American History: Wilson Urges Support for Idea of League of Nations

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BOB DOUGHTY: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English.

After the end of World War One, President Woodrow Wilson sought national support for his idea of a League of Nations. He took his appeal directly to the American people in the summer of nineteen nineteen.

This week in our series, Tony Riggs and Frank Oliver continue the story of Wilson's campaign.

TONY RIGGS: The plan for the League of Nations was part of the peace treaty that ended World War One. By law, the United States Senate would have to vote on the treaty. President Wilson believed the Senate would have to approve it if the American people demanded it. So he went to the people for support.

For almost a month, Wilson traveled across America. He stopped in many places to speak about the need for the League of Nations. He said the league was the only hope for world peace. It was the only way to prevent another world war.

Wilson's health grew worse during the long journey across the country. He became increasingly weak and suffered from severe headaches. In Witchita, Kansas, he had a small stroke. A blood vessel burst inside his brain. He was forced to return to Washington.

FRANK OLIVER: For a few days, President Wilson's condition improved. Then, his wife found him lying unconscious on the floor of his bedroom in the White House. Wilson had lost all feeling in the left side of his body. He was near death.

The president's advisers kept his condition secret from almost everyone. They told reporters only that Wilson was suffering from a nervous breakdown.

For the next few days, the medical reports from the White House were always the same. They said Mister Wilson's condition had not changed.

People began to wonder. Were they being told the truth. Some people began to believe that the president was, in fact, dead. Vice President Thomas Marshall was worried. If the president died or could not govern, then he – Marshall -- would become president. But even Vice President Marshall could get no information from Wilson's doctors.

TONY RIGGS:  After several weeks, the president seemed to get a little stronger. He was still very weak. He could not work, except to sign several bills. This simple act took most of his strength.

Wilson's wife Edith guarded her husband closely. She alone decided who could see him. She alone decided what information he could receive. All letters and messages to Woodrow Wilson were given first to Edith Wilson. She decided if they were important enough for him to see. Most, she decided, were not. She also prevented members of the cabinet and other government officials from communicating with him directly.

Mrs. Wilson's actions made many people suspect that she -- not her husband -- was governing the country. Some spoke of her as the nation's first woman president.

loc.gov

Woodrow Wilson and his wife, Edith

FRANK OLIVER: There was one issue Mrs. Wilson did discuss with her husband: the League of Nations.

The Senate was completing debate on the Treaty of Versailles. That was the World War One peace agreement that contained Wilson's plan for the league. It seemed clear the Senate would reject the treaty. Too many Senators feared the United States would lose some of its independence and freedom if it joined the league.

The leader of Wilson's political party in the Senate, Gilbert Hitchcock, headed the administration campaign to win support for the treaty. He received Mrs. Wilson's permission to visit her husband.

Hitchcock told the president the situation was hopeless. He said the Senate would not approve the treaty unless several changes were made to protect American independence. If the president accepted the changes, then the treaty might pass.

TONY RIGGS:  Wilson refused. He would accept no compromise. He said the treaty must be approved as written.

Senator Hitchcock made one more attempt to get Wilson to reconsider. On the day the Senate planned to vote on the treaty, he went back to the White House. He told Mrs. Wilson that compromise offered the only hope for success.

Mrs. Wilson went into the president's room while Hitchcock waited. She asked her husband: "Will you not accept the changes and get this thing settled?" He answered: "I cannot. Better a thousand times to go down fighting than to surrender to dishonorable compromise."

FRANK OLIVER: The Senate voted. Hitchcock's fears proved correct. The treaty was defeated. The defeat ended Wilson's dream of American membership in the League of Nations.

Mrs. Wilson gave the news to her husband. He was silent for a long time. Then he said: "I must get well."

Woodrow Wilson was extremely sick. Yet he was not the kind of man who accepted opposition or defeat easily. From his sick bed, he wrote a letter to the other members of the Democratic Party. He urged them to continue debate on the League of Nations. He said a majority of Americans wanted the treaty approved.

