WOOD ROW WILSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. WOODROW WILSON HIS LIFE AND WORK A complete story of the life of Woodrow Wilson, Teacher, Historian, Philosopher, and Statesman, including his great speeches, letters and messages — also a complete account of the World Peace Conference. / $ 6 •;• By WILLIAM DUNSEATH EATON WIDELY KNOWN WAR WRITER, SPECIAL WAR CORRESPOND- ENT, AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF CANADA IN THE WAR ; FORMER EDITOR OF CHICAGO HERALD and HARRY C. READ AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR IN FIVE VOL- UMES, AND WAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE CHICAGO JOURNAL Profusely Illustrated 1919 Copyright, 1919, by C. E. THOMAS JUN 30 ISI9 53 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Preface 21 CHAPTER I HIS BIRTH AND EAELY LIFE Thomas Woodrow Wilson is born in Staunton, Va — He is the son of a clergyman— His ancestry— His life as a boy— His playmates— His school days— Oft to college— He first goes to Davidson College— Later to Princeton— Becomes a student of law and politics— His interest in international events ^ CHAPTER II THE LAWYER AND PROFESSOR He enters the practice of law— Rennick & Wilson— The failure of the venture— Woodrow Wilson be- comes an author— He meets Ellen Louise Axson— His courtship— He returns to college— Is ottered a professorship on publication of his book— He accepts the offer of Bryn Mawr College— His marriage to Miss Axson— Is made a professor at Wesleyan Uni- versity— The return to Princeton University— Presi- dent of his Alma Mater— He institutes many needed reforms WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER III GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY PAGE The political situation in New Jersey— Reform is sweeping the country — Woodrow Wilson is chosen by the Democratic boss as a candidate — A mistake by the boss — Doctor Wilson opposes Boss Smith for Senator — He is nominated as candidate for Governor — The election — The fight on Smith — The new governor breaks up the machines — The rage of the politicians — New Jersey is given the best primary law in the country — The presidency looms up 46 CHAPTER IV THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE The Democratic Convention of 1912 — The wildest in the history of the party — Governor Wilson nomi- nated after days of deliberation — The entire party united behind him — President Taft and Colonel Roosevelt his opponents — His speech of acceptance . . 60 CHAPTER V WOODROW WILSON ELECTED PRESIDENT The spectacular campaign — The Democratic land- slide — Wilson elected President — His inauguration — The celebration in Washington — The inaugural ad- dress 71 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER VI A FEARLESS PRESIDENT PAGE The new President wastes no time — He chooses his cabinet — He reverts to an ancient precedent and ad- dresses congress in person — Revision of the tariff — The Underwood Bill — President Wilson seeks the desires of the people — The Federal Reserve Banks — The President publishes a new book 83 CHAPTER VII THE MEXICAN QUESTION Revolution in Mexico becomes anarchy — Huerta seizes the government — President Wilson sends John Lind, former governor of Minnesota, to Mexico City — His instructions — The insolent reply to his ques- tions—He returns to the United States— President Wilson addresses congress on the problem — Outlines his plan 99 CHAPTER VIII THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE President Wilson delivers his first message in person —He tells of the state of the Union— A description of the situation in Mexico — Promises an attack on "Big Business " H* WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER IX THE DESTRUCTION OF MONOPOLY PAGE President Wilson attacks monopolies in congress — He declares that they must be removed — Asks for anti-trust legislation — His demand resulted in the Clayton Anti-trust bill and the Federal Trade Com- mission act — The Panama Canal dispute — The Presi- dent asks for repeal of the tolls clause — Congress re- peals the offensive portion of the law — The death of the President's wife — The funeral 126 CHAPTER X THE WORLD WAR President Wilson distressed by the conflict — He calls the attention of the belligerents to the Declaration of London — The replies are cordial — The President pre- pares to insist on American rights — The famous Neu- trality Proclamation — American revenue demoral- ized by the war — President Wilson addresses con- gress and asks for additional revenue 143 CHAPTER XI AMERICA'S RIGHTS The United States enters a new phase — President Wilson realizes the new trade possibilities — His ad- dress to the United States Chamber of Commerce — German threats against neutral shipping — President Wilson's protest — Great Britain's use of the Ameri- can flag — The President insists on America's rights — Lays down principles to govern all belligerents — His stern reply to Great Britain 173 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XII THE SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA PAGE The fiendish plot — How it was hatched — German agents active in America — The sinister advertise- ment — Prominent Americans aboard — The false message — The ship attacked by submarines — Ameri- cans lose their lives — The world aghast — Rejoicing in Germany — President Wilson sends the first note — The reply unsatisfactory — William Jennings Bryan resigns from the cabinet — The President refuses to allow passage of resolutions warning Americans to ' ' stay at home ' ' — The nation backs the President . . . 190 CHAPTER XIII GERMANY CALLED TO ACCOUNT President Wilson's second note on the Lusitania — German reply unsatisfactory — President Wilson sends sharp note — Tells Germany repetition will be considered as "deliberately unfriendly" — Germany recedes from position — The President's second romance — His engagement is announced — His mar- riage and honeymoon 208 CHAPTER XIV THE INTERNATIONAL LAWYER Great Britain's methods denounced by the President — He argues the question on a basis of international l aw — Quotes many authorities in a note addressed to the Mistress of the Seas — His claim recognized — The President emerges victorious from the controversy. . 223 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XV THE THIRD MESSAGE PAGE The President asks congress to increase the armed forces of the United States — He dwells at length on the Mexican question — His opinion of the Philippines — Demands a strong navy 237 CHAPTER XVI PRESIDENT WILSON ON PREPAREDNESS " America First" — The President declares his thorough Americanism — "If any man wants a scrap ... I am his man" — Urges the Associated Press to avoid false rumors — His address at the Manhattan Club in New York — The Preparedness Campaign — His speech in Pittsburgh — Villa attacks Columbus, N. M. — American troops sent in pursuit — Carranza aroused — The fight at Carrizal — The National Guard mobilized — Carranza backs down 264 CHAPTER XVII SUBMARINE WARFARE RESUMED The sinking of the Sussex — President Wilson threat- ens to break relations with Germany — The act dis- avowed — He informs congress of his action — The controversy closed — A diplomatic victory for the President 290 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XVIII THE EIGHT-HOUR LAW PAGE President Wilson urges the adoption of the Eight- Hour Railroad Law — He champions the cause of the workingmen — Is opposed by the employers — Defeats their designs — The laAv is passed 305 CHAPTER XIX PRESIDENT WILSON RENOMINATED The issues at stake in 1916 — The Democratic plat- form — President Wilson insists that Americanism be made an issue — He is opposed by Charles Evans Hughes — Nominated by acclamation — His speech of acceptance — Says he will uphold American rights on the sea 318 CHAPTER XX PRESIDENT WILSON RE-ELECTED The campaign — One of the most bitter in history — Many issues at stake — The voters bewildered — Many say nothing — President Wilson speaks at Abraham Lincoln's birthplace — He also addresses the Woman Suffrage Convention — Promises new reforms in busi- ness legislation — Attacks Wall Street — The election — President Wilson victorious 342 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XXI THE FOURTH MESSAGE PAGE President Wilson urges many vital changes in the Preparedness programme — Advocates the passage of a Corrupt Practices Act — Congratulates congress on the work performed 363 CHAPTER XXII THE PRESIDENT'S PEACE PROPOSAL The President suggests peace negotiations to the warring powers — Germany accepts the offer with conditions — The Allies refuse — President Wilson states his views in congress — They are widely dis- cussed — He emphasizes self-determination of peoples He vetoes the Literacy Bill 375 CHAPTER XXIII RELATIONS WITH GERMANY SEVERED The Germans announce unrestricted submarine war- fare — The President hands Von Bernstorff his pass- ports — He goes before congress and declares diplo- matic relations with Germany have been severed — Accuses the German Government of faithlessness — He next demands permission to arm merchant ships — They are armed — His inaugural address 394 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XXIV THE UNITED STATES AT WAR PAGE The President asks congress to accept the German defi — Asks for Selective Service legislation — War is declared — "Make the World Safe for Democracy" — No quarrel with the German people — The pledge of life and fortune — The President's proclamation — Billions for defense 410 CHAPTER XXV THE APPEAL TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE President Wilson issues a message to the people — Pleads for unity of purpose — The nation united — The Selective Draft — The whole nation goes to war — Food control — President Wilson sends a message to the Russian people — He denounces disloyalty and warns the country against German agents 430 CHAPTER XXVI THE VOICE OF THE ALLIES Pope Benedict asks for war aims of the belligerents-— The Allies look to President Wilson to announce their views — The fifth annual message — The President asks for war on Austria — Congress declares war 444 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XXVII THE FOURTEEN POINTS PAGE President Wilson states* the war aims of the Allies — He enunciates his famous "Fourteen Points" — The reply of Von Hertling — His address repeated by Czernin — President Wilson again attacks the Ger- man war aims 464 CHAPTER XXVIII THE CHALLENGE OF FORCE President Wilson accepts the Challenge of Force- He declares that the war must be brought to a vic- torious finish — Demands the views of the German people 484 CHAPTER XXIX NO PEACE BY COMPROMISE The President rejects the overtures of the Central Empires for a debate — Announces that terms have been stated — Refuses to consider other terms — De- nounces the treaties of Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest —Speaks for the Allies 495 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XXX THE ENEMY WHINES FOR PEACE PAGE The German Empire and the Kaiser ask for peace — Attempt to ignore the " Fourteen Points" — The President asks if the chancellor represents the Ger- man people or the Imperial government — The Ger- mans dodge the issue — President Wilson demands unconditional surrender — He refers the Germans to Marshal Foch — The Austrians surrender — The Ger- mans appeal to Foch for an armistice 508 CHAPTER XXXI THE ARMISTICE The President reads the terms of armistice to con- gress — Germany is militarily defeated — The de- mands of the Allies — Germans ordered to retreat to east of the Rhine — Forced to surrender munitions of war — The war comes to an end 525 CHAPTER XXXII THE VICTORY MESSAGE President Wilson's Sixth Presidential Message — Tells the story of the victory — The American army- How the entire country won the war — Reduction in expenditures — Declares his intention to attend the peace conference — Gives many reasons — Prepares for departure 537 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XXXIII THE PEACE CONFERENCE PAGE The President the dominating figure of the confer- ence — The most notable gathering of statesmen in history — The League of Nations Committee — The Committee of the Big Four — The League of Nations Covenant — President Wilson's first draft 557 CHAPTER XXXIV THE DEMANDS OF THE VICTORS I The price of peace — The United Staffed a,sks nothing — The British demands — France^Italy^-Belgium — — r"> Japan — The Balkan states — A l^ga^r-price — Many I questions of international importance — Herbert yHoover, world food administrator, feeds Germany. . 577 CHAPTER XXXV LLOYD GEORGE DEFENDS PRESIDENT WILSON Lloyd George returns to England — He addresses par- liament — Answers his critics — Arraigns Northcliffe for attacks on the President — Tells of the difficulties at the peace conference — Discusses the Russian situa- tion — Tells why allied troops are fighting in Russia . . 591 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XXXVI THE ITALIAN EMBROGLIO PAGE Italy demands Fiume — President Wilson opposes Premier Orlando — The demand is based on the Treaty of London — President Wilson declares he is not a party to the London agreement — The clause of the treaty in question — Orlando threatens to quit — The Germans accept an invitation to attend the con- ference — Japanese diplomacy — Italy deserts the con- ference 614 CHAPTER XXXVII THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS The revised covenant of the League of Nations — Pro- vision made for withdrawal of nations — Geneva named as the seat of the league— Provision for reduc- tion of armaments— Monroe Doctrine is made an in- tegral part— The mandatory clause — The Bureau of Labor — The nations participating 640 CHAPTER XXXVIII PRESIDENT WILSON SPEAKS He enters a motion for the adoption of the covenant- Explains the changes — The President nominates Sir James Eric Drummond for secretary general — His motion is passed — The covenant accepted by the nations 660 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XXXIX THE GERMAN EMISSARIES PAGE The German delegates arrive in Versailles — The Ger- mans in the occupied territory attempt to celebrate — The y are stopped by American military police — "Tando returns to Rome and explains Italy's stand — President Wilson issues a statement on the Italian question — Declares his friendship for Italy 675 CHAPTER XL JAPANESE AIMS ATTAINED The Chinese aims defeated — Japan obtains posses- sion of the Shantung peninsula — President Wilson betrayed by Great Britain and France — Diplomatic notes exposing Japanese deceit — The Germans pre- sent their credentials — Helplessness of the German nation 684 CHAPTER XLI THE GERMANS RECEIVE THE PEACE TREATY Premier Clemenceau hands the document to the Ger- mans — His address — The reply of Count von Brock- dorff-Rantzau 699 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XLII THE PEACE TEEATY PAGE Official summary of the treaty— The League of Nations is made part of the treaty— German territory ceded to France — Poland recognized 706 CHAPTER XLIII THE PEACE TEEATY (Continued) Eeparations provided— Germany forced to pay dam- ages for lives of submarine victims — The indemnity —The Ehine bridges go to France— The Kiel canal opened to the world — Germany to be occupied by the allied army for fifteen years 729 CHAPTER XLIV GEEMANY CEUSHED The German people stunned by the peace terms— A week of mourning ordered by the Berlin government —Total indemnity is estimated at $450,000,000,000 — The reaction leads to an indignant outburst — Maximilian Harden tells Germany to sign or accept worse conditions later— The first protest from the German delegation on the peace treaty— President Wilson directs the reply— The President decides to remain in Paris — Brockdorff-Eantzau proceeds to Berlin and announces on his return that he will sign. 748 WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER XLV THE PEESIDENT CALLS CONGRESS PAGE Congress meets in special session — The President's message — The question of labor — Foreign trade field — Revision of taxes — Tariff problems — Protection of the dye industry — Safeguards for the United States — The President's recommendation of woman suffrage — The telephone and railroad problem — He urges the repeal of the prohibition law — He continues his work with the peace conference — The Germans seek to evade responsibility — They are pinned down to the facts — Brockdorff-Rantzau asks for more time — His request is granted 756 TO CRITICS OF PRESIDENT WILSON Ye safe and formal men, who with unf evered hands weigh in nice scales the motives of the great, how can ye know what ye have never tried? And so the Nile is fretted by the reeds it roots not up. — "Richelieu." PREFACE While President Wilson became the leading figure in world affairs when this country entered the war, and exer- cised influence amounting to positive authority in ex- tremely difficult international readjustments throughout the interval between the armistice and the signing of peace, he has yet to be understood for what he is and what he has done. For that reason this history of his career is timely and necessary. It presents him as an individual and a statesman actuated by one unswerving purpose — a determination to promote and perfect a genuine government by the people, a government democratic in the pure, inclusive meaning of that word. Any American familiar with the operation of party politics behind the open acts of our government knows that up to the time Mr. Wilson became Governor of New Jersey the whole system was directed by "machines" — a euphemism for barter and spoils. That state was an ex- treme example of spoliative political organization. To his masterful leadership as Governor, New Jersey owes its liberation from political cattle herding ; and the nation the now cardinal primary law, under which political initia- tive rests with the voters themselves under provisions that make corruption at the source of things an impossi- bility. If he had done no more than this he would have earned a place high up among the great ; but it was only the first WOODROW WILSON of a long line of acts by which the nation has been brought forward from the musty conditions of fifty preceding years into clear air and healthful public life. He is a sani- tarian of governments, a figure distinct among the apostles of real liberty. His patriotism is passionate ; but his reasoning is clear, though cold — and very broad, very alert and comprehensive, as all the nations know. The pages here following show him in impartial light. Not all of his countrymen agree with him in all things. No man of high ideals so steadily upheld can escape criti- cism, but no man is less disturbed thereby. He has taken the torch of truth from the hands of the Fathers, and holds, and will pass it on, more luminant than it was — even as Lincoln did, and Washington before him. This history of his life and acts should reinspire everyone whose fortu- nate lot it is to be an American citizen ; for it shows them one of themselves, as plain, as unaffected as any, stand- ing to the world as one of the foremost men that ever lived in the tides of time. WOODROW WILSON CHAPTER I HIS BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE. Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth president of the United States, was born December 28th, 1856, in Staun- ton, Va. He was the son of Reverend Joseph Ruggles Wilson, an ordained minister of the Presbyterian church, and Janet Woodrow Wilson, to whom Reverend Wilson had been married on June 7th, 1849. Mrs. Wilson was born in Carlisle, England. The Wilson family had been one of pioneers and their early history dated back to the time when James Wilson, an Irish emigrant boy, landed at the port of New York, shortly before the end of the eighteenth century, seeking a place in the new world. James Wilson proceeded to Philadelphia, where he entered the employ of William Duane, a newspaper pub- lisher. There it was he learned to set type by the old hand method and there he met Anne Adams, a young Irish girl who had come over on the same ship with him. They were married and remained in Philadelphia until after the war of 1812, when they moved to Pittsburgh, which was then on the frontiers. The next journey was to Ohio, where James Wilson located in the town of Steuben- ville and began to publish a newspaper called the West- ern Herald. The venture was successful and the pioneer journal- 23 24 WOODROW WILSON ist taught the entire business to his seven sons, who be- came expert at the trade. The paper grew and waxed prosperous, so that James Wilson came to be addressed as Judge Wilson by his friends, while his enemies feared his sharp and caustic comments published in the columns of the Western Herald. Among these political enemies was Samuel Medary, who, according to Judge Wilson, was too prominent in the public limelight. On one occasion, while speaking from a public platform, Medary 's friends chanced to boast of the fact that he was born in Ohio. The follow- ing day this notice was published in the Western Herald : ' ' Sammedary 's friends claim for him the merit of having been born in Ohio. So was my dog Towser." It seemed paradoxical some years later when Medary was governor of Ohio that Henry Wilson, a son of the publisher, should woo and win the governor's daughter. It is the youngest son of Judge Wilson in whom history is deeply interested. He was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on February 28th, 1822, and learned the publishing busi- ness from the ground up like his brothers. To him was given, however, the mark of student and his father encouraged him in his thirst for knowledge. He attended the academy in Steubenville and later went to Jefferson College, where he graduated as valedictorian of his class in 1844. After a few years as instructer at Mercer Academy, he entered the Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, Pa., finishing his course with two years more at the Steubenville Academy and a year at Princeton University. It was at Steubenville, the city of his birth, that he met Janet Woodrow. They were married two weeks after his ordination and settled in Staunton, Va., when he received a call to the pastorate of the church there. Woodrow Wilson was baptised Thomas Woodrow and was known as Tommy for many years. In 1858, when he was two years old, his parents moved to Augusta, Ga., WOODROW WILSON 25 when Eeverend Wilson was called to the pastorate of a larger church. It was the First Presbyterian church of Augusta and still stands. The superintendent of the Sun- day School was James W. Bones, who later married Marion Wilson, a sister of Reverend Wilson. The family was firmly installed in Augusta when rumors of the Civil War came sweeping down from the north. Of those days the president now has little recol- lection. He recalls but two incidents : the first when he heard a man shouting, ' i Lincoln is elected and now we will have war," and the second when he saw a detachment of men recruited for the Confederate Army as they passed through Augusta. Little Tommy Wilson was a leader of his playmates. He was an interested spectator when the first horse car rolled through the streets of Augusta and soon cultivated friendships with the drivers, who used to take him aboard for two or three round trips. It was the lore of these drivers that inspired in him the love of horses and brought him to the point where he could ride like an Indian. One of his riding companions was Pleasant Stovall, in later years editor of the Savannah Press. The inhabitants of Augusta would turn and smile at the barefooted boys riding through town on the big black buggy horse of Reverend Wilson. It was this friendship between Tommy Wilson and Pleasant Stovall that brought about the formation of the "Lightfoot Club," an organization formed for playing baseball with other boys in Augusta. In the winter months, activities were turned to debates and studies of parliamentary proceedings. This was the first manifesta- tion of the love for politics that was to mark Tommy Wil- son 's later life. One of Tommy's favorite play spots was at the home of James Bones, some distance out of town in what was then known as the ' ' Sand Hills. ' ' Jessie Woodrow Bones, his daughter, was an inveterate tomboy and liked nothing 26 WOODROW WILSON better than to see the old black horse approaching with Tommy Wilson and Pleasant Stovall on his back. To her it meant a delightful day playing the beautiful maiden cap- tured by the Indians and rescued by the dashing disciples of Leather Stocking. Other games in which the three took interest were ambuscades of the little darkies who would pass through a nearby ravine on their way to the stores. A bloodcurdling warwhoop would ring out and the victims would flee in terror followed by the toy arrows of the "savages." At other times, little Jessie would have to play the part of the tortured trapper and submit to being burned at the stake. Tommy Wilson made friends right and left. He be- came a favorite with the Federal soldiers who occupied the arsenal near the Bones' residence soon after the war and was not dissuaded from continuing the acquaintance by being told that they belonged to the hated and feared Yankee army which had threatened the existence of the south. Tommy and Jessie seriously considered convert- ing the Yankees into Presbyterians on the assumption that there was little difference between Yankee and heathen. Reverend Wilson was most careful of his son's edu- cation. Rather than send him to the primitive schools in Augusta he was kept home until he was nine years old. That did not necessarily mean that the youngster was without instruction, as his father schooled him in the rudi- ments of learning and taught him the love of literature which distinguished his later days as president of one of the leading American universities. When his father was reasonably sure that schooling would not affect the free and healthy development of his son's mind he was sent to the school of Professor Joseph T. Derry, who maintained a private institution in Augusta. The school was held in an old building, which also housed the town livery stable for a time, but Professor Derry soon sought more commodious quarters in a cotton WOODROW WILSON 27 warehouse. While Tommy and his friends were at liberty from the class room they played hide and seek among the bales of cotton. For the greater part Tommy still relied on his father for his education. Trained as he had been in the news- paper business, Reverend Wilson was a master of Eng- lish, and it was to him that the future President owed his literary ability. In this manner Tommy Wilson passed the rest of his school days and found himself prepared for college far sooner than the average youth of the times. In 1870 Reverend Wilson was called to assume the pastor- ate of the largest church in the capital of South Carolina. Thomas Woodrow Wilson left the family home in Columbia, S. C, at the age of seventeen to enter his first college course. Reverend Wilson had been debating the question in his mind for some time and Davidson College, in Mecklenburg County, S. C, was chosen as the insti- tution for Tommy. It was in the fall of 1873, shortly after the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian war, and the mind of the young student was attracted to international politics by the career of Bismarck, who then was standing out as the guiding spirit of German destinies. Davidson College was a staunch Presbyterian school. It had carried out the stern doctrines of the church for many years and at that time was known throughout the south. The living was rather primitive, as the times had not been prosperous owing to the reaction necessarily following the civil war. The town itself was only a small village having but one general store which catered to the tastes of the students. It was here that Tommy Wilson and his boon companions purchased the crackers and cheese for their nightly feasts. It might be mentioned at this point that several of his classmates later achieved distinction in life. Among them was R. B. Glenn, who afterward became governor of North Carolina. 28 WOODROW WILSON Tommy's days of study were interspersed with ath- letic hours to which he gave a desultory interest. On one occasion the captain of the baseball team, irritated at Tommy's apparent lack of interest, stated that "he would be a good player if he wasn't so damn lazy." His fa- vorite form of recreation was walking. He seldom took companions on these jaunts and explained his action by saying that he used the time to think. Soon after his arrival in Davidson he earned a nick- name that followed him through the year. It seems that the class in rhetoric was discussing the manner in which the Normans changed Saxon words to suit their conven- , ience and the professor turned suddenly to Tommy Wilson. "What is calves' meat when it is served at table?" he asked. 