The True Story Of Wood row Wilson
By DAVID LAW HENCE
(Copyri?M 1924 by the Geo rf H. Dor an Company in th? United State*. Canada.
">outh Awenca. World publication mhti reMrvtd by Current Ntwt Feature*. Inc.)
As Party Leader
Chapter VI.
Nothing perhaps illustrates more
forcibly the psychological effect of
the parliamentary idea on the mind
of Wood row Wilson than his de
termination to attend the Paris
peace conference as the head of the
United States delegation. It was
no sudden decision arrived at in the
two weeks between the signing of
the armistice and the day he set
5ail. Mr. Wilson had seriously con
sidered going to Europe even in the
months when the United States was
neutral, if by personal and official
mediation he could bring about
world peaco. When Mr. Wilson did
go to Paris to represent the United
States in a conference of belliger
ents. people on thlc aide of the At
lantic failed to grasp the signifi
cance of his relationship to the other
negotiators. j
It was not a conference of sover
eigns ? no kings or emperors were;
present* It was a conference, how-j
ever, of the beads of parliamentary i
governments ? prime ministers and;
premiers. In point orf rank all were |
on an equal footing except Mr. Wil-I
son, who was not only prime min
ister but the head of the state he!
represented. By virtue of his dual 1
role, he was entitled to the consid-1
eration due both offices.
To have stayed in America and
sent a member of his Cabinet as
head erf the delegation would have
permitted the prime minister of
Great Britain and the" premiers of
the other countries to outrank the
chairman of the American delega
tion. This did not comport with
Mr. Wilson's idea of of the dignity
of the United States as an equal
nor was It consistent with the influ
ential part America had played In
articulating the alms of -the War.
? The Secretary for Foreign Ttffsrorj
In the British Cabinet, Arthur Bal-|
four, and the Minister of Foreign I
Affairs in the French Cabinet, Ste
phen Piclion, were members of'
Jhelr respective delegations but they
did not preside. Prime Minister
Lloyd George, the head of the'
British government, and Georges
Clemenceau, the French premier, as
well as Signcrr Orlando, the Italian ,
premier, together with the Presi
dent of tho.T'fiited States, made up
the famous "big four" who conduct-,
ed the Peace Conference.
It was the first time in the his-j
tory of the American republic that
the Executive of the Presidential
system and the head of the par
_ liamentary system came face to
face. Mr. Wilson found himself1
constantly explaining the differences'
between the two. The British :
Prime Minister and the other pre
miers were able' to commit their
governments to a specific line of
action. President Wilson told his
colleagues he could not do so. He J
needed the concurrence of two
thirds of the United States Senate j
to approve his negotiations. The
other negotiators were sure of their j
parliaments ? if they had not been!
they could not have remained at the'
peace conference. A crisis hack'*
home would overnight have forced'*
a resignation or a general flection. "
Mr. Wilson had lost a majority of i
both houses of Congress but hoped ;
to win non-partisan support for the ,
treaty because never In American *
history had a treaty of ponce hern ,
rejected hy the United States Senate. I
r Jn this same connection It Is per-1
tlnent to disclose what were Wood- ' >
row Wllsdo's reasons for declining'
to appoint to the American peace
delegation any members of the
United States Senate. He was bit
terly criticised for his failure to do1
so, the argument being made that
since treaties can be made only with
the advice and consent of the
Senate, the latter body should have
representation on the mission which
negotiates In treaties. Mr. Wilson
never made public his viewpoint on]
this. Hut he gave nevertheless
careful consideration to It before he
announced the personnel of the
American pence delegation. He
called for an opinion from the De
partment of State. The opinion ren
dered was in consonance with a be-j
lief always held by Mr. Wilson that
President McKlnley made a mistake;
when he appointed two members of
the Senate, a Democrat and a Re
publican, to sit on the delegation ,
which concluded a treaty of peace
with Spain after the war of 1898.
The action of Mr. McKlnley was de
bated at length In the Senate at the
time, some of the best constitu
tional lawyers of the day contending
that it was improper to permit a
member of the legislative branch
of the government to hold any of
fice with or without compensation in
the executive branch of the govern- j
ment. On this point the Constitu
tion says:
"No Senator or Representative
shall, during the time for which he
was elected, be appointed to any civ
il office under the authority of the
United States, which shall have
been created, or the emoluments
whereof shall have been Incroased
during such time; and no person
holding any office under the United
States, shall be a member of either
t House during his continuance in of
I lice."*
j Woodrow Wilson was a keen stu
dent of the Constitution. That
memorable document placed the ne
gotiation of treaties entirely in the
domain of the Executive. Mr. Wll
I son felt that not his Secretary of
? State nor any special commissioner
! he might appoint but he himself, the
i Chief Executive, would be held re
! sponsible for the negotiation of a
treaty, especially one of such vast
' Importance as that ending the great
I est war In history.
