The morning journal-courier., 1908-06-03
THE TAFT SPEECH.

on the lookout for an opportunity to criticlse Secretary Taft think they have a bouncer in the memorial ad- dress delivered by him at Grants tomb Memorial day, They are tumb- ling over each other in their attempts to be at the head of the critical pro- cessIon, It would all be rather serious In It's possible effect upon the political future of the popular secretary were there not those at work, with steadier pens and voices, slowly but surely turning the current of adverse talk into a sober and reflective analysis of the noble impulse which moved him, when he referred boldly to the greatest victory recorded in the life of the great commander, the victory over self
 With the purpose of Secretary Taft's address we have dealt in a previous issue and we see no reason to either modify or extend the views therein expressed. We are not mortified by his frankness in dealing with cor rected error in the life of the soldier nor. on the other hand, are we de- celved by the sudden solicitude for the feelings of the soldiers family on the part of those who are doing the unnecessary criticising The view eX- pressed by the Springfield Republican Is more than ordinarily interesting, however, IL says, speaking of the up- rightness of the secretary's purpose and the soundness of his contentious Yet this position holds true especial ly of the historian. the biographer and the publlcist rather than a memo rial orator speaking over the dead body of the hero, with the hero's de- scendants at his side. There is a time and place for everything, Even the truth. in all Its cruel nakedness. Is not in good taste on all occasions. If your father ran away with another mans wife, you would not applaud the clergyman for developing the fact at your fathers funeral even if hn oh tLot fatn af the deceased was examplary in the highest degree. The secretary's weakness in brief Is that he evidently has very slight appreciation of tho amenities of speech in connection with memorial services. He can never have seen the point of old Dr. John sons remark that man Is not under oath when he writes lapldary inscrip- tions."
 Our contemporary ishardly fortunate in undertaking to Illustrate its inter pretation of Secretary Taft's by a reference to the possibility of a man robbng the nest of another man and then afterwards living an upright life. There Is no record of where that en- terprise has been tried to the final development of the indulgent into q public hero. The realm of art some times permits that sort of thing, but artists are never heroes. But an ob- jection lies against the contention that a memorial orator is under a different set of obligations than those which govern the historian, the blographer and the publlcist If the object of memorial addresses, which are the only source of education to a large class of people, Is to tickle the fancy and play upon the emotions of the family, then the sooner they are done away with the better If, on the other hand, their object Is to present a care fully worded study of the dead, from
 
 the point of view of the space and time which together and alone make such studies possible, then the memo rial speaker must feel the burden of truth telling. It would have been manifestly improper for Secretary Taft to make the address he did make had the body of General Grant been just laid in the tomb in the presence of a grief stricken family The fact that the body had lain in It's resting place for many years, and that the earlier grief of the family had by natural processes been changed Into a more governabe emotion, warranted such consideration of the mans career as would enlghten posterty and gratify the existing generation without regard to the feelings of the dead mans immediate relatives There is never warrant for state ments of fact which have no other purpose than to hurt the feelings of friends or deliberately stir the anil mostly of foes In no particular in fact did Mir Taft sin against the pro prieties of rational discourse. Ones family may never want the fact re- peated that the head of 1t once ran away with another mans wife, but il Is conceivable that any well balanced family might listen with pride and joy, in an address notable for Its just appreciation of the virtues of It's for men head, to the simple but effective recital of how at the critical moment of his life he had Wrestled with him self and overcome another and not fatal evil which had mastered him,