TItE SUNDAY"' OREGOyTAN. POTtTTiAXD.' AUGUST 15. 1915.
eECEEXASY
WE HAVE tha word of Colonel
George Harvey for H that when
President WUon was selecting
hl Cabinet be completely exhausted hi
available material before h bad choeen
a Secretary of War and that then In
the quiet of Me Seagirt home, the
President-elect ran over a telephone
book until he chanced upon the name
af Garrison. '
"Garrison War." aald the President.
"There Just the man!"
Certain it la that when LJndley M.
Garrleon waa made Secretary of War
la the WlUon Cabinet be waa not much
of a National figure. And the fame
that has coma to htm since baa been
thrust upon him by circumstances. Had
the present Administration not en
countered a European war and the Na
tional defense Issue Mr. Garrison prob
ably would be little known to the sen
oral public throughout the country to
day. Ho would bare made, no doubt,
one of those records of efficient ad
ministration which are apt to keep
their lights hidden.
Mr. Garrison la by all odds tho poor
est advertiser In public life today. But
that Is hia short and weak suit. He
la used to guiding Juries, to Instruct
1ns; them In the law and to keeping
their deliberations straight. But he la
not nsed to "being- In the Jury box."
He Is not sympathetically awayed with
them through sentimental considera
tions. The professional publicist Is very apt
to bo of the Jury-box type. Mr. Garri
son la not a professional publicist. In
fact, bo wouldn't even make a good
amateur.
Ho la above all a man of logic ir
Ton want to carry a point with Mr.
Garrison, go to htm with facta, not
with sentiment. Ho views every propo
sition of National life la accordance,
with the facts aa nearly as be can de
termine them, and he doea some very
hard working and thinking to deter
mine them.
It la natural that a maa of thla
character, being placed In tho same
Cabinet with William J. Bryan, should
always be Judged and viewed la com
parison with Mr. Bryan. They are aa
different as chalk and cheese. Every
- thing that Mr. Bryan la Mr. Garrison
Is not. and vice versa. Practically every
Issue that came up beforo the Cabinet
found Mr. Garrison at ono extreme and
Mr. Bryan at the other.
Now It cannot be doubted that Mr.
Bryan peculiar nd Intuitive ability
to sens public sentiment U his great
est strength. It Is also hla greatest
weakness, because ho Is swayed ao
utterly with this public sentiment that
he cannot oppose It- .He cannot con
alder or weigh facta to determine
whether hla emotion ahould be over
come In reaching a conclusion. It la
this characteristic of Mr. Bryan which
la. at the same time, his weakness and
his strength.
As to Mr. Oarrison. Just the opposite
Is true. Ho cannot allow public senti
ment or sentimentality to blind him to
the facta. Hia mind cleaves to the logi
cal course, as euro aa the sun follows
Its way through the heavens. That It
sis greatest strength. But It Is also
fcla weakness. If yoo would deny that.
Mr. Garrison himself would not. He
sees too clearly himself not to realise
the strength that hla natural opponent.
Mr. Bryan, receives from his ability to
feel the pulse of the masses. And he
knows that In political matters that
fact would handicap him against Mr.
Bryan. Logic, his fealty to all that rs
logical, la at tho same tlmo Mr. Garri
son's strength and bis weakness.
In a race to carry the public that
Is. a political race Mr. Bryan probably
would "get the Jump" at the go-off.
Mr. Garrison would have to wait until
tho public saw tho facta. Then he
would overtake and pass Mr. Bryan
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Mr. Bryan came Into a Cabinet together I; was a fight of tremendous pro- Garrison had fought through two years way or Mr. Ga"lson's " f 8
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n.ia.n wnn am in Turin ....-. . . .
He is a quiet and peaceful man who
has a hobby of minding his own busi
ness. If a question arises which does
urn tho War Department and
which does not affect his duties as a
member of the Cabinet it is absolutely
impossible to get an expression of
opinion out of Mr. GarrUon. He con
ceives that he was selected to run the.
War Department, and he is doing that
with all his ability, and he Is doing
nothing else save, of course, when his
opinions upon other matters of state
are requested in Cabinet councils.
. Born, no doubt, of the idea that the
present extraordinary circumstances
which confront the country demand
the election of a conservative, logical
and efficient man as President in
1916, there are many persons here who
are getting the impression that Mr.
Garrison would make good Presiden
tial timber if it should happen that
Woodrow Wilson would not accept a
renomination. Mr. Garrison would
probably make that sort of excellent
President which people generally ex
pect to get out a commission form of
government In municipalities. His
election would mean putting a general
manager In charge. He would be a
professional man hired to do the Job
right That would be an extraordi
nary sort of President a sort which
might be required, however, for extra
ordinary times.