So he took no members orf the Sen
' ate with him. believing that any one
j who took part in the negotiation of
! the treaty would be in a sense dio
| qualified from voting in an unpre
I judiced way on it as a member of
? the Senate and that the farmers of
jthe Constitution were wise in insist
! ing that members of Congress should
j not hold office under the authority
'of the executive branch of the gov
ernment as would have been the case
if Senators became a part of the
peace delegation subject to the in
structions of the President and Sec-|
retary of State.
When President Harding appoint- 1
ed Senators Lodge and Underwood j
special commissioners to act with the j
Secretary of State in negotiating the)
four power treaty with Great Britain, |
France, and Japan, Mr. Wilson felt
that the Constitution had been dis-j
regarded again as in the Mckinley!
case. The answer made by the other
side was that since the Senators re
ceived- nor compensation "they- wore]
eligible but Mr. Wilson's objection
was that they could not remain Sen
ators and act under the authority or
orders of the executive branch of the
government at the same time.
The ill-fated appeal of October
1918, when President Wilson asked
the American people to elect a Dem
ocratic Congress, was .really a nat
ural development of li is theory of
party responsibility. l,le asked for
a Democratic Congress because Re
publican leaders had expressed oppo
sition to his declaration of peace
aims, He feared embarrassment by
his opponents in the making of
peace. His fears were corn firmed.
Even before the Executive could
complete his negotiations with other
governments, the Senate by informal
round-robin expressed dissent. In
January 192p after the \veary dead-!
lock in the United States Senate ov-j
er the ratification of the Versailles!
treaty in which was incorporated the
constitution at the League of Na
tions. President Wilson, again con-!
scious of party responsibility, ap- j
pealed for a national "referendum" j
tor decide whether the United States |
should accept the Treaty and enter i
the League of Nations. He made
the suggestion for a "referendum" in
a letter to a national gathering of
Democrats at a Jackson Day banquet
? an occasion for party counsel. Six
months later when the Democratic
National Convention was in session
in San Francisco, Wood-row Wilson
felt that he should be nominated
[again for the Presidency so that he
? might make the fight for the League.
? He held that his leadership was on
: trial and that since He had made the
I record he should enter the lists as
. its defender.
These were the days when Wood
row Wilson had suffered a physical
break-down. He had no serious
? thought, c course, of retaining the
presidency for a third term if elect
ed. But he hoped his health would
return so that he mifht seek vin
dication by a personal appeal to the
i voters. His party associates at San
Francisco, including Bainbridge Col
by, Secretary of State, who was to
have made the motion to suspend the
rules and nominate Woodrow Wil
j son for the presidency. Joined in a
i telegram to the White House advis
? ing their chieftain that circumstan
ces would prevent the passage oT
I such a motion and that the plan had
, better be abandoned. The telegram
, was never published and Mr. Wilson
never replied.
Was the Election of 1320 the re
ferendum Mr. Wilson sought? He
I never thought so. Thirty-one Re
publicans including such eminent
statesmen as Elihu Rcrot, Charles
Evans Hughes and Herbert Hoover
signed a statement issued to the Re
publican voters of the country de
claring thut a vote for the Repub-i
lican presidential candidate was a
vote in favor of the League of Na
tions with suitable reservations.
When the Republican nominee took
office he announced in his inaugural
address that he would not favor en- 1
tering the League with or without1
reservations. The interpretation ofj
Republican policy on which presum-:
ably millions of voters had cast their I
ballots was declared to have been er-'
roneous. For that reason Woodrow i
Wilson hoped for a clear-cut issue
in the platforms of the presidential,
contest but he died before the lines]
of battle for 1924 could be drawn.
So to the end Woodrow Wilson J
carried his theory of personal re- i
sponsibility to the party that had
honored him with its leadership for
eight years.
(The next chapter will deal
with the intimate side of Woodrow
Wilson's life.)
??????
Wh?*n Time Is
Precious j
Give U? A Ring.
The
Apothecary Shop :
Phone 400 ]
Al.OXG THE WATERFRONT
A four masted schooner, the Mar
garet Thomas, is strandifd at Mos
quito Lagi/on, Florida, according to
reports received at the office of the
superintendent of the Coast Guard
in Elizabeth City Friday afternoon.
The reports stated that the crew
were all saved.
The schooner Eugene H. Brown
i arrived in port on Friday morning
with a cargo of peas and miscellan
' eons from Little Alligator. She
loaded outward at the foot of Bur
gess street.
