Cary T. Grayson Diary
Title
Cary T. Grayson Diary
Creator
Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938
Identifier
WWP17213
Date
1919 July 1
Description
An entry in Cary T. Grayson's diary from the Paris Peace Conference, dated 29 June 1919.
Source
Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, Virginia
Language
English
Text
The President slept very late and after breakfast went to his office to resume work on his Message to Congress. However, he found probably for the first time in his entire life that his work of the day before had not satisfied him, so he was forced to begin all over. In characterizing this the President said that he had made a false start; that he was compelled to give more attention to what was being done in this case than ever before, because he had very little respect for the audience to which he would deliver the address. He said that if he thought more of the Congress, he might be able to do a better job, but that he was forced to remember that it was impossible to reason out of a man something that had not been reasoned into him.
The President had as luncheon guests Mr. Ray Stannard Baker and Mr. HJohn E. Nevin. The luncheon was a most delightful affair. The President was in splendid form, and it was very apparent that the voyage was doing him a world of good. Discussing the message that he planned to deliver to Congress, he said that he wanted to be sure that it would fill the bill; he did not want it when completed to resemble that famous Latin problem, which, literally translated into English, reads: “The mighty mountain labored and brought forth a miserable mouse.”
After lunch the President talked about the difference between Old World and American tradition. He said that he had read an article in a magazine by the head of the American Expeditionary Forces College at Beaune. This article declared that America had no tradition, and the President said there was enough truth to it to be disturbing. He said that as a matter of fact even Jefferson was only a book personage to the majority of the people of America. This, he said, was not the fact in England especially. There families have lived for generations in the same place; their family traditions are wellknown, and they are proud of the individuality of their noted men of history. He referred to the fact that it was very likely the war would change a great deal of this.
Speaking of scenery, the President said that he thought the English lake region was about the prettiest he had ever seen. He described the various valleys in which the lakes are situated, with the mountain in the center and the valleys radiating out like spokes from a wheel. He and Baker commented upon this, and the talk then turned to American University life. The President said that so far as our American universities were concerned they were conservative to the utmost degree. Baker wanted to know why this was so, calling attention to the fact that many revolutions in Europe have started from the universities, while our universities are everything that is the opposite of revolutionary in sentiment. The President expressed the belief that there was a very good ground for this. He said that in his opinion the universities were not a center of interest for the student - rather the fraternities and the clubs were the one thing that the student aspired to. In other words, he said, that it was a case of the side-shows overshadowing the big circus. He said that he had found a great deal of conservatism in Princeton, and referred to the fight which he had carried on while head of that institution. He said that it was astonishing how so many students failed even to know the officials of the universities which they attended, citing a case where he had rebuked a band of students at Princeton for stoning the windows of a house only to find out through the personal confession to him of one of the party a year later that they had not known who it was. He also told of an incident in Princeton when he swent into a hardware store to purchase a screw-driver; he got it from a salesman to whom he had talked on many occasions. When he asked him whether he would not send it up to the house, the salesman said he would be glad to do so, and then asked him, “What is your name and where is your address?”
He also said that on one occasion a man had called on the long-distance telephone and asked for him only to be told by the girl in charge of the university switchboard that there was no such individual in Princeton as Woodrow Wilson, although he was at the time President of the University.
In contrast to this the President told of his visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, at the time Princeton was arranging for the celebration of its 150th Anniversary. He went there to invite a noted professor to attend. This professor, the President declared, was “dry as toast”, and his favorite topics were those on psychology. He went to the place but lost his way in the maze of circuitous streets that are characteristic of the Scottish city. He stopped a postman for who was in uniform but not on his route and asked him if he could tell him where No. 10 Queen Circle is. The postman said: “That would be Professor McCorkle’s, Sir. Yes, I know where it is. I will show you.” The President said that it was a mile away but it simply illustrated that the Scottish people took pride in their noted men and knew where they lived regardless of the subjects upon which they wrote.
The President said that one of the troubles with American history was that most of it has been written by New Englanders, and they have treated the development of the United States merely as the expansion of New England. He related an incident where he had told a noted historian thrat he thought this was so, only to be amazed by the historian insisting that this actually was the case. The President said that the real America was an expansion going out into the form of an ever-increasing wedge from Manhattan Island, following the settlement there of the Holland Dutch. He said that in his opinion New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were the original American states, rather than New England. It was the President’s view that New England was settled by the Puritans, while Virginia and the South was developed by the Cavaliers; and that New York, Pennsylvania, and the States further West were the first actual melting-pot, where the races of the world were amalgamated into Americans. He said that the South for the most part was settled by Scotch and English, and Louisiana by the French, and that the South had never had to absorb the mass of races that had come into the other States.
After luncheon the President resumed work on his Message to Congress. His dinner guests this evening were Ambassador and Madame Jusserand. After dinner he attended the moving pictures.
The President had as luncheon guests Mr. Ray Stannard Baker and Mr. HJohn E. Nevin. The luncheon was a most delightful affair. The President was in splendid form, and it was very apparent that the voyage was doing him a world of good. Discussing the message that he planned to deliver to Congress, he said that he wanted to be sure that it would fill the bill; he did not want it when completed to resemble that famous Latin problem, which, literally translated into English, reads: “The mighty mountain labored and brought forth a miserable mouse.”
After lunch the President talked about the difference between Old World and American tradition. He said that he had read an article in a magazine by the head of the American Expeditionary Forces College at Beaune. This article declared that America had no tradition, and the President said there was enough truth to it to be disturbing. He said that as a matter of fact even Jefferson was only a book personage to the majority of the people of America. This, he said, was not the fact in England especially. There families have lived for generations in the same place; their family traditions are wellknown, and they are proud of the individuality of their noted men of history. He referred to the fact that it was very likely the war would change a great deal of this.
Speaking of scenery, the President said that he thought the English lake region was about the prettiest he had ever seen. He described the various valleys in which the lakes are situated, with the mountain in the center and the valleys radiating out like spokes from a wheel. He and Baker commented upon this, and the talk then turned to American University life. The President said that so far as our American universities were concerned they were conservative to the utmost degree. Baker wanted to know why this was so, calling attention to the fact that many revolutions in Europe have started from the universities, while our universities are everything that is the opposite of revolutionary in sentiment. The President expressed the belief that there was a very good ground for this. He said that in his opinion the universities were not a center of interest for the student - rather the fraternities and the clubs were the one thing that the student aspired to. In other words, he said, that it was a case of the side-shows overshadowing the big circus. He said that he had found a great deal of conservatism in Princeton, and referred to the fight which he had carried on while head of that institution. He said that it was astonishing how so many students failed even to know the officials of the universities which they attended, citing a case where he had rebuked a band of students at Princeton for stoning the windows of a house only to find out through the personal confession to him of one of the party a year later that they had not known who it was. He also told of an incident in Princeton when he swent into a hardware store to purchase a screw-driver; he got it from a salesman to whom he had talked on many occasions. When he asked him whether he would not send it up to the house, the salesman said he would be glad to do so, and then asked him, “What is your name and where is your address?”
He also said that on one occasion a man had called on the long-distance telephone and asked for him only to be told by the girl in charge of the university switchboard that there was no such individual in Princeton as Woodrow Wilson, although he was at the time President of the University.
In contrast to this the President told of his visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, at the time Princeton was arranging for the celebration of its 150th Anniversary. He went there to invite a noted professor to attend. This professor, the President declared, was “dry as toast”, and his favorite topics were those on psychology. He went to the place but lost his way in the maze of circuitous streets that are characteristic of the Scottish city. He stopped a postman for who was in uniform but not on his route and asked him if he could tell him where No. 10 Queen Circle is. The postman said: “That would be Professor McCorkle’s, Sir. Yes, I know where it is. I will show you.” The President said that it was a mile away but it simply illustrated that the Scottish people took pride in their noted men and knew where they lived regardless of the subjects upon which they wrote.
The President said that one of the troubles with American history was that most of it has been written by New Englanders, and they have treated the development of the United States merely as the expansion of New England. He related an incident where he had told a noted historian thrat he thought this was so, only to be amazed by the historian insisting that this actually was the case. The President said that the real America was an expansion going out into the form of an ever-increasing wedge from Manhattan Island, following the settlement there of the Holland Dutch. He said that in his opinion New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were the original American states, rather than New England. It was the President’s view that New England was settled by the Puritans, while Virginia and the South was developed by the Cavaliers; and that New York, Pennsylvania, and the States further West were the first actual melting-pot, where the races of the world were amalgamated into Americans. He said that the South for the most part was settled by Scotch and English, and Louisiana by the French, and that the South had never had to absorb the mass of races that had come into the other States.
After luncheon the President resumed work on his Message to Congress. His dinner guests this evening were Ambassador and Madame Jusserand. After dinner he attended the moving pictures.
Original Format
Diary
Files
Collection
Citation
Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938, “Cary T. Grayson Diary,” 1919 July 1, WWP17213, Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.