Part 13 (2/2)

And Senator James in a masterly oration paid this splendid tribute to Woodrow Wilson:

”Four years ago they sneeringly called Woodrow Wilson the school- teacher; then his classes were assee They were the young men of America To-day he is the world teacher, his class is s, kaisers, czars, princes, and potentates The confines of the schoolroom circle the world His subject is the protection of Ahts under international law The saving of neutral life, the freedole Ale Aun, without the shedding of a single drop of blood, he has wrung from the most militant spirit that ever brooded above a battlefield an acknowledgreement to American demands”

These eloquent utterances prepared the way for the great slogan of the 1916 can: ”_He kept us out of war_”

The President hian, however From the first declaration of hostilities in Europe he realized the precarious position of the United States and the possibility that, whether ould or not, we ust, 1914, he expressed his anxious apprehension that ”soh seas which would make our neutrality impossible” He emphatically believed at that time that America's neutrality would best serve the interests of the world; he respected the American tradition of noninterference in European quarrels; with his almost mystic ability to assess and understand the opinion of the people of the country at large he knew that the American people did not ar; in his comparative seclusion he read the mind of A co certain classes along the north Atlantic seaboard for the voice of Aiunation, he knew that there was no practical means by which the United States could stop it, that we could not immediately transport armies to the theatre of war, and that public opinion, especially in the West and South, was not prepared for active intervention; and in addition to all this he was genuinely, not merely professedly, a passionate lover of peace But with all this he, realizing the nificance, which caused him to say later that ”this is the last war of its kind, or of any kind that involves the world, that the United States can keep out of The business of neutrality is over” He saw that if the war should continue long, as it proht be inevitable and the American tradition of isolation for ever destroyed by circuled with fir all he could to keep us fro fundahts, but he neither believed nor pretended to believe that he could give guaranties for the future Nor did any of those ere closest to him make rash promises For instance, the Cabinet officers who actively participated in the can were careful to say in their speeches that he had done all that a president could honourably do to keep us out of war and that he could be depended upon to continue in the future the sa as it should prove humanly possible, for ”peace” was not merely a word on his lips but a passion in his heart, but that neither he nor any other mortal could ”look into the seeds of time” and say ould be and ould not be The event was on the knees of the Gods

Those who spoke with responsibility adhered strictly to the tense of the verb, the past tense: ”kept” None rashly used, explicitly or by implication, the future tense: ”will keep” In strictest truth they recited what had been, and, froe of the President's character and convictions, said that he would not be driven into war by the clamour of his critics, that he would refrain fro as it was humanly and honourably possible to refrain

[Illustration:

THE WHITE HOUSE WAshi+NGTON

CORNISH, N H, August 6, 1915

Dear Tu me the editorials from the World and from Life

You don't need to havethat Life says in the article ”Tumulty and Rome” The attitude of some people about this irritates me eous, and of course you know it never htest ined) Woodrow Wilson

Hon Joseph P Tu the President's confidence in and loyalty toward his secretary]

The President had sent Secretary of War Baker to the Convention to represent him before the various committees and to collaborate with the Committee on Resolutions in the preparation of a suitable platform

Shortly after Mr Baker's arrival in St Louis the question of the attitude of the Convention and the party toward the ”hyphen” vote came up for consideration, and there were indications that certain nore the rave issue

While the Co at St Louis, it was reported to me by Mr Henry C Campbell, one of the editors of the Milwaukee _Journal_, and a devoted friend, that the Deh its representatives on the Co” on the hyphen issue and that this would result in bitter disappointment to the country At the tie from St Louis the President ay from town for a day and I called his attention to it in the following letter:

THE WHITE HOUSE, WAshi+NGTON

June 13, 1916

DEAR GOVERNOR:

It is clear, as the editorial appearing in this 's New York _World_ says, that the ”hyphenate vote is a definite factor that cannot be discredited”; and that from the activities of the German- American Alliance every effort, as their own supporters declare, should be hes That there is abundant proof of this is clear, so that he who runs may read This is evident from the attitude of the German-American press, and froitators, and froainst you fro

I have not read the platform to be proposed by you The only part that I have any knowledge of is that which you read to o; that had to do with the question of Americanism

Frankly, your mention of Americanism is on all fours with the declarations found in the Bull Moose and regular Republican platforms

The characteristic of all these references to Aueness and uncertainty as to what is really meant I believe that the time has come when the Democratic party should set forth its position on this vital matter in no uncertain ter in the newspapers, by professional German- Americans, to dominate our Convention, either in an effort to discredit you or to have eo question, or a prohibition against the sale of gressive and est an open letter to the chair forth your position in this matter so that the Convention s for which you stand Mr Baker at the Convention will doubtless knohen the representatives of the Ger for consideration at the hands of the Committee of their resolutions As soon as they do, it appears to me to be the time for you to strike

I discussed this matter over the telephone yesterday with Mr Henry C

Campbell, one of our devoted friends, and editor of the Milwaukee _Journal_ Mr Frank Polk, Counsellor of the State Department, as at the Convention, tellsthis matter with Mr Nieman, of the Milwaukee _Journal_, and that Mr Nieman ” and that he would not support the Democratic party unless its attitude in this matter was unequivocal When Mr Campbell discussed this matter with ra our attitude in the ra Mr Campbell's and Mr

Nieman's views The part I have underlined I think should be expressed in less ee