Oastonia Daily Gazette
GASTONIA
COTTON -ZS
CENTS TODAY t
LAST
EDITION
XXXBXS Or THX ASSOCIATED .PUSS
VOL.XL1. NO. 39.
GASTONIA, N. C., SATURDAY AFTERNOON, FEB. 14, 1920
SINGLE COPY 3 CENTS
A! WILSON ON
POLICIES BATE
FUNDAMENTAL
ONLY INCIDENT
BACK BEFORE WAR -CABINET MEETINGS
BREAK
WAS EXPECTED
In PARIS DING SUN'S
VKIT Tfl FIIRHPF
IIU11 1U L.U1IU1 L.
"WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 Rebuked by President Wilson
for calling cabinet meetings during his illness, Secretary Lan
ding has resigned. -4.U
- ' The President has accepted the resignation with ap
preciation" and Mr. Lansing becomes the second secretary of
state to leave the administration over a disagreement with his
hieAlthough the correspondence between Mr. Lansing and the
president makes the calling of the cabinet meetings the in
cident which leads directly to the secretary's resignation, per
sons "on the inside" of the administration who know what has
keen going on say that was only an incident and that the real
xeasons for the break go back over a period of many months
And come from fundamental differences of opinion in policy.
The disagreements between the President and the head of
the state department even ante-date the entry of the United I
States into the war. The relations between the two men almost !
reached the breaking point early in 1917 when Mr. Lansing
issued his celebrated statement saying the United States was
daily being drawn nearer and nearer the war. By some, it
was taken to forecast phe entry of the United States. The
President made every effort to overtake the statement after
it had been given out at the state department, but it was im
possible. ' When Mr. Lansing went as a member of the American peace
. delegation to Paris more differences developed. With other
members of the American mission he was not in accord with
the President's idea of making th& treaty of peace and the
covenant of the league of nations one and the same inseparable
document. " '
It was Mr. Lansing's idea that-such apian would de
lay the ratification of a peace treaty and in this he was sup
ported by Henry White and E. M.' House.
It may be said with a great decree of authority that while
the President and Mr. Lansing were together in Paris other dif
ferences of more than minor nature developed and this is con
firmed by the reference which the President makes to it in one
of his letters.
When President Wilson went back to Paris last March and
found that durin his brief absence in the United States Mr.
- ... . m . 1 1 1
Lansing and the others ot tne American mission naa agreed,
tenatively, at least, to have the peace" terms and the league of
nations covenant separated, the situation came very near a
breaking point and probably was avoided only because the
President thought it more important not to let European
statesmen see a split in the American peace delegation. While
Mr. Lansing probably saw and conferred with the President
in Paris as much as any other members of the American mis
sion, it was a matter of remark that he saw him very little:
However, the incident which came nearer causing a break
than any other was the sensational testimony of William C.
Bullitt, one of the experts attached to the American peace mis
sion, before the senate foreign relations committee. Bullitt
as will be recalled, reading from a diary, quoted Secretary Lan
sing as having told him he was out of sympathy with the league
of nations covenant and as predicting that the treaty would
fail if the, American people ever learned of its full import.
Mr. Lansing, obviously in a very difficult position, did not
repudiate Bullitt's statements, although it was momentarily ex
pected in Washington that he would repudiate them or resign
his office. President Wilson was at the time on his speaking
tour in the west. To say. that he was upset by Bullitt's story
and his quotations oi the secretary of state puts it mildly. Of-!
ficials in the Presidential party who knew the workings of the
President's mind expected the secretary's resignation asked for
when tne f resident returned to Washington, rnese same of
ficials believe now that the breakdown which sent the Pres
ident home a very sick man was the only thing which pre
vented it.
Mr. Lansing, however, never saw the President again, and
did all his business with the chief executive in writing. The
relations between the men remained very much strained, and
then Mr. Lansing's action In calling the cabinet together
brougt them to the breaking point.
Those , who were present at the first cabinet meeting de
scribe a rather tense and dramatic scene. Congress was full
' of rumors that the President was so disabled as to be con
stitutionally unable to discharge the functions of his office.
There was talk of what might be done to place Vice-President
Marshall a the head of the government and how congress
slight go about doing it. Nobody knew $he full extent of the
President's illness. It had not then become known that he
had partally lost the use of his left arm and leg through an ac
cumulation of blood in one of the arteries of his brain. There
were even ugly rumors that the President might not be in pos
session of all his faculties. Some senators were even contem
plating action to "find out whether we have a president or
ot," as one of their number put it. These ugly stories were, of
course, all disposed of and shown to be pure and unfounded
gossip by the later developments, but they were being circu-
lated and widely credited last November when the cabinet as
sembled for its first conference at the call of Secretary Lansing.
