, 1889-05-23
HEWITT on EDITORS.

~ tll > iltNitt q. -N'N ! H- - Lt.9 I
been interviewed IL LrrJ9n GA the /.
suai.ct Of President ti.rusou-s ap-I
pointments, ana r. there IS nothing
which pIea-es Mr.. Hewitt better than
to hear bsm-eII talk, tla task Of the
interview Vas an easy one, at least
SD far a. making space Wa con
ceru.t.
Among ether things the ex-mayor
OF New York said that in his opinion
no editor ought 70 be appointed to
an Office, least Of all an Office so i'm
poltant as diplomatic one. Being
urged for his reasons for such an
opinion he said that editors have
written and said much that must
necessarily hamper them as efficient
servants OF the government. that they
are uecessasiIy more OF less partI-
sans, ami that IN order to represent
The government properly at foreign
courts they ought to be entirely free
from all commitment as to the policy
of other nations. All editors Of any
standing, he added. cannot be thus
free, and he said that his only OBJ
lection to Whitelaw Reid as min
lister is that he is an editor
! If, by any chance, Mr.. Hewitt
should become president Of the
United State, and should be called
upon to elect men to represent his
country at foreign courts, ho would
nave a great deal OF difficulty in max
ing his selections should he entertain
his present views. His idea seems
TO be that the ideal minister to for
eign country IS man who has never
formed nor expressed any opinion
upon any question of foreign policy
Il man who would have consented to
the partition of Poland or to the
blowing of Sepoys from the mouth
of British canon without Il word; a
man who has 80 busted himself with
domestic affairs that lie has paid no
attention whatever to what has been
going on IN the world around him
Upon the Hewitt theory such man
as Thomas jefferson or James G.
Blaine would he unfit for foreign
ministry, because they had enter
iained certain we'll defined views OF
the policy Of Europe and had not
hesitatea to say what they thought.
But why should the editor be sin
| Tyfo fhpn n4 har
man in public life? Certainly a
member of congress whose speech is
printed in the Congressional Record
addresses quite as large constitu-
ency as the average editor does; and
yet Mr. Hewitt would hardly consent
Sunset Cox was untitled to be minister
to Turkey because he had written and
spoken on the eastern question, or
that James Russell Lowell should
not have been misister to Great
Britain because he had written prose
and verse in which England was
coptrasted uufavorably with the
United States.
1t would be pretty severe justice
to hold an editor or any one else to
strict account for any opinion that
may have been expressed III a news
paper Even Bismarck did not at,
tempt such a thing III regard to
Bates, who had published a very
caustic article on the Germans il
Samoa shortly after his appointment
on the Berlin commission. Every
public man who has any ideas finds
himself in print at some time OF
other; but until now no one has ever
dreamed that an honest expression
; OF opinion should disqualify a man
from holding public position
diplomatic or otherwise When &
minister is sent to a foreign country
; he goes to represent the United
States, not himself, and whatever
may have been his personal views
aud opinions, he suoordinates then
to the opinions of the administration
under which he holds Office, and, as
the French say, effaces himself
/ and speaks only the sentiments o.
, the government of the United States