Martin H. Glynn to Cary T. Grayson
Title
Martin H. Glynn to Cary T. Grayson
Creator
Glynn, Martin Henry, 1871-1924
Identifier
WWP15677
Date
1919 February 27
Description
Martin H. Glynn sends Cary T. Grayson a newspaper clipping from the Albany Times Union.
Source
Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, Virginia
Text
My Dear Admiral Grayson
I enclose you an Editorial from last night’s Times Union which may interest you somewhat. Maybe it might interest the President.
Sincerely yours,
Martin H. Glynn
-------------------------------------
A Fact Whether You Like It Or Not
Whether you like it or not, it remains an indisputable fact that Woodrow Wilson comes back to America the biggest man who has sat around the peace table at Paris.
When he went abroad, his enemies were glad of it. They said “over there,” among those seasoned diplomats, he will meet his match and more than his match. Well, these croakers have turned out bad prophets.
Woodrow Wilson has repeated Caesar’s “Veni, vidi, vici,”—only he did it with reason instead of the sword. He has not met his match. He has proved himself the Nestor of the Peace Conference, the Good Samaritan of the world.
Ask any fair-minded journalist recently home from Paris; ask any prominent official of the Red Cross just home from Europe; ask any general, any colonel, any officer, any soldier not afraid to talk, and irrespective of politics, eight out of ten of them reply “Woodrow Wilson is the biggest man in Europe.”
We have met scores of men who have seen the wheels go round in Europe since the President landed in France, and this reply is the burden of their talk.
Only the other day we had converse with a prominent Republican just back from Europe. He is a man who won an international reputation for his work for the Red Cross, and occupies a prominent place in the banking world of America. And he said:
“The masses of Europe idolize Woodrow Wilson. They believe he will shatter the shackles of ages and make men free. They believe he will write the Golden Rule into the International Law of the world. And I believe that he can upset any ministry in Europe and drive out of power any ruling party across the sea.”
And so goes the story from man after man.
And why is this unprecedented historical thing so?
Because Woodrow Wilson stands for the ideal of the same plain, ordinary, everyday justice and right being enforced among the nations that centuries of civilization have succeeded in building up between individuals of a democratic country like the United States. He insists that among governments should prevail the same laws and rules as make life worth living for individuals. He is insisting that common honesty, common justice, and common decency should rule in the relations between all the nations of the globe.
And the man with this creed is invincible. The man who makes this dogma his political gospel cannot be defeated. So this is the reason why to-day Woodrow Wilson is stronger among the masses of England than Lloyd George, stronger among the masses of France than Clemenceau. This is the reason why the blood-sucked, tyrant-ridden, age-oppressed peoples of Europe see in Woodrow Wilson the savior of their hopes, the conserver of their ideals.
The great struggling masses of Europe believe that Woodrow Wilson is bearer of a new dispensation that will give to men a just reward for the sweat of their brow and place the reign of reason above the despotism of the sword, the diadem of justice above the roar of the cannon.
This program of Woodrow Wilson’s—for the peace of the world, the happiness of mankind is the most sublime pronunciamento the world has seen in nearly two thousand years.
It may have flaws, it may have defects, it may need amendment, it may cry for modification here and improvement there—but in its essence and its purpose it is nearer to right and closer to justice than any set of principles enunciated since the Sermon on the Mount.
For this reason it is going to win despite all the partisan roarers in the world and all the selfish jingoes this side of the murky river Styx.
I enclose you an Editorial from last night’s Times Union which may interest you somewhat. Maybe it might interest the President.
Sincerely yours,
Martin H. Glynn
-------------------------------------
A Fact Whether You Like It Or Not
Whether you like it or not, it remains an indisputable fact that Woodrow Wilson comes back to America the biggest man who has sat around the peace table at Paris.
When he went abroad, his enemies were glad of it. They said “over there,” among those seasoned diplomats, he will meet his match and more than his match. Well, these croakers have turned out bad prophets.
Woodrow Wilson has repeated Caesar’s “Veni, vidi, vici,”—only he did it with reason instead of the sword. He has not met his match. He has proved himself the Nestor of the Peace Conference, the Good Samaritan of the world.
Ask any fair-minded journalist recently home from Paris; ask any prominent official of the Red Cross just home from Europe; ask any general, any colonel, any officer, any soldier not afraid to talk, and irrespective of politics, eight out of ten of them reply “Woodrow Wilson is the biggest man in Europe.”
We have met scores of men who have seen the wheels go round in Europe since the President landed in France, and this reply is the burden of their talk.
Only the other day we had converse with a prominent Republican just back from Europe. He is a man who won an international reputation for his work for the Red Cross, and occupies a prominent place in the banking world of America. And he said:
“The masses of Europe idolize Woodrow Wilson. They believe he will shatter the shackles of ages and make men free. They believe he will write the Golden Rule into the International Law of the world. And I believe that he can upset any ministry in Europe and drive out of power any ruling party across the sea.”
And so goes the story from man after man.
And why is this unprecedented historical thing so?
Because Woodrow Wilson stands for the ideal of the same plain, ordinary, everyday justice and right being enforced among the nations that centuries of civilization have succeeded in building up between individuals of a democratic country like the United States. He insists that among governments should prevail the same laws and rules as make life worth living for individuals. He is insisting that common honesty, common justice, and common decency should rule in the relations between all the nations of the globe.
And the man with this creed is invincible. The man who makes this dogma his political gospel cannot be defeated. So this is the reason why to-day Woodrow Wilson is stronger among the masses of England than Lloyd George, stronger among the masses of France than Clemenceau. This is the reason why the blood-sucked, tyrant-ridden, age-oppressed peoples of Europe see in Woodrow Wilson the savior of their hopes, the conserver of their ideals.
The great struggling masses of Europe believe that Woodrow Wilson is bearer of a new dispensation that will give to men a just reward for the sweat of their brow and place the reign of reason above the despotism of the sword, the diadem of justice above the roar of the cannon.
This program of Woodrow Wilson’s—for the peace of the world, the happiness of mankind is the most sublime pronunciamento the world has seen in nearly two thousand years.
It may have flaws, it may have defects, it may need amendment, it may cry for modification here and improvement there—but in its essence and its purpose it is nearer to right and closer to justice than any set of principles enunciated since the Sermon on the Mount.
For this reason it is going to win despite all the partisan roarers in the world and all the selfish jingoes this side of the murky river Styx.
Original Format
Letter
To
Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938
Files
Collection
Citation
Glynn, Martin Henry, 1871-1924, “Martin H. Glynn to Cary T. Grayson,” 1919 February 27, WWP15677, Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.