THE PRESIDENT IN WARTIME

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 63, 9 December 1918, Page 8

THE PRESIDENT IN WARTIME

White House. at "Washington is no longer tlie railway station it was, in tho (lays of the. Emperor Theodore the First. • There-is very little of the "glad hand" for the mob (writes a Washington cotrespondent of the London "Daily Mail"). The President rises at six, reads extracts froln ( the newspapers, writes bis speeches and sorao letters in shorthand find types them himself, He breakfasts at eight, goes forth in a swift car with Mrs. Wilson to some place where horses are waiting for them to ride, or to some lonely golf course, where he plays with his resident • doctor during these lovely • autumn days. 1 On returning he sees privileged callers,''many of whom have been waiting weeks 'for an interview. The procedure is simple:— You go to the White House! where your credentials are carefully examined (tho men idling about the grounds are detectives). Ton are then, accompanied by your Ambassador or an Assistant Sec- ■ l'.etary of State. At the door, are the two tall block servants I remember in Roosevelt s time. They usher jjon to. an ante-room,'and at the exact moment of the time, appointed the door: of a large, green-lined reception-room is opened, and ih the. middle stands the. President. .You i.re wearing a frock-coat and carrying a tall hat. He is in white trousers and blue serge jacket, with a tiny American' flag in rubies and diamonds in the lapel of his coat, such as most American men w'«u\ . He is sixty-two, but does not ; look it—a strongly-built Scotsmah, cour- ; teous'and scholarly, with keen American humour and the un-American faculty of saying a. great de<\l in a fiw words.-' If hb wishes a long .chat .with you he asks you to sit. down; otherwise 'you stand up. The President is an excellent, listener, and expects you to be a, concise talker. On leaving him you are expected to give 'him a typewritten memorandum of what you have come about. Any person who imagines thofc President Wilson will stop 6hort of "Peace at Berlin," or that he is not master of this country, miscalculates the man. It is said that he surrouuds himself with weak men—"rubber stam_ps," as they call theni i here. Ido not know whither this is true or not. I think that the American Cabinet is very like a certain British Cabinet. A cynical Republican said to me, "Look lound Washington, and you will find an exact replica of 3'our ou-.i Government." - There is this difference, however. On top of all is a really great man with ; absolute power; patient, resourceful, and very determined when it comes to -an , issue. My-own impression is that he could not have got his polyclot people into the war before lie did. He is stated to have said, "1 11ad the choice of two coursesgoing early into/the war with *ai reluctant, people, or going when Idid with a , willing people." And anyone who mixes with the enthusiastic American people at .this grave time will admit that they are indepd a, willing nation. They wijl ' not flinch from any that I am convinced.