1 1 Mutton, ' ' was the prompt reply. He was "Monsieur Mouton" to his classmates from that time on. Just before the time came for examinations, Tommy Wilson fell sick and was forced to return to the paternal mansion in Wilmington, N. C, where his father had ac- cepted the pastorate of the Presbyterian church. The young student remained there through the winter of 1874 and 1875 and it was then determined that he should return to Princeton University to resume his studies. He hailed the announcement with delight and began preparing for the entrance examinations. So it was that in Septem- ber, 1875, Tommy Wilson boarded a train for the historic university. There he soon became the popular leader of his class, among whom were Eobert Bridges, later one of the edi- tors of Scribner's Magazine; Mahlon Pitney, afterward a Judge in the United States Supreme Court; Edward W. Sheldon, president of the United States Trust Com- pany in after years; and Reverend A. S. Halsey, secre- tary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. WOODKOW WILSON 29 Tommy Wilson was able to assume leadership in a group of men like these because of his early training in literature, received at his father's knee in the days that followed the civil war. He passed most of his spare mo- ments in the university library, where he could satisfy in part the insatiable demand of his mind for knowledge. It was on one of these literary quests that he hap- pened across a stray file of the Gentleman's Magazine in which a serial was running under the caption of "Men and Manner in Parliament." It was then his life am- bition was fixed and he proceeded to apply his mind to the study of politics. He had many examples from which to seek inspiration and application. Disraeli, the British intellectual giant; Gladstone, and John Bright were his favorites. The incident of Disraeli's first day in parlia- ment always remained in his mind. He liked to read over and over the words of the famous statesman to the mem- bers of the house who laughed at his first oratorical at- tempt: "You laugh at me now but the day is coming when you will listen." He followed the career of Dis- raeli up to the time when that statesman dictated the pol- icies of Continental Europe. The influence of this independent course of study led Tommy Wilson to drop his first name and announce to his friends that he would be known as Woodrow Wilson from that time on. The change was accepted and today the average man, woman and child in the United States could not tell offhand what the president's other name is. Woodrow now entered upon the second phase of his career. He formed a resolution to fit himself for public life and the course of study he had mapped out for him- self outside of the classroom showed his determination to succeed. He was receiving a cut and dried education in the classroom, but it must be said that his independent course had a far greater influence on his after life. He was not a particularly bright student in the classroom. He threw away two opportunities to win prizes when he learned 30 WOODROW WILSON that he would have to study Ben Jonson and two plays of Shakespeare to compete for the English Literary Prize, and that he would have to defend "Protection" in a de- bate on "Free Trade versus Protection" to enter the lists for the Lynde Debate. He was a staunch advocate of free trade from the time he entered Princeton. As the years of his life at college went past, Woodrow Wilson continued to manifest the same interest in gov- ernment. He published a criticism of the cabinet form of government in the International Review in August, 1879, which attracted considerable attention. In this article he advocated free and open debate in the sessions of congress and decried hidden conference. On his graduation from Princeton he proceeded to the Law School of the University of Virginia and contin- ued his study of politics and law. All his attention once given to his favorite subjects, he rapidly forged to the head of his class and became one of the most popular students in the university. He was initiated into the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity on October 25th, 1879. One of his favorite forms of recreation while at the University of Virginia was singing in the university glee club and in the chapel choir. The choir was under the direction of Duncan Emmett, later one of the most prom- inent practising physicians in New York City. The glee club made many excursions through the nearby country singing and playing. Woodrow Wilson always was a member of the party. He had a fine tenor voice and was in great demand for impromptu quartettes in the dormi- tories at night. He also organized a debating society while at the law school. His love of politics was so marked by this time that he inevitably chose the ideals of one of the world's leading statesmen when it was his turn to choose a subject. In 1880, just before the Christmas holidays, Wilson was forced to leave school because of ill health. He re- mained at home the following year, reading and studying. CHAPTER II THE LAWYER AND PROFESSOR. On a pleasant day in May, 1882, pedestrians in Mar- ietta street, in Atlanta, Ga., were startled to observe a sign swinging from the second floor of the building at No. 48. It was a wooden sign on which was inscribed the modest legend RENICK & WILSON Inquiry on the part of these same pedestrians might have brought out that Renick and Wilson indicated a law firm composed of Edward Ireland Renick and Woodrow Wilson, two youthful followers of Blackstone. But there was no inquiry. The population of Atlanta appeared to have the utmost confidence in the lawyers who had been established for some time and the venture failed. Woodrow Wilson had come to Atlanta to enter public life through the practice of law. He met Renick, who like himself was a stranger in the city, at the boarding house of Mrs. Boylston. The two formed the law partnership with Renick 's name appearing first, for he was the older. Eighteen months of struggling convinced Lawyer Wilson that his was a hopeless task unless he could make enough money to sustain life while he was seeking dis- tinction in the courts of Atlanta. While waiting for the law business to develop he had been engaged in writing his first important book — Congressional Government — in which he took keen enjoyment and still pursued his old favorite study of politics. For the first time in his life, Romance now began to play a part. It will be recalled how he played Indian with little Janet Woodrow Bones. His sojourn in Atlanta gave 31 32 WOODROW WILSON Jiim the opportunity to renew the acquaintance as the Bones family was living in Rome, Ga., a short distance from Atlanta. It was on a visit to the Bones' home that he met Miss Ellen Louise Axson. It was not their first meeting, to be accurate, as he was introduced to her when she was a baby in long dresses and he a boy of seven. There was an apparent loss of interest in law and politics during the ensuing weeks as Miss Axson came more and more into the thoughts of the young student. He formed his determination to persist until he had won the lady's promise to be his, and a scant eleven meetings took place before the all important question was asked and Miss Axson said "Yes." All thoughts of practicing law in Atlanta were abandoned at once by the young lawyer. He immediately returned north and entered upon a two year course at Johns Hopkins University, where he specialized in history and political economy. He also attended lectures given by Professor Richard T. Ely, famous economist, who had returned from Europe a short time before. While abroad Professor Ely had studied French and German socialism and it was this subject that claimed Woodrow Wilson's deep interest. Johns Hopkins University never had been an institu- tion for any but serious minded students and the usual frivolities of college life were missing. The spare mo- ments were passed in research of the most serious kind and Wilson found that he could pass uninterrupted hours in the library which, for that day, was very complete. At Johns Hopkins, Wilson had the advantage of the best associations. Among the members of his class were Albert Shaw, E. R. L. Gould, John Franklin Jameson, the historian ; Arthur Yaeger, later president of George- town College, Kentucky, and many others who became dis- tinguished as leading citizens. Noting the lack of recreational facilities at Johns Hop- kins, Wilson led a movement to found a glee club similar PRESIDENT WILSON. PRESIDING GENIUS WHO GUIDED THE DESTINIES OF THE ENTIRE WORLD. m WOODROW WILSON 37 to the one at the University of Virginia. He succeeded in his efforts and, with the co-operation of Professor Charles S. Morris, instructor in Latin and Greek, the club came into existence. Professor Morris consented to act as president of the organization and invited the club mem- bers to meet at his residence one night a month. A con- cert to which admission was charged was held in the as- sembly hall and was voted a great success. Wilson was now working for his degree of Doctor of Philosophy and continued his writing during spare moments. The treasured manuscript on " Congressional Government" had been brought from Atlanta and the student continued to add to it as his latest ideas developed. At the same time he completed an article on Adam Smith entitled "An Old Master," which attracted universal at- tention and gained fame for the author. It was seized upon by students of politics as a basis for new theories and later was published in several magazines. The book was not finished until the first months of 1885, when it was given to the world. Its full title was, ' ' Congressional Government ; A Study of Government by Committee, by Woodrow Wilson." It was read by poli- ticians in Washington and in the little country towns where politics revolved around the cracker barrel in the general store. For the first time the government of the United States was described as something existing in the concrete. The popular idea had relied too much on the constitution and the legal code. The people were shown how the government worked, not the manner in which it was supposed to operate. Educational authorities were not slow in appreciating the worth of the book. Its publication was followed by many offers from universities and colleges throughout the country offering the young author chairs as professor of history and political economy. After some slight hesi- tation, due to the many offers, Wilson chose that of Bryn Mawr, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The book was sub- 38 WOODROW WILSON mitted to the authorities of Johns Hopkins University as a thesis for his degree of Ph. D. and he proceeded to Bryn Mawr to occupy the chair offered him. While Wilson had been studying and writing at Johns Hopkins University, Miss Axson was in New York pur- suing her course in art. Upon receipt of the notice of his success, she abandoned the course and proceeded to Bryn Mawr, where they were married on June 24th, 1885. There he leased the pretty little cottage which had been the parsonage of the Baptist church on the Gulf road and a new chapter of life began. Professor Wilson did not desert his studies when he embarked on his new career. If anything, he continued his researches to a greater extent than ever before because he was now engaged in the practice of his two main ideas — government and politics. He was constantly in his study and many were the phases of political government he presented to the somewhat bewildered minds of the young ladies who made up his classes. Beside his duties as professor of political economy he taught ancient his- tory and the history of the Eenaissance. The next seventeen years of Professor Wilson's life were passed as an instructor in various universities. First of these was Bryn Mawr, where he applied the principles of government and politics which he had elected to make his life work. The college was opened in 1885 immediately before he accepted the chair of political economy and history. He worked hard to make his lectures interesting, and many of those he delivered were declared by other mem- bers of the faculty to-be gems of literary thought, apart from their value on the subjects he was teaching. His vacations were passed in the south, where practically all his friends lived and where he could visit again the scenes of his boyhood. His first and second daughters were born south of the Mason-Dixon line. A year after Professor Wilson accepted the offer of WOODROW WILSON 39 the faculty of Bryn Mawr, lie was given his degree of Ph. D. by Johns Hopkins University, which had not hesi- tated to accept his book, "Congressional Government," as a thesis. He was pleased with the distinction and devoted himself more than ever to the study of govern- ment. Two years later he was given a lectureship at Johns Hopkins and journeyed to Baltimore every week. He remained at Bryn Mawr until 1888, when a call came from the faculty at Wesleyan University, Middle- town, Conn., to occupy the chair of history and political economy. The distinction was too great for the professor to ignore, and it was. with considerable mutual regret that he bade farewell to his many friends in the quaint Penn- sylvania town. Accompanied by his family he journeyed to Middletown, where he at once entered upon his new duties. His courses were popular with the faculty and student body from the first day. It was the first time New Eng- land educational circles had been treated to anything but the old established forms of education, and the pro- fessor's courses soon became the center of interest in the university. His fame spread through the neighbor- ing states and many were the invitations he received to lecture on various subjects. He had retained his lecture- ship in Johns Hopkins University and by special arrange- ment crowded twenty-five lectures into the brief space of a month when he was on a vacation from Wesleyan. Soon after his arrival in the New England town, Professor Wilson was made a member of the athletic committee and took a keen interest in the various sports allowed by the faculty. His addresses^ to the students on the proper athletic spirit to be observe^kwon their ad- miration. This was particularly true when\they found he had an intimate knowledge of college athletics that was far removed from the nature of the subjects in which he was instructing. "You must go into the game to win, not to keep the 40 WOODROW WILSON score down," he would say to a team. "You never will meet with success until you make up your minds to fight your hardest and not be satisfied with merely making a good showing." His social obligations became pressing and Mrs. "Wil- son found that her home was the most popular in Middle- town. Thither flocked the most cultured people of the town and distinguished visitors were invariably turned over to Professor Wilson. It might be said that they de- parted with the feeling of having met a man who was making himself felt in the world. His second book was published while he was at Mid- dletown. It was entitled "The State," which was along the same line as its predecessor. It involved a vast ex- pense of time and labor and attracted wide attention. Professor Wilson now began to study active politics. He was keenly aware of the evils existing in government as it was. He knew the plan did not operate as it was supposed to and passed long hours trying to evolve some- thing different. He decried the existence of the pro- fessional politician and his influence in political circles. The whole educational world was interested in his theories, but he received no encouragement from the poli- ticians, who believed him a visionary and a dreamer. Wesleyan University could not long claim a man of such ability. In 1890 the call came for him to occupy the chair of law and politics at Princeton University, his Alma Mater, and it was of too great moment for him to ignore. So it happened that fifteen years after he began his college career, he returned to the old collegiate town as an instructor. His methods soon won him distinction, and the faculty was surprised and pleased to learn that class attendance records were broken by the many who took Professor Wilson's courses. Princeton University had been standing still for sev- eral years. This is no reflection on the president at that WOODROW WILSON 41 time, Francis Landley Patton, who had done his best to advance the interests of the school. The trouble was with the fathers of the students. Most of them sent their sons to college to learn the same things they had learned, in the same old way and by the same old tedious methods. The task was too much for Doctor Patton, who was a brilliant scholar but without ability to recognize the signs of the times. A younger man was needed, and the choice fell on Professor Woodrow Wilson. It was 1902, practically in the dawn of the new century, and progress was rapid. It was the first real opportunity Doctor Wilson was offered to place in practice his ideas of government. He was not unopposed in his ideals, for the fathers of the students looked upon his innovations with a disapproval they made no attempt to conceal. Princeton had aristocratic leanings from the day it came into existence. It had been known asa" rich man 's school." It was famous as the most attractive university in the country. Its presidents had been chosen from among the most prominent divines in the history of the land and Doctor Wilson was the first layman to occupy the seat of president. He was not hasty or abrupt in his revision of the system. He had never been an advocate of radicalism and passed much time in studying conditions. Two phases of college life to come in for immediate attention, how- ever, were discipline and the scholarship requirements, which had become lax through the years. The first final examination saw many students dropped for failing to meet the necessary standards. There was an immediate protest over his action, but he countered the verbal attacks with the reply that no partiality would be shown a student because of his father's standing in the community. All were to be treated alike regardless of their social ' ' pull. ' ' His efforts met with results from that time on. No longer did the fashionable sons of rich parents proceed 42 WOODROW WILSON to Princeton and cavort over the campus on a four year vacation after the strain of high school years. It took time, of course, for the new president to silence the ob- jections, but they died out with the passing of the idlers to other circles of activity, and the new students accepted the regulations as laid down by the president. The next move of Doctor Wilson was to appoint a committee of revision on the course of study. He also issued an announcement that he wanted the sons to be educated differently than the fathers. One can imagine the uproar this created, but he remained firm and declared further that the world had progressed since the fathers were boys and new ideals and thoughts were coming to the front. It was the first attempt to bring the students under one form of discipline that applied to all without fear or favor. It was the beginning of the ' ' department system ' ' that has made Princeton famous throughout the land and has turned out hundreds of students specialized in their professions instead of with a general but vague idea of the thousand unrelated subjects which formerly stood for " education.' ' Another departure from the established custom in- stituted by the new educator was the foundation of the preceptorial system. He declared that there were not sufficient safeguards placed over the students while they were away from the classroom. They were free to do as they pleased, and even though they desired direction and interest from the faculty, it was not forthcoming. Such conditions were intolerable, according to Doctor Wilson. He abolished formal recitations and brought the students into close touch with the instructors, who were young men for the greater part. Once the personal element was introduced, the efficiency of the institution increased. All these changes were not accomplished without the expenditure of money. The preceptorial system meant WOODROW WILSON 43 an expense of $100,000 a year alone. Part of this was raised by subscriptions from the alumni and constituted the only evil of the system. The donors were given grounds for their arguments and assumed a certain amount of control over the policies of the university. The balance of the money was raised by subscriptions of the students themselves. Thus it was that a new Princeton University came into being. When Doctor Wilson took charge, students of education could see nothing but decay ahead of the old system. They were astonished at the progress made with- in a few years by the new leader. Princeton was now a progressive, constructive institution ranking with the best of the new universities in the middle west, which had threatened to leave it far behind in the struggle for knowledge. Five years after Doctor Wilson took charge he an- nounced that the university was to carry its influence into the homes of the students as the culmination of the pre- ceptorial plan. Again was the attention of the alumni invited to the perpetual fight the president was making in the name of progress. He felt the necessity of looking into the living conditions of students on the ground that a healthy, sanitary life for the body would lead to a sound mind. He accordingly ordered plans drawn for a number of dormitories over which the university authorities would have complete jurisdiction. These were for the housing of such students who wanted to live economically and in the college atmosphere. The younger professors offered to occupy such quarters in the dormitories as would be assigned to them by the president for the sake of the companionship which would bring them into close touch with the student body. It was a direct blow at the aristocratic element that persisted in the "club system" in a place where democ- racy should have reigned supreme. Only four hundred 44 WOODROW WILSON students from the university could obtain membership in these clubs and the others were forced to remain outside because of the prohibitive prices of membership. It was certain that this engendered a bitter feeling on the part of the unfortunate outsiders. A circular descriptive of Doctor Wilson's plan was sent to the clubs just before Commencement, 1907, when they were crowded with the wealthy alumni who were members in their younger days. The roar of indignation that went up caused the timid board of trustees to veto the " dormitory plan," much to Doctor Wilson's disgust. An attack also was made on the preceptorial system, but in spite of the objections it continued in vogue. Doctor Wilson was charged by the insurgents with being a Socialist and a bigot. His reply was that the clubs stood in the way of higher education and must be removed if progress was to be made. He continued to address the alumni on all occasions and refused to make the fight a personal issue. He pleaded for the betterment of the university, but his opponents remained obdurate and the dormitory plan was finally abandoned. He remained steadfast on the preceptorial plan, however, and refused to consider its withdrawal. This altercation was no sooner settled than the ques- tion of a graduate college for Princeton University came up. It had been under discussion for some time, but the return of Professor West, who had been sent to Europe to study the graduate college system, resulted in an agita- tion for the addition. A bequest of $250,000 was left by the will of Mrs. J. A. Thompson to begin the work. A further gift of $500,- 000 was offered by William C. Proctor, of Cincinnati, on condition the faculty raise a like amount and that Mr. Proctor be allowed to choose the site of the new building. Doctor Wilson felt that the plans presented by Pro- fessor West were too elaborate for the amount of money forthcoming. He also was opposed to allowing Mr. Proc- WOODROW WILSON 45 tor to choose the site, feeling that the matter was one for the board of trustees to decide. He stated his views at a meeting of the trustees and they coincided with him. Mr. Proctor promptly withdrew his offer. This raised a storm of protest which Doctor Wilson ignored. He had the good of the university at heart and declined to allow the mistaken, though well-intentioned, criticism to move him from his position. Then Isaac C. Wyman died, leaving $3,000,000 for the sole purpose of building a graduate college at Prince- ton. The last remonstrances of Doctor Wilson were swept away in the jubilation that followed and the graduate col- lege became an assured fact. CHAPTEE III GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY. The nomination of Woodrow Wilson, Ph. D., LL. D., for governor of the populous state of New Jersey was a mistake. But it was a mistake that worked to the in- estimable advantage of people who were politician-ridden in the full sense of the word and cursed with the worst of American evils — a two-party machine. The man who made the error was James Smith, Jr., former United States senator from New Jersey, who had been so rewarded for his activity in delivering the vote of the New Jersey delegation to Grover Cleveland in 1892. The Democratic party was his personal property, free from taxation, and supposedly storm proof. His right hand man was James R. Nugent, an exponent of the old political theory that " might makes right." Of his other assistants little need be said except that they were at the bid and call of the directing head, James Smith, Jr. They were never allowed to forget that. In addition to the political machines, the corporation interests played a great part in the government of New Jersey. Among these was the Pensylvania Railroad Com- pany and the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. The people of New Jersey had as little to say in the govern- ment of their home state as they had in that of California. The Republican organization was almost as mal- odorous as the Democratic. It was led by the notorious "Board of Guardians" composed of former Governors Franklin Murphy and Edward C. Stokes ; Senators John Dryden and John Kean ; and David P. Baird. These five were fairly representative of the Republican corporation interests. 46 WOODROW WILSON 47 Smith did not limit his activities to the direction of the Democratic machine. Some of his close intimate friends were connected with the Republicans and it was openly charged, though never proved, that both party- machines were retroactive ; they worked for either party at the discretion of Smith or the " Board of Guardians." Reform was sweeping the country in 1910. It was felt in New Jersey to a great extent, but the politicians were ensconced behind their apparently impregnable walls and considered the question with serious minds. It was plain that they could be starved out in time. The solution was a decision to change tactics. Woodrow Wilson's popularity had been growing steadily throughout the state and Smith was quick to seize its importance. He never stopped to consider that the learned college president would be anything but wax in his supple fingers or that he could extract promises sufficient to bind the prospective favorite to him and his principles. That was where he made his mistake. All through the early summer of 1910, Smith spread the propaganda through the newspapers that supported his machine. It was easy for him to see that he had "picked a winner." He accordingly made overtures to Doctor Wilson. The college president was wary in committing him- self to a definite acceptance. He weighed the proposition carefully in an effort to ascertain the motives that prompted the unexpected support of the Democratic ma- chine. It was apparent to him that Smith would not lend his support without a return of substantial privilege in case the campaign was successful. When the delegation from the Smith headquarters called on him, he asked the questions. They were forced to answer. "Is Mr. Smith seeking the United States senator- ship f ' ' he asked bluntly. Absolutely not, the delegation replied. He would 48 WOODROW WILSON never think of such a thing. He was interested in ' ' good government' ' and felt that Doctor Wilson would be the best governor New Jersey ever had. "I should have to oppose him if he ran for the nom- ination," said Doctor Wilson. "He represents to me everything that is repugnant in politics. He is the direct antithesis of my convictions. ' ' They redoubled their assurances and urged him to accept. He agreed on the condition that he was not to support any candidate at the dictation of the machine or make any secret promises in return for their support. Speaking of the matter afterward, Doctor Wilson said: "They asked my permission to nominate me and I could not understand why. It seemed to me a most astonishing thing that they should go outside the machine organization to choose a candidate and especially a man who made it clear that he was not to be bound to their programme in any way. It was very puzzling. I asked impertinent questions of some of the delegation. They would not give me a satisfactory explanation but acceded to my terms. I thought for a time they had abandoned the idea of spoils politics." Doctor Wilson was asked formally on July 12th, 1910, to accept the Democratic nomination for governor. The only question raised was whether he would stand by the leaders of the organization as such. Doctor Wilson re- plied that he was in favor of party politics so long as they were kept uncontaminated. Three days later he issued a statement declaring he would accept the nomination in case he could be convinced that a majority of the Democratic voters would signify their willingness. The result was a sensation. Voters throughout the state greeted the announcement with en- thusiasm. Although there was doubt expressed in cer- tain quarters that the professor candidate was being made WOODROW WILSON 49 a tool by the Democratic machine, the feeling at large was that he would be the best champion the people could have. Doctor Wilson was not unopposed in his candidacy. Three other Democrats entered the contest. They were Frank S. Katzenbach, George S. Silzer and H. Otto Witt- pen. Wittpen was mayor of Jersey City and a personal enemy of Robert Davis, one of Smith's leading hench- men. All three were well represented at the convention which was called to order at Trenton on September 15th, 1910. Woodrow Wilson was nominated on the first ballot. The speed with which the convention proceeded to business was so unexpected that it was necessary for Doctor Wilson to leave his study in Princeton and hasten to Trenton. Entering the hall, he mounted the platform and delivered a speech that fairly swept his late op- ponents and his supporters off their feet. It was a masterpiece of eloquence. He said : "I feel the responsibility of the occasion. Responsi- bility is proportionate to opportunity. It is a great op- portunity to serve the state and the nation. I did not seek this nomination, I have made no pledge and have given no promises. If elected I am left absolutely free to serve you with all singleness of purpose. It is a new era when these things can be said, and in connection with this I feel that the dominant idea of the moment is the responsibility of deserving. I will have to serve the state very well in order to deserve the honor of being at its head. * * • "Our platform is sound, satisfactory, and explicit. The explicitness of the pledges in it is a great test of its sincerity. By it we will win the confidence of the people. If we keep the confidence, we can keep it only by performance. "Above all the issues there are three which demand our particular attention: first, the business-like and economical administration of the business of the state; 50 WOODROW WILSON second, equalization of taxes; and third, control of cor- porations. There are other important questions, like the matter of a corrupt-practices act, liability of employers, and conservation, but the three I have mentioned will dominate these. "We must have a public service commission, with the amplest powers to oversee and regulate public service corporations — not powers to advise but powers to con- trol. 1 ' States are primarily the instruments of controlling the corporations and not the federal government. It is my strong hope that New Jersey will lead the way in re- form; moreover, the State can find out whether it has been creating corporations to elude the law. "Did you ever experience the elation of a great hope, that you desire to do right because it is right and with- out thought of doing it for your own interest? At that period your thoughts are unselfish. "This is particularly a day of unselfish purposes for Democracy. The country has been universally misled and the people have begun to believe that there is some- thing radically wrong. And now we should make this era of hope one of realization through the Democratic party. "The time when you can play politics and fool the American people has gone by. It is a case of put up or shut up. We must show the people that we are not look- ing for offices but for results. * * * "Maine is a word -that has stirred many feelings. They had a Democratic governor named Plaisted and waited until his son grew up to get another. In the mean- time they had been learning by experience the need of getting the second one. "We have come to a new era, just as when the found- ers of this government established a new era in the his- tory of the world when they founded this government. We have got to reconstruct a new economic society, and WOODROW WILSON 51 in doing this we will have to govern political methods directly. In doing this we will be doing something as great as did our forefathers. "America has one special distinction. It is not that she has wealth and resources. Many a nation which had wealth rotted away before America was born. It is that America was born with an ideal — freedom for its people. " Woodrow Wilson was elected governor of New Jersey in the fall election of 1910 by a plurality of 49,000. His predecessor had been elected four years prior by a plu- rality of 7,000. It was a sweeping victory for the student of politics and government. On the same day, 73,000 Democrats signified that their choice for United States senator would be James E. Martine. James Smith, Jr., was not on the ticket but announced his candidacy at once. The Governor-elect was swept into a controversy with the Democratic boss the day following the election. "The primary is a joke," said Smith. "It is far from being a joke with me," was the reply of Governor Wilson. "The way to prevent it from be- ing a joke is to take it seriously. The question as to who is going to represent the state of New Jersey in the United States senate is of little moment beside the ques- tion of whether the people of New Jersey are going to be allowed the legal right to pick their candidates by popular election. ' ' True to the promise made before he had accepted the nomination, Governor Wilson notified Smith that he would oppose his campaign for senator to the utmost of his power. He tried to induce Smith to withdraw with- out undergoing the humiliation of defeat, but the Demo- cratic leader was obdurate. "Will you confine your opposition to the mere an- nouncement that you do not favor my candidacy ?" asked Smith. 1 ' That is not my method, ' ' replied the governor. ' ' I 52 WOODROW WILSON will oppose you with every honorable means within my power. I mean what I say. "Unless I hear from you within two days that you have abandoned your ambition, I will announce my op- position." Smith departed and waited three days. He then asked Governor Wilson to grant him additional time, but, true to his word, the governor had issued a signed state- ment to the newspapers which appeared at once and called the attention of the people to what he termed the "absolute unfitness" of Smith as a United States senator. The fight was one of the most bitter in the history of New Jersey. The governor did not content himself with handing statements to newspaper men. He climbed into the political arena and addressed meetings of voters in every city in the state. The result was that thousands of his hearers notified their representatives in the state legislature that Smith must not be elected and they were obeyed. Martine was made United States senator by a vote of forty to four. The machine was wrecked. In speaking of the result Governor Wilson said : ' ' They did not believe I meant what I said and I be- lieved they meant what they said. ' ' Governor Wilson took up the active duties of his office soon after the close of the Martine-Smith contest. His first attention was given to the promise embodied in his speech accepting the nomination and he announced to the voters that he meant to stand by his pledges. He made it clear that he was desirous of the support of the people when he said: "It is not the foolish ardor of too sanguine or too radical reform that I urge upon you, but merely the tasks that are evident and pressing, the things we have knowl- edge and guidance enough to do ; and to do with confidence and energy. I merely point out the present business of progress and serviceable government, the next stage on WOODROW WILSON, Ph. D., Litt. D., L.L.D., PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. o m O Pi Q O o Woodrow Wilson in the Robes of a College Professor. ""11 ii Jli The President and his wife, mother of his three daughters. WOODROW WILSON 57 the journey of duty. The path is as inviting as it is plain. Shall we hesitate to tread it? I look forward with gen- uine pleasure to the prospect of being your comrade upon it." Governor Wilson was opposed to the rigid observance of the three branches of government laid down in the con- stitution — the executive, legislative and judicial. Up to his tenure of office the state of New Jersey had been gov- erned according to these three tenets in a manner that never had been intended by the framers of the constitu- tion. In short, the governors, legislators and judges had pursued their own paths regardless of the others and the condition of affairs indicated too plainly there had been no co-operation. The friends of good government had drawn consola- tion from the defeat administered the machine forces in the election of Senator Martine but there was a forebod- ing of evil in the machinations of the faction led by James Nugent, who, it will be remembered, was Smith's right hand man. It was known that Nugent was organizing an opposition composed of Republicans and Democrats, members of the old machines which had failed to defeat the governor in a fair and square contest. Governor Wilson met the situation by at once sug- gesting legislation to abolish for all time the boss system of partisan politics. There was universal horror at the proposed sacrilege. The governor, however, failed to be moved by the excitement and continued his course. He held conferences with Republican and Democratic representatives and senators without regard for their political affiliations, thereby violating another political precedent in New Jersey. When the legislature convened on January 10th, 1911, one of the first measures to come up for consideration was the Geran Bill, which contained all the governor's desired legislation for direct primary elections. It was of such revolutionary character that the legislature listened to 58 WOODROW WILSON the first reading with a smile and the bill was sent to com- mittee. The measure contemplated turning over to the peo- ple all political organizations and provided for the direct nomination by primary election of all public officials from dog catcher to president, speaking broadly. All candi- dates were to receive the indorsement of the people before their names were placed on the ballot. In cases where conventions would be held for the purpose of naming lead- ing candidates, the state or county representatives were to receive instructions from the voters through the primary as to the manner in which their votes should be cast. It meant the elimination of the corporation interest in state politics, in short, it meant government by the people. Nugent was leader of the opposition to defeat the measure. Owing to the majority of Republicans in the state senate, he was reasonably sure that the measure could be defeated there. He was not satisfied with that surety though, and chose to provoke a fight in the hope that the house of representatives would be swung to his side of the fence and a crushing defeat administered to the governor. The committee to which the bill had been referred had hardly gone into session when a request was received from Governor Wilson that he be invited to attend the meeting. It was another violation of precedent, but the committee could hardly refuse to admit the highest ex- ecutive in the state and so the invitation was sent forth. Governor "Wilson arrived immediately afterward and discussion was begun on the proposed primary law. Governor Wilson first convinced the assembled leg- islators that he was following his constitutional duty in recommending certain legislation. Then he began to talk on the Geran Bill. For three solid hours he discussed the bill from every angle. He answered innumerable questions concerning it and ended by convincing the committee that it was a de- WOODROW WILSON 59 sirable piece of legislation from the people's point of view. When he had silenced every criticism he appealed to the committee to work with him for the reorganization of the Democratic party in New Jersey. To the unbounded astonishment of Smith and Nugent, the committee urged passage of the measure. The two immediately took steps to hold a Republican caucus, but so many of the Republicans were convinced by the governor 's stand that the attempt failed dismally. Nugent then attempted to bring about the defeat of the measure in the senate, but the bill went to the governor for signature with a third more votes than it needed. In this manner New Jersey was given the best primary law in the union. CHAPTER IV THE PKESIDENTIAL NOMINEE. In the spring of 1912, few persons believed that Woodrow Wilson would stand a chance to obtain the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. Champ Clark of Missouri, speaker of the house of representatives, had been making great strides in the popular imagination and it was believed by the average man on the street that he would be returned as the nom- inee at the convention in Baltimore. In spite of the astonishing run Clark was making, it was conceded that the convention would be the scene of a free for all fight. The Democratic party was face to face with this fea- ture of the situation in selecting its candidate — that none of the men who had been before the voters in the several primaries had awakened any popular enthusiasm. It was believed at the beginning of the campaign that Governor Wilson would appeal to the imagination of the people. He had not done so, as shown by the results in Illinois, California and elsewhere. Gov. Harmon of Ohio made no impression whatever upon the country. Rep- resentative Underwood had strength in the south. The surprise was found in Clark, who had obtained delegates at points where it was not believed he had a chance and had decisively beaten Wilson in most of the states where they had been opposed. It was the general understanding in Washington, that Clark was used as a stalking horse to beat Wilson. There is no doubt this was the original intention of those behind him, and some of his supporters, who had not pro- 60 WOODROW WILSON 61 posed that he be taken seriously, were becoming alarmed at the strength he had shown. Others who had this same purpose in view were con- vinced Clark could be nominated and elected, and they gave him whole-hearted aid. Clark claimed he had 364y 2 delegates, of whom many were not conceded to him by Governor Wilson, his most serious rival. It was impos- sible, however, for the speaker to have the two-thirds majority required to assure the nomination. It was probable Clark would appear as the strongest candidate on the first ballot, but the vote would be fruit- less, and others would have to be taken. If the speaker could hold his forces together, he would be able at least to dictate who should be the nominee, but there were many delegates for him who announced their intention to sup- port Wilson after they obeyed their initial instructions. The opposition to Governor Wilson was so strong, however, that it .was expected to withdraw a number of delegates from the New Jersey candidate, sufficient to off- set any additions he might obtain from others. Underwood had a great deal of strength with the con- servatives, and especially the business men, and they would prefer either him or Harmon. The latter hoped to get definitely into the running by securing a tremendous majority in Ohio. His hopes failed of realization, he was considered definitely out of the race. The popularity of Col. Roosevelt was shown to be so great that the Democratic leaders began to realize that if they were to win in November, they must have a stand- ard bearer who would appeal to the people. The primary results proved disappointing in showing there was no such Democrat before the public, unless it was Governor Wilson. This aspect of the situation caused a great deal of talk as to the advisability of renominating William Jen- nings Bryan. The Nebraskan, however, as shown by his attitude in Iowa, refused to permit the selection of dele- gates instructed to vote for him. 62 WOODROW WILSON In the months that followed the tide of popular opin- ion ebbed and flowed, sometimes in favor of Governor Wilson and at other times for Clark. The delegates be- gan gathering for the convention in Baltimore early in June and on June 25th the chairman's gavel descended, calling the body to order. It was one of the wildest and noisiest in the history of Democratic politics. With Roosevelt looming on the horizon as the possible Republican choice, the Democratic leaders were worried. For several days the balloting pro- ceeded with Clark a favorite. It was not until July 1st that the delegates began to desert the speaker and sup- port Governor Wilson. Their action precipitated a dead- lock that lasted all day and far into the afternoon of July 2nd. The night session was a bitter struggle, with no signs of weakening by any of the contestants. It was at this critical moment that Governor Wilson. was deserted by William Jennings Bryan, who threw his strength to the support of Governor Kern of Indiana. The Clark leaders were irritated at Bryan's attitude throughout the whole convention and considered denouncing him on the floor, but none would listen to the suggestion. The delegates were tired and wished to return to their homes. On the following day the general feeling was that Governor Wilson would be nominated and the convention brought to a close. It was a true forecast. The New York delegates were still in caucus when the convention met. The information that came from the caucus room was that the New York vote of ninety would continue to be cast for Clark. The vote in the caucus showed : for Clark, 78 ; for Wilson 10 ; for Underwood, 2. At noon Chairman James directed the calling of the roll for the forty-third time. The hall was quiet when Illinois was reached. When Roger C. Sullivan announced 18 votes for Clark; 40 for Wilson, there was great cheer- ing. Chairman James pounded the table with his gavel WOODROW WILSON 63 and finally quieted the uproar. "Illinois, under the unit rule, cast 58 votes for Wilson, ' ' he announced, and another cheer greeted the shift. This gave Wilson a clear gain of 50 votes in Illinois. The New Jersey governor continued to gain. In Iowa he added V/2 to his total vote. New York announced its vote for Clark. There was cheering as the Clark vote of 16 in West Virginia went over to Wilson. In Wisconsin Wilson gained one more. The totals on the forty-third ballot were: Wilson, 602; Clark, 329 ; Underwood, 98y 2 ; Harmon, 28 ; Foss 27 ; Kern, 1 ; Bryan 1. This gave Wilson a gain of 108 and Clark a loss of 101. Underwood lost 5%. Once more the call of the roll began. It was the forty- fourth ballot and Wilson gained one in Arizona. Col- orado climbed aboard the "band wagon," giving Wil- son a gain of nine. This made the vote 10 to 2 for Wil- son. One of the two was Mrs. Anna B. Pitzer, sister-in- law of Speaker Clark. In the totals, Wilson's vote was 629, a gain of 27, compared with the forty-third ballot. Clark dropped from 329 to 306. Underwood had 99 votes and Foss 27. Although Governor Wilson made slight gains early in the forty-fifth ballot, there were no serious breaks in the dwindling Clark ranks. New York's 90 again went to Clark, and hope of a nomination on this ballot was lost. Wilson advanced from 629 to 633. Clark remained at 306. The end came when, at the beginning of the forty- sixth ballot, Senator Bankhead of Alabama, manager for the Underwood forces, mounted the platform, and withdrew his candidate. "Mr. Underwood entered this contest hoping that he might secure the nomination from this convention," Senator Bankhead said, ' ' but I desire to say for him that his first and greatest hope was that, through this move- ment, he might be able to eliminate and eradicate for all time every remaining vestige of factional feeling in this country. 64 WOODROW WILSON ' ' Mr. Underwood today would willingly and anxious- ly forego this nomination if he had succeeded, and if the country has concluded the Mason and Dixon line has been trampled out and this is once more a united country. We have demonstrated here my friends, in my judgment, that that sectional feeling no longer exists. "The liberal support that Mr. Underwood has had from the East satisfies us that if an opportunity were of- fered to nominate this splendid man they are ready and would hasten to his aid. "He and his friends everywhere stand ready to give the nominee of this convention their hearty support. He has stood upon every platform that has been written since 1896. He will stand upon any platform that this conven- tion may write. I would not undertake, knowing him as I do, to say that all of its planks — and I don't know what they are — would meet his judgment, but he is a Democrat and stands for the success of his party." A Delegate: "Vice President?" Senator Bankhead: "Vice Presi- dent? No!" (Applause.) "No friend of the Democratic party would dare sug- gest to take that man from his present position," he con- tinued, "if they cannot elevate him to the highest office in the land. Vice president! Anybody can sit in the Vice Presidential chair. It is a kind of an ornament only. Even I, human as I am, could sit in that chair and say 'The gentleman from New York moves to adjourn,' and that is all. "This great Democrat, the Democracy's best asset; this great Democrat who has made it possible for the Democratic party to win in the next contest, will stay where he is and perform the duties that he has been per- forming without complaint. "I withdraw his name from before the convention, and he authorizes me to release from their obligations all the friends who have been instructed to vote for him, which they have so loyally done so long as his name was WOODROW WILSON 65 before the convention. His friends are at liberty to vote for whom they please. ' ' Senator Stone of Missouri asked that the unanimous consent be given that the roll call be vacated, and that he be given unanimous consent to make a statement. Con- sent was given. "I desire, following the statement of Senator Bank- head,' ' said Senator Stone, "to say that, speaking for Mr. Clark, I will release, if release be necessary, any ob- ligation to him imposed upon any delegation in this con- vention. The delegates who have stood by him so loyally will be remembered by him and his friends with devoted affection. I would not have a delegation here stand for another ballot under a sense of obligation to him; I would have them act as they now think best." Chairman James then announced that Mayor Fitz- gerald of Boston asked unanimous consent to vacate the roll call, Mayor Fitzgerald announced the withdrawal of Foss' name and said his state would vote for Wilson. The roll call was further vacated and J. J. Fitzgerald of New York was given consent to make a statement. He said: "In the hope that this convention may adjourn with- out bitterness, without hard feelings, without rancor, and that we may effect the success of the candidates of this convention, in order to demonstrate, no matter how hard we may strive for the mastery of our honest opinion, we are willing to acquiesce in what manifestly appears to be the overwhelming desire of this convention ; "I move, as a member of the New York delegation, anxious that the electoral vote of New York should be in the Democratic column, that the roll call be dispensed with, and the nomination of Wilson be made by accla- mation.' ' When Mr. Fitzgerald concluded, the weary delegates stood on their chairs and shouted. The Missouri and New York members alone sat unmoved throughout the demon- stration. 66 WOODROW WILSON Wilson adherents dashed about the hall, shaking hands, hugging each other, and dancing with glee. The aisles were jammed, and the sergeants-at-arms and the police fought in vain to quiet the throng. It took fifteen minutes for them to restore order. Finally, Chairman James announced that the plan proposed by representative Fitzgerald to nominate by acclamation could be carried only by unanimous consent. Senator Eeed of Missouri took the platform to object to this scheme. "Without the slightest desire to express any senti- ment or rancor, I object because Missouri wants to be recorded on this ballot for Champ Clark," he said. The Clark forces cheered. The regular order was demanded, and the forty-sixth and final roll call of the states was begun. After it was finished, the nomination of Wilson was made unanimous. The convention adjourned sine die at 2 a. m. July 3, 1912. The early morning session was devoted to the nom- ination of a vice presidential candidate. Governor Mar- shall's nomination was contested principally by Governor John Burke of North Dakota. Marshall won the place by acclamation following the second ballot after Governor Burke and Senator George E. Chamberlain of Oregon had been withdrawn as candidates. Even the news that he was Democracy's nominee could not stir Governor Wilson into an emotional stam- pede. He received word of the nomination over the tele- phone from Baltimore, went up-stairs to notify Mrs. Wil- son that a projected trip to Europe would have to be abandoned and on coming down again, made this state- ment : ' l The honor is as great as can come to any man by the nomination of a party, especially in the circum- stances, and I hope I appreciate its true value, but just at this moment I feel the tremendous responsibility it in- volves even more than I feel the honor. I hope with all WOODROW WILSON 67 my heart that the party will never have reason to regret it" The news was received in a spirit of solemnity. There were no cheers, no exclamations, no shouts. Even the soldiers on the rifle range near by ceased fire, and it was some time before the first demonstration commenced. The telegraph wires were clogged within ten minutes after the nomination was announced with more than a thousand personal messages to Governor Wilson. Mrs. Wilson's one expressed regret was that Georgia, her native state, had not come to her husband's cause earlier in the battle. Governor Wilson's genial smile be- fore he became the nominee was inspired by the support of Virginia, the state of his birth. * ' That is fine, ' ' he said, l ' to feel my own native state coming over to me. ' ' Informal receptions and reading of the thousands of personal messages occupied the governor's time until he retired. In the Wilson home when the nomination was an- nounced were seven persons, Governor Wilson himself, his wife, three daughters, Miss Hester Hasford, author of a biography of Governor Wilson, and with her Miss Mary Hoyt of Baltimore, a cousin of Mrs. Wilson. He received the news over the phone through some unknown person; he came out of the library into the main reception room of his home. His face was marked by characteristic expression of solemnity and strain under perfect control. He looked about for members of the family, but they had gone out one by one out of sheer strain, speechless, to their rooms. The governor went upstairs, came down with Mrs. Wilson on his arm, almost a suspicion of a tear in his eye, but Mrs. Wilson was smiling. A group of re- porters who had planned to rush in, came in very quietly with hats in hands and throats choked. Mrs. Wilson was very much pleased and told things 68 WOODROW WILSON to the reporters that they had not guessed. She said Governor "Wilson had abandoned hope last Friday and had planned a trip to Europe. He almost surrendered when Clark's column passed a point of majority; he wrote to Col. W. F. McCombs, releasing all the delegates, but no one would accept release. After the nomination was made, a deluge of callers started to the cottage. They streamed by every road and pathway to the "Little White House," swarmed over the lawn, climbed on the porch and all over. Between ap- plause, they called him "Woodrow," " Governor" and "Wilson," but most addressed him as "the next Presi- dent of the United States." Miss Jessie Wilson opened the campaign by pinning buttons on callers. Governor Wilson sent the following telegram to Gov- ernor Marshall of Indianapolis : "Sincere congratulations. I shall look forward with pleasure to my associations with you." "Governor Marshall bears the highest reputation both as an executive and as a Democrat, and I feel honored by having him as a running mate," said the Governor. "He is, I am happy to say, a valued personal friend of mine as well as a fellow Democrat." The following week Governor Wilson issued his for- mal acceptance of the Democratic nomination