Wilson probably was correct about this. Most Americans did approve of membership in the League of Nations. But they also wanted to be sure membership would not restrict American independence.

TONY RIGGS: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee agreed to re-open discussion on the treaty. It searched yet again for a compromise. It made new efforts to get Wilson to accept some changes.

But, as before, Wilson refused. He was a proud man. And he thought many of the Senators were evil men trying to destroy his plan for international peace.

Wilson's unwillingness to compromise helped kill the treaty once and for all. The Senate finally voted again, and the treaty was defeated by seven votes. The treaty was dead. The United States would never enter the League of Nations. And one of the most emotional and personal stories in the making of the American nation had ended.

FRANK OLIVER: The long battle over the Treaty of Versailles ended with political defeat for Woodrow Wilson. Yet history would prove him correct.

Wilson had warned time and again during the debate that a terrible war would result if the world did not come together to protect the peace. Twenty years later, war came. The First World War had been called 'the war to end all wars'. But it was not. And the Second World War would be far more destructive than the first.

TONY RIGGS: The debate over the Treaty of Versailles was the central issue in American politics during the end of Woodrow Wilson's administration. It also played a major part in the presidential election of nineteen twenty.

Wilson himself could not be a candidate again. He was much too sick. So the Democratic Party nominated a former governor of Ohio, James Cox. Cox shared Wilson's opinion that the United States should join the League of Nations. He campaigned actively for American membership.

The Republican Party chose Senator Warren Harding as its candidate for president. Harding campaigned by promising a return to what he called 'normal times'. He said it was time for America to stop arguing about international events and start thinking about itself again.

loc.gov

Woodrow Wilson and Warren Harding during Harding's inauguration

FRANK OLIVER: The two presidential candidates gave the American people a clear choice in the election of nineteen twenty.

On one side was Democrat James Cox. He represented the dream of Woodrow Wilson. In this dream, the world would be at peace. And America would be a world leader that would fight for the freedom and human rights of people everywhere.

On the other side was Republican Warren Harding. He represented an inward-looking America. It was an America that felt it had sacrificed enough for other people. Now it would deal with its own problems.

Warren Harding won the election.

TONY RIGGS: The results of the election shocked and hurt Woodrow Wilson. He could not understand why the people had turned from him and his dream of international unity and peace. But the fact was that America was entering a new period in its history. For a long time, it would turn its energy away from the world beyond its borders.

That will be our story next week.

(MUSIC)

BOB DOUGHTY: Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Tony Riggs and Frank Oliver.

You can find our series online with transcripts, MP3s, podcasts and images at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.

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This is program #16
3

1º Latin American and Caribbean conference in Juazeiro do Norte

                                  From the right to left, Carlos (tour guide), Carlinhos from Parelhas, Yves, SEBRAE/Currais Novos and Professor Marcos from UFRN

                                 Yves SEBRAE RN, and Carlinhos from Parelhas

                                  Carlos' Tour Guide and Yves-SEBRAE

                                  GEO SITE-ARARIPE Region of fossils 

" The Araripe Geopark is located in Cariri, region of outstanding curiosities, inhabited for a cordial and cheerful people, with a rare culture of colours and flavors. Only in this area it's possible to see 59 official geo-sites showing that diversities and presenting a singular way, be it scientifically, pedagogic, Cultural values."

                                  Fossil

" Statue of Padre Cicero the main Icon of Religious tourism located in Juazeiro do Norte, in Ceara State whose it attracts pilgrims come from different region of The Northeast of Brazil. Padre Cicero also predicted and anticipates ecological precepts teaching the local farmers how to survive and struggle on the dryness and how to keep the back country always green. initiative very disseminated nowadays and that could be considerate an important contribution for the environmental  and Education awareness.

Padre Cicero said: " Do not turn down the Forest, even only one tree. Do not burn the farm even in the caatinga. Do a cistern on your house to keep the rain water. do not create the animals free, make enclosers and leave the pasture rest to remake it".

Padre Cicero is considered by Northeastern as a Saint that's why over 3 million people going to Juazeiro do Norte city in order to pay promise honored to the priest.

