University of Virginia - Corks and Curls Yearbook (Charlottesville, VA)

Page 12 text:

4 coRKs AND CURLS voixxvi sided, fulsome eulogy, he has racked his brain in the effort to think of some fault of character or of heart in Woodrow Wilson. Could he think of any such fault, he would frankly state what it was. But the simple fact IS that he cannot. ' y . There exist persons who, knowing Wilson, not personally, but only through his public career, imagine him to be allbrainf and no heart. N0 mistake could be greater. That he has a big brain is entirely true. ,But the steam that drives the machinery of this brain comes straight from a big heart -a heart that beats strongly for his family, for his friends, for his country and for humanity at large. Though a gentleman by birth and breeding and education, his sympathies are not confined to those with as good blood, as excellent training and as extensive knowledge as his own. No man was ever more truthful and sincere than heg and when he says that he desires to advance the welfare of the people, he is not talking for effect, not merely angling for votes, but is giving expression to the genuine emotions of his hearty His' sympathy with the masses of men is profoundg but he is not envious of the rich, or desirous to injure them, save when they deliberately and selfishly oppress. the poor. When he speaks of the people, he means not simply- as demagogues do-the ignorant, the unlettered and the impecunious. l-le means everybody, employer and employee, merchant and banker, manufac- turer and farmer, rich and poor, wise and simple, learned and unlearnedg 'and he earnestly desires to promote the happiness of all classes, harmon- iously dwelling together in peace and concord. And this desire is due to the fact that he has that big heartlin his breast and that sympathy with all mankind. i A ' This sympathy is shown however, not simply in his political utterances and acts, nor in his efforts to purge Princeton of plutocratic snobbishness and to promote a broader and more democratic good fellowship among the student body. It is shown also in his private intercourse with acquaintances and friends. It is this sympathy, this sociability, that enables him to enjoy con- versation so greatly, and to add so keenly to the enjoyment of those with whom he talks. It is this that so endears him to his friends, while his bubbling hgmor, his rich fund of anecdotes and Limericks',, and his broad knowl- f e ge o njen and things charm 'and fascinate nearly all, both men. and women, with whom he is thrown. : :'-..ff1 j-t'F- V fr mf---.y ,.. .. 6 -1 Q .-1, .11 r '-1 --. , f I 1' . .. . . ' ' ' ' 4.x--Q '- v.-e---v-4.J4.i....g..,:,ffs-Assans1,b4L,.saa-a.d.s..g..s.,. . A ' U . . ,,,,.., -Q , . - .- - .. 1 ,,, . , ---+........... E., ....-, .. ., ,,.,......-..-,--.u...4. ' .. -

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IY' Y 1----main' - if Woodrow Wilson g That CORKS AND CURLS should be dedicated this year to Woodrow Wilson, the most distinguished living alumnus of the University of Virginia, is eminently fitting. ' But to write the dedication to such a man is a most difficult task. To damn him with faint praise is impossible. Yet, to sing his praises in the strain that his real merits require, would be to invite the charge that the writer was either blinded by the bias of personal friendship or carried away by partisan prejudice. To state the really essential things in a few words, and in words neither lukewarm nor so glowing as to cast suspicion upon their accuracy, is hard indeed. Yet some one must make the attempt, and if he who has been asked to do so proves unequal to the task, it will not be because he lacks interest in his theme. It is doubtless true that Woodrow Wilson, being mortal, has his faults. If we may trust the opinions of the New Jersey machine politicians, he has nothing else. But, if so, it must be said soberly and deliberately that the writer fwho knew him intimately as a student at' the University and has kept in touch with him for more than thirty-three yearsl, has not been able to discover what these faults were. Lest this article should seem like a one-

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1913 CORKS AND CURLS 5 His absolute sincerity has already been alluded to, a sinceri.ty sp complete that it dumbfounded and nonplussed the corruptionists of New Jersey. Accustomed as they were to hear men make promises before election and break them afterwards, they imagined that this amateur statesman, this pedagogue in politics, would be but clay in their hands. His plain statement to them before election that he would under no circumstances support the candidacy of Smith for the Senate was surely fso they thoughtl , not seriously meant. I-lis equally plain and emphatic statement that if he consented to accept the nomination for Governor, he .would make no promises, nor con- sider 'himself under any political obligations whatever to any one save the people of New Jersey as a whole, was also regarded by the ringsters as made in a Pickwickian sense. Knowing how they would have acted themselves, they supposed that, as soon as the new Governor was firmly seated at Trenton, he would wink benevolently in their direction, shake the political plum-tree, and stand aside while his political friends, who had Hrolled up their sleeves to work for his election, picked up the luscious fruit. No wonder that, upon awakening from, their sweet dream and seeing that he not only failed to tip them the expected wink, but actually warned them to keep their feetioff the grass and their hands off the plums, they rubbed their eyes with amazement. Was it possible that this theorist, this unpractical dreamer, was going back on the 'Warwicks who had made him, merely for the sake of keeping a silly promise to the dear gullible people? It was hard to believe. Yet it proved to be only too true. So they gnashed their teeth and girded up their loins, and prepared to crush the impudent ingrate and toss back his mangled remains into the scholastic obscurity whence they had unwisely plucked him for the nonce. Such was their plan. But they were yet to learn the tremendous power of a great heart, a great brain, a will of adamant and the courage of a lion, when combined in a man of fascinating personality and wonderful gift of speech. The battle was joined. But the issue was never doubtful. Taking the people into his confidence, explaining to them and to the legislature the necessity of keeping faith, explaining to them in clear, terse English, intelli- gible to all, the reasons for the progressive measures that he had proposed, Governor Wilson shivered to bits the machine that was to have rolled. over