Fresh i ?
RAGRANT
; LOWERS
i RYAN FLORAL CO., ;
| Inc.
DAY PHOXK 842 J i !
NIC1HT I'HO.VK 421
Yeofiel* in Tort.
Tug Lamberts Point on ways.
Schooner Eugene H. Brown, foot
j of Burgess street.
I Schooner Mark Stevens, foot of
' Main street.
Steamer Texas, at Elizabeth City
| Iron Works, waiting for charter.
I Steam tug Viente y Tres. at Ellz
1 abeth City Iron Works, tied up. j
Steamer Hertford at Elizabeth
City Iron Works, waiting.
North River Line.
Steamer Annie L. Vansciver sailsi
Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays |
?at 2:30 p. m. for Cowells wharf, Old;
jTrap, Newberns Landing, Jarvisburg.
. Barnetts Creek, Coinjock, Indian Isl-|
I and. Long Point and Norfolk.
Gas boat Eva sails Tuesdays and(
I Fridays at 11 a. m. for Point Har
! bor. Halls Harbor, Hog Quarter, and
j Kitty Hawk.
Gas boat Jones sails Thursdays at'
| 2 a. m. for East Lake. Gum Neck, i
i Kilkenny and Fairfield.
Elizabeth City Boat Line
Steamers Harby and Virginia,
| Dare ? daily at 3 p. m. for Jarvis-j
I burg, Indian Island, Coinjock, Long!
' Point and Norfolk.
Wanchese Line
Motor vessel9 Hattie Creef and
| Pompano sail Tuesdays, Thursdays
and Saturdays for Wanchese, Stum-|
py Point, and Mann's Harbor.
Matthews i.ine j
Gas boat Ray sails Mondays,:
Wednesday's and Fridays at 2 p. m.
for South Mills. I
WOOL prices good
Portland, Oregan, March 1 (By
The Consolidated Press) ? Wool'
men in Idaho and Utah are begin-',
ning at last to contract for the 1924 i
clip of wool from their flocks. Prices!
are rangif * from 38 to 40 cents a!
pound in' te grease, for average
Clip8.
Stetsons
The above cjt shows one of
our early Spring Styles mad ?
on The Marco Last Heelarch.
nrown Calf Oxford. Invisable
Eyelets. Heavy Sole, Square
Heel with Rubber Tod Lift.
1WY V% A CALL
TODAY
Owens Shoe Co.
?|
A NEW STORE
Just Open, Opposite Quinn Furniture Co.
BIG BARGAINS
BOOTS, SHOES, CLOTHING
Everything To Wear For The Family
@|
?*? H*
? _ @
i
@
f . i
-w?
^ Wf have discontinued our nloro on Mnltliews St. and have opened a much ?
tgc larger nlore in the old stand of A. Ellis oil I'oiudextcr Street, op|>ositc Quinn ?
@ F urniliire Coinpuny. >
? W e want all our old customers to rail at this store and look at the big, new ?
? stock we arc showing. Everybody know h there are usually some very big bar- &*
@ gains to be found when a store first open*, and we believe- you will not find a ?
"** better plaee to do your spring shopping.
0
We are offering some especially good value* iu pieee good", riicIi as giug- ^
Inline, cottons, and other good*. Before you get ready to do your spring Dewing, ?
eome here and eompare these prices.
?
Thanking vim for your pant patronage and hoping for a continuance of the ?
same. ?
T. W. WILLIAMS & SON '
Tiro Store on Poindexter Street. One IS car Rnrge?? Street ,
The Other Opponite Quinn'*
? - >? ii ? ?? *KJl=Jl=Jl=i
\ SPRING and NEW I
H r=
Clothes
THEY'RE Inith here. Splen
did are the new Suits, he
cause ihe designers went the
absolute limit in combining
style, fabric and workman
ship. Heady now for a vis
it from you.
SCHLOSS CLOTHES
$30 to $45
SKILCRAFT
$20 to $35
McCABE & GRICE
THE BUSY STORE
? Gabriel Snubbers should
be on your car. Endorsed
by 71 automobile manufac
turers who either standard
equip or put holes in the
car frames for them.
Auto & Gas Engine Works
?g AB R I ELl
NUBBEIf
?inTogi
M It's a
?nubbar
?it's a
?OABRm"
Kaap Ton
an tba Saat
MARINE RAILWAY DRY DOCK
Elizabeth City Iron \Vorks &
Supply Company
MACHINISTS ANI> TOUJfDKHH
Marino l.Alhvuy Dry Dork* ? lltillilcrs mul ftopAlrrrs of Boat*.
.Mill ati<l Marine Supplies
Advance Want Ads Bring Results