The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-25
THE WEEKLY JOURNAL. Issued Thursday. One Dollar a Year.
SEoRErARY BoNAPARrE,s VIEWS

SE0R ETARY BONAPARTE'S VIEWS.
 Experience has shown that 1t makes difference who says a certain thing. Words which in the mouth of one man provoke only an idle curiosi- ty or passing smile, in the mouth of another, especially one clothed with power. frequently cause apprehension. This is especially true where govern ment is concerned. The views of Theodore Roosevelt, for example, up- on any subject, might have a profit able magazine sale and be. read with interest by the public. His attractive personality is sufficient to make peo- pie follow his mental exercises with lively interest. It was so when he was civil service commissioner. The views of President Roosevelt, how ever, are conclusions to be stated with extreme caution, because an extended significance is attached to them on account of his high social and politi- cal position
 Exactly the same importance at- taches to the views of the members of the Presidents cabinet, for it is in- conceivable that any one of them should persistently advance views which are in principle or practice objectionable to the general policy of the administration. Secretary Taft is finding this out to his embarrass- ment. It Is beyond his power to re- pudiate the views of the administra- ton of which he is such conspicu- ous representative without repudiat- ing his own immediate past, for while he has undoubtedly been a safety brake upon the more impulsive un- dertakings of his chief he has never- theless been a party to what has ac- tually been done and threatened. It is true that he has advocated the views of the President with enthusi- asm, but it is also true that he has chosen his words with a more pro- found understanding of the influence of the words spoken by man in his position, so that his strength to-day as presidential candidate depends more upon the personal revelation he makes of his temperament and dis position than upon his popularity with the President Mir. Taft in private life or as member of a political organ ization seeking power would always be an interesting man to watch and listen to. He would be in demand up- on occasions when policies of govern ment were to be considered, but no such significance would be attached to his views as are now attached because of his position. MT. Bryan can as private citizen say things and advo- cate changes in the governments method of conducting its business without in the slightest degree affect ing values. Should he become Presi- dent and continue presenting the same views the effect might and prob ably would be far-reaching.
 Applying this same rule to Attor- ney-General Bonaparte, he has be- come a menace to an orderly manner of viewing pressing problems. So long as MT. Bonaparte was a distinguished citizen of Baltimore, concerned with reform legislation of one kind and an- other, he was at liberty to express a himself freely without fear of the consequences. We have listened to him upon several occasions with the hveliest interest and without concern when he advanced views which could not be reconciied with those held by us, but when we come to listen to Att torney-General Bonaparte, a member of the Presidents official family and the presiding genius of the depart ment of justice. the significance of his judgments reach over and beyond his personality. It is not that the ad- ministration actually approves of his views in all particulars because he gives expression to them, or that he should hold only to such views as it will approve. The point is that what he advocates with deliberation natur- ally grows in significance because of his high position and adds to or de- tracts from the dignity and boise of the administration. The presence of a loose talker in the cabinet injures the party in power and 1t has been the policy of every administration to guard against the embarrassing re- suits by gently giving the sinner an other berth or a return ticket to pri- vste life with a complimentary letter