DR. WILSON DEAD

Press, Volume LX, Issue 17989, 5 February 1924, Page 9

D R. WILSON DEAD

BN D COMES QUIETLY. « AM BEADY TO GO." ,_ r! >ES3 association coi-rnioirr.; p.™. > WASHINGTON', February .'}. ronDC r-Pre«.icnt %YiJ S on died at ILL, I The end came peaceful*;.. =nd worn by the battle r -,hdeath, winch began before he ,ft £te House in 1021, the war President e d his ej" and slippod r ,cacoi -' ul, - v ** e end came when his vitality no 1# could retard the aieady dissoa,- ;;:, ff hichsct m w .t« that laid Dr. Wilson low in ,5,0 rfhen on a speaking tour, ir. which '."declared that he would be glad to %his We for the League r,f Nations ["tja't'OTuMmakoitasurccss. "riis cause of death is officially an„,cn'ed as general arteriosclerosis and usropto. ;in(i thc inimc ' ii;lte '" iUSC dtjustion following digestive disturb}tr3 Wilson, a daugnter. ami a r.hrsician were present at the e.:-Presi-itnt'a' death. During all Friday fin., batun.ay Dr. ffiUoa lingered on the verge of enmity. He slept fitfully towards the u ', tj and rofnscd to take nourishment; tut'beforo extreme weakness overtook ), e talked with those about him. "lie told Dr. Grayson, who attended him, that ho was "Heady to go." Step b ,step he lost ground, and it was only /question of a short time before the (ad. y cw) of his death spread rapidly, i= d messages of sympathy are pouring jaina greet flood-tide to the widow. One of the first to send a message of condolence was President Coolidge who, rith Mrs Coolidge, drove to tho Wilpa homo.

MOURNED BY A NATION.

OPPONENTS PAY TRIBUTE.

ijsraussts iSJ> SI - cabu: association.)

WASHINGTON, February 3. It was a truly bereaved crowd which SIM tho streets'surrounding Dr. Wilson's homo. They wero not merely tirioo!. For many of them it was said tie KCflO resembled the fateful dcathjrsWi for tho martyred Abraham Liniola. It is also interesting to note that, "a is the case of Warren Harding and Taeodoro Boosovclt, death came very ndie&ly. Itr, Wilson's passing cast a repres-

liu itaoaphore over the capital and "■ (5s utioa many hours before it actalfr occurred. The National Lcgis-

j, sifts Chambers, which for some timo [ tat htn tha Coliseum in which opl pasts have waged a daily battfo over I tti «il scandal, grew quieter whon Dr. f ■■■Siira'rillness became known. E:o I tivfea! oppononts uttered characterisfettsents upon 1113 death. tat feed, who although a Demowho showed tho bitterest ajifjf rten Dr. Wilson was PresiHisid: "The country and the world .i3{*;ndly regret tha death of i r ,if»JKWWilson. He has been a tragic Spnfc'r four years and his sufferingshrc miked the deep sympathy of all P«pla regardless of political or other ffiwisces of opinion." Smtor Pepper, a Bepnbllcan Irreaailabla, naid: "Prom timo to time «voiced the aspirations of hundreds «f aillioaa of his fellow-beings, and if 4 * filled to bring theso aspirations to mli»Uon U wa« not because thiy vreio ■awrthy Vnt because he failed to apNats t!io«a human relationships •wagh ?hich alone practicable restate obtained." BRITAIN'S SYMPATHY. i(simna's tblsobams.) (HwiTed February 4th, 6.50 p.m.) LONDON, February 3. « wms&y Mac Donald sent a meaIPtc-.^ 8 Amßri °aa nation and to 2Z **> " deeply «*» at th» death of the ex-Presi- «*■ Ha knew that the whole British shared hia feelings, °f- Wilson had a fine vision of roawisdom, leading Europe to J*/* •*«%. He had gone he- * WHm«t of that Tiaion, but he .■** be roeognisod as one of the .. m * Potest pioneers.

4 ramCAL APPRECIATION.

