The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-10-18
The Case OF Van Allen.

ment of Mr.. Van Allen to the ambassa-
dorship to Italy. you're another"
is hardly esteemed manly or adequate
answer to charge of grave mental
moral obiqui Y. We regret very much
to see stern moralists, like the Bcattle.
boro Reformer and Springfield Repub-
licdn in particular, excusng in this
childish way the indefensibie Van Allen
aft ,ir. We might have looked for such
things from the unprinciped Argus,
but from the hi minded Rgormer,
never.
Democrats and mugwumps profess
to find in the appointment Of John
Wanamaker by President Harris IN to
the office of postmaster-ge general par
allel to the Van Allen case. But of
course they know that there is no sim
ilarity between the two appointments.
In the first place, John Wanamaker
is a very different sort of a man from
Van Allen. He is product of Amer
lean institutions, a splendid Illustration
of the possibilities of American citizen
ship. He is typical American citi-
zen, --enterprising, intelligent, progress
sive, patriotic. He rose from the ranks
His abilities have brought him fortune.
He had filed offices requiring high bust
ness and executive on ilificatiOus. An
A Ia l., in
tact with the sources OF Americ $
highest prosperity, he is naturally a
staunch republican and firm believer
in the republican protective policy
Under the circumstances, he could not
fail to take a lively interest in the cleo
ton of republican president. The
Rttormer charges that he contributed
$50 900 to the republican campaign
fund in 1888. Oilers say the conlri-
button was twice that sum. Well, Mr..
Wanamaker is a big-hearted, liberal
minded man, believes in all good things,
and spends his money freely for the
promotion and success of all good
causes. If he spent $4,000 or 500 900
to secure a republican victory in 1888,
and if he helped, as the Ref1rmer fur
Their AYERS, TO raise $3.50 900 more for
the same purpose, he did Two very mer-
itoriou5 things.
But these left-handed defenders of
the Van Allen appointment undertake
TO say that Mr.. Wanamaker was made
acknowledgement by reason of his
contributions to the republican cam
paign fund, and that, on the score OF
morality, Mr.. Cleveland's appointment
is no worse than Mr.. Harrison's. They
present no evidence of the truth of
their charge, because they have none.
There is none. The charge has its
origin only in partisan malevolence.
The Reformer is candid enough to con-
cede that Mr.. Wanamaker maue an Elk
cellent postmaster-general. That is
true. His appointment to that office
was one of the many acts that made
President HarrisOn's administration one
of the best in the whole history of the
American government, President Har-
rison saw in John Wanamaker man
of demonstrated fitness for the special
duties of administrator of the affairs of
one of the great business departments
of the government. Outside of his
private business, he had shown his ca
pacity for public affairs. There is
nothing to show that his appointment
to the Office of postmaster-ge general, or
any other office, was promised or even
thought of when he was contributing
his money and his time to the republi-
can cause in 1888. There is nothing to
show, for the good reason that nothing
of the kind ever existed. The charge is
simply the malicious afterthought of
viperish partisanship.
But who is this man, Van Allen? He
was to fame unknown before his recent
appointment. He inherited fortune
of several million dollars from his
father, a wealthy New York merchant.
In the daughter of one of the Astors,
be married several millions more. He
spends the greater part of his time in
England, coming to Newport, r. l., TO
bask in the light of society during the
season. He seems to have conceived
an ambition for the distinction abroad
an important foreign mission would
yield. An Anglomaniac, he was nat
urally sympathizer with Mr.. Cleve-
lands free. trade views. A sort of po-
litical dilLetante, he became naturally a
supporter of Mr.. Cleveland, and sought
through the promotion of the latter's
election to the presidency the grati6ca-
ton of desire to air his wealth at some
foreign court. He belongs to that great