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

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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

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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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5 CORKS AND CURLS VOLXXVI his prostrate form. Smith was not elected to the Senateg the progressive .laws were passed, and Governor Wilson loomed up before the publlc as a national figure of the first magnitude. ' .V The story of the Baltimore Convention cannot here be retold. One incident, however, should be noted, since it showed Wilson to be, not the grasping office-seeker, but the chivalrous gentleman. The rule of the Demo- cratic party has always been to name no one as its presidential candidate who has not secured two-thirds of the delegates to the nominating convention. But, when Champ Clark had' gotten, not two-thirds, but a bare majority, Woodrow Wilson promptly telegraphed to William T. lVlcCombs, his man- ager, to withdraw his name. It was the generous thing to do-as natural, to such a man, as breathing. But then was shown how firm was' the friendship of his friends, how closely he had grappled them to his soul with hoops of steel, how unfaltering was their faith 'in him and in the policies for which he stood. F or McCombs and his lieutenants refused to withdraw Wilson,s name, and the wisdom of their decision was shown by the result. Moreover Wilson's generous conduct toward Clark was to bear good fruit in the subsequent came paign. For, while Clark was embittered by Bryan's ceasing to support him he could feel no bitterness toward Wilson himself, but gave him his loyal support. - i , A To say that Wilson is wholly incapable of pecuniary corruption is to say little. For there are, fortunately, a good many people beyond the reach of a vulgar bribe. But there are subtler forms of corruption that overcome many men who could not be bought outright for cash. Some of these forms are so subtle as not to be recognized by every one as corruption at all, so subtle as to be even commended as virtues. Such, for example, is what is known among politicians as gratitude, or standing by one's friends. According to this code of ethics, if A supports B for an ofhce, or, indeed, assists him in any way, it is B's duty to support A for another ofhce, noimatter if there be other candidates much fitter for its duties. Not to do so is to be guilty of Hingratitudefl But Woodrow Wilson well knows that this code of political ethics is at bottom, and in principle, the same as that prevailing among bands of outlaws and robbers. I-le knows that there may be honor among thieves, as there may be among the members of a political ring-honorable conduct toward each other, and mutual aid inthe ruthless plunder of the public. l-le fully believes in political organization for purely political purposes, that is, for the purpose of electing proper men and passing proper laws, But he is the