(2t "ivrf 4th, 8.5 pan.) "ft »• ■ WND ON, February 4. % tot s '" in a leader, says : imn trnated nobody but him--18 UaJif V 7 re P Teseilt ' in g »obody *■*»*n ,Mmod t0 hold t,iat ««St y MnU traMlato into » c " *ili „» V* Hons comm <>a to the best „J« sk countries. ?«'^l\ &e& ™ nt . ta dipl °- V J. qUa ». ho ignorant of *«»»». With aU his 'anlts, ).o SL.f"*" part ™ the ea !" ong hia «"»**'•

I W °RU> COLLEAGUES. ** L LOYD GEORGE. ***** ue rr~" ******* 4ft, February 4. J 1 fir * tribute to the Vh... in the "baiiy t>si ', says: "T 1.1 3 * ,nc *it T „ f t h j» a *ility d€ath ■**« awn immortal"

M. POINCARE. (AUST2IAUAH AKTJ x.s. associatiosj (Received February 4th, 8.5 p.m.) PAEIS, February 4. \[. Poincare says:—"France cannot forget that she owes it to ex-President Wilson that the United States accomplished wonders to save the future of Civilisation. France knows v.-hat high and generous thoughts inspired this man so passionately in his devoted idea of peace." MR MASSEY. (srcciAL to "the pazsa.") WELLINGTON, February 4. The Prime- Minister is .sending a telegram of condolence to Mrs Woodrow \Vi!sr>n. Mr Massey, :t will be remembered, was at the I'aris Conference, at which _t"ho late President of the tnited States formulated bis '•fourteen points. 1 ' DR. EARLE PAGE. (aUST3AUA:7 ASK IS.I. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) (■Received February oth, 12.00 a.m.) MELBOURNE, February 4. Dr. Eark: Pao*, \Pedqral Treasurer) cabled Australia's profound sympathy with America respecting tlio death ol Dr. Wilson. In a generous appreciation of the deceased ex-President, Dr. Pago declared that his concept of the League of Nations, expressing the desires and aspirations of millions of war-weary people, would always stand as a great monument to a great man.

AN EMINENT AMERICAN.

(AUSTRALIAN AKI> II.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) WASHINGTON, February 3. Mr Josephus Daniels (Secretary of the Navy in tho Wilson Administration) sr;id that on his last visit Dr. Wilson said:— '•Wo must- never doubt that things wo stood for will come, and I make this concession to Providonco that they may coma in a bettor way than wo bolicved best." Mr Daniels added tliat health alone prevented Dr. Wilson's recall to the Presidency in 192-1. Colonel House, Dr". Wilson's confidential adviser,; said that his doad chief's efforts -would surely stir another President to follow the path leading to the height of attainment for which Woodrow Wilson laid down his life.

Mr Baruch, economic adviser at Versailles, said that tho human rnco was opprcssod by greed and ambition, and tho war will trace it 3 ovolution into world peace through the labour of this eminent American.

A SUDDEN BREAKDOWN. WILL STRONGER THAN BODY. (BY CABt-S— PRESS ASSOdATIOH COPYRIGHT.) (JIUSTRAIJAN AND I'.Z. C.18U3 ASSOCIATIOK.) WASHINGTON, February 3. Dr. Woodrow Wilson, ex-President of the United States, died at 11.15 o'clock this morning, after three days' critical illness. Phyaicians, describing Mr Wilson's death, said tho last moments found him quite scrono, and the severance of tho thread of life was gentle and peaceful. Tha long'vigil coased when Admiral C. T. Grayson, Dr. Wilson's friend and physician, stepped from tho sick-room and said: "The end has come."

The three physicians who attended tho ex-President used peculiar phraseology in describing the immediate causa of the relapse. They called it "a crash of some sort," the peculiar sudden breakdown coming quickly after a slight digestivo disorder, due to an indiscreet choice of food, was the first indication that he was suffering from a new illness. This crash caused a clotting of the blood-vessels and a complete collapse of the patient's resistive power. He was a doomed man from the moment this occurred, nearly 72 hours before death came. The ex-President's will alone kept him alive long after the physicians gave him up. He was declining food and too weak to converse. His body had already surrendered, but his mind continued to presorvo a clutch -on life, as it did during tho past four years, whon he was sorely stricken and when most men would have been unable to further stand the strain.

The physicians during tho final hours devoted attention only to making him comfortable.