for Presi- dent of the United States. In it he mentioned the issues that were at stake and summarized the events that made necessary a victory for the Democratic party. He said : "We stand in the presence of an awakened Nation, im- patient of partisan makebelieve. The public man who does not realize the fact and feel its stimulation must be singularly unsusceptible to the influences that stir in every quarter about him. The Nation has awakened to a sense of neglected ideals and neglected duties ; to a conscious- ness that the rank and file of her people find life very hard to sustain, that her young men find opportunity embar- WOODROW WILSON 69 rassed, and that her older men find business difficult to renew and maintain because of circumstances of privilege and private advantage which have interlaced their subtle threads throughout almost every part of the framework of our present law. She has awakened to the knowledge that she has lost certain cherished liberties and has wasted priceless resources which she had solemnly undertaken to hold in trust for posterity and for all mankind ; and to the conviction that she stands confronted with an occasion for constructive statesmanship such as has not arisen since the great days in which her Government was set up. "It is hard to sum up the great task, but apparently this is the sum of the matter : There are two great things to do. One is to set up the rule of justice and of right in such matters as the tariff, the regulation of the trusts, and the prevention of monopoly, the adaptation of our banking and currency laws to the various uses to which our people must put them, the treatment of those who do the daily labor in our factories and mines and throughout all our great commercial and industrial undertakings, and the political life of the people of the Philippines, for whom we hold governmental power in trust, for their service, not our own. The other, the additional duty, is the great task of protecting our people and our resources and of keeping open to the whole people the doors of opportunity through which they must, generation by generation, pass if they are to make conquest of their fortunes in health, in free- dom, in peace, and in contentment. In the performance of this second duty we are face to face with questions of conservation and of development, questions of forests and water powers and mines and waterways, of the building of an adequate merchant marine, and the opening of every highway and facility and the setting up of every safeguard needed by a great, industrious, expanding nation. "These are all great matters on which everybody should be heard. We have got into trouble in recent years chiefly because these large things, which ought to have 70 WOODROW "WILSON been handled by taking counsel with as large a number of people as possible, because they touched every interest and the life of every class and region, have in fact been too often handled in private conference. They have been set- tled by very small, and often deliberately exclusive, groups of men who undertook to speak for the whole nation, or rather for themselves in the terms of the whole nation — very honestly it may be true, but very ignorantly some- times, and very shortsightedly, too — a poor substitute for genuine common counsel. No group of directors, economic or political, can speak for a people. They have neither the point of view nor the knowledge. Our difficulty is not that wicked and designing men have plotted against us, but that our common affairs have been determined upon too narrow a view, and by too private an initiative. Our task is now to effect a great readjustment and get the forces of the whole people more into play. We need no revolution; we need no excited change; we need only a new point of view and a new method and spirit of counsel. "No man can be just who is not free, and no man who has to show favor ought to undertake the solemn responsi- bility of government, in any rank or post whatever, least of all in the supreme post of President of the United States. "To be free is not necessarily to be wise. But wisdom comes with counsel, with the frank and free conference of untrammeled men united in the common interest. Should I be entrusted with the great office of President, I would seek counsel wherever it could be had upon free terms. I know the temper of the great convention which nominated me ; I know the temper of the country which lay back of that convention and spoke through it. I heed with deep thankfulness the message you bring me from it. I feel that I am surrounded by men whose principles and ambi- tions are those of true servants of the people. I thank God, and will take courage. ' ' CHAPTER V WOODROW WILSON ELECTED PRESIDENT. The Presidential campaign of 1912 was one of the most spectacular in the history of the country. The Dem- ocrats refrained from muck raking while the two Repub- lican factions flew at each other hammer and tongs. The entire country seethed with factionalism and many Republicans, disgusted with the tactics employed by their champions, swung over to the Democratic side and announced themselves for Governor Wilson. Both Republican factions did not hesitate to cast aspersions on the man they chose to call the ''school- master candidate," but their efforts came to naught. The people were too well acquainted with Governor Wil- son's career as a writer and a speaker. He was known to the country as a student of government and his firm stand in the fight against machine politics in New Jersey brought him before the people as a champion of direct popular government. The Democratic party stood united behind its can- didates. The men who had opposed Governor Wilson on the floor of the convention took the stump in all parts of the country and urged his election. Among them were Governor Kern of Indiana, William Jennings Bryan, Senator Underwood, Speaker Champ Clark and a host of others. One thing was apparent: there was no split in the Democratic party. Election day fell on November 4th, 1912, and the country was on edge awaiting the outcome. It is certain the election will be long remembered by the people. From the beginning of the counting of the votes it was apparent that the Democratic party had won an over- 71 72 WOODROW WILSON whelming victory. The first returns received came from Boston, where a lone precinct gave Roosevelt and John- son a substantial lead. Later returns deprived this return of any significance. Then came New York, reports giv- ing Governor Wilson a constantly growing plurality. Other states quickly took their position in the Wilson column, one here and there failing to do so and giving their electoral votes to Roosevelt. Occasionally votes from the smaller Republican states gave indications of a Taft preference. But there was no possibility of doubting at any time that Wilson and Marshall had been selected by the American people as their next President and Vice-Pres- ident. In short, it was a day of victory for the Democrats, a day of satisfaction for the Progressives, a day of gloom for the Republicans. Governor Wilson, from the first returns, apparently carried every big state except Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Washington and Pennsylvania, which were swept by Roosevelt. Governor Wilson's election was so big as almost to stagger the imagination. He was swept into office by one of the largest electoral votes ever received by a candi- date. His popular vote also was tremendous. As the latest returns indicated, he carried all the middle Atlantic states, except Pennsylvania ; the ' ' Solid South ' ' and many western states in which it was believed Roosevelt had the best chance. He drew a large vote in New York, Roose- velt's native state, and California, the home of Governor Johnson. Mr. Wilson unquestionably appealed to the voters by his career, his record and his personality. His appear- ance on the stump won him much support, and the way in which he explained the policy he proposed to enforce and his independence of Murphy, head of Tammany Hall ; his defeat of Smith, the New Jersey politician; and his general independence of bosses, all favorably impressed the voters. WOODROW WILSON 73 The later count of the electoral vote told the story. Out of the forty-eight states, Governor Wilson carried forty. California, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Washington went for Roosevelt. Only two states, Utah and Vermont, declared for Taft. The total electoral vote and 531 of which 435 were cast for Governor Wilson. There was unrestrained joy over the news of the election. The president-elect took care not to be car- ried away by the flood of sentiment and at once directed his energies to outlining his procedure in the months between the election and the inauguration. The Sixty- second Congress was completing its labors and the work of the Pujo committee, which had been appointed to investigate business conditions, was creating daily sensa- tions through the press. It was declared that the busi- ness outlook was bad and all eyes were turned to the new President. The demand for an expression of his opinion became so insistent that he issued a statement, while on a visit to Staunton, Va., in which he said : "We are learning again that the service of humanity is the best business of mankind, and that the business of mankind must be set forward by the government which mankind sets up, in order that justice may be done and mercy not forgotten. All the world, I say, is turning now, as never before, to this conception of the elevation of humanity, not of the preferred few, not of those who can by superior wit or unusual opportunity struggle to the top, no matter whom they trample under feet, but of men who cannot struggle to the top and who must, there- fore, be looked to by the forces of society, for they have no single force by which they can serve themselves. "There must be heart in a government and in the policies of the government. And men must look to it, that they do unto others as they would have others do unto them. This has long been the theme of the discourses 74 WOODROW WILSON of Christian ministers, but it has not come to be part of the bounden duties of Ministers of State. This is the solemnity that comes upon a man when he knows that he is about to be clothed with the responsi- bilities of a great office, in which will center part of the example which America shall set to the world itself. Do you suppose that that gives a man a very light hearted Christmas? I could pick out some gentlemen, not con- fined to one state — gentlemen likely to be associated with the government of the United States — who have not yet had it dawned upon their intelligence what it is that Gov- ernment is set up to do. There are men who will have to be mastered in order that they shall be made instru- ments of justice and mercy. "The word that stands at the center of what has to be done is a very interesting word indeed. It has hitherto been supposed to be a word of charity, a word of philan- thropy, a word which has to do with the operations of the human heart, rather than with the operations of the human mind. I mean the word ' service. ' The one thing that the business men of the United States are now dis- covering, some of them for themselves, and some of them by suggestion, is that they are not going to be allowed to make any money except for a quid pro quo, that they must render a service or get nothing, and that in the reg- ulation of business the government, that is to say, the moral judgment of the majority must determine whether what they are doing is a service or not a service, and that everything in business and politics is going to be reduced to the standard. 'Are you giving anything to society when you want to take anything out of society?' is the question to put to them. ' ' A short time later, while on a visit to Chicago, the president-elect addressed a meeting of business men on the same subject and made it clear that he was opposed to government by corporations. In this manner he passed WOODROW WILSON 75 the days preceding his inauguration which took place in Washington, D. C, on March 4th, 1913. A crowd of about 300,000 persons was on hand between the Capitol and the disbanding point at Washing- ton Circle, a mile and a half west of the Capitol and a few blocks beyond the White House. As it started later than any previous inaugural parade and was a record-breaker in size, darkness had begun to fall by the time the first thousands of civic and semi-military sections that followed the military and naval divisions had reached the reviewing stand. There were picked soldiers and sailors from the chief of staff of the army down. Picturesque Indian chiefs, led by Julius Harburge of the Sioux nation, and Chief Hollow Horn Bear, clacked by on their ponies like the grand first part of Colonel W. F. Cody's Educational Exhibition. And there were the glories of the Annapolis and West Point cadets corps swinging by. There were blocks and blocks of olive drab, glinting metal guns and batteries of field artillery. The howling Princeton students did not merge from the blackness of night into the glow of the Court of Honor spotlights until almost 7 o'clock, with the president and vice-president and their families waiting to see this par- ticular band of patriots explode into view under the leadership of the Honorable Paul Myers, better known as "Fat" Myers. It may be stated that the particular point of the parade route occupied by the Princeton students never was apathetic — not while the Hon. "Fat" Myers, the Hon. Lambkin Heiniger (just Lamb if you know him intimately), the Hon. "Skinny" Handy and the song and cheer leader of the student delegation from President Wilson's old college, the Hon. Raleigh Warner, even better known in academic circles, of course, as "Truly" Warner — were on the job. The arrival of General Sulzer of New York in front 76 WOODBOW WILSON of the reviewing stand in the act of being a horseman, was one of the big events of the afternoon. Governors doffed their hats occasionally and the governor of New York waved his broad-brimmed sombrero from the moment the expectant throngs caught sight of him loom- ing above the marchers far to the east, until he had faded in the gathering gloom of the west. Among those present were: General Miles in his gold lace glory, who, crossing to the eastern end of the president's review stand, among the early arrivals, had the entire Court of Honor to himself. Former Governor David R. Francis of Missouri and George Young Bauchle entered the court simultaneously. Senor Pezet, minister from Peru; Mr. and Mrs. Perry Belmont; Mr. Honor- able Jonkheer J. London, minister from the Netherlands. William Jennings Bryan, Justice Charles E. Hughes and Mrs. Hughes, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Senator Tillman, and many others of note, arrived soon after- ward. The great stand across the way from the president's big stand by this time was filled and it held 35,000 men and women. The seats stretching away on the presi- dent 's stand itself were all occupied. These two stands were called the Monticello stands because their wide columns rimmed above with white trellis work were copied from the porticos of the house that Thomas Jefferson planned and Mrs. Martin W. Littleton discovered. President and Mrs. Wilson appeared at the rail of the reviewing stand. Next came Vice-President Marshall. The president and vice-president both carried their hats and bowed repeatedly in answer to the cheers that greeted them. At the edge of the stand President Wilson and Vice- President Marshall stood a step in advance of the women of the party, who remained seated except when something WOODROW WILSON 77 so extraordinary as the Honorable "Fat" Myers from Princeton, the Indian chiefs, Tammany, Governor Sulzer or the West Point or Annapolis cadets went past. Mrs. "Wilson and Mrs. Marshall sat to the left slightly back of the president and vice-president. The three Misses Wilson sat or stood back of Mrs. Wilson and ranged behind the president's daughters were the presi- dent's sister, Mrs. Addie Howe, and the "White House Baby, ' ' tiny Josephine Cothran, aged 14 months. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Edward D. White of the United States Supreme Court. It was a solemn moment when the president-elect raised his right hand and swore to uphold the constitution and rights of the United States. When the ceremony was finished, President Wilson turned to the throng and delivered his inauguration address. It follows : 1 ' There has been a change of government. It began two years ago, when the House of Representatives became Democratic by a decisive majority. It has now been completed. The Senate about to assemble will also be Democratic. The offices of President and Vice-President have been put into the hands of Democrats. What does the change mean? That is the question that is uppermost in our minds today. That is the question I am going to try to answer, in order, if I may, to interpret the occa- sion. "It means much more than the mere success of a party. The success of a party means little except when the Nation is using that party for a large and definite purpose. No one can mistake the purpose for which the Nation now seeks to use the Democratic party. It seeks to use it to interpret a change in its own plans and point of view. Some old things with which we had grown familiar, and which had begun to creep into the very habit of our thought and of our lives, have altered their 78 WOODKOW WILSON aspect as we have latterly looked critically upon them, with fresh, awakened eyes ; have dropped their disguises and shown themselves alien and sinister. Some new things, as we look frankly upon them, willing to compre- hend their real character, have come to assume the aspect of things long believed in and familiar, stuff of our own convictions. We have been refreshed by a new insight into our own life. "We see that in many things that life is very great. It is incomparably great in its material aspects, in its body of wealth, in the diversity and sweep of its energy, in the industries which have been built up by the genius of individual men and the limitless enterprise of groups of men. It is great, also, very great, in its moral force. We have built up, moreover, a great system of government, which has stood through a long age as in many respects a model for those who seek to set liberty upon foundations that will endure against fortuitous change, against storm and accident. 1 ' But the evil has come with the good, and much fine gold has been corroded. With riches has come inexcusable waste. We have squandered a great part of what we might have used, and have not stopped to conserve the exceeding bounty of nature, without which our genius for enterprise would have been worthless and impotent, scorning to be careful, shamefully prodigal as well as admirably efficient. We have been proud of our indus- trial achievements, but we have not hitherto stopped thoughtfully enough to count the human cost, the cost of lives snuffed out, of energies overtaxed and broken, the fearful physical and spiritual cost to the men and women and children upon the dead weight and burden of it all has fallen pitilessly the years through. The groans and agony of it all had not yet reached our ears, the solemn, moving undertone of our life, coming up out of the mines and factories and out of every home where the struggle had its intimate and familiar seat. With the great Gov- WOODROW WILSON 79 eminent went many deep secret things which we too long delayed to look into and scrutinize with candid, fearless eyes. The great Government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish purposes, and those who used it had forgotten the people. "At last a vision has been vouchsafed us of our life as a whole. We see the bad with the good, the debased and decadent with the sound and vital. With this vision we approach new affairs. Our duty is to cleanse, to recon- sider, to restore, to correct the evil without impairing the good, to purify and humanize every process of our com- mon life without weakening or sentimentalizing it. There has been something crude and heartless and unfeeling in our haste to succeed and be great. Our thought has been "Let every man look out for himself, let every genera- tion look out for itself, ' ' while we reared giant machinery which made it impossible that any but those who stood at the levers of control should have a chance to look out for themselves. We had not forgotten our morals. We remembered well enough that we had set up a policy which was meant to serve the humblest as well as the most powerful, with an eye single to the standards of justice and fair play, and remembered it with pride. But we were very heedless and in a hurry to be great. "We have come now to the sober second thought. The scales of heedlessness have fallen from our eyes. We have made up our minds to square every process of our national life again with the standard we so proudly set up at the beginning and have always carried at our hearts. Our work is a work of restoration. "We have itemized with some degree of particularity the things that ought to be altered and here are some of the chief items : A tariff which cuts us off from our proper part in the commerce of the world, violates the just prin- ciples of taxation, and makes the Government a facile instrument in the hands of private interests; a banking and currency system based upon the necessity of the 80 WOODROW WILSON Government to sell its bonds fifty years ago and perfectly adapted to concentrating cash and restricting credits ; an industrial system which, take it on all its sides, financial as well as administrative, holds capital in leading strings, restricts the liberties and limits the opportunities of labor, and exploits without renewing or conserving the natural resources of the country ; a body of agricultural activities never yet given the efficiency of great business under- takings or served as it should be through the instrumen- tality of science taken directly to the farm, or afforded the facilities of credit best suited to its practical needs ; watercourses undeveloped, waste places unreclaimed, forests untended, fast disappearing without plan or pros- pect of renewal, unregarded waste heaps at every mine. We have studied as perhaps no other nation has the most effective means of production, but we have not studied cost or economy as we should either as organizers of industry, as statesmen, or as individuals. "Nor have we studied and perfected the means by which government may be put at the service of humanity, in safeguarding the health of the Nation, the health of its men and its women and its children, as well as their rights in the struggle for existence. This is no sentimental duty. The firm basis of government is justice, not pity. These are matters of justice. There can be no equality or oppor- tunity, the first essential of justice in the body politic, if men and women and children be not shielded in their lives, their very vitality, from the consequences of great indus- trial and social processes which they can not alter, con- trol, or singly cope with. Society must see to it that it does not itself crush or weaken or damage its own con- stituent parts. The first duty of law is to keep sound the society it serves. Sanitary laws, pure food laws, and laws determining conditions of labor which individuals are powerless to determine for themselves are intimate parts of the very business of justice and legal efficiency. "These are some of the things we ought to do, and WOODROW WILSON 81 not leave the others undone, the old-fashioned, never-to- be-neglected, fundamental safeguarding of property and of individual right. This is the high enterprise of the new day : To lift everything that concerns our life as a Nation to the light that shines from the hearthfire of every man's conscience and vision of the right. It is inconceivable that we should do this as partisans ; it is inconceivable we should do it in ignorance of the facts as they are or in blind haste. We shall restore, not destroy. We shall deal with our economic system as it is and as it may be mod- ified, not as it might be if we had a clean sheet of paper to write upon ; and step by step we shall make it what it should be, in the spirit of those who question their own wisdom and seek counsel and knowledge, not shallow self- satisfaction or the excitement of excursions whither they can not tell. Justice, and only justice, shall always be our motto. ' ' And yet it will be no cool process of mere science. The Nation has been deeply stirred, stirred by a solemn passion, stirred by the knowledge of wrong, of ideals lost, of government too often debauched and made an instru- ment of evil. The feelings with which we face this new age of right and opportunity sweep across our heart- strings like some air out of God's own presence, where justice and mercy are reconciled and the judge and the brother are one. We know our task to be no mere task of politics but a task which shall search us through and through, whether we be able to understand our time and the need of our people, whether we be indeed their spokes- men and interpreters, whether we have the pure heart to comprehend and the rectified will to choose our high course of action. ' ' This is not a day of triumph ; it is a day of dedica- tion. Here muster, not the forces of party, but the forces of humanity. Men's hearts wait upon us; men's lives hang in the balance ; men's hopes call upon us to say what we will do. Who shall live up to the great trust? who 82 WOODROW WILSON dares fail to try? I summon all honest men, all patriotic, all forward-looking men, to my side. God helping me, I will not fail them, if they will but counsel and sustain me!" CHAPTER VI A FEARLESS PRESIDENT. President Wilson wasted no time in placing in prac- tice the ideas he had formulated during a lifetime study of scientific government. One of his first announcements was that he would not be bothered with office seekers, and the statement was couched in such terms that everybody knew he meant exactly what he said. The President used the utmost discretion in appoint- ing his cabinet. There was considerable speculation until the final announcement was made. The officers were Wil- liam Jennings Bryan, Secretary of State; William G. McAdoo, Secretary of the Treasury ; L. M. Garrison, Sec- retary of War; Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy; Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior; A. S. Burleson, Postmaster General; J. C. McReynolds, Attor- ney General; and D. F. Houston, Secretary of Agri- culture. President Wilson showed by his choice that he had applied his knowledge of men in the picking of the cabinet officers rather than rely on the political service the old line politicians had done him. He had been an exponent of free trade since he took up the study of political economy while a college student and, having formulated his plans, called a special session of Congress to listen to his views. In doing so he reverted to an old precedent, established by George Washigton and John Adams. They had delivered their messages directly to Congress, instead of merely sending the written copy for the clerk of the House to read. President Wilson pro- posed to get on familiar terms with the country's law- makers. The special session met on April 8, 1913, a month 83 84 WOODROW WILSON after the inauguration. The eyes of the country were on the President, as general industrial unrest was threaten- ing. The galleries of the House were crowded when the President made his appearance. When he reached the platform, immediately in back of the clerk, Speaker Clark announced : "Senators and Representatives, I have the dis- tinguished honor of presenting the President of the United States." There was prolonged applause from the floor and the galleries, while the President acknowledged the ovation with a smile. When the tumult died away, he began his address : "Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, gentlemen of the Con- gress, I am very glad indeed to have this opportunity to address the two Houses directly and to verify for myself the impression that the President of the United States is a person, not a mere department of the Government hail- ing Congress from some isolated island of jealous power, sending messages, not speaking naturally and with his own voice — that he is a human being trying to co-operate with other human beings in a common service. After this pleasant experience, I shall feel quite normal in all our dealings with one another. "I have called the Congress together in extraor- dinary session because a duty was laid upon the party now in power, at the recent elections, which it ought to perform promptly, in order that the burden carried by the people under existing law may be lightened as soon as possible, and in order, also, that the business interests of the coun- try may not be kept too long in suspense as to what the fiscal changes are to be, to which they will be required to adjust themselves. It is clear to the whole country that the tariff duties must be altered. They must be changed to meet the radical alteration in the conditions of our economic life which the country has witnessed within the last generation. While the whole face and method of our WOODROW WILSON 85 industrial and commercial life were being changed beyond recognition, the tariff schedules have remained what they were before the change began, or have moved in the direc- tion they were given when no large circumstance of our industrial development was what it is today. Our task is to square them with the actual facts. The sooner that is done the sooner we shall escape from suffering from the facts and the sooner our men of business will be free to thrive by the law of nature — the nature of free business — instead of by the law of legislation and artificial arrange- ment. 1 'We have seen tariff legislation wander very far afield in our day — very far, indeed, from the field in which our prosperity might have had a normal growth and stim- ulation. No one who looks the facts squarely in the face or knows anything that lies beneath the surface of action can fail to perceive the principles upon which recent tariff leg- islation has been based. We long ago passed beyond the modest notion of 'protecting' the industries of the country and moved boldly forward to the idea that they were entitled to the direct patronage of the Government. For a long time — a time so long that the men now active in pub- lic policy hardly remember the conditions that preceded it — we have sought in our tariff schedules to give each group of manufacturers or producers what they them- selves thought that they needed in order to maintain a practically exclusive market as against the rest of the world. Consciously or unconsciously, we have built up a set of privileges and exemptions from competition behind which it was easy by any, even the crudest, forms of com- bination to organize monopoly; until at last nothing is normal, nothing is obliged to stand the tests of efficiency and economy, in our world of big business, but everything thrives by concerted arrangement. Only new principles of action will save us from a final hard crystallization of monoply and a complete loss of the influences that quicken enterprise and keep independent energy alive. 