The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-12-29
I.OIN AND TIL. u W


William Loeb, Jr few years ago Was popu-
larry considered Of that class which, according
10 he poet Bend the pregnant hinges Of the
knee that thrift may follow fawning.e His life
had been lived. as so many lives must be lived.
without the blessed privilege Of being indie
pendent. Loeb chose TO serve 10 make him.
self an automaton. responsive TO the thought
the opinion, and the whim Of his master. AS
certain servants Of the cid school of the black
race. and as almost all Japanese he had the
capacity of feeling q command in wish, Train
ed stenographef. executing the thought o.
another in mechanical way he looked in his
capacity of whipping-post of the mistakes OF
President Roosevelt, the SNUG gentleman with
the tough hide and the itching palm
That was the Loeb VINO presented himself to
the American people np to The moment when
President Taft made him collector Of the port
OF New York. At that moment the real Loeb
popped to the surface sealed bottle that has
been forcibly held under water He threw off in
a moment the habit of years of subseryency He
proved that the mind which had been TRANSCRIPT
ing the mind of others had been thinking for it
ee3a ana he mas FAHiDlttu. 10 tHt HildllOH
Of the people who n1isiudeed him. that quality
Of courage and honesty which mark the ideal
OF the typical American. Loeb comes, OF for
eign strain: he possesses nevertheless, the New
England conscience" and the disintcrestedness
in the performance of duty which is universally
his head and hand the one.time fawner has
in the uncovering Of respectable fraud. in the
apprehension Of scented criminals he has at once
shown the moekery OF respectable preteusion
and given the country a practical hope of much
mouthed square deal
So much for Loeb. pas and present. At this
moment he is in the inlelight because of his
black balling by the Union League Club of New
York Union League is. a politico social organ
ization II has made political destinies in
pink tea manner over a:ter.dinner wines. II has
itself up as arbiter Il the dominant party in
the greatest Of States, Depew is typical Of it.
SO is Root So, all and sundry. the social
lions typical Of Wall street. So all the polit,
ical diIettanti OF the metropolis Loeb, as
natural wished to join They black.balled him,
To-day II Is me Union league tinb. not fsoeb,
that is shamed by their action.
The real reason, no doubt. political. The
Club which bottled Roosevelt resented the faith
fulness 10 his cause exhibited by his old retain
er 1t would have been easy for Loeb to have
been lukewarm in his former masters emprise
He is politician enough 40 have foreseen the
sui, Of that spectacular campaign for u forlorn
OF gratitude mixed with that of courage For
this. perhaps, he unacceptable but the Club
dared not say so. Instead. it looked at his name
and limited that he was a Jew. 1t drew about
itself the ridiculous skirts of self-fashioned
aylstocracy 1t spoke the prcjudices which have
greatest Jew of all as pattern and example lis
membership Of trade and piracy, and the
money and the arrogance of the fighter, drew
away from the supposed representative of the
synagogue and the Temple.
Loeb has met shat, also Explaining tina, ne is
not Jew. he comes out boldly with the state.
ment that he would hold his birth an honor had
he been one. IN speakine he has done pub
liz service TO the eradication of Il presumption
prejudice He has called again the attention
OF It new people at fha strain of mixed blood
the exquisite toily of their assertion OF su
peloriis over the race y The pngest blood Of all
He has pointed 10 diyoreeridden society, the
humble but stalwart Yirtue. even Of the Ghetto
he has served TO make every thinking man
ashamed for himself and his fellows OF the
record OF his race in thls respect record thar
has fau cd
hind the Jews back. that has prosecuted after
begging, and implored after beseechiug. that has