attorney General Wicker
sham was in need of special attor- |
ney general to prosecute the tobacco
cases. President Taft suggested that
Mr.. McReynoids had made a very I;
good impression upon him in early
days. Mr.. Mckeynolds became assis-
cpEHYAY N0TTrEc