The record-union., 1899-11-23
THE DEWEY DEED AFFAIR.

In the outset the Record Union ex-
fund to buy home for Admiral Dewey
We did not believe that he would or
should accept such a gift. We believed
that one of the surest ways to de-
throne a popular idol is to make him
or her the recipient of public bounty.
which always tends to reduce the indie
pendence of the donee.
But some of the American people
persisted and raised the fund and the
Admiral was induced to accept the
large measure by the knowledge that
he was soon to be married, and the de-
sire to have home in which to place
his wife.
The, other day, exercising the un-
doubted right he had, and as he holds
doing gracious thing as other gen
tlefnen have done, he vested the title
to this Washington house in his wife.
He believed that the property was his
absolutely, given to him to do with as
he saw fit and without any restrain
ing strings upon the gift. Very natur-
ally, however, the givers felt that the
sacredness of the gift had been violated
by its disposition. For there runs
through most orders of society a senti-
ment that makes the selling or giving
away Of a.gift abhorrent, and in a sense
insulting to the original donor.
But the objections, protests and re-
Dukes came too soon, and before the
matter was thoroughly understood, and
in consequence the feelings of Admiral
Dewey have been greatly narrowed up,
and he is doubtless deeply grieved, hurt,
chagrined and angry. That, too, is
natural. 1t now turns out that Mrs.
Dewey did not wish to receive the gift
from her husband She has an in
dependent fortune in her own right and
did not need to be protected in home
stead or other property rights. How
ever her scruples seem to have been
overcome by what the Admiral holds
to be chivalrous procedure, and what
he properly declares to be his unde-
niable right.
What the laws of the District of Co.
lumbia may be regarding the transfer
OF property to and from wife we are
not informed, but it seems that the
legal advisers. of the Admiral who
wished his final estate to pass to his
son, had him make deed to a Trustee
who in turn conveyed to Mrs. Dewey.
She, understanding the effect the trans
fer would have upon the public mind,
at the same time made deed to his son.
who is a clerk upon small salary. The
Admiral united with his wife in the
last deed, and all three bear the same
date, November 14th. But in the final
instrument the grantors, the Admiral
and his wife, reserve to themselves a
life interest in the property. We have
1t now stated that the Admiral says
that Mrs. Dewey will make his son
heir to her private fortune, and she has
considerable estate. Thus the young
man becomes far better off than the
Admiral had expected for him.
Ordinarily one would have said that
the most direct method would have
been for the Admiral and his wife to
have jointly decided direct to the son in
the nrst instance. But they had legal
advice, and under the laws Of place
the procedure may be just what was
necessary. The ungenerous will say
That the deciding to the son was an
afterthought, and the result of the
storm of protest raised over the giving
to the wife in the first instance. But
fair-minded people will dismiss such
thoughts as unworthy, and as wholly
immaterial
The simple fact is, that George
Dewey, the American Admiral is to-
day just What he has been. He has
not one whit descended from the pedes-
tai upon which his courage skill and
achievements in war placed him; a po-
sition which was confirmed by a
years shrewd, wise and most circum-
spect conduct in Manila Bay by which
he preserved the peace with other ma
tions, held the insurgents in check, and
hfted the American nation in the es-
TEEN of all peoples.
That his. domestic relations should
now have been dragged into the public
forum is most regretable, but it is one
OF the things the Record Union
feared . when it repeatedly challenged
the good taste Of the gift to him and
ADVISED that he should not accept it.
While as already said, the revolt OF
feeling against disposing of a gift was
natural, it has been carried to the ex-
treme and the sensibilities of Admiral
Dewey have been sadly shocked and
his soul panied. The whole matter
should now be dismissed from public
thought
Admiral Dewey is an old man. By
reason of long and arduous service to
his country his frame is shaken, and his
health impaired. He is entitled to peace
and rest in his own way and with the
wife he has chosen as the companion of
his later years. There has been too
eager haste to judge him in this mat
ter, and the generosity, breadth Of char