The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-09
noosrvrr,r Arp HAY.

Secretary Hay announces he is will ing to serve smother term as secre- tary of State. if Roosevelt is elected. This means. of course. the statement is made by and with the authority of the President himself. and In all prob ability at the Presidents request
 WI have here presented one of the most peculiar, the most singular. cir cumstances in the whole political his- tory of the United States. The coun- try has been assured frequently that 1t need not fear any excesses in the man. agefpent of our foreign affairs, if Roosevelt was successful. for would he not have Hay at his right handf This has been repeated over and over again. Now the Secretary steps forward in person and confirms this: he is willing to go on with his work in the state Department.
 What does this mean7 Nothing more nor less than that the President. growing restless under Democratic at tacks upon him as turbulent and dan gerous character. one who has pubiic- ly proclaimed his preference for war oyer peace. has become apprehensive and alarmed as to the result and has bargained away a cabinet place in ad- vance. seeking shelter behind this mans reputation tor prudence and safety. It Is a pitifui plight to which Bombastes Furioso has been reduced. j. My fellow-citizens, elect me and as- sure you in advance. Ill keep Hay ip my cabinet to make me behave my self" The grovelling quality in the man could not be made plainer. But why mot have nominated Hay himself. If he is now proffered to the country | as the real helmsman7
 The country will not be deceived by this little bit of political clap-trap ana | for a reason over and above the one suggested. and that is a growing con- | tempt for Hay himself. We have new l CT believed John Hay is a great man. Certainly no conduct, no utterances of his up to the time he became Secretary | of State even foreshadowed any com ing glory or renown. Up to that time he was simply one of the "demned litry fellows" who had married an enor- mously rich woman. and so offered himself as a likely candidate for any diplomatic post. He had manners and money. rather he had the first and his wife had both. These assured success in American diplomacy abroad. for there was little occasion there to do more than entertain or be entertained. The Spanish war in a large measure changed this and we have had some moro or less grave problems that de- 1 manded attention. We venture to say this, however. that so often has it ap- peared that the United States was sim ply used by Europe to accomplish ulte- rior purposes of her own, that when the chancellors of Europe give up their secrets, 1t will appear that in every important affair where we apparently took the lead, the real incentive was | taken in Europe, this country, owlne to it's power and isolation. being played upon through it's vanity to pull chest nuts for other nations.
 whether this is so or not, Hay has
 very distinctly lowered himself in pub
 He esteem by conniying at and ap-
 plauding the dirty plunderins work at
 Panama, later by eulogizing his chief
 as another Lincoln and lastly, by most
 vulgarly seizing on an International
 Peace Conference as a new occasion to
 father the lingo as an apostle of peace
 He has stopped to a ridiculous, to 8
 certainly questionable and almost as
 certainly immoral thing. in doing what
 he has recently done.