If,  then,  a  consideration  of  President  Wilson's  char
acter  and  characteristics  is  prefaced  with  two  simple  facts,
all  of  the  much-declared  Mystery-Man  disappears  and  he

365


366     The  Wilson  Administration  and  the  Great  War

appears  what  he  actually  is — the  Human-Man  and  the  more
likable.  The  old  rule  of  the  Latin  poet  still  holds :  Never
call  in  the  gods  to  help  out  of  a  difficulty  until  the  necessity
arises.  It  is  most  unfortunate  for  history  that  too  many
"interpreters"  felt  that  the  necessity  was  upon  them.  And
the  two  simple  facts  that  they  so  constantly  overlooked  are,
first,  that  President  Wilson_had  an  .over weening,  arnbition.
for  personal  ends;  second,  that  his  own  chosen  channels  for
accomplishing  his  purposes  were  often  outside  the  limits  set
by  present  moral  standards  of  society.  Keeping  in  mind  at
all  times  these  two  facts,  much,  if  not  all,  of  the  so-called
mystery  attaching  to  Mr.  Wilson  dissolves  as  readily  as
the  veil  of  mist  in  the  bright  sunshine.  Then  much  of  the
otherwise  inexplicable  is  explained  and  many  of  the  acts
of  Mr.  Wilson  that  have  seemed  strange  are  easily  under
stood.
If,  indeed,  those  who  have  made  him  to  appear  largely
as  a  Man  of  Mystery,  as  Herron,  Hapgood,  Creel,  Baker,
and  Tumulty,  had  ceased  "interpreting"  him  and  his  acts
for  the  people,  there  would  have  been  no  mystery;  and  if
President  Wilson's  methods  had  been  other  than  of  the
clandestine  and  furtive  type,  if  he  had  dealt  frankly  with
the  people  and  their  representatives,  there  had  been  no  need
of  "interpreters"  of  him  and  his  acts  of  administration.
