Death of Lansing

Few men were as eager for the portfolio of Secretary of State. Few were as well qualified by experience. Ever since his college days at Amherst, Robert Lansing's sphere of interest had been worldwide. At 28 he was associate counsel for the U. S. in the Behring Sea Arbitration. Later he represented his country in more international controversies than any other living man. As Under Secretary in 1914 he was the real functionary in Washington while Secretary William Jennings Bryan preached Pacifism throughout the country. Once Mr. Lansing was aroused from bed to digress on international law. It was held "unnecessary to disturb Mr. Bryan." In the tense crescendo of feeling which led to the War, Mr. Lansing succeeded Mr. Bryan, was shrewd, logical, firm. He squashed propaganda, refused to be gulled by German Ambassador von Bernstorff. Elihu Root remarked an improvement in state papers.

Naturally, when President Wilson went to the Versailles Conference he took the Secretary of State. Mr. Lansing opposed linking the League Covenant with the Peace Treaty, was antagonistic to the Treaty itself. He had many erudite theories. But President Wilson had long felt the onrush of foes, foreign & domestic. His visionary ardor had become imperiousness, self-sufficiency. He conferred with the Secretary only once, ignored his ideas. Robert Lansing impotently watched the wise foreign diplomats, wrote in his diary that Mr. Wilson was a "catspaw." The forcible, white-haired Secretary was himself not even permitted the directed force of a paw. His role was mere ritual. Often he pondered resigning, often refrained.

Then came the climax. Back in the U. S., the President suffered a collapse. The incessant conflict between ideals and adamant realities had begun shattering his nerves. Even Private Secretary Tumulty was denied access to the sick man. Minor crises arose. Spurred by certain Cabinet members, Mr. Lansing called informal conferences. In the distorted imagination of the invalid President this seemed usurpation of authority. The harried idealist, taut with mental anguish, was goaded by a final sense of frustration. He complained. Mr. Lansing resigned.

The Secretary's experience aroused no bitterness. In his writings on the peace negotiations he analyzed President Wilson with the lucidity, penetration, impartiality of a psychologist. He testified to an understanding, a sense of human tragedy which transcended the personal equation. Last week he died of heart disease in Washington, D. C.