THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

When the Nobel Peace Prize is officially conferred upon President Wilson today, an American will have received this honor for the third successive time. Theodore Roosevelt in 1908, and Elihu Root in 1912 were Mr. Wilson's predecessors.

The subject of peace in conjunction with the President's activities is perhaps best passed over rapidly in this country. The Treaty of Versallies was so entangled with the Covenant of the League of Nations that the United States has not yet been able to straighten out the two to its liking. For two years since hostilities ceased we have remained technically in a state of war with Germany while we fought over the peace which our President arranged in Europe.

Yet Mr. Wilson's sincerity in striving for peace cannot be questioned. If spirit counts for anything in the award of the Nobel Prize he is as deserving as any one in the world. It was largely due to his energy--often misdirected perhaps--that the League of Nations is actually in existence; his enthusiasm made what was held to be a dream a reality. We are so close to the man that it is easy to throw stones, easy to scoff at the worship he received in Europe. His faults blind the virtues which others see.

The committee of five men elected by the Norwegian Storthing to confer the Nobel Prize is far more likely that we to place President Wilson where he properly ranks--above the place our harsh opinions would assign and below that suggested by the adoration of war-stricken peoples. The whole country will-feel proud to know that for the third time a citizen of the United States has been judged by the Norwegian committee to be worthy of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.