Omaha daily bee., 1897-10-20
MEDELL ON DANA.

Late Dcnn of-American JournnliSm.
The distinguished editor of the Chicago
Tribune, Mr.. Joseph Medill, pays the fol-
lowing tribute to the memory of Charles A.
Dana:
"In the death of Mr.. Dana American jour-
nalsm has lost its foremost represent atiye.
Daha was a giant in the profession and
welded immense influence especially in the
matter of politics. Given five years more of
active life he would have made his paper the
most powerful political organ in this coun-
try. His attitude on the currency question
last fall was indicative of the mans great
personal courage, high sense of duty and
keen foresight of results. His position at
the start seemed suicidal from a democratic
standpoint, but the outcome proved Dana to
be in the "ight-not only this but what
| threatened at the beginning to be disastrous
| to MIN financially turned out to be a boom
for his paper. Mr. Dana was bigger than a
mere political editor. No party ties could
| bind him, and in this lies the secret of much
| of his wonderful success.
Mr. Dana was a man of extraordinary
| force and ability. He had wide range of
| information and seemed to be thoroughly
| conversant with every topic that occupied
the public mind As a writer of incisive, eff
! feCttYe editorials he had no superior. His
style was peculiarly his own. He had a
| knack Of stating things so they were forced
| upon the readers of his paper and kept for
| ever ringing in their ears. Like all positive
| men, Dana frequently made mistakes in
| matters Of public policy, and at times |
! thought his logic faulty and unsound but for
| all this he stood ar the very top of the pima
| Gle of journalistic fame, and rightly so.
There was one marked characteristic In
| his makeup which made him many enemies
| he was as relentless and unsparing as an
he nd in .tn thn ,yi1t ionc
| he had marked for slaughter and he gen
| orally wore their scaps at the end Of the
| fight. What's more he had the cunning
| faculty of being able to make his side of a
| dispute appear right and just, matter
how weak it might really be, and in this
| way he often won public support to which
he was not entitled. His treatment of Grover
Cleveland is a fair illustration of this Charac-
teristic in Mr.. Dana. In the eyes of the
general public Mr.. Cleveland was always
garded as able man, but Dana plloried
him numerically in the Sun and made him
the subject Of never-ending sarcasm which
had deadly effect.
Always a fighter, resourceful in tactics
and of undaunted bravery, Mr.. Dana carried
his pugnacty around on his shoulder, in
viting almost everybody he came in contact
with to make slap at it. He was testy
and gruff in business conversation as well
as i'm editorial utterance, and yet he could
be most charming entertainer and delight
full companion 1t was my good luck to be
with him on an extended journey and | was
completely won by his captivating person
ality
MY first personal introduction to Mr..
Dana was in 1872" said he. Il was a So
licitor for the New York Tribune in the
country districts of New York state. l had
occasion to visit the Tribune Office, and,
while transacting some business matters
with Mr. Greeley, was introduced to Mr..
Dana ! did not see him again for some
time but | never forgot him. The bright
ness of his eyes and the pleasant and aml-
Bile expression on his face made an ndelible
impression on me. | can now mentally pho
tograph him and his every look the day |
first ciasced his hand. The next time we
came together during the Clay and
Fremont campaign. My talks with him dur
ing these days were upon incidental mat
ters We never discussed politics But
than was not my fault. | knew that in the
young mans brain were good ideas and |
wanted to hear them. Bat some how he
declined to talk about politicians.
zone day ! think 1t was in the summer
of 1852, | went into Secretary Stanton's
office and there found Dana l had no idea
he was in Washington. Stanton wished to
introduce me, but | told him that it was
unnecessary for we knew each other Dana
saw me and came forward, He grasped my
hand cordially and proceeded to tell me
why he had left the employ of Mr.. Greeley.
The long and the short of 1t was that he
and his chief could not agree upon the
policies of the war. Next day | called upon
President LiIcoln and, durng the conyersa-
tion, / asked the president why Dana was
in the employ of the War department
oh, | don't know replied Mr.. Lincoln,
He was out OF a job and | thought IL
would be well to give htm one. He is
bright chap, don't you thnk?'
"He was bright, and told Mr.. Lincoln So