The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1901-09-13
FROM THE CAPITAL.
Our Correspondent Talks in
General About Wash
ington.
WASHINCtTON.

September Q, 1901.

w ASH y NEl On
September ., 1901.
The terrible calamity which has
befallen President Mckinley has
been almost the sole topic of con
yerSatiou in Washington since
Friday night. The news came
Just as people employed in the
departments were going home to
dinner. and Just before the shops
closed for the night. There were
some hundreds of people who did
not so home to dinner at all.
They stood about in front OF the
bulletin boards watching for the
latest reports and discussing the
news The three great news
paper offices, the Times, the
Post and the star. all occupy
buildings on Pennsylvania avenue
within about four blocks Of each
other. and that part of the great
thoroughfare was black with peo-
pie. To one standing in front
of the treasury and looking to
ward the capitol it might have
seemed that all actual shadow
had fallen across the pathway
which has twice been traverSed
by President Mckinley on his
way to take the oath Of inaugu-
ration. These crowds were not
mere curiosity -impelled sensation.
hunters. The felt a sense of per-
sonal atfliction, for there had been
no more popular President in the
White House since its erection
than Mr.. Mckinley has been so
far as his private character is
concerned. His enemies are made
by his public acts and the party
to which he belongs, and his per
sonal friends are found i'll both
parties.
The lesson taught by this tragic
event was pointed out immedi-
ately. AS one energetic person
put it, in discussing the first bull
letin. "This means Round up
the Reds" While to the masses
of the people the tragedy was un
expected and unaccOuntable, it
was not so to many astute OBJ.
servers of public events in this
city and elsewhere. The asSassi-
nations of the Empress Elizabeth
and of King Humbert foreshad-
owed only too plainly the selec
ton of another victim in the
near future, and the United
States, as yet untouched by An
archistic plots of this kind, was
the field most likely to be select
ed for the next coup. President
Mckinley owed his misfortune to
the fact that he happened to be
President at this particular time,
not to anything whatever that
he may have done.
This is fortunate. since it re-
lieves all his antagonists from the
fearful odium Of having suggested
or encouraged any crazy fanatic
to commit such a crime. The mat
ter had been carefully arranged
and planned by a society of An.
archists. aud the man selected to
do the deed calmly did as he was
told. The question is, how such
! things can be prevented III future.
1t is futile to expect to prevent
them by guarding all public men.
The network Of police iii Russia
does not protect the Gar. There
is no way Of shutting out immi-
grants which will absolutely nul
lily the danger. The suggestion
OF morning paper the day after
| the event, that restriction of lmml-
grafton Is the lesson which it
teaches, became absurd when it
was found that the assassin was
borne in this country. The remedy
seems to be strict police supervi-
sion of such dangerous societies.
They are against the law, as much
as a burglars, association or a
murder club would be; in fact,
they are murder clubs. They
should be compelled either to hold
their meetings in public, with the
understanding that incendiary
speeches will not be tolerated, or
J they be suppressed, imprisoned