The times., 1901-04-27

hOnOrS to anyone except as II may
please But here is the cruX of the sit
uation: Were Mr.. Bryan President, and
the university had deliberately and
publicly proposed 10 bestow doctorate
of laws upon him, neither the faculty
nor the alumni, nor any part or faction
Of either, would be justified in attempt
ing to affront the office or the man in
the way that certain obscure persons
are now endeavoring to do both in the
case Of Mr. Mckinley. Having enlisted
in a bad cause the Nation" does not
hesitate to go the limit Of personal crit
icsm, and we are sorry to say, of abuse,
as the subjoined extract from the edi-
torial under review will demonstrate:
The truth IS. the doctrine we are now asked
10 accept in order 10 help the university out OF
the embarrassment contrived by Senator Hoar, Is
a sheer apotheosis of get there in politics. Take
a position peculiarly qualified TO inspire esteem
for the holder, namely, that OF Federal Civil
Service Commissioner, directing machinery de-
signed TO secure capable and honest administra-
tion. not by the checks and balances OF a count
ing-room or a fidelity insurance company, but
by 4 oommon-sense principle OF impartial selection
OF the fitteSt. It is eXaggeration to say that,
as much TO any in the list, appointment to
such an office should rebound to a mans reputa-
tion. Yet why has Mr.. ROdenberg even lost
reputation by taking il? Because the moral
sense Of every man of conscience is offended by
! the ex-COngresSnlan consenting to assume q
/ statutory function which, deyotee OF the
spoils system, he had done his best 10 impede
and abolish. Here We not only pertoree separate
the from his office. but from his mode oi
taking office. And il judge Mckinney 5 ap-
pointment Of him Canddly, without reference to
Harvard commencements and degrees we must
Join the President in the same condemnation
with Rodenberg, but a fortiori. 1t contra
bonos mores on both sides. But then, having been
so bold ii enquire under what circumstance
Mckinley gained the Presidency IN the first IN
stance we shall find fresh reason for avoiding
paving university honors to that Office so long as
il is vested in him. II deliberately pur-
chased for him in 1896 by money as any article
that ever seemed desirable or necessary 10 Mr.
Hanna; it was repaid with a Senatorship for
Hanna. and would have been repaid with a
Cabinet office but that that worthy declined the
/ cheaper consideration
/ Though, according to the Nation,
! Mr McKinley's Presidency was as de-
! libl-ately purchased for him in 1896 by
money as any article that ever seemed
/ desirable or necessary to Mr.. Hanna, ,"
! this awful alleged fact did not prevent
| the Nation" or its alter ego, the New
/ York Evening Post" from considering
the bestowaI of the doctorate upon the
/ gentleman whose commission was one
Of purchase, by Yale University, as
very neat and appropriate thing; but
/ some days ago the latter explained that,
since that was done, Mr.. Mckinley s
/ character has appeared in very diff
/ ferent light" The faulty of this ar
gument lies in the fact that if the Pres
/ idential election of 1896 was bought
! with money, the Evening POST was
quite as well aware of the fact when
! Yale acted as it is now when Harvard
/ proposes to. The difference is that then
/ Mr. Mckinley had not committed the
objectionable sin Of expansion, in which
/ nine-tenths Of the American people
! have been and still are particeps Grim
( inis. and utterly unrepentant. Now
/ that a limited mutual admiration
/ society, partly composed of Harvard
men, and supported by a newspaper or
/ so never noted for patriotic sentiments
or instincts, chooses TO condemn the
later conduct Of the President, it con-
J siders him unfit for academic recogni-
, tion from his cradle up. We need not
even suggest the necessary deduction to
a community with the ordinary Ameri-
can sense Of humor. Our erring con-
temporary is not satisfied with abuse, it
must misstate history, as the follow
ing viii show The Nation" says:
THE incident Of conferring degree on Nc
/ Kinley. If il come 10 pass, VIII emphasize the
/ complete substitution Of form for substance IN
/ our political evolution. What was IL that caloled
/ Us from stage TO stage OF the descent into war
I with Spain against the wishes Of the vast ma
1 jority Of all sections Of the country? il was:
/ Trust-not William Mckinley, but-the Presi-
u. .nrsa. gar4 4g.sr4a al
WAYS lust always humane in his arbitrary dis
positions regarding the Philippines? Not Viii
liam Mckinley, but-the President Who was II
that earned for his Eastern policy damnatOry
censgre as ever escaped from senator Hoar's ipsf
Not William Mckinley the Mell-Beloyed. but
| the President Now comes Harvard TO honor
neither but the soulless Presidency. On these
terms. wonders how long II VIII be before
the Boss-ship steps up for its degree"
We cannot refrain from a feeling Of
refreshment in the face of a cold asser-
ton by any American newspaper or
periodical that the country was dragged
into war with Spain against the wishes
Of a majority Of it's people. As a mat
ter Of notorious fact and settled his
tory, the American masses were clam
oring for chance to drive Spain out OF
the hemisphere, because Of her hideous
defiance of every instinct Of humanity
! long before the Administration reluc-
tantly bowed to the popular viii and
consented to lead the crusade against
medieval despotism and atrocity in the
Antilles. But at this point it is per-
haps proper to say that we discover the
head and front Of President McKinley's
Offending He did finally become the
Moses Of the American people, and he
did head the movement which redeemed
this side of the Atlantic from the Span
ish curse When Yale made him a doc
tor he was as yet innocent Of this
crime: so the distinction was allowable
Since then he has avenged the blood
ard tears of Cuban women and chill
dren, and he has no rights which anti
Americans, whether of the academic oi
the advertising class, are bound to re-
spect What contemplate puerility!
The Washington Relics.
It has often been our privilege Il
comment upon the spontaneous anc
gracious way Mr.. Mckinley has Of do