86 WOODROW WILSON ' 'It is plain what those principles must be. We must abolish everything that bears even the semblance of priv- ilege or of any kind of artificial advantage, and put our business men and producers under the stimulation of a constant necessity to be efficient, economical, and enter- prising, masters of competitive supremacy, better work- ers and merchants than any in the world. Aside from the duties laid upon articles which we do not, and probably can not, produce, therefore, and the duties laid upon lux- uries and merely for the sake of the revenues they yield, the object of the tariff duties henceforth laid must be effective competition, the whetting of American wits by contest with the wits of the rest of the world. "It would be unwise to move toward this end head- long, with reckless haste, or with strokes that cut at the very roots of what has grown up amongst us by long pro- cess and at our own invitation. It does not alter a thing to upset it and break it and deprive it of a chance to change. It destroys it. We must make changes in our fiscal laws, in our fiscal system, whose object is development, a more free and wholesome development, not revolution or upset or confusion. We must build up trade, especially foreign trade. We need the outlet and the enlarged field of energy more than we ever did before. We must build up industry as well, and must adopt freedom in the place of artificial stimulation only so far as it will build, not pull down. In dealing with the tariff the method by which this may be done will be a matter of judgment exercised item by item. To some not accustomed to the excitement and responsi- bilities of greater freedom our methods may in some re- spects and at some points seem heroic, but remedies may be heroic and yet be remedies. It is our business to make sure that they are genuine remedies. Our object is clear. If our motive is above just challenge and only an occa- sional error of judgment is chargeable against us, we shall be fortunate. "We are called upon to render the country a great WOODROW WILSON 87 service in more matters than one. Our responsibility should be met and our methods should be thorough, as thorough as moderate and well considered, based upon the facts as they are, and not worked out as if we were begin- ners. We are to deal with the facts of our own day, with the facts of no other, and to make laws which square with those facts. It is best, indeed it is necessary, to begin with the tariff. I will urge nothing upon you now at the opening of your session which can obscure that first object or divert our energies from that clearly defined duty. At a later time I may take the liberty of calling your atten- tion to reforms which should press close upon the heels of the tariff changes, if not accompany them, of which the chief is the reform of our banking and currency laws ; but just now I refrain. For the present, I put these matters on one side and think only of this one thing — of the changes in our fiscal system which may best serve to open once more the free channels of prosperity to a great people whom we would serve to the utmost and throughout both rank and file. ' ' When the President finished the applause that broke out through the entire house bore testimony to the spirit in which the message had been received. The Congress was given its task and went to work at once. The measure providing for revision of the tariff had been drawn up by Senator Underwood between the inauguration and the first session of congress so that it was in form to present to the senate on the same day. Its main, features were the famous Schedule K of the tariff and the Income Tax regulations under the sixteenth amendment to the constitution. Other presidents had urged this latter piece of legislation in vain. Congress had repeatedly failed to pass it. It suffices to say here that the measure was made law, with some minor changes, and President Wilson signed it the following October. There were many outside influences, however, that 88 WOODROW WILSON attempted to obstruct the bill through a lobby created for the purpose. It was the work of other political bosses who failed to take warning by the fate of those who attempted to influence Woodrow Wilson when he was governor of New Jersey. Prominent Democrats were mixed up in the plot and they led the president to declare that he was the servant of the American people, not of the Democratic party. The situation steadily grew worse with attacks on the Underwood measure becoming more frequent and bold, until on May 26th, President Wilson issued a denuncia- tion of the lobby. He said : "I think that the public ought to know the extraor- dinary exertions being made by the lobby in Washington to gain recognition for certain alterations of the Tariff bill. Washington has seldom seen so numerous, so indus- trious or so insidious a lobby. The newspapers are being filled with paid advertisements calculated to mislead the judgment of public men not only, but also the public opinion of the country itself. There is every evidence that money without limit is being spent to sustain this lobby and to create an appearance of a pressure of opinion antagonistic to some of the chief items of the Tariff bill. ' 'It is of serious interest to the country that the people at large should have no lobby and be voiceless in these matters, while great bodies of astute men seek to create an artificial opinion and to overcome the interests of the public for their private profit. It is thoroughly worth the while of the people of this country to take knowl- edge of this matter. Only public opinion can check and destroy it. "The Government in all its branches ought to be relieved from this intolerable burden and this constant interruption to the calm progress of debate. I know that in this I am speaking for the members of the two ■ 'S t> G O -4-> w S U 2 WOODROW WILSON 93 houses, who would rejoice as much as I would to be released from this unbearable situation." The delay on the Underwood bill continued into June and the lobbyists, who were driven under cover to a great extent, were confident that it still could be delayed until it died a natural death. The members of Congress were looking forward to a hot summer season passed at the seashore, but their hopes were short lived. On June 23rd, the President announced that he could be expected at a joint session of the House and Senate, much to the disgust of some of the members. He had intimated that sweeping reforms were desired in the financial system, but few were prepared for the plan he outlined. In his address to the joint session, he said : 1 ' Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, gentlemen of the Con- gress, it is under the compulsion of what seems to me a clear and imperative duty that I have a second time this session sought the privilege of addressing you in person. I know, of course, that the heated season of the year is upon us, that work in these Chambers and in the com- mittee rooms is likely to become a burden as the season lengthens, and that every consideration of personal con- venience and personal comfort, perhaps, in the cases of some of us, considerations of personal health even, dic- tate an early conclusion of the deliberations of the session ; but there are occasions of public duty when these things which touch us privately seem very small; when the work to be done is so pressing and so fraught with big consequence that we know that we are not at liberty to weigh against it any point of personal sacrifice. We are now in the presence of such an occasion. It is absolutely imperative that we should give the business men of this country a banking and currency system by means of which they can make use of the freedom of enterprise and of individual initiative which we are about to bestow upon them. "We are about to set them free; we must not leave 94 WOODROW WILSON them without the tools, of action when they are free. We are about to set them free by removing the trammels of the protective tariff. Ever since the Civil War they have waited for this emancipation and for the free opportu- nities it will bring with it. It has been reserved for us to give it to them. Some fell in love, indeed, with the slothful security of their dependence upon the Govern- ment ; some took advantage of the shelter of the nursery to set up a mimic mastery of their own within its walls. Now both the tonic and the discipline of liberty and maturity are to ensue. There will be some readjustments of purpose and point of view. There will follow a period of expansion and new enterprise, freshly conceived. It is for us to determine now whether it shall be rapid and facile and of easy accomplishment. This it can not be unless the resourceful business men who are to deal with the new circumstances are to have at hand and ready for use the instrumentalities and conveniences of free enter- prise which independent men need when acting on their own initiative. "It is not enough to strike the shackles from business. The duty of statesmanship is not negative merely. It is constructive also. We must show that we understand what business needs and that we know how to supply it. No man, however casual and superficial his observation of the conditions now prevailing in the country, can fail to see that one of the chief things business needs now, and will need increasingly as it gains in scope and vigor in the years immediately ahead of us, is the proper means by which readily to vitalize its credit, corporate and indi- vidual, and its originative brains. What will it profit us to be free if we are not to have the best and most accessible instrumentalities of commerce and enterprise? What will it profit us to be quit of one kind of monopoly if we are to remain in the grip of another and more effective kind? How are we to gain and keep the confidence of the business community unless we show that we know WOODROW WILSON 95 how both to aid and to protect it? What shall we say if we make fresh enterprise necessary and also make it very difficult by leaving all else except the tariff just as we found it? The tyrannies of business, big and little, lie within the field of credit. We know that. Shall we not act upon the knowledge? Do we not know how to act upon it? If a man can not make his assets available at pleasure, his assets of capacity and character and resource, what satisfaction is it to him to see opportunity beckoning to him on every hand when others have the keys of credit in their pockets and treat them as all but their own private possession? It is perfectly clear that it is our duty to supply the new banking and currency system the country needs, and it will need it immediately more than it has ever needed it before. ' ' The only question is, When shall we supply it — now or later, after the demands shall have become reproaches that we are so dull and so slow? Shall we hasten to change the tariff laws and then be laggards about mak- ing it possible and easy for the country to take advantage of the change? There can be only one answer to that question. We must act now, at whatever sacrifice to ourselves. It is a duty which the circumstances forbid us to postpone. I should be recreant to my deepest convic- tions of public obligation did I not press it upon you with solemn and urgent insistence. "The principles upon which we should act are also clear. The country has sought and seen its path in this matter within the last few years — sees it more clearly now than it ever saw it before — much more clearly than when the last legislative proposals on the subject were made. We must have a currency, not rigid as now, but readily, elastically responsive to sound credit, the expand- ing and contracting credits of everyday transactions, the normal ebb and flow of personal and corporate dealings. Our banking laws must mobilize reserves ; must not per- mit the concentration anywhere in a few hands of the 96 WOODROW WILSON monetary resources of the country or their use for spec- ulative purposes in such volume as to hinder or impede or stand in the way of other more legitimate, more fruit- ful uses. And the control of the system of banking and of issue which our new laws are to set up must be public, not private, must be vested in the Government itself, so that the banks may be the instruments, not the masters, of business and of individual enterprise and initiative. "The committees of the Congress to which legislation of this character is referred have devoted careful and dispassionate study to the means of accomplishing these objects. They have honored me by consulting me. They are ready to suggest action. I have come to you, as the head of the Government and the responsible leader of the party in power, to urge action now, while there is time to serve the country deliberately, and as we should, in a clear air of common counsel. I appeal to you with a deep conviction of duty. I believe that you share this con- viction. I therefore appeal to you with confidence. I am at your service without reserve to play my part in any way you may call upon me to play it in this great enter- prise of exigent reform which it will dignify and dis- tinguish us to perform and discredit us to neglect. ' ' The Congress accepted the message and the request in the new spirit of patriotism that was sweeping the country. It was a direct challenge to the people's rep- resentatives to consider the country's needs or their own by leaving the session for a vacation. President Wilson was establishing a precedent. It had been the custom in other years for the chief execu- tive to write out a long, sonorous message that went into minute details of the desired legislation. President Wil- son operated the other way. He first had the proposed bills drawn up and presented to the people through the newspapers. He studied editorial comments and letters from citizens and on these he based his final opinions. The result was that when he went before the legislators WOODROW WILSON 97 he confined his remarks to a general synopsis of the question and indirectly brought to their attention that the American people were watching the proceedings care- fully. The financial reform measure was designed to meet the needs of business throughout the country and place the foundation of the country's assets on business rather than on Government bonds. The establishment of Fed- eral Reserve Banks through which currency could be diverted to any corner of the country was one of the most important features. (The manner in which the plan worked several years later when the country was forced to raise billions for the national defense is testimony of its feasibility.) Conferences were held by bankers all over the country and reports were made direct to the President. On December 23rd, 1913, the measure went to the President for his signature and was hailed by the country as a welcome Christmas gift. President Wilson's book, "The New Freedom," ap- peared in February, 1913, with the first message ever delivered to the American people by a President-elect on the eve of his inauguration. It is an avowal of faith and a declaration of intention on the part of the man, who, in sixteen days, was to be the first Democratic chief executive the country had in sixteen years. One of the most interesting chapters dealt with the program of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and his pro- gressive followers. President Wilson analyzed it care- fully and concluded the basis of the Roosevelt plan was the recognition and legislation of the monopoly which he proposed to convey into benevolence and philanthropy. He declared that "you cannot use monopoly in order to serve a free people," and warned Progressive Republi- cans they were being deluded. "The New Freedom" was dedicated to every man or woman who might derive from it in a small degree the impulse of unselfish public services. 98 WOODROW WILSON He pointed out that the corporations which formerly played a small part in business affairs "now played the chief part, ' ' and said that most of our laws were formed in the age when employer and employe knew each other, knew each others' characters, were associated with each other, dealt with each other as man to man, which was no longer the case. CHAPTER VII THE MEXICAN QUESTION. For two years prior to President Wilson's election revo- lution had reigned supreme in Mexico. President Taft had maintained an attitude of utter unconcern in the mat- ter on the theory that the Mexican people could work out their salvation without outside interference. President Wilson inclined to the same views, but it seemed as though his entire public career was to be marked by international differences. Until 1910, Porfirio Diaz had been President of Mexico. His rule was one of dictatorship, for he frowned on active campaigns for the presidency. When, in 1910, Francisco Madero, leader of a great reform movement, steadily gained in favor with the people and threatened to succeed Diaz, he was thrown into prison and the match was applied to the revolutionary torch. Diaz was forced to flee to Europe, Madero was released from prison and made President, and it seemed as though enlightenment and progress was to come to Mexico. The new administration was short. A nephew of the deposed President was captured while fomenting a new rebellion. Later he escaped and formed a new army. Meanwhile, General Victoriano Huerta, a Madero ad- herent, deserted the government, caused the arrest of President Madero and his assassination a few days later. Then he assumed the presidency and gave the signal for a reign of terror. It was at its height when President Wil- son was inaugurated. American life and capital in Mexico were in danger. American citizens were being murdered in a most wanton fashion. Many were executed by Huerta soldiers without 99 100 WOODROW WILSON trial, and the eyes of the world were turned to President Wilson as the champion of the Monroe Doctrine. A few months after he assumed office he sent John Lind, former governor of Minnesota, to Mexico as a special en- voy. These were his instructions to Mr. Lind : " Press very earnestly upon the attention of those who are now exercising authority or wielding influence in Mexico the following considerations and advice : "The Government of the United States does not feel at liberty any longer to stand inactively by while it becomes daily more and more evident that no real progress is being made towards the establishment of a government at the City of Mexico which the country will obey and respect. "The Government of the United States does not stand in the same case with the other great Governments of the world in respect of what is happening or what is likely to happen in Mexico. We offer our good offices, not only because of our genuine desire to play the part of a friend, but also because we are expected by the powers of the world to act as Mexico's nearest friend. "We wish to act in these circumstances in the spirit of the most earnest and disinterested friendship. It is our purpose in whatever we do or propose in this perplexing and distressing situation not only to pay the most scrupu- lous regard to the sovereignty and independence of Mexico — that we take as a matter of course to which we are bound by every obligation of right and honor — but also to give every possible evidence that we act in the interest of Mexico alone, and not in the interest of any person or body of persons who may have personal or property claims in Mexico which they may feel that they have the right to press. We are seeking to counsel Mexico for her own good, and in the interest of her own peace, and not for any other purpose whatever. The Government of the United States would deem itself discredited if it had any selfish or ulterior purpose in transactions where the peace, hap- piness, and prosperity of a whole people are involved. It WOODROW WILSON 101 is acting as its friendship for Mexico, not as any selfish interest, dictates. "The present situation in Mexico is incompatible with the fulfillment of international obligations on the part of Mexico, with the civilized development of Mexico herself, and with the maintenance of tolerable political and economic conditions in Central Am erica. It is upon no common occasion, therefore, that the United States offers her counsel and assistance. All Am erica cries out for a settlement. "A satisfactory settlement seems to us to be condi- tioned on — "(a) An immediate cessation of fighting throughout Mexico, a definite armistice solemnly entered into and scrupulously observed; 11 (b) Security given for an early and free election in which all will agree to take part ; "(c) The consent of Gen. Huerta to bind himself not to be a candidate for election as President of the Repub- lic at this election ; and "(d) The agreement of all parties to abide by the re- sults of the election and co-operate in the most loyal way in organizing and supporting the new administration. 1 ' The Government of the United States will be glad to play any part in this settlement or in its carrying out which it can play honorably and consistently with interna- tional right. It pledges itself to recognize and in every way possible and proper to assist the administration chosen and set up in Mexico in the way and on the con- ditions suggested. 1 ' Taking all the existing conditions into consideration, the Government of the United States can conceive of no reasons sufficient to justify those who are now attempting to shape the policy or exercise the authority of Mexico in declining the offices of friendship thus offered. Can Mexico give the civilized world a satisfactory reason for rejecting our good offices? If Mexico can suggest any 102 WOODROW WILSON better way in which to show our friendship, serve the people of Mexico, and meet our international obligations, we are more than willing to consider the suggestion. ' ' Mr. Lind proceeded on his difficult mission and finally reached Mexico City after several narrow escapes from the bandits who infested the country. He presented his credentials to the so-called Huerta government. The reply was most insolent. It read : ' ' The imputation that no progress has been made toward establishing a Government that may enjoy the obedience of the Mexican people is unfounded. In contradiction with their gross imputation, which is not supported by any proofs, principally because there are none, it affords me pleasure to refer, Mr. Confidential Agent, to the following facts which abound in evidence and which to a certain extent must be known to you by direct observation. The Mexican Republic, Mr. Confidential Agent, is formed by 27 States, 3 Territories, and 1 Federal District, in which the supreme power of the Republic has its seat. Of these 27 States, 18 of them, the 3 Territories, and the Federal District (making a total of 22 political entities) are under the absolute control of the present Government, which aside from the above, exercises its authority over almost every port in the Eepublic and, consequently, over the custom houses therein established. Its southern frontier is open and at peace. Moreover, my Government has an army of 80,000 men in the field, with no other purpose than to insure complete peace in the Republic, the only national aspiration and solemn promise of the present provisional President. . . . "Inasmuch as the Government of the United States is willing to act in the most disinterested friendship, it will be difficult for it to find a more propitious opportunity than the following : If it should only watch that no ma- terial and monetary assistance is given to rebels who find refuge, conspire, and provide themselves with arms and food on the other side of the border -, if it should demand WOODROW WILSON 103 from its minor and local authorities the strictest observ- ance of the neutrality laws, I assure you, Mr. Confidential Agent, that the complete pacification of this Republic would be accomplished within a relatively short time. . . . ' ' His Excellency Mr. Wilson is laboring under a serious delusion when he declares that the present situation of Mexico is incompatible with the compliance of her inter- national obligations and with the required maintenance of conditions tolerable in Central America. No charge has been made by any foreign Government accusing us of the above lack of compliance, we are punctually meeting all of our credits, we are still maintaining diplomatic missions cordially accepted in almost all the countries of the world. With regard to our interior development, a contract has just been signed with Belgian capitalists which means to Mexico the construction of something like 5,000 kilometers of railway. In conclusion, we fail to see the evil results, which are prejudicial only to ourselves, felt in Central America by our present domestic war. . . . With refer- ence to the rebels who style themselves " Constitutional- ists," one of the representatives of whom has been given an ear by Members of the United States Senate, what could there be more gratifying to us than if, convinced of the precipice to which we are being dragged by the resent- ment of their defeat, in a moment of reaction they would depose their rancor and add their strength to ours so that all together we would undertake the great and urgent task of national reconstruction? Unforunately they do not avail themselves of the amnesty law enacted by the pro- visional government. . . . "The request that General Victoriano Huerta should agree not to appear as a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic in the coming election cannot be taken into con- sideration, because, aside from its strange and unwar- ranted character, there is a risk that the same might be interpreted as a matter of personal dislike. . . . The legality of the government of General Huerta cannot be 104 WOODROW WILSON disputed. Article 85 of our political constitution provides : "If at the beginning of a constitutional term neither the President nor the Vice-President elected present them- selves, the President whose term has expired will cease in his functions, and the secretary for foreign affairs shall immediately take charge of the Executive power in the capacity of provisional President ; and if there should be no secretary for foreign affairs, the Presidency shall devolve on one of the other secretaries pursuant to the order provided by the law. Now, then, the facts which occurred are the f ollowing : The resignation of Francisco I. Madero, constitutional President, and Jose Maria Pino Suarez, constitutional Vice-President of the Eepublic. These resignations