The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-10-18

signed as assistant secretary July !. 1865.
In 1855 he began to plan, compile and edit
with George Ripley, the New American
| Cyc1opedia." The original edition was
completed in 1858, ana became. the Amer
| lean Cyclopedia'' between 1873 and 1876.
In 1867 he started the Chicago Republican.
and on January p. 1868, he issued the
| first number under his nagement of
/ the New York Sun and became It's editor
| and proprietor, making it in 1872 q, Demo-
| cratic newspaper.
The foregoing condensed narrative sug-
gests the character of Mr.. Dana's unre-
mitting intellectual labors for more than
| half century of exceedingly active duty
The specific writings known to have
! come from his pen, besides a few short
| poems and his chapters in the life of
! Grant. prepared in 1858 in connection with
/ General James H. Wilson, are not numer-
| GUS
He was linguist of unusual attain
ments. His knowledge of books was
| wide; his literary taste and judgment of
| the highest order and he had few or no
superiors as a literary critic. He had
written such notable articles on such an
| extensive variety of subjects for the ''Cy-
| clopedia' and the Tribune and Sun dur
| ing a period of fifty years usually with
accuracy, always in style felicitous and
| forcible, as to place him indisputably in
the ranks of the most expert masters of
the English language and the closest stu
dents of the literature of Europe and
America.
For the value of Mr.. Dana's services to
the Union cause during the war of seees-
sion it is but just to award to him the
supreme commendation which is his due.
| With an intense zeal equal to that of
the great war secretary whose assistant
he became. and yet, with clear vision and
!
edly to the work for which he had been
selected. He went to the front wherever
vital battles were to be fought; made him
self welcome to every Union commander;
mastered every situation; gave helpful
advice on the spot. and wrote letters to
Stanton and Lincoln fun of facts which
they would not otherwise have known.
and of suggestions which were of the
highest Importance. The nature. extent
and value of Mr.. Dana's work, and the
remarkable traits of the man himself, can
only be known and appreciated through
a careful perUsal of his kilograms and let
ters which are to be found in many
volumes of the War Records" published
by the government. If he had done
| nothing but his service in preventing the
| abandonment of Chattanooga by Rose
! Grams after the battle of Chickamauga, he
| would deserve the gratitude of the
/ ton. His letters undoubtedly caused the
supersedure of Rosecrans by Thomas, and
the transfer of the command of the oper-
ations on the Tennessee to Grant, the
conqueror of Vicksburg, in season TO pre-
vent Rosecrans from retreating and to
make possible the decisive victories around
Chattanooga.
Wherever Mr.. Dana went he perceived
the situation clearly,and formed his judg-
ment wisely; and his advice given with
or V
and often followed; his position was
anomalous and not wholly agreeable to
him, but he did his work with tact; it
was recognized and praised by Stanton
and Lincoln, who always honored him
with their confidence and friendship. Mr..
Lincoln called him "the eyes of the gov
erEment at the front"
To write of Mr.. Dana as an editor is to
speak only of the Sun. It is the privi-
lege of a great editor to surround himself
with a staff who not only represented
the views, but also, either purposely or
unconscious1y reproduced the style of
their chief. So the newspaper in mat
ter and manner became one thing; in this
case the New York Sun. These are
some of its notable characteristics:
It's literary excellence. which is sur
passed by that of no other paper, is ow-
ing to the unremitting care of the editor
and his assistants. Very little either of
news or literary or editorial matter found
its way into the columns which was poor
" expressed or showed bad taste in any
particular Unsparing labor was ex-
pended in seeking perfection in this re-
spect.
Its historical accuracy was carefully
maintained BY this is not meant that
misstatements did not sometimes appear
under Mr.. Dana's management in the
haste of the daily publication of what is
called news and in the heat of political
controversy. But it was maxim of
management that no matter what indi-
vidual, party or interest might be affect
ed. nothing but the truth was to be de-
liberately stated and persisted in.
Mr. Dana aimed to make the Sun Amer
lean in all its tendencies and aspirations.
He believed that the western hemisphere
was reserved for Americans. that accord
ing to the principles of the Monroe doc
trine, as the people of the United States
are determined TO interpret and enforce
it. no new possessions are on any pretext,
either with or without the consent of
local governments to be acquired by Eu-
ropean powers, and that eventually the
existing control by such powers of Ameri-
can territory is to diminish and disappear.
Holding firmly to these opinions. the Sun
opposed the British seizure, with no plaus-
ible color of right, of the east bank of
the Orinoco; advocated the freedom of
Cuba and the formation of a government
in Hawaii friendly to the United States;
advised the exclusion of European powers
from the ownership or control of the Nj
caragua canal, and hoped for the ulti-
mate peaceful annexation of Canada to
our Union.
Absolute consistency can be asserted for
the Sun and Mr.. Dana during the last
third of a century The necessity for
immediate speech has also led to some
harsh Judgment Of men which time has
not proved to be just; while intense feel