New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-15
A NATION WHICH LIES DOWN
The Fault Is That of Not Lead and Will Be Visited
on Them.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The great mass of the citizens Of
this country like the great mass of the
people in all countries, look for leadership
And if the leader, be he technically leader
or be he technically ruler, does not lead
but brings up the rear follows the will Ct
the people-they will have naught of him.
81 know thy works, that thou art neither
cold nor hot l would that thou vert either
cold or hot.
Because thou art lukewarm and art
neither cold nor hot will spew thee out OF
my mouth"
That which was true when the fourteenth
and fifteenth verses of the third chapter OF
Revelation were addressed to the "angel Of
Laodcea" has never been false from that
day to this. On something like dozen oc
casions it has been announced from Wash
ington that the administration would await
an expression of the opinion Of the pubic
before deciding what action to take 1t is
not the business of the public at large to
tell the administration when to take action
or what action to take. An oath has beer
taken by each member of the administration
10 perform the duties OF his Office. In those
oaths there is no intimation that within the
scope of his duty lies a waiting for, or a
seeking Of, the views of the great unln-
structed mass. But in every one of those
oaths have the individuals taking them DE-
clared that they would assume the duties
and the responsibility of administering their
respective offices and Of UNFOLDING the Con-
stitution Of the United States, and, If no:
expressed in words, most clearly within the
spirit of every such oath has been the prom
Use that to the best of the individuals own
judgment and knowledge would he admins
ter his Office, not that he would have his
Office administered for him.
On one or two occasions, notably on this
last occasion-the request for the recall OF
the Austrian Ambassador -the country has,
largely through its newspapers, dictated the
action of the administration. Does not
the administration appreciate that the PEG
pie are fully aware that il is they, and not
the administration, through whose act the
Austrian Ambassador is to be sent home
Does the administration deem that it will
receive the credit? Far from it. On the
contrary, the fact that the people had 10
compel it to act will be charged against the
administration in the peoples estimation
Gs an evidence of administrative ineffciency.
When an administration says it will not
act except under public pressure the public
will give it no credit for any action taken
under such circumstances. Meanwhile the
public will charge up against it those cases
IN which action has not been taker.
Neither is the public of short memory. as
has been suggested In numerous recent ed.
torials and communications to tn. papers
The public has not forgotten the admins
tration's failure to act in that early breach
Of our neutrality-the blowing up of the
boundary bridge. The public has not for
gotten the administrators failure 10 act IN
relation 20 the German Consul at Seattle
The public is aware that the administra-
ton subsequently recognized that same in
| diyidual as a new appOintee TO a German
consulate in another city OF the United
States incredible though that fact seems
The public has not forgotten the case Of
the Frye. The public has not forgotten the
case of the Lusitania. The public has no.
/ forgotten the case Of the Orduna The
public has not forgotten the case Of the
Falaba. The public has not forgotten the
case OF the Gulnght. The public has not
forgotten the case Of the Nebraska The
public has not forgotten the case of the Ar
menian. The public has not forgotten the
case of the Arabic. The public has not for
gotten the case Of the Hesperian. The pub
lie has not forgotten the allowing the KroL-
! prinz Wilhelm to leave this port. The pub