The evening times., 1900-10-01
NEGLECT OF PUBLIC DUTIES.
The Presidents conduct in the Chi
nese TrOhIlAs Criticized.

nese Tropbies Criticised.
A citizen of Washington who closely
follows tie course of public events makes
some severe, though by no means rancor-
Gus. criticism of the President for the pre-
cedenee which he gives to political neees-
stiles over public duties He says:
"a few months since. when Admiral
Dewey was intersiewed in respect to his
candidacy for the Presidency of the United
States, he was quoted as saying that he
had been looking into the functions and
requirements of the office and had come
to the conclusion that it was not. after
all, very difficult position to fill, and
that he felt himself equal to the task. The
public was greatly amused by this cheap
estimate of the Presidential Office It may
be well now to enquire whether there
not some other prominent persons who. in
acts il not in words place the same light
estimate on the Office that Admiral Dew
ey did in this famous interview.
Well Informed men concede that the
disposition and handling of the Chinese
embroglio present difficulties as great as
any question involving foreign relations IN
our entire history and that the subject is
moro complex, probably, than any arising
IN the lifetime Of the present generation.
The outraSes upon American citizens the
uprising of a lawless revolutionary eIe-
ment, the weakness of the Central or I'M
perial Government of China, the danger 10
our minister and other Americans in Pc
kin, all created questions of the most Sc
rious and pressing nature. How to deal
with such issues and such an emergency,
whether the President should act in con-
junction with foreign powers and how far
he should go, were points of great diff
Guilty and embarrassment. Ordinarily in
questions involving war and peace and
grea& commercial interests the President
would desire the advice and cooperation
OF Congress as soon as he could possibly
bring It together. Such unQuestionably is
the theory of the Federal Constitution. The
question IS not a party one and ought not
to be made one. It would seem that in
such an emergency as this a wise PFesi-
dent would feel some diffidence as to his
own capacity for dealing single-handed
and alone with the issues involved, and
that he would be anxious to consult the
most able and experienced men of both
political parties No patriotic statesman
would refuse to give disinterested counsel
II response TO such appeal from the Ex-
ecutive. This has been the course pur-
sued by Mr.. McKinley's predecessors in
Office under similar conditions.
'tUnluckily when this crisis occurred
Congress was not in session It's depart
ure had been hastened some time previous
in order to carry out a political pro-
gramme. The President and his friends
deemed it good tactics for him to conduct
his campaign for reelection from his
home IN Canton. as he had done in 1886
He had made ready to leave when the out
break in China occurred, and he did not
suffer it to change his plans. It was not
a question of escaping heat or of his
health. for nothing would have been easier
for him than 10 arrange for q temporary
summer home near Washington. Several
Presidents have spent the summer pleas
antly at the Soldiers Home near the
city. When the President left he did not
know whether Minister Conger was dead
OF alive or what would become of him and
his family. Secretary Hay. of the State
Department. and some other Secretaries
were still at tlieir posts of duty.
"Upon these officials this important
business was practically devolved. but in
a peculiar way. NominaIly the President
was consulted by telegraph but it is OBJ
vious that the numerous communicate ti0ns
made TO the State Department, whether in
writing or orally by the representatives of
foreign Governments or by our own Off
GERS and agents at the different foreign
capitals. could only be presented very i'm
perfectly and inadequately to the Presi-
dent at Canton while his opportunity to
confer freely with his Cabinet about those
matters would no longer exist There
would thus eniy be very scant basis for
intelligent action by the President An
Executive at Canton cannot preside over
a Cabinet consultation at Washington. Al
ter long absence the President returned
PossfniE ne had been advised that con-
tinlea 2bsenteeiSm would not promote his
chances for reelection
III the meantime Secretary Hay had
gonr away. The Assistant Secretary of
State, Mr.. Hill, was also absent on a va
eaten. Other Secretaries thus had 10 put
their fingers in the pie and. during the
Presidents absences. it was reported that
first this Secretary and then that Secre-
tary was acting as a sort of Presidential
deputy. Be that as 1t may, in acting on
this grave and difficult question the Ad-
miniStration was composed Of some Sec
-etaries who happened to linger in Wash
inSton and somewhat greater number OF
clerks Before the Presidents return it
vas strangely discovered that all of these
Secretaries We're not needed to man the
ship of state and that some of them might
be dispensed with, either to seek health OF
to demonstrate On the stump how essen
tial it was to peTpetuate this kind of
government. And thus it happened the
other day that the President had only one
member Of his Cabinet TO advise him, aId
he the Law officer. who was not presumed
70 know or shape public policies, espe-
cially after a protracted vacation
1t is easy to see that with a shifting
Cabinet, cne set going and another set
coming, and nobody at Washington con-
tinu0usly, there would be much difficulty
for all Of them to keep the thread of a
complicated question lasting all The sum
mer, and which, with contradictory ad-
vices or fresh incidents, changed its as
oects nearly every day. It was when.
perhaps, the NEST serious point had been
reached whether to respond affirmatively
90 the last German note and to act with
that power and Great Britain or TO pur-
sue the more conservative course favored
by Russia and France, that the President
found the highest officers of his Cabinet
absent and only one at his post and he
a very recent capture. No wonder for
eign representatives. went in vain to the
State Department to enquire about the be-
lated responses to their respective Coy
ernments- In all this muddIe only one
thing seemed to be accepted as a fxert
principle, and that was this: On no ac-
count was Congress to be summoned or
allowed TO say one word about the ques-
ton of war or peace with China or upon
the extent OF our corporation Gnd tntan-
clements with the European powers.
''It may be argued that the matter was
finally made right by the President giving
up his original programme and returning
to his duties at Washington city. 1t was,
however, a good while before he did so re-
turn to stay. During his absence all per-
sons could see that the situation in China
was extremely critical, and that any hour