“Our chief admiration for Mr. Wilson is for the manner in which he drove the war activities once we were committed. That determination was evolved from his character. He used conscription. He furnished the Allies with what they needed—men, money and materials in the amounts needed. Weakness at this time might have ruined us. A man less determined to have his own way, less impervious to what was said of him, might have flinched at conscripting soldiers. He might have tried to fight the war with volunteers. He might even have tried to fight it with money and materials. He might have tried to spare the nation human sacrifices or to limit the expenditure of human life. Then we should have entered a losing war and have been among the losers, just in time to be in the wreckage. Conscription was his big decision and whether he realized it or not was his most dangerous one. Hughes might have had serious draft riots. From Wilson the people took the draft with hardly a murmur, and the war was won right then. The President did not allow the people to draw back from a drop in the cup. He took their money. He spent it without a thought for the waste of it. There had to be waste. He put the United States behind the Allies with a promise of the last man and the last dollar. It required courage, intelligence and character; and all the ruggedness and wilfulness of Mr. Wilson’s temperament served the country as it needed to be served. Those were the high moments of his career. He sent 2,000,000 men to France before the astonished Germans thought that it was possible to do so. He had 2,000,000 in America training camps and more were being drafted. Then also from the White House came the thunders of rhetoric which stupefied the German people behind their armies and disintegrated them in the rear of their fighting forces. As American divisions put the pressure on German divisions, Mr. Wilson’s words destroyed the morale of the German people who had been steadfast; and the war was won.”[362] But he did more, a Southerner, conscious of the deep prejudices of his own section and against the protests of many State officials, he determined that a certain proportion of colored men should have training as officers; nor did he permit this military training to be stopped even after the Houston riot, when for the second time Negro soldiery shot up a Southern city. Those who were guilty were court martialed promptly; but to the surprise of not a few of the Negro aspirants for office, the training of Negro officers proceeded. Again not quoting from a friend; but taking a Negro’s statement we note: