The Daily News. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1920. PRESIDENT WILSON.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 February 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1920. PRESIDENT WILSON.

The "bombshell" which President Wilson landed on the Supreme' Council of the Allies recently, in threatening to withdraw the Peace Treaty from the Senate if the settlement of the Adriatic question was arranged without America being consulted, has drawn particular attention to the conflicting reports anent his mental condition. In December last, Senator Palls, who is recognised as one of the President's most steadfast political opponents, had, according to the Daily Telegraph's New York correspondent, a forty minutes' interview with President. Wilson, and found him as keen as ever, and quite capable of handling the great responsibilities of his office. The correspondent added: '•'All suspicion that the ship of State lias been sailing without a eaptair. has been quieted, and although little is known regarding Mr. Wilson's physical condition, there is now a disposition to discard as equally preposterous the rumors industriously circulated that the President's right hand or

right fop', or vice versa, is paralysed as -tie result of a stroke, and that he will never again be able to walk."

la striking contrast to this statement, a New York cable message sent on Tuesday last, gives 'the opinion of Dr. Bevan, a former president of the American Medical Association, to the effect that President "Wilson ought to retire now under the advice of his physicians and family friends. Dr. Bevan adds that one side of the President's body is paralysed, due to disease of the arteries of the brain -a permanent, and not a temporary, condition. In other words, the President has a permanently damaged brain. To what extent the malady affects his intellectual powei ; we cannot say, but that something is amiss appears certain, and the "bombshell," together with Mr. Lansing's resignation support this view. Even those who cannot see eye to eye wi. i the President in some of hi.s judgments will certainly join in the general regret which is felt that at a most critical time in the world's history, President Wilson should have been stricken with « malady that has prevented him from helping the Supreme Council to bring to fruition the enormous labors of the Peace Conference in which he took such a leading part. Instead of this, there is the unedifying spectacle of a majority in the Senate striving to bring to nought the League of Nations on which the President, devoted the best of his great abilities. Many of these opponents are doubtless actuated by worth}' motives, but the implacable section, which evidently has a dom icating influence, are giving vent to personal and political animosity, and it is quite possible this attitude may have an effect, on the American people. It would seem that this last year of Mr. "Wilson's presidency bids fair to be the most tumultuous since his election in 1913, and the fact of his illness appears to add zest to, instead of lessening, the opposition with which he is faced. The Senate is the only power provided by the United States Constitution to check the autocracy of the President, and the exercise of that autocracy is having an effect on the Cabinet. The first Minister to resign was Mr. McAdoo. and now both Mr. Lansing and Mr. Lane are leaving. The position has gone from bad to worse, although it has not yet reached a critical stage. It is said that the President's greatest failing has been that he is too much of a recluse -—mixes too little with men and relies too much on the contents of his library and typewriter. This may or may not be true, but it is very evident that the members of the Supreme Council are exercising considerable tact and suavity in dealing with the President's dictatorial communications. Everything possible is being done to a void, friction, and to adopt a conciliatory attitude, but if the strain is continued too long it may become dangerous. The recent reply of the Allies places the position fairly before President Wilson. While expressing the hope that the Allies will soon see America represented at the Conference, it emphasises the fact that it is not possible during America's abstention to delay settling the vital matters gravely affecting the nationalities of Europe. The Italian Press has evidently lost all patience with President Wilson, the Corriere della Sera stating "it is intolerable that this American phenomenon should become the decisive 'factor regarding the destinies of the human caee, or that the sick man of America should prescribe for the sick nations of the world." it is distinctly unfortunate that America is absent from the Conference, but it is. more to be regretted that President Wilson is in such a state of ill-health that at any time he may, possibly unwittingly, though none the less effectually, be the cause of a crisis that may l ea d to disastrous results. Either America should shoulder her responsibilities as a participator in the Peace Conference or acquiesce in the decisions of the other Powers.