The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1919. AN OVERTAXED PRESIDENT

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 14, 11 October 1919, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1919. AN OVERTAXED PRESIDENT

The serious illness that has overtaken President Wilson will gain him all the sympathy due to a statesman who has laboured to the point'.of collapsc for his own nation and in the interests of world "peace. It will not, however, occasion surprise. The fault which mars Mr. Wilson's otherwise brilliant record of national and international service is precisely an aloofness ami inability to share and delegate responsibility which will go far to account for his breakdown. In his war administration, and still more in the conduct of peace negotiations, he. took far too much upon his own shoulders. It is not surprising that they have bowed under the load- Some newspapers in hiri own country are alleging that he is not only ill, but mentally deranged. There is no definite reason at present to suppose that this is more than an example of American newspaper sensationalism, and perhaps of. the tactics to which his less scrupulous onponents are prepared to resort.- It counts for little that the story has been taken up' with avidity in.ltaly, for many of the Italian newspapers were rancou'rously assailing President. Wilson lone before there was any idea. of his health being seriously impaired. At the same'time it is very, probable that Mr. Wilson is so far a victim, to nervous strain that he will be compelled to play henceforth a much less arduous part than he has taken upon himself- since he first voyaged to Europe to attend the Peace Conference. Few men in modern times have taken upon thom T selves." such' a, load, of care and responsibility as . President Wilson attempted to carry -almost unaided and in splendid isolation. Whatever tax was imposed upon his powers of endurance during the protracted discussions in Paris was, of course, accentuated by his refusal to in any way divide..his' authority: or the right, of renresenting the United States 'at the Conference. ■He returned home to grapple'.with" perplexing problems, and ultimately to undertake a great speech-making tour, in which he'seems to;have been deliberately intent on pitting his personal powers and influence against trie combined force of his opponents. It was. as though the commander of a great army had set out almost alone to locate and attack an opposing army. As its anticipated features were outlined by a ■ AVashington correspondent when the President was on the noint of setting out, the tour was bound to be a hard one:— There will be no long stop in any city —Mr. Wilson will be in the train almost orery night. If he does any handshaking "at all, which is unavoidable as a rule with big crowds, and if bis train stops at points en route, the President will have about as .Strenuous a' time as lie lias "ever had in- his life. He will get little time to preparo his speeches, which will be extemporaneous.

This, obviously, was not an ordeal to be undertaken lightly by a man already wearied by unprecedented labours, and it is perhaps remarkable that Mr. Wilson was able to go as far as he did with his programme before he collapsed. . _ Much as it is to be regretted in itself. President Wilson's indisposition may in some ways rather help than hinder the great cause of world-peace he has so much at heart. Given unbroken health, lie would no doubt have carried 1 the fight to a victorious conclusion on the line's he had fanned—securing such a backing from the American nation as would have left the Senate no option but to ratify the Peace Treaty in all its essential features, the League of Nations Covenant ineluded. There was a danger, however, '"n the self : contrcd intensity with which the President pursued his campaign—a that the act of ratification might stand out rather as a personal triumph 'than as a national decision. Sympathy for the Pre?(ident is likely to count still as a potent force making for the early ratification of the Treaty, but it nmy be even more important that the elimination of his active influence will lead to the whole question being considered in a more natural atmosphere. Deprived of Mr.; Wilson's strong, not to say as ser.tive leadership, the American nation will be thrown back upon its own judgment, and incidentally some of the ablest opponents of ratification will lose a target for criticism upon which they have beer, glad to concentrate _ while largely ignoring the real issues at stake Nothing in this aspect of the matter need occasion alarm for the fate of the Treaty in the United States. The Treaty and the League Covenant are well able to betn- examination on their merits, and a host of his countrymen are only less capable than President Wilson himself of assessing these merits and marshalling public opinion in favour of ratification. Well fitted as lie is, or was, : to take the centre of the stage, the President relied too much and too exclusively upon his personal advocacy. _ It is probably doing him no injustice to believe that other convinced supporters of the Treaty and the League Covenant are likely to give a more effective account of themselves now that he is laid aside than when hn was actively campaigning and making it ,as plainly evident as 110 did that ho regarded it as very largely his individual responsibility to awaken the people to the realities of the peace settlement and its vital bearing on the future. All that is known of the position in America justifies a confident belief that although Mr. Wilson has been carried out of the lists, the case for early ratification will be pressed with unabated vigour and energy all over the United States and in Senate, where the final decision will lie recorded. Hints have already been given that in the United States and abroad some of the baser opponents of the settlement, which centres in the League of Nations are hoping to strengthen their opposition by suggesting that the pcncc plan as it is framed is based upon the' ideas of a mail \vho_is mentally deranged; but such tactics can only recoil upon their authors. Whatever the exact nature of President Wilson's rollapse may be, the League of Nations Covenant stands nut as a practical achievement Ivy the best braids of the day. President .Wilson took a distinguished nart in Ihe chain of effort that made ■ I,he establishment, of the Lca«nie possible, but as lie himself said when lie smoke in Oregon a month ago, the-idea nf a League of Nations was not his, but- 1 he result of the deliberations of wise men for'many years.

Some of tliii foremost statesmen of the British Empire, notably Loud Roijert Ceoil iinil Oenkkai, 'Smuts, hcitl much to do with shaping this Covenant as it stands, and before it, was accepted by the Allied representatives it was keenly scrutinised and freely amended. Even should it prove that President Wilson is disabled from taking any further part in the task of consolidating world peace, the work he has done will stand, and there is every reason to hclievc that the Peace treaty and the League Covenant will foe whole-heartedly endorsed by the mass of his fellow-coiintv.viTicn.