hav- ing been accepted, Pedro Lascurain, Minister for Foreign Affairs, took charge by law of the vacant executive power, appointing, as he had the power to do, Gen. Victoriano Huerta to the post of Minister of the Interior. As Mr. Lascurain soon afterwards resigned, and as his resigna- tion was immediately accepted by Congress, Gen. Vic- toriano Huerta took charge of the executive power, also by operation of law, with the provisional character and under the constitutional promise already complied with to issue a call for special elections. As will be seen, the point of issue is exclusively one of constitutional law in which no foreign nation, no matter how powerful and respectable it may be, should mediate in the least. . . . "With reference to the final part of the instructions of President Wilson, which I beg to include herewith and say, 'If Mexico can suggest any better way in which to show our friendship, serve the people of Mexico, and meet our international obligations, we are more than willing to consider the suggestion,' that final part causes me to pro- pose the following equally decorous arrangement: One, that our ambassador be received in Washington; two, that the United States of America send us a new ambassador without previous conditions. WOODROW WILSON 105 "And all this threatening and distressing situation will have reached a happy conclusion ; mention will not be made of the causes which might carry us, if the tension persists, to no one knows what incalculable extremities for two peoples who have the unavoidable obligation to continue being friends, provided, of course, that this friendship is based upon mutual respect, which is indis- pensable between two sovereign entities wholly equal before law and justice. ' ' With this indefinite reply, Mr. Lind was forced to journey back again to the United States. He presented the answer to President Wilson and the executive ap- peared before Congress on August 27, 1913, and spoke as follows : "Gentlemen of the Congress : It is clearly my duty to lay before you, very fully and without reservation, the facts concerning our present relations with the Republic of Mexico. The deplorable posture of affairs in Mexico I need not describe, but I deem it my duty to speak very frankly of what this Government has done and should seek to do in fulfillment of its obligation to Mexico herself, as a friend and neighbor, and to American citizens whose lives and vital interests are daily affected by the distress- ing conditions which now obtain beyond our southern border. ' ' Those conditions touch us very nearly. Not merely because they lie at our very doors. That, of course, makes us more vividly and more constantly conscious of them, and every instinct of neighborly interest and sympathy is aroused and quickened by them ; but that is only one ele- ment in the determination of our duty. We are glad to call ourselves the friend of Mexico, and we shall, I hope, have many an occasion, in happier times as well as in these days of trouble and confusion, to show that our friendship is genuine and disinterested, capable of sacrifice and every generous manifestation. The peace, prosperity, and con- 106 WOODROW WILSON tentment of Mexico mean more, much more, to us than merely an enlarged field for our commerce and enterprise. They mean an enlargement of the field of self-government and the realization of the hopes and rights of a nation with whose best aspirations, so long suppressed and disap- pointed, we deeply sympathize. We shall yet prove to the Mexican people that we know how to serve them without first thinking how we shall serve ourselves. "But we are not the only friends of Mexico. The whole world desires her peace and progress; and the whole world is interested as never before. Mexico lies at last where all the world looks on. Central America is about to be touched by the great routes of the world's trade and intercourse running free from ocean to ocean at the Isthmus. The future has much in store for Mexico, as for all the States of Central America ; but the best gifts can come to her only if she be ready and free to receive them and to enjoy them honorably. America in particular — America north and south and upon both continents — waits upon the development of Mexico ; and that develop- ment can be sound and lasting only if it be the product of a genuine freedom, a just and ordered government founded upon law. Only so can it be peaceful or fruitful of the benefits of peace. Mexico has a great and enviable future before her, if only she choose and attain the paths of hon- est constitutional government. ' ' The present circumstances of the Republic, I deeply regret to say, do not seem to promise even the foundations of such a peace. We have waited many months, months full of peril and anxiety, for the conditions there to im- prove, and they have not improved. They have grown worse, rather. The territory in some sort controlled by the provisional authorities at Mexico City has grown smaller, not larger. The prospect of the pacification of the country, even by arms, has seemed to grow more and more remote ; and its pacification by the authorities at the capital is evidently impossible by any other means than WOODROW WILSON 107 force. Difficulties more and more entangle those who claim to constitute the legitimate government of the Re- public. They have not made good their claim in fact. Their successes in the field have proved only temporary. War and disorder, devastation and confusion, seem to threaten to become the settled fortune of the distracted country. As friends we could wait no longer for a solu- tion which every week seemed further away. It was our duty at least to volunteer our good offices — to offer to assist, if we might, in effecting some arrangement which would bring relief and peace and set up a universally acknowledged political authority there. 1 ' Mr. Lind executed his delicate and difficult mission with singular tact, firmness, and good judgment, and made clear to the authorities at the City of Mexico not only the purpose of his visit but also the spirit in which it had been undertaken. But the proposals he submitted were re- jected. "I am led to believe that they were rejected partly because the authorities at Mexico City had been grossly misinformed and misled upon two points. They did not realize the spirit of the American people in this matter, their earnest friendliness and yet sober determination that some just solution be found for the Mexican difficul- ties ; and they did not believe that the present administra- tion spoke through Mr. Lind, for the people of the United States. The effect of this unfortunate misunderstanding on their part is to leave them singularly isolated and with- out friends who can effectually aid them. So long as the misunderstanding continues we can only await the time of their awakening to a realization of the actual facts. We can not thrust our good offices upon them. The situation must be given a little more time to work itself out in the new circumstances ; and I believe that only a little while will be necessary. For the circumstances are new. The rejection of our friendship makes them new and will inevitably bring its own alterations in the whole aspect of 108 WOODROW WILSON affairs. The actual situation of the authorities at Mexico City will presently be revealed. "Meanwhile, what is it our duty to do? Clearly, everything that we do must be rooted in patience and done with calm and disinterested deliberation. Impatience on our part would be childish, and would be fraught with every risk of wrong and folly. We can afford to exercise the self-restraint of a really great nation which realizes its own strength and scorns to misuse it. It was our duty to offer our active assistance. It is now our duty to show what true neutrality will do to enable the people of Mexico to set their affairs in order again and wait for a further opportunity to offer our friendly counsels. The door is not closed against the resumption, either upon the initia- tive of Mexico or upon our own, of the effort to bring order out of the confusion by friendly co-operative action, should fortunate occasion offer. "While we wait, the contest of the rival forces will undoubtedly for a little while be sharper than ever, just because it will be plain that an end must be made of the existing situation, and that very promptly; and with the increased activity of the contending factions will come, it is to be feared, increased danger to the noncombatants in Mexico as well as to those actually in the field of battle. The position of outsiders is always particularly trying and full of hazard where there is civil strife and a whole coun- try is upset. We should earnestly urge all Americans to leave Mexico at once, and should assist them to get away in every way possible — not because we would mean to slacken in the least our efforts to safeguard their lives and their interests, but because it is imperative that they should take no unnecessary risks when it is physically pos- sible for them to leave the country. We should let every one who assumes to exercise authority in any part of Mexico know in the most unequivocal way that we shall vigilantly watch the fortunes of those Americans who can not get away, and shall hold those responsible for thejr X H Q < i— i X Oh 00 00 W Q Q < < o I— ( 2 O oo H W Q i— i oo W THE PRESIDENT AND HIS GRANDCHILD„ WOODROW WILSON 113 sufferings and losses to a definite reckoning. That can be and will be made plain beyond the possibility of a mis- understanding. "For the rest, I deem it my duty to exercise the authority conferred upon me by the law of March 14, 1912, to see to it that neither side to the struggle now going on in Mexico receive any assistance from this side the border. I shall follow the best practice of nations in the matter of neutrality by forbidding the exportation of arms or munitions of war of any kind from the United States to any part of the Republic of Mexico — a policy suggested by several interesting precedents and certainly dictated by many manifest considerations of practical expediency. We can not in the circumstances be the partisans of either party to the contest that now distracts Mexico, or con- stitute ourselves the virtual umpire between them. "I am happy to say that several of the great Govern- ments of the world have given this Government their gen- erous moral support in urging upon the provisional authorities at the City of Mexico the acceptance of our proffered good offices in the spirit in which they were made. We have not acted in this matter under the ordinary prin- ciples of international obligation. All the world expects us in such circumstances to act as Mexico 's nearest friend and intimate adviser. This is our immemorial relation towards her. There is nowhere any serious question that we have the moral right in the case or that we are acting in the interest of a fair settlement and of good government, not for the promotion of some selfish interest of our own. If further motive were necessary than our own good will towards a sister Republic and our own deep concern to see peace and order prevail in Central America, this consent of mankind to what we are attempting, this attitude of the great nations of the world towards what we may attempt in dealing wih this distressed people at our doors, should make us Jfeel the more solemnly bound to go to the utmost length of patience and forbearance in this painful ami 114 WOODROW WILSON anxious business. The steady pressure of moral force will before many days break the barriers of pride and prejudice down, and we shall triumph as Mexico 's friends sooner than we could triumph as her enemies — and how much more handsomely, with how much higher and finer satisfaction of conscience and of honor ! ' ' The message met with general satisfaction with the conservative element, but the Jingoists who were clamor- ing for war with Mexico were openly disappointed. They declared that Mexico had insulted the United States with far more temerity than she would have displayed to any other big power. Notwithstanding their comments, the president remained firm and insisted his was the right policy. He reiterated again and again his policy of 1 * watchful waiting. ' ' CHAPTER VIII THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE. On December 2, 1913, the first presidential message was read to Congress by President Wilson. It was a mas- terpiece of oratory and swept his hearers off their feet. It follows: "Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Congress : "In pursuance of my constitutional duty to 'give to the Congress information of the state of the Union,' I take the liberty of addressing you on several matters which ought, as it seems to me, particularly to engage the atten- tion of your honorable bodies, as of all who study the wel- fare and progress of the Nation. ' ' I shall ask your indulgence if I venture to depart in some degree from the usual custom of setting before you in formal review the many matters which have engaged the attention and called for the action of the several de- partments of the Government or which look to them for early treatment in the future, because the list is long, very long, and would suffer in the abbreviation to which I should have to subject it. I shall submit to you the reports of the heads of the several departments, in which these subjects are set forth in careful detail, and beg that they may receive the thoughtful attention of your committees and of all Members of the Congress who may have the leisure to study them. Their obvious importance, as con- stituting the very substance of the business of the Govern- ment, makes comment and emphasis on my part unneces- sary. ' ' The country, I am thankful to say, is at peace with all the world, and many happy manifestations multiply about us of a growing cordiality and sense of community 115 116 WOODROW WILSON of interest among the nations, foreshadowing an age of settled peace and good will. More and more readily each decade do the nations manifest their willingness to bind themselves by solemn treaty to the processes of peace, the processes of frankness and fair concession. So far the United States has stood at the front of such negotiations. She will, I earnestly hope and confidently believe, give fresh proof of her sincere adherence to the cause of inter- national friendship by ratifying the several treaties of arbitration awaiting renewal by the Senate. In addition to these, it h&s been the privilege of the Department of State to gain the assent, in principle, of no less than 31 nations, representing four-fifths of the population of the world, to the negotiation of treaties by which it shall be agreed that whenever differences of interest or of policy arise which can not be resolved by the ordinary processes of diplomacy they shall be publicly analyzed, discussed, and reported upon by a tribunal chosen by the parties before either nation determines its course of action. 1 1 There is only one possible standard by which to de- termine controversies between the United States and other nations, and that is compounded of these two ele- ments : Our own honor and our obligations to the peace of the world. A test so compounded ought easily to be made to govern both the establishment of new treaty obligations and the interpretation of those already assumed. ' 'There is but one cloud upon our horizon. That has shown itself to the south of us, and hangs over Mexico. There can be no certain prospect of peace in America until General Huerta has surrendered his usurped authority in Mexico; until it is understood on all hands, indeed, that such pretended governments will not be countenaced or dealt with by the Government of the United States. We are the friends of constitutional government in America; we are more than its friends, we are its champions ; be- cause in no other way can our neighbors, to whom we would wish in every way to make proof of our friendship, WOODROW WILSON 117 work out their own development in peace and liberty. Mexico has no Government. The attempt to maintain one at the City of Mexico has broken down, and a mere mili- tary despotism has been set up which has hardly more than the semblance of national authority. It originated in the usurpation of Victoriano Huerta, who, after a brief attempt to play the part of constitutional President, has at last cast aside even the pretense of legal right and de- clared himself dictator. As a consequence, a condition of affairs now exists in Mexico which has made it doubtful whether even the most elementary and fundamental rights either of her own people or of the citizens of other coun- tries resident within her territory can long be successfully safeguarded, and which threatens, if long continued, to imperil the interests of peace, order, and tolerable life in the lands immediately to the south of us. Even if the usurper had succeeded in his purposes, in despite of the constitution of the Republic and the rights of its people, he would have set up nothing but a precarious and hateful power, which could have lasted but a little while, and whose eventful downfall would have left the country in a more deplorable condition than ever. But he has not suc- ceeded. He has forfeited the respect and the moral sup- port even of those who were at one time willing to see him succeed. Little by little he has been completely isolated. By a little every day his power and prestige are crumbling and the collapse is not far away. We shall not, I believe, be obliged to alter our policy of watchful waiting. And then, when the end comes, we shall hope to see constitu- tional order restored in distressed Mexico by the concert and energy of such of her leaders as prefer the liberty of their people to their own ambitions. 1 'I turn to matters of domestic concern. You already have under consideration a bill for the reform of our sys- tem of banking and currency, for which the country waits with impatience, as for something fundamental to its whole business life and necessary to set credit free from 118 WOODROW WILSON arbitrary and artificial restraints. I need not say how earnestly I hope for its early enactment into law. I take leave to beg that the whole energy and attention of the Senate be concentrated upon it till the matter is success- fully disposed of. And yet I feel that the request is not needed — that the Members of that great House need no urging in this service to the country. "I present to you, in addition, the urgent necessity that special provision be made also for facilitating the credits needed by the farmers of the country. The pend- ing currency bill does the farmers a great service. It puts them upon an equal footing with other business men and masters of enterprise, as it should ; and upon its passage they will find themselves quit of many of the difficulties which now hamper them in the field of credit. The farm- ers, of course, ask and should be given no special privilege, such as extending to them the credit of the Government itself. What they need and should obtain is legislation which will make their own abundant and substantial credit resources available as a foundation for joint, concerted local action in their own behalf in getting the capital they must use. It is to this we should now address ourselves. ' ' It has, singularly enough, come to pass that we have allowed the industry of our farms to lag behind the other activities of the country in its development. I need not stop to tell you how fundamental to the life of the Nation is the production of its food. Our thoughts may ordinarily be concentrated upon the cities and the hives of industry, upon the cries of the crowded market place and the clangor of the factory, but it is from the quiet interspaces of the open valleys and the free hillsides that we draw the sources of life and of prosperity, from the farm and the ranch, from the forest and the mine. Without these every street would be silent, every office deserted, every factory fallen into disrepair. And yet the farmer does not stand upon the same footing with the forester and the miner in the market of credit. He is the servant of the seasons. WOODROW WILSON 119 Nature determines how long he must wait for his crops, and will not be hurried in her processes. He may give his note, but the season of its maturity depends upon the sea- son when his crop matures, lies at the gates of the market where his products are sold. And the security he gives is of a character not known in the broker's office or as familiarly as it might be on the counter of the banker. ' ' The Agricultural Department of the Government is seeking to assist as never before to make farming an effi- cient business, of wide co-operative effort, in quick touch with the markets for foodstuffs. The farmers and the Government will henceforth work together as real part- ners in this field, where we now begin to see our way very clearly and where many intelligent plans are already being put into execution. The Treasury of the United States has, by a timely and well-considered distribution of its deposits, facilitated the moving of the crops in the present season and prevented the scarcity of available funds too often experienced at such times. But we must not allow ourselves to depend upon extraordinary ex- pedients. We must add the means by which the farmer may make his credit constantly and easily available and command when he will the capital by which to support and expand his business. We lag behind many other great countries of the modern world in attempting to do this. Systems of rural credit have been studied and developed on the other side of the water while we left our farmers to shift for themselves in the ordinary money market. You have but to look about you in any rural district to see the result, the handicap and embarrassment which have been put upon those who produce our food. "Conscious of this backwardness and neglect on our part, the Congress recently authorized the creation of a special commission to study the various systems of rural credit which have been put into operation in Europe, and this commission is already prepared to report. Its report ought to make it easier for us to determine what methods 120 WOODROW WILSON will be best suited to our own farmers. I hope and believe that the committees of the Senate and House will address themselves to this matter with the most fruitful results, and I believe that the studies and recently formed plans of the Department of Agriculture may be made to serve them very greatly in their work of framing appropriate and adequate legislation. It would be indiscreet and pre- sumptuous in anyone to dogmatize upon so great and many-sided a question, but I feel confident that common counsel will produce the results we must all desire. ' 'Turn from the farm to the world of business which centers in the city and in the factory, and I think that all thoughtful observers will agree that the immediate service we owe the business communities of the country is to pre- vent private monopoly more effectually than it has yet been prevented. I think it will be easily agreed that we should let the Sherman antitrust law stand, unaltered, as it is, with its debatable ground about it, but that we should as much as possible reduce the area of that debatable ground by further and more explicit legislation; and should also supplement that great act by legislation which will not only clarify it but also facilitate its administration and make it fairer to all concerned. No doubt we shall all wish, and the country will expect, this to be the central subject of our deliberations during the present session; but it is a subject so many-sided and so deserving of care- ful and discriminating discussion that I shall take the liberty of addressing you upon it in a special message at a later date than this. It is of capital importance that the business men of this country should be relieved of all uncertainties of law with regard to their enterprises and investments and a clear path indicated which they can travel without anxiety. It is as important that theyshould be relieved of embarrassment and set free to prosper as that private monopoly should be destroyed. The ways of action should be thrown wide open. "I turn to a subject which I hope can be handled WOODROW WILSON 121 promptly and without serious controversy of any kind. I mean the method of selecting nominees for the Presidency of the United States. I feel confident that I do not mis- interpret the wishes or the expectations of the country when I urge the prompt enactment of legislation which will provide for primary elections throughout the country at which the voters of the several parties may choose their nominees for the Presidency without the intervention of nominating conventions. I venture the suggestion that this legislation should provide for the retention of party conventions, but only for the purpose of declaring and accepting the verdict of the primaries and formulating the platforms of the parties ; and I suggest that these conven- tions should consist not of delegates chosen for this single purpose, but of the nominees for Congress, the nominees for vacant seats in the Senate of the United States, the Senators whose terms have not yet closed, the national committees, and the candidates for the Presidency them- selves, in order that platforms may be framed by those responsible to the people for carrying them into effect. " These are all matters of vital domestic concern, and besides them, outside the charmed circle of our own na- tional life in which our affections command us, as well as our consciences, there stand out our obligations toward our territories oversea. Here we are trustees. Porto Rico, Hawaii, the Philippines, are ours, indeed, but not ours to do what we please with. Such territories, once regarded as mere possessions, are no longer to be selfishly exploited ; they are part of the domain of public conscience and of serviceable and enlightened statesmanship. We must administer them for the people who live in them and with the same sense of responsibility to them as toward our own people in our domestic affairs. No doubt we shall successfully enough bind Porto Rico and the Hawaiian Islands to ourselves by ties of justice and inter- est and affection, but the performance of our duty toward the Philippines is a more difficult and debatable matter. 