In ordinary times Mr. Garrison
would probably lack utterly that
political capital necessary to the cre
ation of a Presidental candidate. But
in these extraordinary times It is fore
seen here that very possibly the na
tional defence Issue may become of
such overwhelming Importance politic
ally that Mr. Garrison, as the cham
pion of a sane and scientific defense
and of a sane, scientific and virile
manner of handling. the nation's fpr
eign policies, may be lifted aloft be
fore the public- eye with a political
capital which politicians could not
Ignore.
As distinctly different as it sounds
from that which is usually heard in
the field of politics. It Is not incon
ceivable, to the minds of many here,
that the time may come when the
American jreople will consider the fol
lowing words of Mr. Garrison a good
political placform:
"No sensible mind can believe that
we will be more forceful In attaining
our aspirations for peace because of
an open exhibition of feebleness and
weakness in the solving of existing
problems. The voice which is firm
and clear, which is heard and heeded,
proceeds from the strong, sound, virile
man pledged in word and. deed to
righteousness. Those who hope to be
in tho van of a great movement to
alter the current of human history and
establish a new era (the establishment
of universal peace is referred to) must
show themselves to be courageous and
wise and self-respecting in the way
they have handled the duties enjoined
upon them in their national life. Hid
eous as is the face of war, abhorrent
as are the evils consequent upon it.
Its results in the long run cannot be
so fatal to a nation as would be the
failure of that nation to courageously
and fearlessly ascertain its duty and
do it The former, terrible as they are.
are evanescent and can be repaired; the
latter eat into and consume the very
sources of virtue and destroy the Na
tional life at its core."
These words were spoken by Mr.
Garrison to a peace conference a few
months ago. They attracted far less
... 1 ! . U n tllAV TX- rt 11 1 H If lit-
tered now. Had they been spoisen threa
or four years ago how utterly academic
the discussion would have sounded. Js
it possible that their interest and im
port to the people of this country will
grow with equal strides for the next
two years?
This Fall Mr. Garrison will . urge
upon the people of the United States
the adoption of a military policy. He
has been working upon this problem
almost unceasingly for the last two
years. He has been burning the mid
night oil over the details of It for the
last six months. A few days ago a
statement issued from tho White House
resulted in some speculation about this
policy, and finally Mr. Garrison was
urged to cast a little light on It. He
refused flatly. His reason was that
he wants the people to see the whole
proportioned policy. His objective is
not to .obtain- a newspaper headline
but to convince the people.
In ordinary times there is not a
student of politics in Washington who
would not tell you that Mr. Garrison
is going about the business of getting
this policy adopted In tho wrong way.
By this they mean that he Is going
about it resolved not to compromise.
I say resolved not to compromise, but
that is hardly the way to put It. Mr.
Garrison never considers the idea of
compromising. That simply isn't the
way his mind works.
Certain of the politicians who are
fearful of the effect upon their polite
ical fortunes of this policy to be rec
ommended by Mr. Garrison have aU
tempted to compromise with him.
These gentlemen don't think much of
Mr. Garrison's amiability and hospl-.
tality.
Yet Mr. Garrison is the most even
tempered and amiable of men. Duis
lng all the time of his association la
tho Cabinet with Mr. Bryan the two
men, diametrically opposed upon every
issue and in the end engaged in a fight
which was certain to lead to the res
ignation of one or the other, never had
a personal unpleasantness.
As to his military policy, Mr. Garri
son merely conceives it as his sacred
duty to tell the people of the United
States the unadultered truth about
what ho thinks they need. He has
reached his conclusions after labori
ous study of the problem, and he has
balanced the policy upon which he has
decided until he knows absolutely that
it conforms to every fact in the situa
tion. He is going to lay this policy
before the people with the facts.
Whether Congress votes in favor of
tho policy or trims and compromises on
it is a question for the people, through
Congress, to decide. That Is their
business, and should be, because they
take the consequences of the act. But
they will first hear the situation pre
sented by Mr. Garrison, with every fact
made bare and plain.
Now, it is regarded as almost axio
matic in Washington that this is the
wrong way to do business. The cus
tomary way is to dicker with Congress,
to consider thfe revenues, tho needs of
the Representatives on other appro
priation bills and then to ask some 50
per cent more than you need to get in
order to allow a margin for "econ
omy." And it is unquestionably true
that in ordinary times that system
works best. Political expediency con
trols most of the time.
The one hope that Mr. Garrison has
of making a real success of his recom
mendations lies in the fact that these
are extraordinary times. And even if
the effort should fall this Winter, Mr.
Garrison can feel that his effort Is not
lost If he Impresses upon tho publio
his views as to the problem of Na
tional defense. Going to the voter di
rect and appealing to his reason may
be the slowest way to accomplish re
sults, but when the results are ob
tained they are apt to be complete
results, which the political expediency
that certain of our publio characters
are guided by alone and the Intuitive
swaying with the masses that controls
others will never obtain in the wide
world.
Whether or not it is true that Mr.
Garrison was selected for the Cabinet
(Concluded on Psga 6 )
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