The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-16

rison during his brief occupation Of the Presi
dency was his inaugural address. This Is the
paper which Daniel Webster. appointed by Har
rison Secretary Of State, is said to have been in
vitcd to revise. A friend. meeting him soor
after tho work Of revision had been done, OBJ
served that the Secretary looked fatigued
why should / not r. was webster's answer
II have slain seventy proconsuls." The refer
enco was, Of course, to the number of illusions
to Roman history with which tho message was
originally cmbellishcd. Even Daniel webster
did not venture entirely to deprive the docu.
ment OF Its proofs Of classical crudition. We
read, for instance. near tho beginning OF
the message: ut was tho remark of a
Roman consul. In an carly period OF that
celebrated republic, that q most striking contrast
was observable in the conduct OF candidates for
offices OF power and trust before and after OBJ
tanning them. They seldom carried out, In the
latter case. the pledges and promises made In the
former. However much tho world may have
improved In many respects In the lapse OF up.
ward OF two thousand years since the remark
was made by the %virtuous and indignant Roman,
I fear that n strict examination OF tho annals
Of some OF the modern elective governments
would develop similar instances of violated con-
fdencc." In another paragraph we arc in
formed: Tho boosted privilege OF a Roman
citizen was to him a shield only against a petty
provincial ruler. whilst the proud democrat
OF Athens would console himself under n
sentence Of death for Il supposed violation
OF the national faith. which no one under
stood. and which. at times, was the subject Of
the mockery Of all. or under a sentence OF ban
ishmcnt from his home. his family and his Coun-
try, with or without an alleged cause, by the
reflection that it was the act not OF a single ty-
rant or OF a hated aristocracy. but of his assem-
blcd countrymcn." Later, we are told that
The first Roman Emperor, in his attempt to
seize the sacred treasure, silenced the opposition
of the officer to whose charge 1t had been COM
mittcd by II significant allusion to his sword.
By n selection OF political instruments for tho
care Of the public money. u reference to their
commissions by n President would be quite as
%efTcctual an argument as that of Caesar to
the Roman knight" Again, tho President
reminds his countrymen that "Cpsar be-
came the master OF the Roman people and
the Senate under the %prctence Of support
ing the democratic claims of the former against
the aristocracy of the latter" In one of the con-
Guiding paragraphs the author of the message
quotes the beautiful remark of "A distinguished
English writer that in the Roman Senate Oc-
tavius had n party and Antony n party, but the
Commonwealth had none Yet the Senate con-
tinued to meet in the Temple of Liberty to talk
VI lit StcTtunt5S anu DeduIyO OF inc common
wealth and to gaze at the statues OF the elder
Brutus and OF the Curtii and Decii, and the peo-
pie assembled in the Forum. not as in the days
of Camillus and the Scipios, to cast their free
votes for magistrates or to pass upon the acts of
the Senate. but to receive from the hands of the
leaders of the respective parties their share Of
the spoils and to shout for one or the other, as
those collected in Gaul or Egypt and the Lesser
Asia would furnish the larger dividend"
1t may be true. as Webster intimated, that
Harrison's message would have been better
suited to its purpose had the exhibition OF CLASH
cal learning been avoided. Not on that account,
however, should any one imagine that the mes
sage is not worth reading. 1t might have been
well. for instance, il Mr.. Cleveland, during his
second term in office. had peruscd and inwardly
digested the following views expressed by his
predecessor in office: Upon another occasion, 1
have given my opinion at some length upon the
improprlety OF Executive interference in the
legislation of Congress; / hold that the article in
the Constitution making it the duty of
the President to communicate information
and authorizing him to recommend meas
urcs was not intended TO mako him the
source in legislation, and in particular.
that he should never be looked to for
schemes of finance. 1t would DO very strange
indeed that the Constitution should have strictly
forbidden one branch Of the Legislature from
interfering in the origination OF such bills and
that it should DO considered proper for an al
together different department Of the Govern
ment to do so. The delicate duty of devising
schemes OF revenue should DO left where the
Constitution has placed 1t, i.e. with the imme.
diate representatives Of the people. For similar
reasons, tho mode of keeping the public
treasure should be prescribed by them. and
the further removed it may be from the
control Of the Executive, the more wholesome
the arrangement and the more in accordance
with republican principles" In another
part OF the message, President Harrison
put his finger on a feature OF our
Federal system which is hard to defend,
namely, the disfranchisement of the inhabitants
OF the District of Columbia: Amongst the other
duties Of II delicate character which the Presi-
dent is called upon TO perform is the supervision
of tho government of the Territories of the
United States. Those of them which are destined
TO become members of our great political family
are compensated by their rapid progress FROM
infancy to manhoo for the partial and tempo
rary deprivation OF political rights. 1t is in
this District If Columblal only where Ameri-
can citizens are TO be found who, under a set
tied policy, are deprived of many important
political privileges without any inspiring hope
as to the future. Their only consola-
ton under circumstances of such deprivation Is
that OF the devoted exterior guards of a camp
that their sufrerings secure tranquility and
safety within. Are there any of their country
men who would subject them to greater sacri-
fees, to any other humiliations than those es-
s~entially necessary to the security of the object
for which they are thus separated from their
fellow citizens Are their rights alone not to be
guaranteed by the application of those great
principles upon which all our constitutions are
founded We IRE told by the greatest British
orators and statesmen that at the commencement
OF the war of the Revolution the most stupid men
in England spoke Of their American subjects
Are there, indeed, citizens of any of our States
who have dreamed OF their subjects In the Dis
trict Of Columbian Such dreams can never BIO
realized by any agency of mine. The people of
tho District of Columbi are not the subjects
OF the people Of the States. but free Ameri-
can citizens. Being In the latter condition when
the Constitution was formed, no words used in
that instrument could have been intended to
deprive them of that character. II there is any
thing in the great principle of inalienable rights
40 emphatically inAisted unon In our ne,la