Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-11
SILENCED ORATORS
What is Sid of the Order Of the
Administration.
ITS EFFECT IN new YORK STATE
Politicians Inclined to Criticise the
President.
SECRETARY SMITHS SPEECH

SECRETARY SMITHS SPEECH
There is the most excellent authority for
the statement that those critics of Secre-
tary Smith who were referred to in The
Star of yesterday on the subject of his
recent stumping tour in Georgia will not
have their feelings aroused by similar
performance on the part of any other
prominent represen tive of the administra-
ton during the pending struggle. The adj
ministration, temporarily least has
Withdrawn from the stumping business.
Something in the nature of an edict has
gone forth. signed, sealed and duly deliver
ed, and democratic committeeman are strug-
Cling to control great rage and several
orators are in mourning. Dates for great
efforts have been Cancelled, and communities
of American citizens will, for some time to
| come, chew the cud of wonder and renec-
tion about the distinguished stranger that
never came"
some people are hard 20 please. The very
men VINO on yesterday were full of COM
plant OF Secretary Smith because of his
appearance on the hus ,ingS are today ca Ial-
~ as fuIi OF complaint OF the President be-
cause OF ms decision tnat pubic officials
the oIatory of the campaign. But they now
explain that Mr.. Smith earned no rebuke
on account of speecn-makinS, but for blum
dering. lie was eminently right in trying
TO help his party hold on to the reins of
power but ne pitched mis- oratorical voice
in the wrong key. They charge that he
was both out of tune and time, and marrei
the concert in the cracker state. They
would welcome MIR. Smiths return to the
stage If they could rely upon his obedience
to the tuning fork and the baton of the
conductor; and they thirk, moreover, that
now is the time for every sweet singer in
the party, whether in federal office or out
OF 1t, to join the chorus and help swell the
volume of the democratic anthem TO har-
nlonious and triumphant proportions. But
the President thinks differently, and upon
the sudden there is an awful and an awk-
ward pause
FeIt I'm New York.
The effect of this edict will be felt in New
York, and the bolder of the President s
critics charge that it is aimed at Senator
Hill. The general public, too, they believe
will SO accept ii.
The Presidents personal feelings toward
the Senator are not shared by all of his
ST IporuInates. some of the men who hold
Office under Mr. Cleveland admire Mr. Hill,
wish for his success next month, and would
be glad to assist to the fullest extent in
their power toward bringing 1t about. This
may not be true OF any member of the
cabinet, but 1t is true OF several men hold
in8 places scarcely inferior to cabinet
places, and who as popular speakers rank
the cabinet officers They are the men who
were preparing to plunge into the fight, but
who have been diSarmed by the President s
wishes and private instructions ana Will be
obliged now to observe the progress of the
battle from revolving chairs and across the
tops of smoothly vanished mahogany desks.
Civil Service Reform.
The Presidents friends approve of his
order. They hail it as another manifesto
ton of his devotion to civil service reform.
The Presidents critics sneer at such cham
pionship. They laugh-though, of course,
in minor key while the campaign is on
at what they term his eccentric perform
ances as the high priest OF civil service re-
form. And they go further, and give chap
ter and verse in support of their allegations.
Last year. they point out, Col. Lamont spent
weeks i'll New York off and on comforting
with the local democratic leaders about a
state ticket. He had several friends who de-
sired places on the ticket, and the result of
his labors was that Two of his friends We're
placed upon it, Then he made other jour
ncys over there during the campaign, help
ing along with the work, and, to cap the
climax of Ills political activity, he went
over and voted Tor the ticket Col. Lamont
individual. though popular and much
respected would not nave counted for 50
much, but Col. Lamont as Secretary of War
in Mr. CleVeldnd's cabinet, and as the Pres
authoritative figure in the contest. Men
fancicd that they could hear the President $
great organ tone in the SeCretarys pleasant
little treble. Was thai wrong? Was that in
accord with civil service reform? II not,
the Presidents critics ara now asking. why
call off the stGmplrs in this campaign?
What is the difference IL tie great temple
Of civil service reform DetM an official
C0nieGrcT and an Official stuHper?
Suppose, for an instance, a sp- ightly and
an eloquent yCuns fellow Ike Assistant
Secretary OF the Navy M"AdcJ--a good man
and true, and always ~el-ome-should be
Invited, ana should desire. TO take the
Stump in New York and New Jersey. He
has been q resident of both states, and as
4 speaker he draws Wen in both. Wherein
= ould his activity in his line differ from
Col. Lamonts activity in his line? The
one is by nature and equipment q Stumper:
the other conferrer. As the Old sports
would put it, the one does all of his 'busi-
ness while standing on top of the table
the other while seated at the table, and
handing contidentially across il to catch the
whisper and the exact meaning of the
glance of his vis-a-vis. Would not Col
Lamonts performance of last year justify
a stumping tour by Mr.. McAdoo this year?
And if not, why not? 1t is proposed in some
quarters TO refer the question to the civil
service commission for examination ana
report What are President Proctor's
views? What are Mr.. Rooseyelts views?
Shall the conferrer be excused and the
stumper condemned? Has the President
any secret SruuSe against OratOry and
orators? And must campaigns in future
in order to receive the support of the official
class, be run by secret conferences instead
OF by the fanfare of the hustings?
What 1t May Mean.
The complaint seems to be leve!ed more
at the Interpretation likely to be put upon
the Presidents action than upon any real
loss of oratory the party may sustain by
reason of 1t. None of the members of the
cabinet is at his best on the stump Judge
Gresham has had no stumping experiences
at all. MIR. Carlisle, with all of his great
gifts, is not popular crater. Mr. Oiney is
an office lawyer ard great counsellor. while
Col. Lamont, Mr.. Herbert Mr. Smith. Mr.
Bissell and Mr.. Morton possess talents in
no way associated with entertaining great
crowds in public halls or In the open Air
But for the President to frown upon the
proposition that his official advisers and
their subordinates lend a helping hand or q
cheering voice to the party at this time
must, 1t is asserted, have a discouragi gins
effect everywhere. And particularly In New
York, for in addition to the strained reia
tions between the President and Mr.. HiIl
similar grumpiness exists between Mr. HiIl
and at least three members OF the cabinet
Mr.. Hill has criticised rather sharply from
his place in the Senate both Judge Gresham
and Mr.. Carlisle, and he holds Mr. BisselI
accountable for much of the anti-IJfiI f~ol