Dr. Wilson's wife, a daughter, and a brother were at the bedside. His two other daughters, Mrs W. G. McAdoo and Mrs Sayro, wero too far away to reach their father before his death. Mrs McAdoo is coming from Los Angeles with her husband, while the third daughter lives in Slam, where her husband is doing medical work.

SEVEN YEARS AFTER. DEATH ON ANNIVERSARY OP WAR. (XU6T3ALIAH AHD H.B. CABU! ASSOCU.KON.) WASHINGTON, February 3. Dr. Wilson's death came while the churches throughout the country prayed for his recovery. Thousands of churchgoers in Washington on leaving tho services were confronted with newspaper extras announcing the death, which by a coincidence occurred on the seventh anniversary of his momontous severance of diplomatic relations with Germany. The funeral arrangements await the wishes of Mrs Wilson, who will decide whether her husband shall be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery, among the bodies of thousands of soldiors who died in the World War. It is indicated that Mr J. W. Weeks (Secretary for War) will gladly assent to

such a burial as a fitting rcccniition of Dr. Wilson's part in the war.

The Wilson residence was the scene of an affecting pilgrimage immediately the death was- announced, crowds actually choking the entire square and approaches. Nevertheless the throng instinctively made way when President and Mrs Coolidge, within an hour, drove to the residence, heir." the first callers after the death.

A BRILLIANT CAREER. Woodrow Wilson, Ph.D., Litt. D., LL.D., who became- the 28th President of the United States, was a son of the Presbyterian man=,e, and had just entered on his 6Stii j-ear. Ho was born in Virginia, graduated in Arts at Princeton, and took: his Law degree at tho "Universitj- of Virginia.

He commenced thc practice of law in Georgia, but, finding study more congenial, abandoned tho proiessiun almost immediately to enter academic life. Alter a number of minor professorial posts lie became, in 1890, Professor of Jurisprudence and Politics at I'rinceton—a position which ho continued to hold until 1910. He was President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and Governor of New Jersey from 1011 to 1013, when, ho resigned.

Erom_l9l3 to 1920 he was President of the United States, gu'.ing that Republic through the strenuous years of the war. When he stepped back to private iifo ho resumed tho practice of law, specialising in international work.

Dr. Wilson was an authoritative writer' on political science and international relations.

A man of sympathetic and kindly nature, it is but nine montlis ago since ho cabled to Mr Uonar Law on that statesman's resignation of the British Premiership, as follows:—"Myself hampered by ill-henlth, I sympathise with vou with all my heart."* And now both these distinguished public men have passed within the veil.

A WORLD FIGURE.

ONE OF AMERICA'S GREATEST. "The position occupied by President Wilson in tho world's imagination at tho close of the Great War and at tho boginning of the Peace Conference was terrible in its greatness," wrote General Smuts a year or two bade.

"It was a terrible position for any more man to occupy. Probably to no human being in all history did tho hopes, tho prayers, the aspirations of so many millions of his follows turn with such poignant intensity as to him at the closo of the war. At a time of the deepest darkness and despair, he had raised aloft a light to which all eyes had turned. He had spoken divine words of healing and consolation to a broken humanity. His lofty moral idealism seemed for a moment to dominate the brutal passions which had torn the old world asunder. And he was supposed to possess tho secret which would remako tho world on fairer lines.

"Tho peace which Wilson was bringing to the world was expected to be God's peace. Prussianism lay crushed; brute force had failed utterly. Tho moral character of the universe had been most signally vindicated. There was a universal vague hope of a great moral peace, of a new world order arising visibly and immediately on the ruins of the old. Thin hope was not a mere superficial sentiment. It was the intense expression at the end of the war of the inner moral and spiritual force which had upborne the peoples during tho dark night of the war and had nerved them to an effort almost beyond human strength. Surely, surely, God had been with them in that long night of agony. His was the victory; His should be the peace. And President Wilson was looked upon as the man to mako this great peace. Ho had voiced the great ideals of tho now order; his great utterances had become the contractual basis for tho armistice- and tho peace. The idealism of Wilson would surely become the reality of the now order of things in the Peace Treaty. His Dream Unrealised. "The peace that finally issued was not a. "Wilson i>eaco. The Paris Peace lost an opportunity as unique as tho Great War itself. In destroying tho moral idealism born of tho sacrifices of tho war it did almost as much (as tho war itself in shattering tho structure of Western civilisation. "And tho odium for all this fell especially on President Wilson. Hound liini tho hopes had centred; round him the disillusion and despair now gathered. Popular opinion Jargoly held him responsible for the bitter disappointment and grievous failure. Tuo cynics scoffed; his friends wero silenced in the universal disappointment. Little or nothing had . been expected from tho other leaders; the whole failuro was put to tho account of Woodrow Wilson. And finally America for reasons of her own joined tho pack and at tho end it was his own people who tore him to pieces. "Will this judgment, born of momentary disillusion and disappointment, stand in future, or will it be reserved r 1 The timo has not come to pass final judgment on either Wilson or any of tho other great actor 3 in tho drama afc Paris. - Tho personal estimates will depend largely on the interpretation of that drama, in the course of time. As one who saw and watched things from the inside I feci convinced that tho present popular estimates aro largely superficial and will not stand the searching test of timo. And 1 have no doubt whatever that Wilson has dealt harshly, unfairly unjustly dealt with, and that he has been made a scapegoat for the sins of others. Wilson made mistakes, and there wero occasions when I ventured to sound a. warning note. But it was not his mistakes that caused the failuro for which he has been held mainly responsible.

"Let us admit the truth, however bit. ter it is to do so, for those who believe in human nature. It was not Wilson who failed. . Tiro position is far more serious. It was the human spirit itself that failed at Paris. It is no uso passing judgments and making scapesgoats of this or that individual statesman or group of statesmen. Idealists make a great mistake in not facing the real facts sincerely and resolutely. They believe in the power of the spirit, in the goodness which is at the heart of things, in the triumph which is in store for the great moral ideals of the race. Buf 'this faith only too often leads to an optimism which is sadly and fatally at variance with actual results. It is the realist and not the idealist who is generally justified by events. We forget that the human spirit, the spirit of goodness and truth in the world, is still only an infant crying in the night, and that the struggle with darkness is as yet mostly an unequal struggle." The boon that was really saved at Paris, according to General Smuts, was the Covenant of the League of Nations. He continues:

(Continued at foot of aest column.}

Monunwmt of the League, "The political realists who had their eye on tho loot were prepared—however reluctantly—to throw that innocent little sop to President Wilson and his fellow idealists. After all, there was not much harm in it, it threatened no present national interest, and it gave pleasure to a number of, good unpractical people in most countries. Above all. President Wilson had to be conciliated, and thi3 was the last and the greatest of the Fourteen Points on which he had set his heart and by which he was determined to stand or fall. And so he got his way. But it is a fact that only a man of his great power and influence and dogged determination could have carried the Covenant through that Peace Conference. Others had seen with him the great vision, others had perhaps given more thought to the elaboration of tho great plan. But his was the power and the will that carried it through. The Covenant is Wilson's souvenir to the future of the world. No one will ever deny him that honour. "Tho honour is very great, indeed, for tho Covenant is one of the _ great creative documents of human history. The Peace Treaty will fade into merciful oblivion, and its provisions will be gradually obliterated by tho great human tides sweeping over tho world. But the Covenant will stand as Esure as fate. Forty-two nations gathered *round it at the first meeting of the League at Geneva. And the day is not far off when all tho free peoples of the world will gather round it. It must succeed, because there is no other way for the future of civilisation. , It does not realise the great hopes born of- the war, but it provides the _ only method and instrument by which in the courao of time those hopes can bo realised Speaking as one who has some right to speak on the fundamental conceptions, objects, and methods of the Covenant, I feel sure that most of the present criticism is based on misunderstandings. These misunderstandings will clear away; one by one' the peoples still outside the Covenant will fall in behind .this banner, under which the human race is going to march forward to triumphs of peaceful organisation and achievement undreamt of by us children of an unhappier era. And the leader who, in spite of apparent failure, succeeded in inscribing his name on that banner has achieved the most enviable and enduring immortality. Americans of tho future will ye* proudly and gratefully rank him with Washington and Lincoln, and his fame will have a more universal significance than theirs."