The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-03
A CHASTITY Revelation.

A CHASTITY Revelatiou.
It often happens that the true meas
fremont of q man is not taken until he
is caught and sized under unaccustorned
circumstances. Thus, nobody knew how
great DR.. SANGRADo really was until
he undertook to address the Valladolid
faculty on medical progress during the
seventeenth century.
Yesterday the Governor of New York
delivered at St. Louis an address which
he had carefully prepared at Albany
and carried out to the Exposition grounds
at an expense Of $4,000 to the taxpayers
OF the Empire State, We print It in
full elsewhere, in order that Governor
ODELL's fellow citizens may get their
moneys worth.
Whoever reads attentively from be-
ginning to end this extraordinary pro-
duction will pass through varying phases
of emotion, from establishment to doubt
whether his own organs of perception
are in good working order, from mirth
slightly tinged with intellectual CON-
tempt to absolute pity for the unfortu-
nate orator. Probably it is hundred
years since any public man. on an occa-
sion of inspiring significance. has flo,ln-
dered 80 helplessly amid unrelated ideas
expressed in haphazard verbiage. Per-
haps never in the whole history Of human
speech has there been a more trying
exhibition Of mental inadequaey strug.
Cling to do the thing expected Of COM
potency.
Perusal will show that this address is
not merely another case of ambitious
platitude. The Governors rhetoric and
thoughts produce upon the wel-ordered
mind an effect infinitely moro distress
ing than any ordinary commonplace.
Half of his sentences start up with a
platitude and wind zip with unique
specimen of novel rstiocination: and the
logical relation OF the novelty to the
plstitude is itself quite original. 1t is
az II a school child. with the intrepidty
OF ignorance. were facing it out before
the Phi Beta Kappa.
What idea, for example. was in Mr.
ODELL's Uranium when he solemnly
declared his opinion, az an historical
philosopher. that the voluntary sale OF
the Louisiana territory to the United
States by NAPOLEON was followed by
the grouping together Of the various
States Of Europe into vast empires whose
relations with our country are such that
cncroachment or territorial aggrandize-
ment upon this hemisphere seem forever
impossible?
What hazy half-thonght was wrestling
with his gray matter when he announced
as a political economist, that the prod
ucts of toll are worthless unless there be
some means by which they can be SUBJ
sttuted or transferred for that which
labor requires: the concrete form in
which these transactions are conducted
is the money power or capital Of the
land?
What was he driving at VIXEN he said:
There is always mean between those
who seek only a fair recompense and
return for that which they produce and
those who seek undue advantages for
the few at the expense of the many? 60
What is the meaning of this dictum:
The individual should count for as
much as the aggregate Of individuals,
because an injury to the one will lead to
the destruction OF the many?
You do not read far before you discover
that the Governor was not thinking at all
that he had. no ideas whatever on the
subjects Of which he undertook to crate
on 90 conspicuous an occasion; that with
vague memories OF CLEvELAND's and
RoosEvELr's and T1LpEN's collected
writings and speeches, he returned TO
the methods OF composition OF his fresh
man and sophomore years and faxed
together composite Of inconsequent
phrases which sounded philosophical
and satisfactory to his imperfectly criti-
cal mind; and that he believed he could
impose the same upon the hearers at
st. Louis as the ripe fruit Of wisdom.
What spectacle! And what painful
contrast to tho dignified simplicity and
clean-cut reasoning Of Mr.. RoosEvELT's
discussion OF the same theme from the
same rostrum only two days before!
Was it worth $4,000 to the State Of
New York to escort this ridiculous speech
to st. Louis with brass instruments and
q thousand men in uniform ? On the
whole, We think it was. The incident is
notifying to State pride, but some
notifications are illuminating, and for
some revelations you cannot pay too
high a cash price.
Gen. Mtles's Attack on the Army.