The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-27

the university had deliberately and
publicly proposed to 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 bad cause the Nation" does not
hesitate to go the limit of personal crit
icism, and we are sorry TO say, Of abuse,
as the subjoined extract from the edi-
torial under review will demonstrates:
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 III 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-Toom fidelity insurance company, but
by common-sense principle OF impartial selection
Of the httest. II is no eXaggeration 10 say mat,
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 it? Because the moral
Of every of conscience is offended by
the ex-Congressnan consenting to assume a
statutory function which, as devotee of the
spoils system, he had done his best TO impede
and abolish. Here not only perforce separate
the man from his Office but from his Rode of
taking office. And if we judge McKinley's APP
pointment of him canddy without reference to
Harvard commandments and degrees, we must
join the President in the same condemnation
with Rodenberg, but iortiori. 1t was contra
bonos mores on both sides. But then, having been
so bold il we enquire under what circumstance
Mckinley gained the Presidency in the first in
St. we gha find frPSl
paying university honors TO that Office 50 long as
it is vested in him. II was as deliberately pur-
chased for him in 1896 by money as any article
that seemed desirable or necessary TO Mr.
Hanna; il was repaid with a Senatorship for
Hanna, and would have been repaid with a
Cabinet office but that that worthy declined the
cheaper consideration.
: lthough, according to the Nation"
MI McKinley's Presidency was as de-
libu-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 bestowal of the decorate upon the
gentleman whose commission was one
of purchase, by Yale University, as a
very neat and appropriate thing; but
some days ago the latter explained that.
since that was done, Mr.. McKinley's
character has appeared in a 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 ii 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 newspaper or
so never noted for patriotic sentiments
or instincts, chooses to condemn the
later conduct OF the President, it con-
siders him unfit for academic recogni-
ton 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 will show. The Nation" says:
''Tbe incident of comforting a degree on Nc
kinley. ii II come 10 pass, VIII emphasize the
complete substitution OF form for substance in
our political evolution. What was it that caioled
US from stage TO stage of the descent into war
with Spain, against the wishes Of the vast ma
iority Of all sections of the country2 II was;
Trust-not William Mckinley, but-the Presi-
dent. Who was it that was always sagacious, al
ways Just. always humane In his arbitrary dis. dis
positions regarding the PhilippinesI Not VIII
liam Mckinley. but-the President Who it
that earned ior his Eastern policy damnatOry
censure as ever escaped from Senator Hoars lips2
Not William Mckinley the Well-Beloyed but
the President. Now comes Harvard to honor
neither but the souless Presidency. On these
terms. one wonders how long il will be before
the Boss-ship steps up for its degree"
We cannot refrain from a feeling Of
refreshment in the face of 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 its people. AS a mat
ter of notorious fact and settled his
tory, the American masses were clam
oring for a chance to drive Spain out of
the hemisphere, because of her hideous
defiance of every instinct of humanity,
long before the Administration reluc-
family bowed to the popular will 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 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 or
the advertising class, are bound to re-
spect What contemplate puerility.
The Washington Relies.
1t has often been our privilege to