The secretary of state, it should be I bad a long illness and ultimately "was
said, believed be was supported by pre- ueeeeded by Vice President Fillmore.
esdent in eaUing the cabinet together. I --.The Wilson eabinet assembled that day
Looking op the historical record be found I wi - feeling of apprehension, for. none
. u v. TmAat rim. I of the members knew th v
fteld lay HI for weeks after baring been j President's illness, but expected to be
ot by aa assassin and that it had been j informed of it
before that when President Taylor I secretary Tumulty had informed the
TWO MODIFIED DRAFTS
OF TREATY GOME IIP
, WASHINGTON, Feb. 14. Republi
can senators had before them today two
modified drafts of, the article ten reser
vation of the peace treaty with a reques
from Senator Hitchcock, the acting demo-
i cratie leader, to accept either one they
choose. He promised that about 40
democrats would support either.
Both of the reservations previously
have- been rejected by the republican
leaders. One was that draftedby former
President Taft and rejected by Senator
Lodge, the republican leader, in the bi
partisan conference, when it Was offered
by the democrats. The 6ther was
drawn up in the bi-partisan conference,
but was not accepted.
Although the republicans withheld a
formal reply pending consideration of
new out tnat either reservation would be
acceptable to the majority party now.
A declaration of the republicans' stand
on the democrats' proposition' was ex
pected today.
President that Mr. Lansing had called
the cabinet together, and the President,
somewhat disturbed, gave his personal
physician a message to deliver to the
secretaries.
The secretaries assembled at their
usual places and Mr. Lansing sent for
Dr. Grayson. The president's chair at
the head of the table was left vacant
until the physician arrived and he was
asked to occupy it
' ' Dr. Grayson, ' ' Secretary Lansing la
reported to have said, "we wish to know
the nature and extent of the- president's
illness, and whether ho is able to per-
form the duties of his office, so that we
may determine what shall be done to
carry on the business of' the govern
ment. ' '
The president's physician is quoted by
some of the other secretaries as having
replied in substance:
"The president is doing as well as
could be expected. He is in full posses
sion of all. his faculties and he has di
rected mo to inquire of you by what
authority this meeting of the cabinet was
called, what business is before it, and
what business it is expected might be
transacted at a Cabinet meeting without
his participation."
According to the story told at that
time Secretary Lansing had no oppor
tunity to reply, because some of the other
members stepped into the breach and
asked Dr. Grayson to say to the presi
dent that the only purpose of the meet
ing was to inquire the state of his healtn
and to send him a message of loyalty
and encouragement 'At that point the
meeting broke up without having trans
acted any business, but it did not end
the so called cabinet conferences.
Jt has not been made plain whether
President Wilson knew since then that
the cabinet members had been assembling
and talking over inter-departmental af
fairs, but the meetings have been held
in the cabinet room in the executive of
fices and if the president did not know
it probably was because those surround
ing him did not wish to tell him.
The best opinion of those ' ' on the In
side " is that the president did not
know until last week of the regularity
at which the cabinet was meeting at the
call of the secretary of state, because
at about the time at which the presi
dent's first letter to Mr. Lansing is
dated, the white house offices "let it be
known" that the President had ended
the cabinet conferences and there was
an interference that he might preside at
the next one himself. There was, how
ever, no hint that the ending of the
meetings marked a separation between
Mr. Wilson and Mr. Lansing.
Now that the. break has come and Mr,
Lansing has left the cabinet, much may
be revealed of the extent to which the
secretary of state and the President dif
fered in matters of policy. Quite a
side from the differences at the peace
conference, there were other differences In
foreign policy, and some of Mr. Lan
sing's friends say he would have left his
office some time ago but for the fact
that he wished to spare the president an
upheaval in his official family at a time
when Europe was watching the fight over
the treaty in America and especially
when the president was ill and unable
to look after the affairs of the state de
partment himself.
