The record-union., 1896-02-05
IN HIDING BEHIND BIERcE.

The Washington Post" through its
San Francisco correspondent, has
caused a large number of prominent
business men in California to be inter
viewed in order to obtain their views
on the subject of the funding bill. One
of the Washington correspondents of
the Examiner is Ambrose Bierce.
Upon seeing some of these interviews
in the Washington Post Mr.. Bierce
teIegraphed to the Examiner" as fol-
lows:
IF the Examiner would care to
blacklist these moral idiots, with
view to the punishment of their Grim
inal audacity in having views, should
be happy to supply the names" The
Examiner requested the names and
published them under the title of
''Bierce's Black List"
The San Francisco ''Post" calls at
tention to the fact that the Exam
iner'' in this instance does not take the
responsibility of blacklisting these mer-
chants and bankers Of San Francisco,
but hides behind the personality of
Bierce. 1t is perfectly evident that
Bierce is doing what his employers re-
quire at his hands and that the Exam
iner" is responsible for it's attempt to
punish the merchants and bankers for
their criminal audacity in having views.
This assumption on the part of Am
brose Bierce and the Examiner" that
having views is of itself a criminal
audacity deserving punishment affords
a full measure of the intellectual capac-
ity both of Ambrose Bierce and of the
Examiner
It was one of the blunders of the 'Ex-
aminer' to send Mr.. Bierce to Washing
ton. For many years he has had a
wallowing place in the columns of that
paper and is chiefly distinguished for
his capacity to be personally offensive.
If we were to initiate the bad manners
and the bad style Of Mr.. Bierce him
self, we would say that for years he has
blown the sour belch of dyspeptic
stomach In the face of this public.
The sentence quoted from his dis
patch from Washington is fully illustra-
tive Of the man. It is his mission to pun
fish, and his notion as to who deserves
punishment embraces the list simply Of
those who may have the criminal auda-
o4ty OF having views. Mr.. Bierce's in
tense egotism is evidently becoming in
sanity. There are those who have be-
Asved Mr.. Bierce to be a writer. He
has been the author of species of COM
position which has never risen to the
dignity Of a performance worthy of
prominent place in the literature Of the
language. He is indeed possessed of
facility for the use Of offensive adiec-
tives, a sort of verbal fecundity which
has lacked character by reason of the
& absence of all worthy motive. In his
dispatch from Washington, he INDUCES
in the characteristic wit Of perpetrating
q pun on the name of Hellman, charac-
terSzing that gentleman as the good
man with the bad name. This effort is
On a level with Mr.. Bierce's best intel
lectual performance. He speaks Of
Lowell White, a banker Of San Fran
cisco, as the Assistant President of the
Charming Auxiliary. and this is an
other illustration of Mr.. Bierce's liter
ary style and ability.
Mr.. Bierce. however, is a very incon-
siderable factor in the current contro-
versy. Finding himself wholly unable
to cope with the economic problems mn
derlying the proposition of adjusting
the relations between the Pacific
railroads and the Government, he
resorts to the only kind of literary per-
formance of which he is capable, and
upon which he must forever depend for
notoriety, to wit, fn-mannered abuse of
his contemporaries.
The significant thing in this matter,
however, is fully suggested by the
Post The Examiner is sinking
behind the personality of Bierce in a
eowardly attempt to throw upon its
Washington correspondent the respon-
sibflity for the black-listing of the mer-
chants and bankers Of San Francisco.
It notified these merchants and busi-
ness men in advance that it would set
its dog upon them. and when it had ac-
complished that feat, it charged the an