122 WOODROW WILSON We can satisfy the obligations of generous justice toward the people of Porto Rico by giving them the ample and familiar rights and privileges accorded our own citizens in our own territories and our obligations towards the people of Hawaii by perfecting the provisions for self-gov- ernment already granted them, but in the Philippines we must go further. We must hold steadily in view their ultimate independence, and we must move toward the time of that independence as steadily as the way can be cleared and the foundations thoughtfully and permanently laid. "Acting under the authority conferred upon the President by Congress, I have already accorded the people of the islands a majority in both houses of their legislative body by appointing five instead of four native citizens to the membership of the commission. I believe that in this way we shall make proof of their capacity in counsel and their sense of responsibility in the exercise of political power, and that the success of this step will be sure to clear our view for the steps which are to follow. Step by step we should extend and perfect the system of self-gov- ernment in the islands, making test of them and modify- ing them as experience discloses their successes and their failures ; that we should more and more put under the con- trol of the native citizens of the archipelago the essential instruments of their life, their local instrumentalities of government, their schools, all the common interest of their communities, and so by counsel and experience set up a government which all the world will see to be suitable to a people whose affairs are under their own control. At last, I hope and believe, we are beginning to gain the con- fidence of the Filipino peoples. By their counsel and ex- perience, rather than by our own, we shall learn how best to serve them and how soon it will be possible and wise to withdraw our supervision. Let us once find the path and set out with firm and confident tread upon it and we shall not wander from it or linger upon it. "A duty faces us with regard to Alaska which seems WOODROW WILSON 123 to me very pressing and very imperative; perhaps I should say a double duty, for it concerns both the political and the material development of the Territory. The people of Alaska should be given the full Territorial form of government, and Alaska, as a storehouse, should be unlocked. One key to it is a system of railways. These the Government should itself build and administer, and the ports and terminals it should itself control in the inter- est of all who wish to use them for the service and develop- ment of the country and its people. "But the construction of railways is only the first step ; is only thrusting in the key to the storehouse and throwing back the lock and opening the door. How the tempting resources of the country are to be exploited is another matter, to which I shall take the liberty of from time to time calling your attention, for it is a policy which must be worked out by well-considered stages, not upon theory, but upon lines of practical expediency. It is part of our general problem of conservation. We have a freer hand in working out the problem in Alaska than in the States of the Union; and yet the principle and object are the same, wherever we touch it. We must use the resources of the country, not lock them up. There need be no con- flict or jealousy as between State and Federal authorities, for there can be no essential difference of purpose between them. The resources in question must be used, but not destroyed or wasted ; used, but not monopolized upon any narrow idea of individual rights as against the abiding interests of communities. That a policy can be worked out by conference and concession which will release these resources and yet not jeopard or dissipate them, I for one have no doubt ; and it can be done on lines of regulation which need be no less acceptable to the people and govern- ments of the States concerned than to the people and Gov- ernment of the Nation at large, whose heritage these re- sources are. We must bend our counsels to this end. A common purpose ought to make agreement easy. 124 WOODKOW WILSON " Three or four matters of special importance and significance I beg that you will permit me to mention in closing. ' ' Our Bureau of Mines ought to be equipped and em- powered to render even more effectual service than it renders now in improving the conditions of mine labor and making the mines more economically productive as well as more safe. This is an all-important part of the work of conservation; and the conservation of human life and energy lies even nearer to our interest than the preserva- tion from waste of our material resources. "We owe it, in mere justice to the railway employees of the country, to provide for them a fair and effective employers ' liability act ; and a law that we can stand by in this matter will be no less to the advantage of those who administer the railroads of the country than to the advantage of those whom they employ. The experience of a large number of the States abundantly proves that. "We ought to devote ourselves to meeting pressing demands of plain justice like this as earnestly as to the accomplishment of political and economic reforms. Social justice comes first. Law is the machinery for its realiza- tion and is vital only as it expresses and embodies it. "An international congress for the discussion of all questions that affect safety at sea is now sitting in London at the suggestion of our own Government. So soon as the conclusions of that congress can be learned and consid- ered we ought to address ourselves, among other things, to the prompt alleviation of the very unsafe, unjust, and burdensome conditions which now surround the employ- ment of sailors and render it extremely difficult to obtain the services of spirited and competent men such as every ship needs if it is to be safely handled and brought to port. ' ' May I hot express the very real pleasure I have ex- perienced in co-operating with this Congress and sharing with it the labors of common service to which it has de- voted itself so unreservedly during the past seven months WOODROW WILSON 125 of uncomplaining concentration upon the business of leg- islation ? Surely it is a proper and pertinent part of my report on 'the state of the Union' to express my admira- tion for the diligence, the good temper, and the full com- prehension of public duty which has already been mani- fested by both the Houses ; and I hope that it may not be deemed an impertinent intrusion of myself into the picture if I say with how much and how constant satisfaction I have availed myself of the privilege of putting my time and energy at their disposal alike in counsel and in action." CHAPTER IX THE DESTRUCTION OF MONOPOLY. The year 1914, one of the most memorable in the his- tory of the world, dawned with President Wilson in the midst of the greatest legislative upheaval since the civil war. He was far from satisfied with the revision of the tariff and a new financial system. The monopolies still existed and they were his next target. Following the intimation in the first presidential passage that "Big Business" would be the next fortress to be assailed, committees at once began drawing up bills to be presented to Congress in 1914. The rough drafts given to the public caused wide discussion. They met with almost universal approval of the rank and file of the people who had been aroused by published reports that the Sherman anti-trust law was insufficient almost to the point of futility. President Wilson constantly called the attention of the people to the fact that the country could be placed on a true democratic basis if congress would pass the necessary measures. The reduction of the tariff and the Federal Reserve Banking system, the first two milestones on the new road, had been passed. The third and most necessary stage was reached. It was with this idea in mind that the President addressed Congress on January 20, 1914. He spoke as follows: "Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, gentlemen of the Con- gress, in my report 'on the state of the Union,' which I had the privilege of reading to you on the 2d of December last, I ventured to reserve for discussion at a later date the subject of additional legislation regarding the very difficult and intricate matter of trusts and monopolies. 126 WOODROW WILSON 127 The time now seems opportune to turn to that great ques- tion, not only because the currency legislation, which ab- sorbed your attention and the attention of the country in December, is now disposed of, but also because opinion seems to be clearing about us with singular rapidity in this other great field of action. In the matter of the currency it cleared suddenly and very happily after the much- debated act was passed; in respect of the monopolies which have multiplied about us and in regard to the various means by which they have been organized and maintained, it seems to be coming to a clear and all but universal agreement in anticipation , of our action, as if by way of preparation, making the way easier to see and easier to set out upon with confidence and without con- fusion of counsel. " Legislation has its atmosphere like everything else, and the atmosphere of accommodation and mutual under- standing which we now breathe with so much refresh- ment is matter of sincere congratulation. It ought to make our task very much less difficult and embarrassing than it would have been had we been obliged to continue to act amidst the atmosphere of suspicion and antagonism which has so long made it impossible to approach such questions with dispassionate fairness. Constructive legislation, when successful, is always the embodiment of convincing experience and of the mature public opinion which finally springs out of that experience. Legislation is a business of interpretation, not of origination ; and it is now plain what the opinion is to which we must give effect in this matter. It is not recent or hasty opinion. It springs out of the experience of a whole generation. It has clarified itself by long contest, and those who for a long time bat- tled with it and sought to change it are now frankly and honorably yielding to it and seeking to conform their ac- tions to it. 1 ' The great business men who organized and financed monopoly and those who administered it in actual every- 128 WOODROW WILSON day transactions have, year after year until now, either denied its existence or justified it as necessary for the effective maintenance and development of the vast busi- ness processes of the country in the modern circumstances of trade and manufacture and finance ; but all the while opinion has made head against them. The average busi- ness man is convinced that the ways of liberty are also the ways of peace and the ways of success as well ; and at last the masters of business on the great scale have begun to yield their preference and purpose, perhaps their judg- ment also, in honorable surrender. "What we are purposing to do, therefore, is, happily, not to hamper or interfere with business as enlightened business men prefer to do it, or in any sense to put it under the ban. The antagonism between business and Govern- ment is over. We are now about to give expression to the best business judgment of America, to what we know to be the business conscience and honor of the land. The Government and business men are ready to meet each other halfway in a common effort to square business meth- ods with both public opinion and the law. The best- informed men of the business world condemn the methods and processes and consequences of monopoly as we con- demn them, and the instinctive judgment of the vast ma- jority of business men everywhere goes with them. We shall now be their spokesmen. That is the strength of our position and the sure prophecy of what will ensue when our reasonable work is done. "When serious contest ends, when men unite in opinion and purpose, those who are to change their ways of business joining with those who ask for the change, it is possible to effect it in the way in which prudent and thoughtful and patriotic men would wish to see it brought about, with as few, as slight, as easy and simple business readjustments as possible in the circumstances, nothing essential disturbed, nothing torn up by the roots, no parts rent asunder which can be left in wholesome combination. WOODROW WILSON 129 Fortunately, no measures of sweeping or novel change are necessary. It will be understood that our object is not to unsettle business or anywhere seriously to break its estab- lished courses athwart. On the contrary, we desire the laws we are now about to pass to be the bulwarks and safe- guards of industry against the forces who have disturbed it. What we have to do can be done in a new spirit, in thoughtful moderation, without revolution of any un- toward kind. 1 'We are all agreed that 'private monopoly is inde- fensible and intolerable,' and our program is founded upon that conviction. It will be a comprehensive but not a radical or unacceptable program and these are its items, the changes which opinion deliberately sanctions and for which business waits : "It waits with acquiescence, in the first place, for laws which will effectually prohibit and prevent such interlock- ings of the personnel of the directorates of great corpora- tions — banks and railroads, industrial, commercial, and public service bodies — as in effect result in making those who borrow and those who lend practically one and the same, those who sell and those who buy but the same per- sons trading with one another under different names and in different combinations, and those who affect to compete in fact partners and masters of some whole field of busi- ness. Sufficient time should be allowed, of course, in which to effect these changes of organization without incon- venience or confusion. ' ' Such a prohibition will work much more than a mere negative good by correcting the serious evils which have arisen because, for example, the men who have been the directing spirits of the great investment banks have usurped the place which belongs to independent industrial management working in its own behoof. It will bring new men, new energies, a new spirit of initiative, new blood, into the management of our great business enterprises. It will open the field of industrial development and 130 WOODROW WILSON origination to scores of men who have been obliged to serve when their abilities entitled them to direct. It will immensely hearten the young men coming on and will greatly enrich the business activities of the whole country. "In the second place, business men as well as those who direct public affairs now recognize, and recognize with painful clearness, the great harm and injustice which has been done to many, if not all, of the great railroad sys- tems of the country by the way in which they have been financed and their own distinctive interests subordinated to the interests of the men who financed them and of other business enterprises which those men wished to promote. The country is ready, therefore, to accept, and accept with relief as well as approval, a law which will confer upon the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to superin- tend and regulate the financial operations by which the railroads are henceforth to be supplied with the money they need for their proper development to meet the rap- idly growing requirements of the country for increased and improved facilities of transportation. We can not postpone action in this matter without leaving the rail- roads exposed to many serious handicaps and hazards; and the prosperity of the railroads and the prosperity of the country are inseparably connected. Upon this question those who are chiefly responsible for the actual manage- ment and operation of the railroads have spoken very plainly and very earnestly, with a purpose we ought to be quick to accept. It will be one step, and a very im- portant one, toward the necessary separation of the busi- ness of production from the business of transportation. "The business of the country awaits also, has long awaited and has suffered because it could not obtain, further and more explicit legislative definition of the pol- icy and meaning of the existing antitrust law. Nothing hampers business like uncertainty. Nothing daunts or discourages it like the necessity to take chances, to run the risk of falling under the condemnation of the law before it WOODROW WILSON 131 can make sure just what the law is. Surely we are suffi- ciently familiar with the actual processes and methods of monopoly and of the many hurtful restraints of trade to make definition possible, at any rate up to the limits of what experience has disclosed. These practices, being now abundantly disclosed, can be explicitly and item by item forbidden by statute in such terms as will practically eliminate uncertainty, the law itself and the penalty being made equally plain. "And the business men of the country desire some- thing more than that the menace of legal process in these matters be made explicit and intelligible. They desire the advice, the definite guidance, and information which can be supplied by an administrative body, an interstate trade commission. "The opinion of the country would instantly approve of such a commission. It would not wish to see it empow- ered to make terms with monopoly or in any sort to assume control of business, as if the Government made itself re- sponsible. It demands such a commission only as an in- dispensable instrument of information and publicity, as a clearing house for the facts by which both the public mind and the managers of great business undertakings should be guided, and as an instrumentality for doing justice to business where the processes of the courts or the natural forces of correction outside the courts are in- adequate to adjust the remedy to the wrong in a way that will meet all the equities and circumstances of the case. "Producing industries, for example, which have passed the point up to which combination may be con- sistent with the public interest and the freedom of trade, can not always be dissected into their component units as readily as railroad companies or similar organizations can be. Their dissolution by ordinary legal process may oftentimes involve financial consequences likely to over- whelm the security market and bring upon it breakdown and confusion. There ought to be an administrative com- 132 WOODROW WILSON mission capable of directing and shaping such commis- sion, capable of directing and shaping such corrective processes, not only in aid of the courts but also by inde- pendent suggestion, if necessary. "Inasmuch as our object and the spirit of our action in these matters is to meet business half way in its proc- esses of self-correction and disturb its legitimate course as little as possible, we ought to see to it, and the judgment of practical and sagacious men of affairs everywhere would applaud us if we did see to it, that penalties and punish- ments should fall not upon business itself, to its confusion and interruption, but upon the individuals who use the instrumentalities of business to do things which public policy and sound business practice condemn. Every act of business is done at the command or upon the initiative of some ascertainable person or group of persons. These should be held individually responsible and the punish- ment should fall upon them, not upon the business or- ganization of which they make illegal use. It should be one of the main objects of our legislation to divest such persons of their corporate cloak and deal with them as with those who do not represent their corporations, but merely by deliberate intention break the law. Business men the country through would, I am sure, applaud us if we were to take effectual steps to see that the officers and directors of great business bodies were prevented from bringing them and the business of the country into dis- repute and danger. "Other questions remain which will need very thoughtful and practical treatment. Enterprises in these modern days of great individual fortunes are oftentimes interlocked, not by being under the control of the same directors but by the fact that the greater part of their cor- porate stock is owned by a single person or group of per- sons who are in some way intimately related in interest. "We are agreed, I take it, that holding companies should be prohibited, but what of the controlling private WOODROW WILSON 133 ownership of individuals or actually co-operative groups of individuals ? Shall the private owners of capital stock be suffered to be themselves in effect holding companies f We do not wish, I suppose, to forbid the purchase of stocks by any person who pleases to buy them in such quantities as he can afford, or in any way arbitrarily to limit the sale of stocks to bona fide purchasers. Shall we require the owners of stock, when their voting power in several com- panies which ought to be independent of one another would constitute actual control, to make election in which of them they will exercise their right to vote ? This question I ven- ture for your consideration. "There is another matter in which imperative con- siderations of justice and fair play suggest thoughtful remedial action. Not only do many of the combinations effected or sought to be effected in the industrial world work an injustice upon the public in general; they also directly and seriously injure the individuals who are put out of business in one unfair way or another by the many dislodging and exterminating forces of combination. I hope that we shall agree in giving private individuals who claim to have been injured by these processes the right to found their suits for redress upon the facts and judgments proved and entered in suits by the Government where the^ Government has upon its own initiative sued the combina- tions complained of and won its suit, and that the statute of limitations shall be suffered to run against such lit- igants only from the date of the conclusion of the Gov- ernment's action. It is not fair that the private litigant should be obliged to set up and establish again the facts which the Government has proved. He can not afford, he has not the power, to make use of such processes of inquiry as the Government has command of. Thus shall individual justice be done while the processes of business are rectified and squared with the general conscience. "I have laid the case before you, no doubt, as it lies in your own mind, as it lies in the thought of the country. 134 WOODROW WILSON What must every candid man say of the suggestions I have laid before you, of the plain obligations of which I have reminded you ? That these are new things for which the country is not prepared? No; but that they are old things, now familiar, and must of course be undertaken if we are to square our laws with the thought and desire of the country. Until these things are done, conscientious business men the country over will be unsatisfied. They are in these things our mentors and colleagues. We are now about to write the additional articles of our constitu- tion of peace, the peace that is honor and freedom and prosperity." Upon publication of the presidential address, the entire country plunged into a heated debate for and against the proposed legislation. Much to the surprise of the big business interests, the message did not urge their absolute dissolution as they had expected. There was a feeling of relief in financial circles, but the enemies of big business clamored for more stringent regulation than that suggested. The immediate result was a feeling of greater secur- ity in business circles, and those who had ridiculed the president's statement that the depression was psycholog- ical finally accepted it as fact. It is well to give here the events that followed in connection with the president's requests. The battle that raged in congress over the first two innovations of the Democratic administration had shown that congress could not be rushed. Accustomed to the method of having a measure proposed at one session and acted on at the next, the tendency in congress was to be- lieve that President Wilson's request was a problem to be given much thought. He disapproved of the idea, how- ever, and work was started at once on the new measures. His firm opposition to any delay forced congress to remain in session all through the summer of 1914 and on August 5th the Federal Trade Commission act went to the WOODROW WILSON 135 president for signature. The Clayton anti-trust measure was delayed until October 5th, when it, too, was sent to the president. Both measures embodied the points laid down by the president the preceding January. All the president's energy was not directed during this period to the consideration of domestic questions only. Two important international disputes drew him into controversy with Mexico and Great Britain. The Mexican question centered around the shipment of arms and ammunition to the contending factions. The row with Great Britain was in regard to the collection of tolls at the Panama Canal which recently had been completed. Little need be said at this point about the Mexican embroglio. There was a standing proclamation that no arms and ammunition were to be sent to Mexico while the revolution was raging, but in view of the unlawful gov- ernment established by Huerta, President Wilson was constrained to revoke it and remove the embargo. He issued his proclamation on February 3, 1914, and arms were shipped at once by American firms to the forces fighting against the Huerta army. The Panama Canal act against which Great Britain registered such violent objection provided for the exemp- tion from toll of all American coastwise trade vessels. The British government insisted that it was a contra- vention of the rights guaranteed by the treaty of 1901 which provided for equal toll fees on all vessels regard- less of nationality or registry. President Wilson con- curred in the British demands and admitted that the treaty clause was plain. On March 5, 1914, he appeared before a joint session of congress and asked the repeal of the clause exempting certain American vessels. His speech follows : "Gentlemen of the Congress: I have come to you upon an errand which can be very briefly performed, but I beg that you will not measure its importance by the 136 WOODROW WILSON number of sentences in which I state it. No communica- tion I have addressed to the Congress carried with it graver or more far-reaching implications as to the inter- est of the country, and I come now to speak upon a mat- ter with regard to which I am charged in a peculiar de- gree, by the Constitution itself, with personal responsi- bility. "I have come to ask you for the repeal of that pro- vision of the Panama Canal Act of August 24, 1912, which exempts vessels engaged in the coastwise trade of the United States from payment of tolls, and to urge upon you the justice, the wisdom, and the large policy of such a repeal with the utmost earnestness of which I am capable. "In my own judgment, very fully considered and ma- turely formed, that exemption constitutes a mistaken eco- nomic policy from every point of view, and is, moreover, in plain contravention of the treaty with Great Britain concerning the canal concluded on November 18, 1901. But I have not come to urge upon you my personal views. I have come to state to you a fact and a situation. What- ever may be our own differences of opinion concerning this much debated measure, its meaning is not debated outside the United States. Everywhere else the language of the treaty is given but one interpretation, and that interpretation precludes the exemption I am asking you to repeal. We consented to the treaty; its language we accepted, if we did not originate it ; and we are too big, too powerful, too self-respecting a nation to interpret with a too strained or refined reading the words of our own promises just because we have power enough to give us leave to read them as we please. The large thing to do is the only thing we can afford to do, a voluntary withdrawal from a position everywhere questioned and misunder- stood. We ought to reverse our action without raising the question whether we were right or wrong, and so once more deserve our reputation for generosity and for WOODROW WILSON 137 the redemption of every obligation without quibble or hesitation. "I ask this of you in support of the foreign policy of the administration. I shall not know how to deal with other matters of even greater delicacy and nearer conse- quence if you do not grant it to me in ungrudging measure." Congress responded favorably to his request and the offending clause of the act was repealed. Scarcely had this controversy been settled than the Mexican gov- ernment showed its resentment of the proclamation issued some months prior by a series of outrages on American rights. President Wilson's speech to congress tells the story. It follows : 4 'Gentlemen of the Congress: It is my duty to call your attention to a situation which has arisen in our deal- ings with Gen. Victoriano Huerta at Mexico City which calls for action, and to ask your advice and co-operation. 1 1 On April 9 a Paymaster of the U. S. S. Dolphin landed at the Iturbide bridge landing at Tampico with a whale- boat and boat's crew to take off certain supplies for his ship, and while engaged in loading the boat was arrested by an officer and squad of men of the army of General Huerta. Neither the Paymaster nor any one of the crew was armed. Two of the men were in the boat when the arrest was made, and were obliged to leave it and submit to be taken into custody, notwithstanding that the boat carried, both at her bow and her stern, the flag of the United States. The officer who made the arrest was pro- ceeding up one of the streets of the town with his pris- oners when met by an officer of higher authority, who ordered him to return to the landing and await orders, and within an hour and a half from the time of the arrest, orders were received from the commander of the Huertista forces at Tampico for the release of the Paymaster and his men. The release was followed by apologies from the commander and also by an expression of regret by Gen- 138 WOODROW WILSON eral Huerta himself. General Huerta urged that martial law obtained at the time at Tampico, that orders had been issued that no one should be allowed to land at the Itur- bide bridge, and that our sailors had no right to land there. Our naval commanders at the port had not been notified of any such prohibition, and, even if they had been, the only justifiable course open to the local authorities would have been to request the Paymaster and his crew to withdraw and to lodge a protest with the commanding officer of the fleet. Admiral Mayo regarded the arrest as so serious an affront that he was not satisfied with the apologies offered, but demanded that the flag of the United States be saluted with special ceremony by the mil- itary commander of the port. "The incident can not be regarded as a trivial one, especially as two of the men arrested were taken from the boat itself — that is to say, from the territory of the United States ; but had it stood by itself, it might have been attributed to the ignorance or arrogance of a single officer. i l Unfortunately, it was not an isolated case. A series of incidents have recently occurred which can not but create the impression that the representatives of General Huerta were willing to go out of their way to show disre- gard for the dignity and rights of this Government, and felt perfectly safe in doing what they pleased, making free to show in many ways their irritation and contempt. "A few days after the incident at Tampico an orderly from the U. S. S. Minnesota was arrested at Vera Cruz while ashore in uniform to obtain the ship 's mail, and was for a time thrown into jail. An official dispatch from this Government to its embassy at Mexico City was withheld by the authorities of the telegraphic service until per- emptorily demanded by our Charge d' Affaires in person. "So far as I can learn, such wrong and annoyances have been suffered to occur only against representatives of the United States. I have heard of no complaints from WOODROW WILSON 139 other governments of similar treatment. Subsequent ex- planations and formal apologies did not and could not alter the popular impression, which it is possible it had been the object of the Huertista authorities to create, that the Government of the United States was being singled out, and might be singled out with impunity, for slights and affronts in retaliation for its refusal to recognize the pretensions of General Huerta to be regarded as the Con- stitutional Provisional President of the Republic of Mexico. "The manifest danger of such a situation was that such offenses might grow from bad to worse until some- thing happened of so gross and intolerable a sort as to lead directly and inevitably to armed conflict. It was necessary that the apologies of General Huerta and his representatives should go much further, that they should be such as to attract the attention of the whole popula- tion to their significance, and such as to impress upon General Huerta himself the necessity of seeing to it that no further occasion for explanations and professed re- grets should arise. I, therefore, felt it my duty to sus- tain Admiral Mayo in the whole of his demand and to insist that the flag of the United States should be saluted in such a way as to indicate a new spirit and attitude on the part of the Huertistas. "Such a salute General Huerta has refused, and I have come to ask your approval and support in the course I now purpose to pursue. "This Government can, I earnestly hope, in no cir- cumstances be forced into war with the people of Mexico. Mexico is torn by civil strife. If we are to accept the tests of its own Constitution, it has no government. General Huerta has set his power up in the City of Mexico, such as it is, without right and by methods for which there can be no justification. Only part of the country is under his control. ' ' If armed conflict should unhappily come as a result 140 WOODROW WILSON of his attitude of personal resentment toward this Gov- ernment, we should be fighting only General Huerta and those who adhere to him and give him their support, and our object would be only to restore to the people of the distracted republic the opportunity to set up again their own laws and their own government. ' ' But I earnestly hope that war is not now in question. I believe that I speak for the American people when I say that we do not desire to control in any degree the affairs of our sister republic. Our feeling for the people of Mexico is one of deep and genuine friendship, and every- thing that we have so far done or refrained from doing has proceeded from our desire to help them, not to hinder or embarrass them. We would not wish even to exercise the good offices of friendship without their welcome and consent. ' ' The people of Mexico are entitled to settle their own domestic affairs in their own way, and we sincerely desire to respect their right. The present situation need have none of the grave complications of interference if we deal with it promptly, firmly, and wisely. "No doubt I could do what is necessary in the cir- cumstances to enforce respect for our Government with- out recourse to the Congress, and yet not exceed my con- stitutional power as President; but I do not wish to act in a matter possibly of so grave consequence except in close conference and co-operation with both the Senate and House. I therefore come to ask your approval that I should use the armed forces of the United States in such ways and to such an extent as may be necessary to obtain from General Huerta and his adherents the fullest recog- nition of the rights and dignity of the United States, even amid the distressing conditions now unhappily obtaining in Mexico. ' ' There can in what we do be no thought of aggres- sion or of selfish aggrandizement. We seek to maintain the dignity and authority of the United States only be- WOODROW WILSON 141 cause we wish always to keep our great influence unim- paired for the uses of liberty, both in the United States and wherever else it may be employed for the benefit of mankind. ' ' The time for action had come. On the following day Admiral Fletcher was ordered to seize the customs house at Vera Cruz. The Mexicans resisted and in the fight that followed the fleet shelled the defended portion of the town while the marines effected a landing under fire. Within a few hours the Mexican rebels were driven from the city or captured. The popular cry was for war with Mexico, but Presi- dent Wilson still expressed confidence that a peaceful solution could be found. On April 25th the diplomatic representatives of Argentina, Brazil and Chile offered their services in bringing about arbitration proceedings. The mediators met in Niagara Falls and after months of debate a protocol was arranged whereby Huerta agreed not to stand in the way of a constitutional government, and the United States forces were withdrawn from Vera Cruz. In this manner President Wilson avoided a war that would have been disastrous for both sides and set a poor example for other Latin- American countries. In the midst of this year of herculean toil, a great grief came to President Wilson. At 5 p. m. on August 7th, 1914, Mrs. Wilson died after a long illness. It was a severe blow to the President to have his wife taken from him just when she had begun to enjoy the prestige that came to her as the ' ' First Lady in the Land, ' ' but he faced it with the courage that marked his whole life. Both houses of Congress adjourned when Mrs. Wil- son's death was announced, and for a brief time the wheels of government practically stopped, while everyone paid respect to the loss of the President. During the day, Mrs. Wilson had spoken to Dr. Gray- son about the President, of whose health she thought more 142 WOODROW WILSON than she did her own. "Promise me," she whispered faintly, ' ' that if I go you will take care of my husband. ' ' It was the same touch of devotion which she had so many times repeated — her constant anxiety having been that the President might not worry about her or be dis- turbed in his official tasks. Funeral services for Mrs. Wilson were held August 13th, 1914, in the historic East Room at the White House, where but a few months prior she had witnessed the hap- py marriage of her daughter, Jessie, to Francis B. Sayre. Interment took place the following day at Rome, Ga., where Mrs. Wilson passed many of her girlhood days, and where her life romance began. Myrtle Hill cemetery at Rome, a beautiful . shaded spot, was the final resting place of the wife of the Presi- dent. Many telegrams were received at the White House from girlhood friends of Mrs. Wilson expressing their sympathy, and hoping that she might "be brought back home." The services at the White House were private, but were attended by members of the cabinet, a few relatives, and intimate friends, and by committees from the senate and house. Reverend Sylvester Beach, of Princeton, New Jersey, who married Mrs. Sayre and Mrs. W. G. McAdoo in the White House, officiated, and Reverend James H. Taylor, pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church of Washington, assisted. CHAPTER X THE WORLD WAR. On July 28, 1914, war laid its devastating hand on Europe. It came with such startling suddenness that the world was left groping in a mist of unbelief at the reality of it all. Events had moved so swiftly and the conviction of justice and honor were so well inculcated into the mind of the average man that it was hard to conceive of the cataclysm as existing in the concrete. President Wilson had watched the development of the world events leading to the war with deep concern. He had not believed that Austria-Hungary would enforce her demands against Serbia in the face of the generous Serbian offer to arbitrate. He sympathized with Great Britain's offer to bring the question before a world court of nations and anxiously awaited an opportunity to offer the good offices of the United States, known among all nations as an exponent of honor, in settling disputes. When the first gun was fired and all the nations of Europe were drawn into the maelstrom of war, President Wilson realized that civilization's cause was lost. He then turned his attention to the phases of the problem that affected the United States. The first of these was the Declaration of London. This famous agreement had been signed by the lead- ing naval powers of the world and laid down the exact rules by which naval warfare could be waged. The Presi- dent lost no time but addressed a note to United States ambassadors in the countries of the warring nations. It follows : "Mr. Bryan instructs Mr. Page to inquire whether the British Government is willing to agree that the laws 143 144 WOODROW WILSON of naval warfare as laid down by the Declaration of Lon- don of 1909 shall be applicable to ™!*"^™*™^ the present conflict in Europe provided that the Govern- ments with whom Great Britain is or may be at war also Tgree to *uch application. Mr. Bryan further mstructs Mr. Page to state that the Government of the United States believes that an acceptance of these laws by the bel- ligerents would prevent grave misunderstanding which may arise as to the relations between neutral powers and the belligerents. Mr. Bryan adds that it is jeame itiy hoped that this inquiry may receive favorable consid- em All the belligerent nations replied to the presidential inquiry with courtesy. Germany declared that she would remain bound by the declaration, which would not affect her in the least, while Great Britain and France, in view of the methods by which Germany was preparing to wage war, found that the restrictions of the Declaration of London would bind them to observe regulations that would work to their own disaster. . All the belligerents proceeded to sow contact mines in the waters near their shores without regard to the three-mile limit. This was a military necessity and its existence was recognized by President Wilson. < He with- drew his request to the belligerents in the following notes : ''Inasmuch as the British Government consider that the conditions of the present European conflict make it impossible for them to accept without modification the Declaration of London, you are requested to mf orm His Majesty's Government that in the circumstances the Gov- ernment of the United States feels obliged to withdraw its suggestion that the Declaration of London be adopted as a temporary code of naval warfare to be observed by belligerents and neutrals during the present war; that therefore this Government will insist that the rights and duties of the United States and its citizens in the present war be defined by the existing rules of international law PRESIDENT WILSON AT HIS DESK IN THE WHITE HOUSE. THE PRESIDENT AND MRS. WILSON. SEATED ON THE DOORSTEP OF HARLEKENDEN HOUSE, THE SUMMER WHITE HOUSE. President Wilson's Stickpin, worn constantly as a good luck charm. WOODROW WILSON 149 and the treaties of the United States irrespective of the provisions of the Declaration of London; and that this Government reserves to itself the right to enter a protest or demand in each case in which those rights and duties so denned are violated or their free exercise interfered with by the authorities of His Britannic Majesty's Gov- ernment. Lansing. i 'Referring to Department's August 6, 1 p. m., and Embassy's October 22, relative to the Declaration of Lon- don, Mr. Lansing instructs Mr. Gerard to inform the German Government that the suggestion of the depart- ment to belligerents as to the adoption of declaration for sake of uniformity as to a temporary code of naval war- fare during the present conflict has been withdrawn be- cause some of the belligerents are unwilling to accept the declaration without modifications and that this Govern- ment will therefore insist that the rights and duties of the Government and citizens of the United States in the pres- ent war be defined by existing rules of international law and the treaties of the United States without regard to the provisions of the declaration and that the Government of the United States reserves to itself the right to enter a protest or demand in every case in which the rights and duties so defined are violated or their free exercise inter- fered with by the authorities of the belligerent govern- ments. ,, It can be seen from these notes that President Wil- son was prepared from the first to insist on the observ- ance of American rights at sea. He made it clear that America would remain neutral so long as the warring nations kept the peace with her. The position of the United States was delicate in the extreme. Among the 100,000,000 inhabitants of the coun- try, a third could be said to have a personal interest in the war by reason of relatives left in Europe. 150 WOODROW WILSON In no other country was the war discussed to such an extent. The foreign-born American could not be blamed for his partisanship, which was a question of blood and birth. It was the native-born element who saved the day by declaring that a rigid observance to Washington's doc- trine of minding America's business first should be fol- lowed. None held this opinion more firmly than the President. On August 19th, a few weeks after the war began, he issued his famous neutrality appeal. It read : "My Fellow Countrymen: I suppose that every thoughtful man in America has asked himself, during these last troubled weeks, what influence the European war may exert upon the United States, and I take the lib- erty of addressing a few words to you in order to point out that it is entirely within our own choice what its effects upon us will be and to urge very earnestly upon you the sort of speech and conduct which will best safeguard the Nation against distress and disaster. "The effect of the war upon the United States will depend upon what American citizens say and do. Every man who really loves America will act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, which is the spirit of impartiality and fairness and friendliness to all concerned. The spirit of the Nation in this critical matter will be determined largely by what individuals and society and those gath- ered in public meetings do and say, upon what newspapers and magazines contain, upon what ministers utter in their pulpits, and men proclaim as their opinions on the street. "The people of the United States are drawn from many nations, and chiefly from the nations now at war. It is natural and inevitable that there should be the utmost variety of sympathy and desire among them with regard to the issues and circumstances of the conflict. Some will wish one nation, others another, to succeed in the momen- tous struggle. It will be easy to excite passion and difficult to allay it. Those responsible for exciting it will assume a heavy responsibility, responsibility for no less a thing WOODROW WILSON 151 than that the people of the United States, whose love of their country and whose loyalty to its Government should unite them as Americans all, bound in honor and affection to think first of her and her interests, may be divided in camps of hostile opinion, hot against each other, involved in the war itself in impulse and opinion if not in action. 1 ' Such divisions among us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might seriously stand in the way of the proper performance of our duty as the one great nation at peace, the one people holding itself ready to play a part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a friend. "I venture, therefore, my fellow countrymen, to speak a solemn word of warning to you against that deep- est, most subtle, most essential breach of neutrality which may spring out of partisanship, out of passionately taking sides. The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be impartial in thought as well as in action, must put a curb upon our sentiments as well as upon every transaction that might be construed as a preference of one party to the struggle before another. "My thought is of America. I am speaking, I feel sure, the earnest wish and purpose of every thoughtful American that this great country of ours, which is, of course, the first in our thoughts and in our hearts, should show herself in this time of peculiar trial a Nation fit beyond others to exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of self-control, the efficiency of dis- passionate action; a Nation that neither sits in judgment upon others nor is disturbed in her own counsels and which keeps herself fit and free to do what is honest and disinterested and truly serviceable for the peace of the world. "Shall we not resolve to put upon ourselves the re- straints which will bring to our people the happiness and 152 WOODROW WILSON the great and lasting influence for peace we covet for them?" This message met with universal approval from true lovers of America and the supporter of the foreign nations was looked upon with open disapproval. The reader probably can recall the days when pictures of various celebrities of foreign nations and the soldiers of the war- ring nations would be exhibited in public. He probably can recall the silence with which they were greeted and the outburst of applause that followed when pictures of President Wilson or the national flag were shown. The war created a tense situation in the American industrial world. Cut off from export by naval condi- tions, goods consigned to European markets piled up at New York docks and many men were thrown out of work because of industries shutting down. The loss to the gov- ernment was tremendous. Revenues were negligible. We had little trade with South America and the southern states were paralyzed by the condition of the cotton market. The lack of revenue was a real worry to President Wilson. On September 4, 1914, he called a joint meeting of Congress and appealed for more revenue. His speech follows : " Gentlemen of the Congress: I come to you today to discharge a duty which I wish with all my heart I might have been spared ; but it is a very clear duty, and there- fore I perform it without hesitation or apology. I come to ask very earnestly that additional revenue be provided for the Government. 1 ' During the month of August there was, as compared with the corresponding month of last year, a falling off of $10,629,538 in the revenues collected from customs. A continuation of this decrease in the same proportion throughout the current fiscal year would probably mean a loss of customs revenues of from sixty to one hundred millions. I need not tell you to what this falling off is due. WOODROW WILSON 153 It is due, in chief part, not to the reductions recently made in the customs duties, but to the great decrease in impor- tations ; and that is due to the extraordinary extent of the industrial area affected by the present war in Europe. Conditions have arisen which no man foresaw ; they affect the whole world of commerce and economic production; and they must be faced and dealt with. "It would be very unwise to postpone dealing with them. Delay in such a matter and in the particular cir- cumstances in which we now find ourselves as a nation might involve consequences of the most embarrassing and deplorable sort, for which I, for one, would not care to be responsible. It would be very dangerous in the pres- ent circumstances to create a moment's doubt as to the strength and sufficiency of the Treasury of the United States, its ability to assist, to steady, and sustain the finan- cial operations of the country 's business. If the Treasury is known, or even thought, to be weak, where will be our peace of mind f The whole industrial activity of the coun- try would be chilled and demoralized. Just now the pecu- liarly difficult financial problems of the moment are being successfully dealt with, with great self-possession and good sense and very sound judgment ; but they are only in proc- ess of being worked out. If the process of solution is to be completed, no one must be given reason to doubt the solidity and adequacy of the Treasury of the Government which stands behind the whole method by which our diffi- culties are being met and handled. "The Treasury itself could get along for a consider- able period, no doubt, without immediate resort to new sources of taxation. But at what cost to the business of the community? Approximately $75,000,000, a large part of the present Treasury balance, is now on deposit with national banks distributed throughout the country. It is deposited, of course, on call. I need not point out to you what the probable consequences of inconvenience and dis- tress and confusion would be if the diminishing income of 154 WOODROW WILSON the Treasury should make it necessary rapidly to with- draw these deposits. And yet without additional revenue that plainly might become necessary, and the time when it became necessary could not be controlled or determined by the convenience of the business of the country. It would have to be determined by the operations and neces- sities of the Treasury itself. Such risks are not necessary and ought not to be run. "We can not too scrupulously or carefully safeguard a financial situation which is at best, while war continues in Europe, difficult and abnormal. Hesitation and delay are the worst forms of bad policy under such conditions. 11 And we ought not to borrow. We ought to resort to taxation, however we may regret the necessity of putting additional temporary burdens on our people. To sell bonds would be to make a most untimely and unjustifiable demand on the money market; untimely, because this is manifestly not the time to withdraw working capital from other uses to pay the Government's bills; unjustifiable, because unnecessary. The country is able to pay any just and reasonable taxes without distress. And to every other form of borrowing, whether for long periods or for short, there is the same objection. These are not the cir- cumstances, there is at this particular moment and in this particular exigency not the market, to borrow large sums of money. What we are seeking is to ease and assist every financial transaction, not to add a single additional em- barrassment to the situation. The people of this country are both intelligent and profoundly patriotic. They are ready to meet the present conditions in the right way and to support the Government with generous self-denial. They know and understand, and will be intolerant only of those who dodge responsibility or are not frank with them. "The occasion is not of our own making. We had no part in making it. But it is here. It affects us as directly and palpably almost as if we were participants in the cir- cumstances which gave rise to it. We must accept the WOODROW WILSON 155 inevitable with calm judgment and unruffled spirits, like men accustomed to deal with the unexpected, habituated to take care of themselves, masters of their own affairs and their own fortunes. We shall pay the bill, though we did not deliberately incur it. "In order to meet every demand upon the Treasury without delay or peradventure and in order to keep the Treasury strong, unquestionably strong, and strong throughout the present anxieties, I respectfully urge that an additional revenue of $100,000,000 be raised through internal taxes devised in your wisdom to meet the emer- gency. The only suggestion I take the liberty of making is that such sources of revenue be chosen as will begin to yield at once and yield with a certain and constant flow. "I can not close without expressing the confidence with which I approach a Congress, with regard to this or any other matter, which has shown so untiring a devotion to public duty, which has responded to the needs of the Nation throughout a long season despite inevitable fatigue and personal sacrifice, and so large a proportion of whose Members have devoted their whole time and energy to the business of the country." To such an extent had the confidence of Congress in the President grown that legislation calling for a special tax was enacted at once and the crisis was passed. The year of 1914 was rapidly drawing to a close. The problems of the administration were many but th'ey were being met without flinching by President Wilson, who felt that he had the support of all true Americans in his course. His second annual message told of the dangers that threatened America. It was delivered in Congress on December 8, 1914, as follows : "Gentlemen of the Congress: The session upon which you are now entering will be the closing session of the Sixty-third Congress, a Congress, I venture to say, which will long be remembered for the great body of thoughtful and constructive work which it has done, in 156 WOODROW WILSON loyal response to the thought and needs of the country. I should like in this address to review the notable record and try to make adequate assessment of it ; but no doubt we stand too near the work that has been done and are ourselves too much part of it to play the part of historians toward it. ' ' Our program of legislation with regard to the regu- lation of business is now virtually complete. It has been put forth, as we intended, as a whole, and leaves no con- jecture as to what is to follow. The road at last lies clear .and firm before business. It is a road which it can travel without fear or embarrassment. It is the road to un- grudged, unclouded success. In it every honest man, every man who believes that the public interest is part of his own interest, may walk with perfect confidence. " Moreover, our thoughts are now more of the future than of the past. While we have worked at our tasks of peace the circumstances of the whole age have been altered by war. What we have done for our own land and our own people we did with the best that was in us, whether of character or of intelligence, with sober enthusiasm and a confidence in the principles upon which we were acting which sustained us at every step of the difficult undertak- ing; but it is done. It has passed from our hands. It is now an established part of the legislation of the country. Its usefulness, its effects will disclose themselves in expe- rience. What chiefly strikes us now, as we look about us during these closing days of a year which will be forever memorable in the history of the world, is that we face new tasks, have been facing them these six months, must face them in the months to come, — face them without partisan feeling, like men who have forgotten everything but a common duty and the fact that we are representatives of a great people whose thought is not of us but of what America owes to herself and to all mankind in such cir- cumstances as these upon which we look amazed and anxious. WOODROW WILSON 157 " War , h ™ interrupted the means of trade not onlv but also the processes tf production. In Europe it i* destroying men and resources wholesale and upon a scale unprecedented and appalling. There is reason to fear that the time is near, if it be not already at hand when several of the countries of Europe will find it 1 fficult to do ea ilya'lXlf *** they ^ Wtherto ""wa^ easily able to do -many essential and fundamental things £ s asTev haf ' ""* fl Mp 3nd ° Ur ™-fo "r°v ices as they have never needed them before ; and we should be ready more fit and ready than we have ever been -It is ot equal consequence that the nations whom Europe has usually supplied with innumerable articeo? std^ul rrr of which they «« *£K ueea ana without which their economic development halto and stands still can now get only a small par ofTh° t W formerly imported and eagerly look to n S to supply te lr all but empty markets. This is particularly true of our own neighbors, the States, great and small, of Centra and South America. Their lines of trade have hitherto run of le Gr y ea a t R "f - the "T' * 0t t0 ° Ur P OTts ^t to he ports Ilo I am and ° f the older conti "»* of Europe 1 do not stop to inquire why, or to make any comment on e™ a 1 " tio C n U bu e t%, W ? a V nte f StS " S ** ™ " £ exp anation but the fact, and our duty and opportunitv n the presence of it. Here are markets which wTZst supply, and we must find the means of action. The Un ted States this great people for whom we speak and act should be ready, as never before, to serve Self and to serve mankind; ready with its res'ourceMts en«