Newspapers / The Daily Advance (Elizabeth … / March 28, 1924, edition 1 / Page 2
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The Trie Story Of Woodrow Wilson By DAVID LAWRENCE (C**rHfAt 1924 fry ttia Onch H. Dfrraa la UaltM Canada. ftMtk AMrtw. Wart* luMxilitn ri?Mi rtNm4 fry C?rr?M Ni.i F?atvr??. lac.) Chapter XXXII Wilson's Last Four Years Csd Storied urn or animated bust 1 Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust. Or Flatt'ry sooth the dull cold ear of death? ?Thomas Gray. On the plains of Kansas, the appeal of Woodrow Wilson to the American people to give their sup port to the League of Nations stop ped suddenly. The Presidential train was turned homeward. The symptoms of a breakdown of the arteries ? the inevitable collapse of an overburdened physique ? cast their warning none too soon. Nervously the President tossed in his bed in the private car, tor mented mostly by the thought that his enemies would say he had quit the fight, that he was whamming Illness. There were skeptics among the newspapermen but they were a minority. Most of us knew the break, long expected, had come at last. The train sped rapidly to Washington with hardly a stop. Arriving on a Sunday morning, the' President walked briskly through the Union Station, was photographed ! as usual and the skeptics increased j in number for outwardly he showed no gi.^ns of change. It was not until a few days later,! in the White House, that a blood clot formed In the blood vessels of Mr. Wilson's brain, permanently im-' pairing the Use of his left arm and leg. After that he was never the same. To his physical condition i with the accompanying lapses of memory, irritability, and excessive, emotion, must be attributed many | of the acts of Woodrow Wilson \ beginning in October 1919 and con tinuing until the day of his death.; more than four years later. Every criticism, every coolness which old I friends experienced, every expression | on the part of Woodrow Wilson with reference to the few problems ' that he was permitted to consider or J discuss cannot be appraised In re-j trospect without being mindful of the tired brain that once swayed the' world and then feebly sought to re tain Its hold on the Presidency and 1 public opinion. There were days when Woodrow Wilson seemed to be mentally as keen as ever. Shutting one's eyes to the drooping figure and listening only to his fiery logic, the illusion1 of an unchanged personality would not have been difficult to maintain. Little by little oh gradual improve ment in his condition was evident, more i executive work was under-, taken; but always at his side stood the devoted wife and the physician. Admiral Cary T. Grayson. Together they carried the secrets of the sick room while Private Secretary Tumulty played the role of every-, thlng-as-usual in the Executive j Offices, a mark of loyalty to his chief which alono .should have I earned him something better than' the brusque treatment he later received. 1! But those were topsy turvy flays and many an old friend who had served Mr. Wilson In the past was turned away. The tragic events that followed Mr. Wilson's break-jj down cannot be explained by aoyi, theory of logic. Those who had ltM In their power to persuade President | J Wilson to permit advisers to reach; ^ him failed to realize the Immensity | ' of their renponslblllty in shutting him off so completely from the out side world. yhether America would have ben efitted by entrance Into the League of Nations it Is not necesaary to dis cuss, but the United States would today be In the league officially if the President had been able to get the advice he so much needed In his J enfeebled condition. On his sick bed, he almost agreed to accept the Lodge reservations, but some one, urge*! him to make It an issue In the 1920 campaign and in January 1920 he asked that a solemn referendum be taken. Was It the whispering voice of ambition thst put into his mind the forlorn hope that he could recover and that a third term In the White House was possible? For himself, Mr. Wilson was not am bitious. Thoae around him ? not all ? felt the magic spell of power and Inevitably longed for Its contin uance. Barly In 1919, the author had made a tour of the United States and had written for the London Times a cable stating that while sentiment for the I/eague was pre ponderent, Ihe cause would be strengthened If people were sure Mr. Wilson did not mean to use It as a vehicle for a third term. The President read thst article and <nbl?d to his prlvste secretary to discover If the sentiment reported were correct and If he should Issue a statement saying he would not run for a third term. He wa* advised that It was unnecessary. Nearly a year later when the author pub lished a story about the President's cable and his apparent willingness to forgo a third nomination