The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-03
AT the Opening OF Columbia Univer
sity,

y AT the Opening of Columbia Un1ver-
sity.
The one hundred and forty-fourth AGA
demic year of Columbia University will be.
gin tomorrow, and it will be made notable
by the opening of the institution at its new
site on Morningside Heights, for whose i'm.
provement for the uses of the college mil
lions of dollars have been expended already,
though 1t is incomplete as yet.
The occasion will be the more notable
rs being the first on which a President
of Columbia College has called together
the corps of instruction and the body
of students While he himself is distracted
by the excitements of a political candidacy
assumed by him in spite of the degradation
to his own reputation and the reputation
of the college which is involved in it. The
young men who assemble on Morningside
Heights tomorrow will be confronted by
an example of disloyalty TO their Alma
Mater and to good and honorable citizen
ahip which is all the more unfortunate for
them because it is set by the official head
of the institution.
SETH Low, President of Columbia Uni
!, versity, started out with the summer by
publicly proclaiming, when a nomination
for Mayor of the Greater New York was
offered him by q self-constituted and un-
representative committee, that only IL it
was demonstrated TO him that he was ga
unifying force among the friends of good
government" would he feel justified in
throwing off his obligations to Columbia
University by accepting such a nomina-
ton. If it had been a sincere expression
It would have been altogether credit
able to him as a citizen. 1t was of
the nature of a pledge, and it secured for
him at the time a large measure Of public
-ysespect. The impression he conveyed and
4 meant to convey was that he was loath to
!, interrupt his career at the university and
( would make the sacrifice only If he should
y be proved to be the best man to produce
the unity requisite to the good government
of the great municipality to be created
next January. That demonstration, he
said, would indicate to him a public duty
which could not be gainsaid."
The summer passed, and during 1t the
novel plan Of soliciting signatures to a
paper expressing a desire for "the nomina-
tion and election of SETH Low" was
adopted. The signers were not called upon
TO express their preferences as to q candl-
date, but were allowed only to say II they
were willing to take this particular candi-
date picked out by q few of his friends
ON their own motion solely. The virtual
pledge of SETH Low in June that he would
/ be q candidate only If he was proved to be
ga unifying force" was the condition on
which the signatures were obtained. Every
fair-minded man, every student at Column
bia, can understand that SETH Low was
III A---l T. - 1t. -ronl -. $500 -
nnder such circumstances.
What did he do7 He falsihed his word /;
no broke his pledge. In September he
accepted the nomination offered, declar-
Ing that he would run, be his friends
. many or few" He would run anyway
unifying force or dividing force, for mean
time It had been demonstrated that it was
impossible for him to unite "the friends of
good government" In support Of his candi.
dacy. He became q candidate, all the same.
Wa that a square and honorable course,
In the opinion Of the Columbia students3
HI Would they tolerate the society of one Of
their fellows capable of regeneration like
that II they would, the standards of honor
In an American college community have
declined wofully in this generation.
Everybody In New York, Columbia stu
dents and every other person Of lntelli.
gcnce and reasonable fairness, knows that
good government for the Greater New York
hi ls impossible without the overthrow of
Tammany Hall at the coming election.
SETH Low scrupulously avoided making
pny such explanation, glazing as the
fact Is, throughout the summer. HI
hid not even refer to 1t In his speech
accepting his nomination. He ignored
tItt In the supplementary manifesto is
sued by him, which was of the ma
tnre of q platform. He tabooed the name
OF Tammany for the reason hat his agents
HAD been catering to the worst and most
dangerous social elements In the Tammany
following, with a view to getting their
support for him. The natural politi.
cal enemy of Tammany Hall and the
Bryanism now rampant In 1t is, OF
klrourse, the Republican party. From its
Very organization, about forty years ago,
that party has been the political army
which has commended uninterruptedly
against Tammany Hall. Until last year II
was in a large minority In New York, only
about one-third as against Tammany's two,
thirds. Last year, however, when Tam
|f(hauy followed the Democratic party in an
assault Upon the honor and integrity OF
khis republic and upon the security OF
brppsrty and the social order, the friends oil
hood government turned in enthusiastically
10 the support of the Republican party, and
Fammany was beaten by a majority OF
nearly 10000 in the Greater New York,
Eithout the Republican party they would
lave been powerless; with it, they were
Triumphant. The situation is the SAME
his year. Good government still depends
ID the Republican party.
When the time of the Republican Con