The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1907-08-08
oHAPTEh xxxrH. Continued


Those words. said by some men. In
some tones. would have thrilled me.
Said by him and In that tone and with
that look, they made me shudder and
shrink. Neither OF us spoke again.
When he dropped me at my hotel we
touched hands and smiled formally for
appearances before the gaping. peep
ing. poerlng crowd And as he drove
away. how they checred hlm-the
man risen high above sO.0O0000.
alone on the mountain.peak. In the
glorious sunshine OF success Tho
PRESIDENT
Tho next seven months were
months OF turmoil In the party and in
the country turmoil OF which was
a silent spectator. conspicuous by my
silence. Burbank. the deepest pas
sions OF his nature rampant. had
burst through the meshes OF partisan
ship and the moshes OF social and per.
sonal intimaolos IN which he. as a
good party man" and as the father
OF children with social aspirations
and as the worshlpcr OF wealth and
respectablllty. was entangled and
bound down: with the desperate cour
age that comes from fear OF destruc
ton. he was trying 30 save himself.
But his only available instruments
we're all either Goodrich men or other
kinds Of machlnemcn: they owed
nuthlng to him. they had moth
ing 20 fear from him-a falling
king Is a fallen king Every project
he devised for striking down his
traitor friends and making himself
popular was subtly turned by his
cabinet or by the senate or by the
press or by all three into something
futile and ridiculous or contemplate.
II was complete demonstration %
the Stiffness Of the 'hction that the
president could be an auiocrat " he
chose. Even had burbank seen
through the fawnings and the fiat
tcries Of the traitors round him. and
dismissed bis cabinet whatever men
he might have put into u would not
have attached themselves 90 his lost
cause. but would have used their posi-.
lions 90 inFratlate themselves with
the power that had used and exhaust.
"a and discarded him.
Tie had the wisdom. or the timidity.
20 proceed always with caution and
safe legality and ~ 10 avoid impeaoh.
mcni and degradation His chief az.
'Ump,s we're. naturally. upon monop-
oily. they we're slyly baked By bis sly
attorney general. and their failure vas
called by The press. and was believed
by the PEOPLE. the cause ~ the hard
times which were Just beginning 90
be- acute what made him such an
easy victim 90 hia llcutcnants was not
their craft bat the fact that he had
lost his sense % riEht and wrong
4 man Of Affairs may not. Indeed wlll
not. always steer hy that compass:
but be- must have q aboard without
% he cannot know how FAR on the
course BE- On. or huu 90 get back 90 ~.
No ship over reached any port except
that 81 failure and disgrace. unless
n. IN spite % an its thcklnEs before
thc cr0n.Wlnds % practical life. kept
Ia the main % the compass and 10 the
course.
His last aiargcr was-0r seemed 20
bean a-cmpt 90 Involve us In a war
with Germany. ! say seemed a. be"
because hesitate 90 ascrlhe a project
as Infamous 70 him. even when un.
balanced by despair Tho hrst ugiy
dispAtct he ordered his Goodrich
secretary % state 90 send. somehow
leaked 20 the newspapers before Il
could be- put into cipher for trans.
mission. Il was not sont-for from
the press % the entire country rose a
clamor against deliberate proyoca.
ton u a nation with which Wc are.
and wish o. remain. NJ peace" He
rcpudlaicd the dispatch and dismissed
the secretary % state In disgrace 20
| diEgracc-the one stroke In bis hEht
/ against Goodrich In which h. got the
advantage. Hut that advantage vas
too small too doubtful and too late
Ills name was not presented 10 tho
] aauvUufIUu