If It would help the cause of the League, there was evidence of dlapleasure that Mr. Wilson's position hsd been made public. Mrs. Wilson demanded to know of Secretary Tumulty If the EVERYBODY'S DOING IT author had access to the Presi dent's cables from Paris. The In-1 formation to the author had coino I not from Washington, however, but < from Paris; yet the significance of j the action lay In the apparent dis inclination to give up the third term j Idea." especially at a time when other candidates were seeking the Dem ocratic nomination. The San Francisco convention | was a disappointment to Woodro* I Wilson in many ways. The con I ventlon failed to give Mr. Wilson even a complimentary nomination. (Nor did his friends think it wise to announce that he had sent a light wines and beer plank to the conven ' tion for adoption. He had vetoed I the Volstead Act and felt that Its | modification would not be a viola tion of the Eighteenth Amendment. Mr. Wilson bequeathed to his j friends a complete platform for the | 1924 campaign but at this-wrltlng It ; has not been made public. Mr. Wilson's last days in the j White House were in seclusion. He i never came to his offices. He sat 'in a wheel chair on the south portico lor in the grounds and received few I callers. One of the unexplained In cidents of the last year was his fail ure to receive Lord Grey, Britain's! distinguished statesman who had been secretary for foreign affairs In 1914 and who was in Washington as a special ambassador In the hope of reaching some understanding with the United States about her entry into the League of Nations. Mr. Wilson never gave him an audience. He resented the fact that Lord Grey hnd received at the British Embassy, several Republican members of the' United States Senate, Including Mr. j Wilson's chief opponent. Senator' Henry Cabot Lodge, and and dls-1 cussed the situation with them.1 Lord Grey was of the opinion that the Lodge reservations would in the main satisfy the allied powers.! When he returned to Great Britain, he wrote a letter, made public In the London Times, giving his views in detail; but the President was not made any friendlier to a compromise by that action. Some of those who had Mr. Wll-1 son's ear during the seclusion in-j sist that they urged him to accept the Lodge reservations. There is no j. way to determine the strength of j their persuasiveness. Mr. Wilson ac-1 cepted the 1920 defeat with stoicism.! He could have revived the Versailles treaty and released the members of; his party to accept the Lodge reser vations after the election, but though a few newspapers argued editorially for such a step the advice' went unheeded and the now Presl-| dent, Mr. Harding, declared un equivocally against the League of Nations with or without reserva-, tlODt. Not a word of criticism came pub-' licly from Mr. Wilson of the acts of1 President Harding or President Coolidge. It was Wood row Wilson's* pointed way of showing the world,.' as he phrased it, "how an ex-presi dent could t>ehave.M for he did not1 forget the shafts aimed at him by Theodore Roosevelt in the trying1 days of the war. Except for a few implied references to American fore-! ign policy. Mr. Wilson was singularly \ silent after leaving the White House ami not until November 11, 1923, on the anniversary of the armistice Just a few months before he died.1 did he make any extended criticism of America's failure to join the Lea gue of Nations. Here again he men tioned no individuals but based his speech on a broad principle of inter national cooperation. The last few months were happier for Woodrow Wilson than the pre ceding years of silence. He sensed a turn in public opinion in his direc tion. He talked hopefully with his chosen visitors on the prospects for the 1924 campaign. He made no committment as to candidates. He was eager to goselp with the few who came to see him. Norman H. Davis. Undersecretary of 8tate dur ing the last year of Mr. Wilson's ad ministration, was a frequent visitor at the "S" street home, as was Ber nard M. Baruch, who perhaps was as close if not closer than anyone to Mr. Wilson In his final days, with the possible exception of Ad miral Grayson and members of the family. Both Mr. Baruch and Mr. Davis were experts on reparations and European problems generally and brought authentic information or expert analysis of the trend of world affairs in which, of course. Mr. Wilson retained an undiminish ed interest to the end. Occasionally old Princeton friends came to see the broken statesman. Some of them together with polltl-j cal associates gave Mr. Wilson a J new automobile on his last birthday. | December 26, 1923. A group of friends also had purchased for him ( tho mortgage on the "S" street home, as Mr. Wilson did not leave the White House a rich man in the usual sense of the word. On the