The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1900-10-10
WHAT IRISH THINK
OF MCKINLEY.
FINE SENTIMENTS FROM A NOTED
FRESHMAN.
"FOr the Sake of American Manhood
and Integrity, Let us
Have a Change"
MIXED IRISH HUMoR AND TRUTH

W Shy 40 llltle evil us pOSSlDle OI InOS'
who hold places Of power and authority
in the government of his country. Blu
surely those who are in power owe it t.
the people to make this duty as easy a,
possible. If even parents are command
ed not to provoke their children t.
wrath, and thus not to put any needles:
obstacle in the way Of the children
showing them that filial respect which
is their due, rulers, should take some
pains to avoid provoking their country
men to contempt, and should give then
fair chance of being respectful tC
the representatives Of authority.
1t is just this chance that has beer
denied to the American people every
since the close of the war with Spain
and even before the event. We have
not been able to show them that rela
tive and rather low form of respect
which is due to consistency of purpose
and which Lyman Beecher claimed for
the devil. There has been such a fire.
quent shift and change of purpose, es.
pecially in the uttered mind of our Chief
Magistrate, as has made the announce
ments Of the Weather Bureau seem con-
slant in comparison.
There is not question now before
the American people-from silver to
imperialism-on which Mr.. Mckinley
has not been quoted on both sides with
out any perversion of his words. He
was for free silver in 1895, if we could
not get international bimetallism. He
was for peace with Spain until he saw
the people would stand peace no longer,
and then who so eloquent as he on the
justice Of the war; He was for full
recognition Of the rights of the Filipinos
to determine what their relations to us
were to be- and used strong language
about the inIquity of forcing our gov
eminent upon them. He now is all for
coercion, even after he has been warned
that this can be achieved only by the
practical extirpation of the Filipinos-
that we shall have to make a, desert
and call it peace" in the good old Ro-
man style. He was for the recognition
of Porto Rico as territory of the Unit
ed States, with entire freedom of trade
between it and the rest Of the country
such as Alaska and Arizona enjoy. Yet
he uses all the power of the Administra-
ton to force through Congress a Porto
Rico tariff, which proceeds upon the de-
NAL that the island can be considered as
having any rights but those which Con-
gress chooses to confer.
ara upon this record the President is
:, al foI ward as candidate for re-elec-
ton to the most responsible Office in the
political world The country is asked
to invest again in possibility of politi-
cal surprises such as we never saw in
WashingtOn's seat before. Ihave heard
of but one forcible argument for max
ing Mr. Mckinley President for sec
ond four years, and it is an architectural
argument. We always put the weather.
cock on the top of the building.
And as is the President. so his party
is growing to be. 1t is sinking to the
level of its own opportunism. For a
President naturally sets the tone for his
party, since those who best reflect his
opinions are the most likely to be in
favor with the departments in the mat
ter of patronage. But to reflect Mr..
McKinley's opinions one must have the
fine variableness of the chameleon. 1t
reminds me of the message sent to a
Protestant bishop by his brother-in-law,
who was prominent in Church matters.
Remember, he said, that l am al
ways of your way of thinking about
these questions which disturb our peace.
But must insist ON having due notice
whenever you change your mind about
them, so that can get round in time to
your point of view"
Does Mr.. Mckinley send his friends
due notice, 'in advance of publication, "
of what his next deliverances are to beg
Did he notify them when the cue was
to repudiate the Declaration of indie
pendence. and to treat Washington's
farewell address as out of datef Did he
notify them when he had got so far in
his duty of international law as to dis
cover that State has the duty Of inter
fering for the preservation of a neigh
boring people. when the government of
that people is using its powers for their
destructionH Did he tell them the ex-
act moment at which it was safe to turn
from eulogizing Secretary Alger as a
great statesman and efficient admins
traitor, and to begin abusing him for the
failures and abuses Of the management
of the war; Did he tell them the exact
point at which the Filipinos ceased to
have any rights that we were bound to
respect, and at which the recognition of
Porto Rico as free territory ceased to
be an evident dutyy' Is there a secret
political weather bureau, which notifies
when the wind has shifted to a new
point of the compass, and other changes
which are sure to followY
The influence of this Administration
has been to envelop our government in
an atmosphere of insincerity and unver-
acity which must be offensive to every
good citizen. One man after another
eats his words, without even making
face. Admiral Dewey alternately de-
MES and admits that Aguinaldo and his