Semi-weekly Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1897-1901, 1901-09-17

The Presidents Death.

hands were the three Of most winsome
md ,ovable characters that have held the
onice-men against whom personal OF
no)itical hatred was absolutely impos-
sible. The murder of Lincoln, with mai
ire towards none, with charity for ALL
was the worst blow that could nave Deeh
struck at the South, in whose interest
the romantic simpleton, Booth, thought
he fired the fatal shot. The one weakness
of the character, in some respects great,
NJ Garfield, was his over-atiectionate
and nliable kindness and cordially to
everybody. And the so.called "stalwart'
section of his party, that the crack
Drained Guiteau imagined he was serV'
ing by his crime, was simply obliterateu
by it. ~
And now Mckinley, gentlest and kind
est of all, the man who in all his career
has hardly said an unkind word, or har'
bored a harsh thought of anybody
whom even his strongest opponents could
no help respecting for his profound
sincerity and loving personally Tor Tue
courtesy and generous liberation OF OPP
DOSING opinion he always exhibited IN
the unflinching advocacy OF his own
the man whose like was never seen,
probably, in this or any other country
for the facility with which he has for 81
years gone through the hardest OF point
ical lighting without ever leaving per-
sonal wound or %scar-that such a presl-
dent should be singled out for assassi-
nation is hard to understand indeed.
Even anarchism, in whose name the
wretched assassin claims it was DONE
could not hate him.
10 the hush of party passion before
this great tragedy it is no time to at
tempt to measure him as a statesman.
As a politician there can be no dispute
that, as ex-Secretary Olney once said, he
was 1.-THE greatest of US ALL he
had, like Lincoln, an lntuitive knowl'
edge of the "plain people" their wishes
and their ideals and it was his philos-
ophy, his earnest belief, apparently,
that duty lay in obeying the will of the
the people, which he knew so accurately
how to read. The great ideas and achieve
ments he will represent ia history are
the gold standard, the war with Spain,
and the territorial acquisitions follow
ing, and the protection system when
for 20 years before his accession to the
presidency he had championed. And
vet he had both voted and spoken for
free silver, he opposed the war with
Spain up to the last moment, he was at
first opposed to the taking of the Phil
ippines, and in his last and wholly
admirable speech at Buffalo he again
Welded to the changed sentiment OF the
country by declaring that "the period
of exclusiveness is past" and power
fully advocating reciprocity and freer
trade. Ave must not repose in fancled
security" be said, like veritable free
trader, "that we can forever sell every
thing and buy little or nothing. If such
a thing were possible, it would not be
best for US or for those with whom we
deal" And it is proof OF the remark
able personality OF the man, that In none
of these changes of position was he
ever even suspected of iusincerity or
of mere trimming ard time serving.
The country read his character Alright
when it recognized that insincerity
was impossible to VIM Mckinley
This extreme Representatives, to
public opinion may have been in some
respects a weakness, as in Others
it certainly was a strength-this is a
question that history must decide
but as a man there was abundant
reason in him for the affection with
which the American people regarded
him. and for the wonderful growth
in popularity which had been his
Even those of US who most deeply
deplored and earnestly opposed his
policies, especially that of colonialism,
could not fail to disassociate the man
from the policy in the combat, and to
believe, however, he might err, that he
was doing what he believed to be
right.
In his private and domestic life,
religious, pure, chivalric and faithful,
with a rich and gracious nature, of
which his kindly courtesy and
his tender devotion TO those
whom he loved were only
the natural outward expression, he was
u~ndeniably the model citizen, tipping
what is best and most uplifting in u
American life. and as such we can ard
will all unite in revering his memory,
and our government cannot be assassi-
mated.