The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-05
The inaugural Address.

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,,,nor nc one might wish and it lacks the
element of pledge and promise which we
think. If properly included, might recon-
ollie many millions of Ameri cans to the
verdict of a larger number of their lei
lows who made him President of the
United States.
The Inaugural is what We might cal Il
pleasant paper. There are points ABOUT II
which cannot fail to touch sore spots on
the anatomy of people who do not IKE
the idea of a trust control over the couh-
try. through the agency of Mr. hanna
who occupied the retiring President place
in the pageant yesterday. Nhether OF not
that was INTENDED TO signify a mutual de-
sire on the part of the gentlemen IN the
carriage that the old dual Administration
had been broken. and that only one OF
Them in future would be the man We do
not know.
To return to the address: 1t is too soon
after the event of the Inauguration, in
connection with which we have desired to
cultivate non-partisan good nature, ana to
promote the feeling of national venerauoh
for what is left of our institutions, per-
sonified in the persons of the President
and Vice President of the United States,
to say anything harsh. even If we were IN
clined to- Hence ii is our desire, IN now
briefly reviewing the address, merely to
refer cursorily TO its terms and their re-
lations to the policy of Mr.. Mckinley
first and probably second Administration.
Let us begin by saying that we congrat-
ulate the President upon a condensed
speech from the throne. Inaugural ad-
dresses, to be sure, are conventionally
brief compared with the annual messages
and other executive state papers with
which we have been favored during re-
cent years, that it is a pleasure to con-
slider them. In this connection, with the
utmost respect, we venture to suggest to
the Chief MAGISTRATE that if he will con-
fine his remarks to the next session OF
Congress to about the same space, allow
ing the reports of his department heads
to tell the rest of the story. he viii earn
the gratitude of great people who, in
past years have not read his state papers
because they had not the time. In a SOW
ereign, condensation is as great a gift as
the ability to write Ineligible prose.
In his Inaugural Address yesterday
President Mckinley offered evidence of
his remarkable ability to put the best
foot forward, for his Administration and
for his party As was natural, he directed
attention to the prosperity of the country
which, providentially, has come to us dur
European crops good crops in this coun-
Ary and a hundred things not within the
control of man are sufficient to account
for the fact; but it is conventional If not
just to attribute crops, good business,
and national good luck to the Administra-
ton of the day. Who knows2 1t may be
responsible for all; at least there is no
record TO show that the full credit has
hot been claimed
The second para graph Of the address, I'm
which the President admonishes US that
Our diversified productions. however, are
increasing in such unprecedented volume
as TO admonish us of the necessity of
still further extending our foreign mar
kets by broader commercial relations
will remind American economists that it
might be possible to enlarge commercial
relations to the disadvantage Of the
masses of the American people, and. con-
sequently, to the country itself. For ex-
ample extended commercial relations
which only benefit a limited class and
that at the expense Of our citizenship at
large, may not conform to the maxim of
the greatest good to the greatest num-
Der" The splendid industrial, CONNER
cial, and financial development which
has been witnessed in the United States
during Mr.. Mckinley's first term, and its
occurrence is undeniable, has been in its
benefits very largely confined to the
trusts and monopolies, which. in an ever
increasing degree, are sapping the life
blood of modest enterprise in develop
ment, and. incidentally. our liberties. Be
cause, with every new chance that
monopoly seiZes to exploit foreign mar
liets by taxing home consumers for the
cost Of competition abroad, each native
worker Is forced to pay tribute to the
trusts for their benefcence in taking the
bread out of the mouths of the European
proletariat.
Mr.. Mckinley tells us. in his Inaugural,
that the national verdict of 1896 has for
the most part been executed" We fancy
that this statement is not as felicitous
it might be. In his Inaugural Address
delivered on March T. 1897, President Nc
Kinley said:
The question Of international Jimetallism will
have early and earnest attention II will be
NY constant endeavor to secure il by co-opera-
ii"n with the other great commercial Powers OF
the world"
Perhaps he may mean to except this I'M
fulfilled and broken promise from the
pledges OF 1895. which have been kept,
for the most part" But. really, he
should have refrained from opening that
door to criticism. How did he proceed
70 keep that engagement? He sent Mr.
Wclcott TO Europe perfuDctorily to pre-
sent the case of bimetallism to the Gov
ernments of Europe, but, at the same
time. permitted Secretary Gage to notify
those Governments that in no -circum-
stances would the Administration depart
from its determination to adhere to the
single gold standard. We are not inclined
10 be hypercritical today: SO we viii not
say much concerning another promise in
cluded in the Inaugural Of March I. 1887.
The President then said: AS Mem
Der of Congress. / voted and spoke in
favor of the present [Civil Service Re
forcement in the spirit In which 1t was
enacted" Promise and performance have
been two separate and distinct things in
tAis connection. The law has been first
ignored and then in effect destroyed. Mr..
Mckinney is responsible for having broken
down the barriers which for some years
surrounded the merit system, and for
turning over the public service to the
spoils methods Of his party by deliberately
taking from five to six thousand places
out OF the classified lists and putting them
st the disposal of Mr.. Hanna, which is
what The action amounted to.
-Four years ago says the President in
his Inaugural, we stood on the brink OF
war. ! did all that in honor could
be done to avert that war; Possibly it
might be said that a Republican Presi-
dent who had been driven into that war
by Democratic patriotism against his will.
and against the wishes and interests Of
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