few occasions when Mr. j Wilson was visible to the public he i showed he was failing in health. Wrhen the members of the Demo- j cratic National Committee were re-j ceived a month before he died, he looked withered and exhausted. An attack of indigestion contributed the fatal Impetus and he died on Feb ruary 3, 1924. Woodrow Wilson will stand In all; history as a great man. His Na poleonic struggle for a triumph of | idealism over materialism and pro vincialism met defeat on a field j which counted him In its casuallty list. Petty Intrigues constantly sur rounded him and at times _ misled him. Selfish, jealous-minded, and of ten childish persons poured Into his! ears the prejudices of scorn snd the I insidious poison of hate. Above it I all. Wood row Wilson's own record stands untarnished?he fought for ?ltal principles. He led a victorious Nation in the greatest war of all history. Hte never wantouly hurt his fellow-man. though the stern paths of duty led him to part with so many who failed to grasp the im personality of his battles. Greater by far than those who basked in his halo was Woodrow i Wilson ? a paradox in personality, >a genius of lofty expression.-anr in ! defatigafele statesman. Years be for he was thought of for the Pres idency by his party, the romantic soul within him seemed by pro phetic instinct to be lifted to a higher destiny. On the seashore gazing wistfully into the unknown deep. Woodrow Wilson repeated aloud to a companion an anony mous poem ? the last in the Oxford Book of English Verse ? and. con cluding. he talked of the Presidency of the United States as the office, which, if he ever attained, would mean for him the supreme sacrifice. He spoke his own elegy. In the hour of death, after this life's whim. When the heart beats low and the eyes grow dim. And pain has exhausted every limb? The lover of the Lord shall trust in Him. | When the will ha3 forgotten the lifelong aim. , And the mind can only disgrace its fame, ' And a man Is uncertain of his own name? j The power of the Lord shall fill this frame. When the last sigh is heaved, aqd the last tear is shed. And the coffin is waiting beside the bed. And the widow and child forsake the dead? The angel pf the Lord shall lift this head. For even the purest delight may pall. And power must fail and pride must fall, And the love of the dearest friends grow small ? But the glory of the Lord is all in all. The End PHONE 114 Standard Pharmacy THEY WILL SEND IT. Unusual Purchase Ladies' Dresses Special Trip To New York TO BUY DRESSES AND MILLINERY Mr. Gilbert is hack and every exprens ia bringing NEW STYLES and the pricm ARE MOST UNUSUAI,?100 Dresaea received to day to aell quick at You never saw Mirli valuer ('.oine in to see them. t $11.75, $13.75, $18.00, $21.00, $27.00 Mitchell's Dept. Store O. F. GILBERT, Proprietor. THE STYLE CENTER The Man Who Pays By Check H is credit is good as a rule he is a valued customer, and his business associates and acquain tances respect him, for his use of the hank's facil ities fully shows that he is alive to the present day methods. Paying by check offers many other advantages, too?which we gladly will explain if you will stop in any time. Carolina Banking & Trust Company Columbia - ELIZABETH CITY - Hertford Will You Be WET OK DRY CONSULT THIS Weather Prophet COUPON This Coupon and 69c Good for On? $1 Weather Prophet House MADE IN AMERICA?BETTER THAN IMPORTED KINDS ?When the weather is to be fine the two children will be out; when stormy weather is approaching the witch will come out from 8 to 24 hours ahead of i ain or snow. It is surprisingly reliable on local weather conditons. Made on strictly scienti fic principles. We have secured a special price on a quantity and as long as they last will sell them for exactly what it costs us to retail them?only aOc if you bring this coupon. Every village, city and farm home should have one. Come and get yours at once or mall your order. Mall orders 8c extra for packing and postage. An ideal gift. THE CITY DRUG STORE Cor. Water and Matthews Sts. Elizabeth City, X. C. PHONE 288 its??? bbbbbbbbbbbsbi a a a ? a a a a a a \ FOR SALE CHEAP Slightly used furniture almost as good as a new, at HALF PRICE. On sale every day in the year. Come in and look our furniture over, wheth er you buy or not. We are life savers to peo ple who want a lot of furniture and haven't much money. The Auction Furniture Company 120-122 North Poindexter Street, Next to P. DeLon's bicycle shop. E. L. SILVERTHORNE, Mgr. i [ilBBBBBBBBBBBlMaJlgJUlMBBBBBBlBlSg Famo and Lebanon Belle Flour ?r* ?baolntrlj flour* of quality told by ika leading pomi. A. F. TQXET "& COMPANY
The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.)
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March 28, 1924, edition 1
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