Cariri hosted the first Latin-American and Caribbean Geopark Conference

The last 17^th runs 19^th we were in Juazeiro do Norte, State of Ceara in order to take part on Geopark International conference. Yves of Sebrae Analyst and  Executive Secretary of Serido Pole, Carlos Alberto Secretary of Culture and Tourism from Parelhas, Damiao Carlos Culture and Tourism Coordinator and Regional Guide and Professor Marcos of Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte State.

Members from different parts of the world, such as, France, Portugal, France, Greece, Norway and Ireland, beyond Caribbean and South America such as Nicaragua, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay and of Course Students and professors come from different part of Brazilian  states.

Basically, Magareth who had represented the UNESCO and colleagues they are going to analyze about the Geopark from Araripe in Ceará State.

The event is over today, and we visited some geo-sites and museums in Nova Olinda and Santana do Cariri.

Absolutely, Geopark is going to provide a sustainable development of Tourism, but it depends on the local Governments compliments and the local population, otherwise it is not going to work.

The meeting brought together the local media, students and Journalism professors from the six towns that make up the Geopark Araripe. Communication discussed the benefits of the Geopark for the Region and media contributions to sustainable development.

We conclude the event through the Bench Marketing visiting several Geo Sites in Santana do Cariri and Nova Olinda, both towns located in Ceara State.

For more information visit http://www.geoparkararipe.org or geoparkararipe@urca.br

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940): He Wrote About the 'Roaring Twenties,' America's Wildest Party

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Photo: stpaul.lib.mn.us

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: I'm Shirley Griffith. 

STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember with the Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Every week we tell about someone important in the history of the United States. Today we tell about writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Early in nineteen twenty, the American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald was poor and unknown. He was twenty-four years old. The girl he wanted to marry had rejected him. Her family said he could not support her. 

Later that same year, Fitzgerald's first novel, “This Side of Paradise,” was accepted for publication. He said that when the news arrived in the mail: "I left my job. I paid my debts, bought a suit of clothes and woke in the morning to a world of promise."

He quickly became rich and famous. That year before “This Side of Paradise” was published, he said he earned eight hundred dollars by writing. The following year, with his first book published, he earned eighteen thousand dollars by writing. 

Yet by the time F. Scott Fitzgerald died in nineteen forty, at the age of forty-four, his money was gone, and so was his fame. Most people could not believe that he had not died years before. 

The problem was that he was so much a part of the age he described, the "Roaring Twenties." So when the period ended people thought he must have ended with it.

STEVE EMBER: The nineteen twenties began with high hopes. World War One, the "War to End All Wars," was over. The twenties ended with a huge drop in stock market prices that began the Great Depression. Fitzgerald was a representative of the years of fast living in between.

The nation's values had changed. Many Americans were concerned mainly with having a good time. People broke the law by drinking alcohol. They danced to jazz music. Women wore short skirts. 

Money differences between one group of Americans and another had become sharper at the beginning of the twentieth century.

By the nineteen twenties, many people believed that gaining the material things one desired could bring happiness. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the lives of people who lived as if that were true.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: There was more to Fitzgerald than a desire for material things. "The test of a first-rate intelligence," he said, "is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still have the ability to act." His two opposing ideas involved seeking happiness from material things, and knowing that material things only brought unhappiness. 

Of his own time, he said: "There seemed no question about what was going to happen. America was going on the greatest party in its history and there was going to be plenty to tell about." Yet if he described only the party, his writings would have been forgotten when the party ended. 

"All the stories that came into my head," he said, "had a touch of unhappiness in them. The lovely young women in my stories were ruined; the diamond mountains exploded. In life these things had not happened yet. But I was sure that living was not the careless business that people thought. " 

Fitzgerald was able to experience the wild living of the period yet write about its effect on people as though he were just an observer. That is a major reason his writings still are popular.

(Music)

STEVE EMBER: Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in the middle western city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. He grew up there. In his mother's family there were southern landowners and politicians. The member of the family for whom he was named had written the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner," America's national song.

