New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-12-05
not have expressed an intention to do the same
thing again uldcr similar circumstances.
A QUESTION OF VERACITY.

| n QtEOllON OF FEHitiII'
We beg to call the attention Of our enterpris
ing contemporary, 1.-THE New-York Herald
To n statement in its Washington dispatch of
Monday which seems to need explanation
Under the usual headline and the date Of De-
cembcr 3 appears the following:
IL don't know anything about Mr.. Van Aliens
decllnation. The Herald gives the first in
tmation Of it," said Secretary Gresham to me
tonight
Immediately preceding this statement Is the
correspondence published in all the morning
papcrs on Monday between Mr.. Van Allen and
Secretary Gresham and Mr.. Van Allen and the
President. From this it appears that on the
Goth OF November Mr.. Van Allen sent to Sccrc-
tary Gresham Il long communication containing
his dcclination of the office Of Ambassador to
Italy with his reasons therefor in detail. There
is no doubt hat Secretary Gresham had official
and personal knowledge of this communication
and Of the dcclinaton it contained, for on the
22d of November President Cleveland writes to
Mr. Van Allen in these words The Secretary
Of State has submitted to me your letter of the
10Th inst, etc" 1t is consequently impos-
siblc that Secretary Gresham was ignorant OF
Mr.. Van Aliens dcclination. or that he got his
first intimation Of it from " The Herald y Sun
day night.
We approach with some hesitation the qucs
ton which inevitably rises. 1t Is plain q'lcs-
ton OF vcracity. We do Lot Ike to entertain
the suspicion for Il moment that the Washing
ton correspondent Of " The Herald has manu-
featured this story out Of whole cloth; that the
Secretary made no such avcrment, but the
correspondent invented II. There seems. in
deed, no ground for such suspicion, since there
could be absolutely no motive for it, For our
contemporary through lis Washington bureau
has clearly been in the most intimate and con
ndcntial relations with the State Department
and Secretary Gresham. and had no reason for
misrcprcscnting the latter II is well known Of
course. that in the most important affair which
the Administration has taken in hand-thc
restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy-Secrc-
tary CIR, sham has made orr contemporary his
most trusted conidant and the dcpostary of
the most intimate secrets of the department.
And IL may also be- said that. although the
closcncss of this relation gave II facilities for
early intelligence which made The Herald -
the envy Of the whole newspaper press. there
has been no complaint of unequal distribution |
Of fayors THE Herald " being the only news
paper of importance supporting the Hawaiian |
policy Of the AdmnStratiOn-it is suspected. In |
fact by attentive readers Of The Herald "
that the policy was invented in that oiiicc-thc
justice of the special recognition WAS generally |
The services Of Mr.. Charles Nordhoff |
alone and the continued keeping of him on tap
In Southern California. well worth the spc-
cial fayors furnished the newspaper which en-
ploys him.
For these reasons II seems incredible that
" The IIcrald's Washington correspondent has
misrcprcscntcd Secretary Gresham.
And yet il he has not the Secretary himself has
let us avoid coarse, everyday
speech In discussing affairs Of State-pushcd
the privilege Of preyaricaton 10 the furthcSt
verge OF Machlavcllian construction. Indeed.
great many plain people, probably a very large
majority OF American citizens will use short
pr, snappicr and more inclcgnnt characteriza-
ton This we submit. will hurt Mr. Gresham'S
rs truthtolling man. which at this
juncturc will be- unfortunate. For he
IS 50 tangled up in the Hawaiian affair that he
needs public confidence. above all things. 10
pull through. Unless the people have mistaken
faith in his truihfulncSs. every step he has
taken in the Hawaiian complication will be-
'loudcd with suspicion. every official uttcrancr
IN connection with ii regarded with incredibly
lnl doubt The American people would not
ike To think that their Secretary Of State stood
IT his own door and either deliberately or care
cssly told newspaper correspondent pal
,ablc and quite unnecessary falschood. The
alternative is unpleasant. to be sure. but il will
concern only Il single individual. and should be
,tcrnly enforced. That Is, that The Herald "
shall make public confession that
ic invented the story and that Mr. Gresham
aid nothing of the kind Nothing short Of that
viii answer. Secretary Gresham's reputation
IS a trIth.tcllcr is at stake.