The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-03-13
Republican Gorreousness.

The London Spectator, makes q
rather significant comment upon the In
auguration festivities It says:
Tie ceremonial appears 10 have charmed the
people and the wires are loaded with DESCRIPTIONS
IN which |e note hat the reporters, at al events
tciilEe eFery thing except simplicity Washington
would probably have thought the whole scene very
popular, bot one wonders what tho. old homo
EPUn PUrltans OF the Eastern states would have
Thought. Would they L4ve talked Of solomon in
All his glory or Of BeIsAazzarz-'
There is not so very much occasion for
London to throw stones at America. after
the proceedings Of King Edward in rout-
ing out Of obscurity various insignia and
customs Of royalty which add more or
less TO the pomp of court life. but have
been disused for more than two genera
tons. But it IS an undeniabIe fact that
the world in general is just nov. tending
more and more TO the display of power
ana wealth. and that this tendency is the
more noticeable in this country. becaus.
of our repeated vaunts Of Republican
simplicity. Anybody can see the differ
ence between this Inauguration and those
OF some previous years, and II is probably
due not 50 much 20 a deliberate intention
TO be gorgeous as to the lapse of a delib-
crate intention not TO be. Up TO a corn;.ar-
atively recent date there has been d strong
sentiment against anything which sa-
vored IN the least Of imperial grandeur.
JUS at present that sentiment along
with various other feelings characteris-
tic Of democracy. IS quite in allegiance.
and the result is poInp and glory.
Like other signs Of the times. this ten
dency showed itself in private life before
1t was noticeable in public functions.
Among the people Of today there is n dis
tinct dislike TO anything which is cheap or
looks cheap There are two ways of get
ting on in this world. one is by increas-
ing the numerator Of the fraction Of daily
life. the other By decreasing the denomi-
nat0r. In other words a man who wishes
TO accumulate money may do so by di-
ninlshinG his wants. and thus saving
money, or by increasing his earning ca
pacity, TO keep pace with his desires The
trouble With the latter plan is that there
IS practically 10 limit 10 the wants OF
anybody, prince or pauper. while there IS
q distinct boundary 70 the earning capac-
fly Of every human being, and this bcIIn-
Diary is generally reached with great ce-
Ierity The consequence IS that the IN
fortunate person who is trying 10 solve
NEE pEUbleli linus that ne must either
overwork, steal. beg, or De terribly dis
satisfied.
on the other hand, II may be said, the
person who goes TO the opposite extreme
viii be just as badly of, for he viii find
himself, in course Of time, with more
money than he knows what TO do with;
he viii have denied himself all the pleas
ures Of life, and be unable 10 enjoy the
fruits Of his labor. But there is not half
so much danger OF this as there Is Of the
other thing. We, as a people, are never
likely to become misery or sluggish. and
we are extremely likely 10 become ex-
travagant, rapacious, and showy-the
three things 90 together It is quite as
difficult for country as for an individual
10 strike the golden mean. There was a
time when the American ideal was rot
SNOWY; when intelligent people in this
land were rather proud that our Prcsi-
dent wore plain citizens clothes OF Amer