His father was a businessman who did not do well. Scott went to free public schools and, when he was fifteen, a costly private school where he learned how the rich lived. 

When F. Scott Fitzgerald was seventeen, he entered Princeton University.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Fitzgerald was not a good student. He spent more time writing for school plays and magazines at Princeton than studying. His poor record troubled him less than the fact that he was not a good enough athlete to be on the university's football team.

University officials warned him he had to do better in his studies or he would be expelled. So he decided to leave the university after three years to join the United States Army. It was World War One, but the war ended before he saw active duty.

He met his future wife while he was at one of the bases where he trained. The girl, Zelda Sayre, was a local beauty in the southern city of Montgomery, Alabama. She and Fitzgerald agreed to marry. Then she rejected him when her family said that Fitzgerald could not give her the life she expected.

STEVE EMBER: Fitzgerald was crushed. He went to New York City in nineteen nineteen with two goals. One was to make a lot of money. The other was to win the girl he loved. 

He rewrote and completed a novel that he had started in college. The book, “This Side of Paradise,” was published in nineteen twenty. It was an immediate success.

Fitzgerald told his publisher that he did not expect more than twenty thousand copies of the book to be sold. The publisher laughed and said five thousand copies of a first novel would be very good. Within one week, however, twenty thousand copies of the book were sold.

At twenty-four, Fitzgerald was famous and rich. A week after the novel appeared, Scott and Zelda were married. F. Scott Fitzgerald had gained the two goals he had set for himself. 

At this point the fairy tale should end with the expression: "They lived happily ever after." But that was not to be the ending for the Fitzgeralds.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Fitzgerald is reported to have said to his friend, the American writer Ernest Hemingway: "The very rich are different from you and me." Hemingway is reported to have answered: “Yes, they have more money." The exchange tells a great deal about each writer. Hemingway saw a democratic world where people were measured by their ability, not by what they owned. 

Fitzgerald saw the deep differences between groups of people that money creates. He decided to be among the rich. 

To do this he sold short stories to magazines and, when he had time, continued to write novels. He also continued to live as though his life was one long party. 

For several years he was successful at everything. Editors paid more for a story by Fitzgerald than by any other writer. And he sold everything he wrote. Some stories were very good. He wrote very fast, though. So some stories were bad. Even the bad ones, however, had a spirit and a life that belonged to Fitzgerald. As soon as he had enough good stories, he collected them in a book. 

STEVE EMBER: Fitzgerald quickly learned that a life of partying all the time did not help him write his best. But he could not give up the fun. 

Scott and Zelda lived in New York City. He drank too much. She spent too much money. He promised himself to live a less costly life. Always, however, he spent more than he earned from writing.

In addition to the individual stories, two collections of his stories, “Flappers and Philosophers,” and “Tales of the Jazz Age,” appeared in nineteen twenty and nineteen twenty-two. A second novel, “The Beautiful and Damned,” also was published in nineteen twenty-two. 

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The novel was well received, but it was nothing like the success of his first novel.

Fitzgerald was unhappy with the critics and unhappy with the money the book earned. He and his wife moved to France with their baby daughter. They made many friends among the Americans who had fled to Paris. But they failed to cut their living costs. Fitzgerald was always in debt. He owed money to his publisher and the man who helped to sell his writings. In his stories he says repeatedly that no one can have everything. He seemed to try, though. It looked for a brief time like he might succeed.

STEVE EMBER: Fitzgerald continued to be affected by the problems that would finally kill him -- the drinking and the debts. Yet by nineteen twenty-five his best novel, “The Great Gatsby,” was published. 

It is the story of a young man's search for his idea of love. It also is a story of what the young man must do to win that love before he discovers that it is not worth having. 

Next week we shall discuss this important novel. And we shall tell you about the rest of Fitzgerald's short life.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This PEOPLE IN AMERICA program was written by Richard Thorman and produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Shirley Griffith. 

STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week as we conclude the story of the life of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald in Special English on the Voice of America.

