The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-09
Wellington on MCKINLEY.

wellington on Mckinley.
After the singing denunciation of Mr..
Mckinley and 1.-The men who surround him
and act with him." by Mr. Lawrence God
kin, formerly editor OF the New York
Evening Post the country is reasonably
well prepared to hear other things of the
same sort without much establishment. 1t
is, therefore, not much in the nature of
surprise that the Republican Senator
Wellington of Maryland, in announcing his
intention to support Mr.. Bryan, should ac-
count for his action by making the follow
ing serious charge of bad faith against the
President. Mr.. Wellington says:
President Mckinley has betrayed me. l was
opposed to the Paris Peace Treaty and would
never have voted for its ratification of my own
volition told the President so, and he in
dueed me to vote for it by solernnly pledging
me that it was not The intention of himself or
the Government 10 forcibly hold permanently
acquire the Philippines He further said that his
personal desire was to restore law and order in
the islands and then submit the matter to Con
gress. with the idea of having it grant absolute
freedom and enlightenment to the Filipinos.
With that pledge from President Mckinley voted
for the Treaty. Without it l never should have
done 60. The resolution / offered in the Senate,
and which was the basis of my speech on the
Philippine question: provided for exactly what the
President himself told me he desired to bring
about"
The seriousness OF this indictment, aside
from mere moral or ethical considerations,
lies in the fact that it was Senator Well
ington's unwilling vote which accomplish
ed ratification of the Treaty of Paris.
Without it the Treaty would have failed
of a Constitutional majority and would
have been rejected. 1t is, therefore, easy
to understand why Senator Wellington
feels bitterly on the subject and regards
himself as one who innocently has been
used as tool of tyranny and unuttcrable
wiekedness.
Perhaps in view Of the peculiar circum-
stances of the case he may be partly ex-
cusable for expressions which can hardly
be called XII I'd when aimed at the amiable
even he should bear in mind the we'll
known fact that Mr. McKinley's pledges
and promises are always subject to quail
flcation. amendment. or abrogation, should
the necessity for any one of those changes
arise
In 1896 the President was a bimetallist
and was committed to efforts for the re-
Mobilization of silver If he had been known
to be the out-and-out single standard ad-
vocate that he became when warm in his
seat he could not have been elected. In
his inaugural address he solemnly pledged
himself to enforce the civil service re-
form law, and to extend the merit sys-
tenn wherever practicable. He did not
redeem that promise, but. at the behest of
Mr.. Hanna, changed his mind about it. and
by a stroke of his pen practically ami
hilated the merit system and decreed
return to that of favoritism, nepotism, and
spoils. In December last he was conscien-
tiously in favor of recognizing our plain
duty to Porto Rico" under the Constitu-
ton, and in his annual message he urged
Congress to provide for free trade between
that island and all other American terri
tory. But the trusts swooped down upon
him and threatened to withhold their cam
paIgn contributions if he dared to perform
''our plain duty" Thereupon he revised
his convictions and ordered his people In
Congress to violate clear mandate of the
Constitution and to Cypress Porto Rico.
In each one of the cases we have cited,
and in many others which might be re-
called, there is probably little doubt that
Mr.. Mckinley was sincere in his original
attitude, and in the pledges he made in ac-
cordance with it. If asked to explain the
apparent Inconsistency OF his course. he
would probably say that the right OF a man
TO change his mind and purpose between
promise and performance is inhereat,
basic, and unquestionable, and that "a bad
promise is better broken than kept"-the
prerogatiye of decision as to what promises
are bad" being always attached to the
promissor We are extremely sorry that
one whose emotions are OF the very finest
character and who, IL he errs occasionally, !
only does so out of Difference TO those who !
act with him." should be exposed to the |
shafts and slings OF msrciless critics like |
Wellington, GodlEin, Hoar. Boutwell,, ct i'd |
genus omne, but we suppose il cannot be
helped. 1t has always been our earnest |
wish to see Mr.. Mckinley retire from pub
lie life next March in such a way that we |
could write the epitaph upon his political |
tombstone: None knew him but to love
him; none named him but to praise" If
We are 10 be disappointed 1t is not our
fault