The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-16
Lows Demonstrated Incapacity.

Lows Demonstrated Incapacity.
Mr.. SETH Low says in his letter to his
political agents that if he is elected, ain
making appointments it shall be my en-
deavor to fill every place with an eye single
to the public good" and "to make an adj
ministration that will be honest. broad
minded. efficient, business.like, and consid-
crate of the interests of every citizen"
We do not doubt that Mr.. Low feels in
that way. Whoever is elected will have
the same desire and ambition. He will
want to make his administration success
full; since, as the first Mayor of the Greater
New York, he will be under sharp observa-
ton and criticism here and everywhere
else in the Union, and even abroad, he will
do the best that is in him.. So also
any political party responsible for the Use
of the power will be under peculiarly
heavy bonds to public opinion.
Mr.. Low, therefore, did not need to ex-
press his anxiety to deserve appreciation as
II 1t was singular in him. Assuming, there
fore, that the aim he proclaims with I'M
necessary ostentation is sincere, what reason
is there for assuming also that he particu-
larly can reach it2
A man may have ian eye single to the
public good""in making appointments" so
far as his honest intentions are concerned,
but his singleness of purpose will avail him
nothing unless his sight is assisted and di-
rected by discernment and discrimination.
He must know how to pick out competent
and suitable agents and must be able to in
duce them to serve under him. Has Mr..
| LOW TINT rocnsaor ~ i,5 nm apf and ,o,,;g;to
penetration into character2
Hitherto he has not exhibited such quail
ity in his career, but rather has betrayed
a deficiency of it in his makeup. Outside
of two or three of his appointments while
Mayor of Brooklyn, his selections of assist
ants and subordinates were not remarkable
for their fitness. Generally his admins
tration was of only average or even infe-
rior ability.
When Mr.. Low went out of the Mayors
Office in Brooklyn and dropped out as a fac
tor and a figure in politics. he fell back into
business association with his father, n
man justly distinguished for his great and
rare practical sagacity in the world of com
merce. 1t is generally understood thai Mr..
SETH Low brought loss rather than gain to
the firm, displaying n deficiency of sound
business judgment somewhat distressing
to his associates.
When, after this demonstration. Mr..
Low was elected President of Columbia
College in 1890, he found thai institution
with an unincumbered endowment, which
made 1t one of the richest colleges in Amer.
lea, and with ar unrestricted income for
the purposes of education which was the
| rrantnut In,rin,, tIn un,o, 1000. II
Presidency of Mr.. Low that enviable situa.
ton of Columbia has been completely re.
versed. 1t is now in debt to the amount of
about $1,000, 900, the interest on which
makes a heavy drain on its income ap.
plicable to the purposes of education. This
burden of debt, too, rests upon the uni
versity at n time when removal to Morning.
side Heights imposes on 1t increased cx-
penses of administration and subjects
1t to the hazards Of an experiment as
to the immediate outcome of which
there are many misgivings among the
alumni and friends Of the institution. The
new site Is at present remote and not easily
accessible, and its occupation involves IA
revolution in the character Of the univer-
sity which may be attended, at least TEN
porarily, by untoward incidents, entailing
greatly augmented expenses and q reduc.
tion OF income. Columbia has now before
1t a far more serious financial problem
than any ever before encountered by it In
Its long history. So far Mr.. Low has been
a costly Investment for 1t.
Since he has been President numerous
additions have been made to the faculties
and corps of instruction of the institution,
due to extensions Of its range, many of
which are more SNOWY than substantial.
With few exceptions these recruits brought
In under Mr.. Low are men without dis.
~tinction in the world of learning. He has
not attracted strong men about him, but
rather mediocre men. That indisputable
fact has been referred to with great dissatis-
faction by Columbia alumni whose letters
have already been published in THE sun,
and 1t is very suggestive. Mr.. Low must
have had an eye as single to the good
OF Columbia as he has to the public
good in seeking to be Mayor of the Great
er New York, but in the case of the
university his vision seems to have been
distorted. Neither in the business man
agement nor " in making appointments" in
that school of learning has he exhibited
sound judgment and clear discernment and
discrimination during his Presidency. As
q rule the appointments to the Board of