Language From the Sea, Still Fresh After Centuries

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Source: www.voanews.com

(SOUND: Seagulls, ship horn)

AA: I'm Avi Arditti, with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- the catch of the day, terms from the sea.

Lots of nautical expressions have washed ashore into everyday English. Alan Hartley researches them for the Oxford English Dictionary -- that is, when he's not supervising the loading of grain onto foreign ships in the Great Lakes. We called him at his office in Minnesota, and immediately made headway.

ALAN HARTLEY: "When you make 'headway,' you're making progress forward. 'Way' is usually the forward motion of a ship. It could also be rearward motion, and that was called 'sternway.' But there are a lot of analogous terms in English that never made it into the general vocabulary. 'Headway' and 'sternway' are a good example of a pair, one of which made it and the other didn't.'"

AA: Maritime metaphors lend themselves to all kinds of situations on land. Let's say you're making headway on that big project at work, going "full steam ahead." It's all "smooth sailing" toward that big promotion. Or so it seems.

All of a sudden you're "weathering a storm." You reach the "end of your rope" (anchor rope, that is). You look for "safe harbor." You "go overboard" to make things better. The last thing you want is to "scuttle" your career and wind up "on the rocks," all because you've "run afoul" of the boss.

ALAN HARTLEY: "If you encountered another ship accidentally, you got too close to it, maybe you got tangled in its anchor cable, in that case you have 'run afoul' of the other ship and had an accident, essentially."

AA: "And today we might talk about to 'run afoul of the law.'"

ALAN HARTLEY: "Sure, exactly. It's a very typical case of the extension into everyday English. And it shows that, you know, the word would be kicking around in nautical use for a few decades and gradually it would be picked up in general use."

RS: "Some of these words I find interesting because I didn't even know that they were maritime words."

ALAN HARTLEY: "Same for me. 'High and dry,' for instance, is something you say all the time. A ship got stuck on the mud flats or on a reef, the tide went out and the ship was left high and dry."

RS: "Well, here's an expression I never associated with the seas, usually associated with my doctor. When I go to the doctor I really like to come out with a 'clean bill of health.'"

ALAN HARTLEY: "Everybody does. And the crew of an old sailing ship would have felt the same way. It didn't mean quite the same thing then, but a ship on arriving at a port would have to be cleared by the local port authorities as having no communicable disease on board. And once they were cleared they got a 'clean bill of health.' Sometimes that took a long time. They would be in quarantine, which was a forty-day period. That's where the 'quarant' comes from."

RS: "Do you have a favorite maritime expression?"

ALAN HARTLEY: "The one that's maybe most striking to me is that phrase we use nowadays, the phrase 'to be taken aback.' A person is taken aback if he is surprised in a negative way, and that derives from an old sailing term in which if the ship were headed too close to the direction of the wind, the wind would strike the sails on the forward surface instead of the after -- or rear -- surface.

"So if the wind got around too much toward the bow, toward the front of the ship, it could stop you in your tracks. But also, if you were taken aback hard enough, you could break the entire mast that the sail was suspended from. So it was a very dangerous and startling situation."

AA: Nowadays, don't look to the sea for many new expressions. Alan Hartley points out that we're still using mostly terms from the days of sailing ships.

ALAN HARTLEY: "A lot of the vocabulary that's developed since then is very technical, very specific to modern ships. It has very little application in everyday life."

AA: Alan Hartley is a ship-loading superintendent in Minnesota and a researcher for the Oxford English Dictionary. He's put together a list of nautical language for our website. That address is voanews.com/wordmaster. And our e-mail address is word@voanews.com

Time to set sail! With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

(MUSIC: "Across the Sea"/Bobby Darin)

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Originally broadcast August 2002

Words That Have Made Their Way from Nautical Language

into Everyday English

Alan H. Hartley, August 2002

(Note of explanation: 1666||1681 means that FIRST-RATE was, according to the 2^nd edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, first recorded in nautical use in 1666 and in general use in 1681. The average lag between first nautical appearance and first general use is more than 100 years, but, as that includes some odd cases with very long gaps, I'd be inclined to say instead that it's usually a matter of “a few decades”.) 

Before proceeding to sea, the crew will BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES in order to prevent flooding below decks that might cause the ship to FOUNDER (1600||1613).

A ship just leaving its moorings GETS UNDER WAY (1743||1822): way is the forward (or sometimes backward) motion of a ship. If the ship continues on its desired course, it will MAKE HEADWAY (1748||1775), the ship's bow being called the head. (The analogous nautical term sternway never made it into popular English: we prefer progress to reversals.) A ship making a lot of headway will leave a slower one in its WAKE (1627||1806), the track it leaves in the sea.

A ship that sails well BY AND LARGE (1669||1706) sails well into (by) the wind as well as with a following (large) wind, that is, under most conditions. A ship that sails really well by the wind can stay ALOOF (1532||1583) from (upwind of) other vessels. It will sail best if it is nearly ON AN EVEN KEEL, drawing the same depth of water along its whole length, rather than being much deeper at the bow or the stern.

To FORGE AHEAD (1769||1861), to proceed with effort and determination, probably comes from a common Mediterranean nautical expression meaning 'to press ahead by force of oars or sail' (cf. Italian forza di remo / di vela).

To FATHOM meant originally to measure the water's depth by the fathom (6 feet), roughly the span of a man's outstretched arms, and later to understand the depth of a subject. Failure to watch the depth carefully might leave the ship HARD AND FAST (1867||1867) aground, and perhaps even HIGH AND DRY (1822||1838) when the tide goes out.

A ship may wait IN THE OFFING (1627||1779), or off-shore, if it is inconvenient or dangerous to approach the coast. At night or in unfavorable weather (to WEATHER A STORM), a ship might stand ON AND OFF the coast, that is, take a zigzag course alternately toward and away from the coast, giving the dangerous shore aWIDE BERTH (1829||1829) and assuring adequate LEEWAY (1669||1827), or room to maneuver, if the wind starts to blow the ship toward the lee shore. Jogging on and off requires the ship to make a leg in one direction and then TAKE A DIFFERENT TACK, a course different with respect to the direction of the wind.

Masts and other spars and rigging may GO BY THE BOARD (1630||1859), or GO OVERBOARD, by an accident at sea. By the board now refers to something no longer in effect: “those regulations have gone by the board.” 

The main-mast might go by the board if the enemy—like a FIRST-RATE(1666||1681) man-of-war of 100 guns, firing a BROADSIDE (1597||1833) that raked the ship FROM STEM TO STERN (1627||1842)—shot away the MAIN-STAY(1485||1787, Thomas Jefferson). The main-stay is the heavy rope leading down and forward that supports the main-mast. It might be necessary to JURY-RIG a spare mast, that is, set it up temporarily until the ship could reach a port where proper repairs could be made. 

In rigging, it won't do to use JUNK (1485||1842), old or inferior rope. The word probably comes from Old French jonc, a rope made of rushes (such a rope being weak and inferior); compare with jonquil, a plant with leaves shaped like those of the rush.

Damage to ship or cargo is legally called AVERAGE (1491||1735), which is derived ultimately from an Arabic word for damaged goods. The damages had to be distributed equitably, or averaged, among those owning interests in the ship or cargo.

Maneuvering in CLOSE QUARTERS (1753||1809), one ship might easily RUN AFOUL (1809||1824) of another. FENDERS (1626||1919, U.S.), made of such things as old rope, serve to protect a ship during contact with a dock or another ship.

The pilot will SEE HOW THE LAND LIES (1700||1809) and use LANDMARKS(1570||1667)—distinctive features on shore—to keep the ship in the designated channel, or FAIRWAY (1854||1910, in golfing), and STEER CLEAR of obstructions. (In poor visibility, as in rainy or HAZY (1615||1665) weather, the pilot might LOSE HIS BEARINGS.) 

A river-boat might HIT A SNAG (1804, Lewis and Clark||1829), which is an old tree-trunk or branch forming a dangerous obstruction

.