Mr. Lansing became head of the state
department when William J. Bryan and
the ' president had their differences over
the Lusitania . notes. Mr. Lansing was
counsellor, an office in which be had suc
ceeded John Bassett Moore. It has been
common knowledge, that whilst Mr, Lan
sing's name was signed to the succeed
ing notes to Germany and the notes
which preceded the armistice, Mr. Wil
son wrote them himself, in fact, he
practically acted as secretary of state in
all 'important business.' It wa the presl-
S. M. ROBINSON BUYS
MILL AT BISGOE
THERE WILL BE
NO
Together With Jno. C. Rankin
and A. Q. Kale, Lowell Men
Acquire Valuable Mill Prop
erty at Biscoe Will Als6
Head Mill at Monroe.
Messrs. Sloan Mf Robinson and Jno.
C. Rankin of Lowell, have bought the
Francis Cotton mills at Biscoe, accord
ing to the following announcement in to
day 's Charlotte Observer:
The Francis cotton mills at Biscoe, N.
C. have been sold through, Hill, Clark
&, Co., of Charlotte, to John C. Rankin
and Sloan M. Robinson, of Lowell, N.
C, and their associates, it was officially
announced last night.
The mill will be reorganized as the
Aileen mills, incorporated, with John C.
Bankin, president; 8. M. Robinson, vice
president arid A. Q. Kale, of High
Shoals, N. '., as general superintendent.
The Francis cotton mills have 7,680
spinning spindles and 4,000 twister spin
dles and have been operated upon Id 2
yarns. The mill is about eight years old
and has been very successful. It is
equipped with- Whitin machinery through
out with the exceptiorr of roving ma
chinery, which was manufactured,, by the
Woonsoeket Machine and Press company,
and all the machinery is said to le in
splendid condition.
The mill also has a large dyehouse,
as it was originally intended to manu
facture colored yarns, and it will prob
ably be operated upon cither colored
yarns or 30 's two-ply' white yarns.
It is an electric driven mill and al
though it now secures its power from the i
outside, it has a Westinghouse turbine
generator that it uses in any (emergency .
In this connection the following from
The Monroe Journal will be of interest
in Gaston county where Mr. Robinson
has such extensive holdings:
"A $150,000 cotton mill,, headed by
S. M. Robinson, millionaire , cotton mill
magnate of Lowell, is in process of or
ganization here. $118,000 worth of the
stock has already been pledged, leaving
only $.'!2,000 worth more to be disposed
of in Monroe. Promoters of the mill be
lieve the entire issue will have been sub
scribed before the week is out.
The mill is to be under the manage
ment of Mr. Robinson, who operates
ten mills in this state and Georgia. He
has two mills at Charlotte, one at Dal,
las, three at Lowell, two at Gastonia,
one at Spencer Mountain, and ' one in
Georgia. Mr. Robinson is reputed to be
worth over a million dollars, all of which
he made out of the mill business.
Mr. J. . Stack was instrumental in
interesting Mr. Robinson in the -proposition
here. It is understood that he
agreed to take stock to the amount of
$50,000 if Monroe business men would
subscribe $100,000 worth. Citizens here
had subscribed for $68,000 worth by
lute yesterday afternoon, making a total
including Mr. Robinson's $50,000, of
$118,000.
MORE
RESIGNATIONS
ROM
Featured by three carbon plae elec
trodes an electric heater has been invent
ed foT warming the water in a bath tub.
new method of producing dyes from in
organic matter.
dent's conception of his relation to the
foreign policy of the nation.
How much Mr. Lansing and the presi
dent -differed on the Mexican policy
never has been fully revealed, but officials
who sympathize with Mr. Lansing's
views say that they differed a great deal.
It has generally been -believed in offi
cial circles here that the sharp notes
which Mr. Lansing sent to Carranza in
connection with the Jenkins case are
what the president referred to in his let
ter to the secretary when he spoke of the
secretary of state having taken action to
forestall his judgment. It is known,
however, that Henry Prather Fletcher,
former ambassador to Mexico, who recent
ly resigned, wrote a letter to the Presi
dent in which he excoriated the admin
istration's policy and the general belief
in the state department is that Mr. Lan
sing and Mr. Fletcher agreed pretty gen
erally. Mr. Fletcher's letter of resigna
tion never, has been given out at tne
white house. But aside from his difficn
ties with the president it has been com
mon knowledge in Washington that Mr.
Lansing has not been on good terms
with Secretary Tumulty and from time
to time there have been apparently well
grounded reports of friction with Secre
taries Baker and Daniels. .
In the senate foreign relations commit
tee, where Mr. Lansing was in frequent
touch with senators, be is regarded as a
trained diplomat Senators remarked
when Bullitt gave his sensational testi
mony that they regretted it very mnen
on Lansing's account. .
