The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-14

Ii the revolution got sight OF him. 1t looks
as though he were looking for the last ditch.
The Summer Oratory of this Adminis-
tration.
Not the least interesting feature Of the
American system Is the semi-of1cial, nom
political speechmaking which sets in with
hot weather. and without which the vaca-
tion rest of the President and his Cabinet
advisers never seems to DO entirely recrea-
tive. At the beginning of a new Administers
tion, that is to say during the first of
a Presidents term, public interest in his
lighter utterances is stimulated by curiosity.
People are watching to see how the new
Administrations vacation rhetoric COM
pares with that of its predecessors for read
mess, gracefulness, and wit.
Singularly enough, the nonparell sum-
mer speechmaker among recent Presidents
was Gen. BENJAMIN HARRISON, a states
man of whom little had been expected in
that line even by those who knew him
we'll. He astonished the country and
earned undying fame by the aptness Of his
small occasional speeches, the freshness
and variety of his thought, the humor and
imagination which invested with a peculiar
charm his remarks upon the most insignif-
cant subject. There has been no President
since LINCOLN who could make a more in
teresting off b speech than Gen. HARRI-
SON. Mr.. CLEVELAND, of course, compared
with him in this respect as a porpolse com
pared with a flying fish. If Major McKIN-
LEY can approach Gen. HARRIsoN's success,
xyifhput opral1inr II nr S1rnnQcinD II he
ought to be satisfied.
Will Major MCKINLEY be able to do It'll
Tha remains to be seen. Thu season began
on Thursday in Vermont, where the Presi-
dent was entertained at Proctor by the dis
tinguished Senate of that ilk. For an
exact report Of Major MCKINLEY's remarks
at Proctor we are indebted to the enter
prise of the Neu York Tribune. 1t was
evening. The grounds around Senator
PRoCToR's house were deliberately illumi-
mated with colored electric lights. A stand
had been built for the first formal test of
the Presidents powers as a summer orator.
He mounted the platform in company with
his host and Secretary ALGER, and to IN
audience consisting Of about two thousand
citizens of Proctor, together with several
ia wiz hiliO oh GA ioih
from Rutland, the President delivered the
subjoined address:
FELLOW CITIZENS, MY visit nve years ago. to
which Senator PROCTOR has alluded. was a most pleas.
ant one. and. therefore. l am glad to renew my &C.
quaintance with you. I am glad to see about me the
men and women of this village accompanied by their
girls and boys. There is q suggestion here OF the
family. Where virtue abides is the family. and Il Ia
the foundation Of a family. thrust we shall always
preserve our homes. Thence comes good citizenship.
l am glad to enjoy the hospitality OF your distin-
guished Senator once more and once moro to receive
such abundant evidence of your good will. Good
night
The important part of the speech, as we
hardly need to point out, is the central sem
timent concerning virtue as the foundation
of family life, and the preservation of our
homes as the source of good citizenship.
The genesis of the idea is apparent from
what precedes 1t. Major MCKINLEY OBJ
served from his elevated position upon the
stand that many of the men and women
who had gathered to hear him were accom-.
panied by their children. AS he just.
ly remarked, there appeared in this
circumstance Ii suggestion of the fam.
lily. Thence he was naturally led on
to generalize concerning the influence of
family and of nome in the maintenance Of
our institutions. The development of the
argument is orderly and logical, and it
would be a bold or an insincere mind which
should undertake to combat the Presidents
propositions yet we cannot %truthfully say
that the result Is particularly striking.
But, after all, it is only a beginning.
1t is probable hat in this difficult inc to
him unaccustomcd field of summer effort,
wherein every utterance of the Chief Mag
istrate il scrutinized by millions of people
with an attentive interest not always be.
slowed upon the most momentous docu-
ment of State, Major MCKINLEY is ham.
pered and embarrassed by the fear of say
ing something beneath the dignity of
his office. The effect of such apprehen.
sions is to paralyze the Imagination and
to shackle the speakers tongue to the
hopelessly commonplace. There Is no need
of such restraint upon Major MCKINLEY's
summer oratory. He should study Gen.
HARRIsoN's little speeches as a model to
initiate, n review Mr.. C~LEvELAND's SINH
lar efforts as an example of what is to be
avoided. For a man of genuine impulses
and unaffected, unpretentious habits of
mind, there is no more danger in giving
free play to fancy, wisdom, and wit when
standing under colored electric lights upon
a structure of planks in the presence of a
couple of thousand fellow citizens, all his
friends, than there is when sitting on the
seat of a blackboard alone with that en-.
gaging and stimulating companion, the
present Vice.P President of the United States.