F
EABINET SAYS TUMULTY
Frank L. Polk Becomes Secretary of State Ad
Interim Today - Davis and Polk Discussed as
Successors to Lansing - Porter, jof House For
eign Affairs Committee Talks.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 Frank L. Polk, under-secretary
of state, became secretary of state ad interim today and will
serve until Mr. Lansing's successor has been appointed by the
President. -
While the names of several men were being mentioned in'
connection with the office, officials conceded that their sug
crestions were mere guess work. Mr. Polk was regarded as the
logical selection, but his friends said he would not consider it '
because of the condition of his health.
There will be no more resignations from the cabinet as a ...
result of the Lansing incident, it was said at the white house
today.
"I am not going to discuss the Lansing-Wilson controversy
the letters speak for themselves," Secretary Tumulty said.
There was no information available at the white house as
to a probable successor to Mr. Lansing, but the appointment is k
expected to be made soon. John W. Davis, ambassador at
London, and Under Secretary Polk are being discussed.
Cabinet meetings will be resumed "very soon" and as an-
nounced a few days ago President Wilson will preside. White
house officials reiterated today that he was making rapid,
strides toward regaining his health.
Chairman Porter, of the house foreign affairs committee,
commenting today on Secretary Lansing's resignation, said:
."I am not inclined to accept this new and novel interpre
tation of organic law."
"There is nothing in the constitution which prohibits mem-'
bers of the President's cabinet from meeting and discussing
any departmental matter," he said. "If we accept the Pres
ident's construction of the constitution, it would be a viola
tion thereof for two of the secretaries to hold a Conference in
the absence of the President. . .
"Mr. Lansing has fajthfully served Mr. Wilson during both
of his terms as President, and in due consideration' for his
rights, I think the President should have asked for his resigna
tion on the ground that they did not agree on the policies to
be pursued by the state department and not to have dismissed
him in this harsh way."
LONDON
PAPERS GIVE
MUCH PROMINENCE 1
LANSING'S RESIGNATION
(By The Associated Press.)
LONDON, Feb. 14. This after
noon's London newspapers print the
news of Secretary Lansing's resignation
under a variety of prominent captions,
such as "United States political bomb
shell, " " Washington sensation ", " Great
United States sensation."
The Pall Mall Garette says:
"President Wilson's return to politi
cal activity has been announced by a
sensational stroke." During his illness,
the newspaper adds, all kinds of reports
were current as to where the real seat of
authority lay in the conduct of the Amer
ican administration. "The curtain now
has been thrust aside," the article con
tinues, "and we have the lively spectacle
of the president not only using his prero
gative but employing it to discharge his
chief legal adviser." The newspaper
considers the president 's self assertion
"emerges all the stronger for his en
force"! rest, and he is evidently going
to take up the reins of government a
gain in a spirit that will not parley with
opposition. ' '
The Wesminster Gazette says:
"The dismissal of Secretary Lansing
by the president is a dramatic illustra
tion of the peculiar power assigned to
the head df the government by the Amer
ican constitution. What it is, exactly,
that Secretary Lansing has done is not
very clear, but he would appear to have
applied on his own account what has
been described as the American principle
of one-man management, while President
Wilson, insists on a monopoly of the
idea."
Tests are being conducted in England
of what is claimed to be a noiseless and
fireproof airplane engine. .
STILL PUN TO ... .
SELL GERMAN LINERS
(By The Associated Press.)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14. Despite
efforts in various quarters to prevent tne
shipping board from offering for sale
Monday the thirty former German liners,
Chairman Payne" was proceeding today
with the original plans to receive bids
for the vessels. He explained, however, "
that bids only would be .received and
that before acceptance the results would
be laid before the senate.
' The sharp opposition that developed ra
the senate yesterday over the proposed
sale subsided after .Chairman Payne bad
appeared before the senate eommsree
committee and outlined the policy of tne
board for the disposal of the vessels. Je
aetion was taken in the senate to x.
strain the shipping board from carrying
out its program.
The only remaining visible opposition
to the auction of the liners Monday waa
an application for an injunction tlai 2a
the District of Columbia supreme ' Mart
by William Randolph Hearst, of Ifew
York, in the capacity of a tax payer.
The court issued an order for the board
to show cause why a temporary iajase
tioa should not be issued.
An Englishman is the inventor of a
nameless, fireproof tamping plug to pro
Tent blown out shots in mines. ;.
A motor driven machine to split 'apart
eakes of ice that have f rosea together la
storage has been invented. "...