Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-14

e lawyers refused to assent to his
purpose of appearing before the Senate
10 answer In person. The whole argu-
,nent was as to the need of his prepar-
InE MS answer i'm advance, SO that his
Cuunsel could go over II with him The
PRESIDENT said he could not do this, be-
cause ne must walt for his words until
ne actually arose to speak | believe
mat thereupon tho Presidents lawyers
oesan TO entertain suspicious that his
nihd had been to some extent affected
by the strain under which he was living
ana l must admit that I myself feared
tnat MS appearance and manner were not
exactly normal; but the utmost any of
us could do with him was to persuade
MN to take barely enough food to keep
himself up.
Yes, that speech was delivered without
any preparation worthy of the name.
Perhaps when the President went to his
rooms on the night before the day of
MS appearance in the Senate chamber
ne roughly blocked out his speech in his
mind: If so, that was the full extent of
his preparation.
When the President his aides and my
self got into the carriage to drive to the
NCapltol, | was ready for anything. 1t
Is not pleasant to drive through long
llnes OF contemptuous and hostile faces
with the fear that from those thronEs
at any moment may come something
more substantial than shouts of derision.
or course we had tried to keep the fact
that the President would go to the Capt.
tol a secret; but the secret leaked out
at the last moment and the crowds
gathered with a rapidity that spoke only
too eloquently of the popular excitement.
For their efficient handling of the
crowds l must praise the mounted police
who escorted us and those who. both on
horse and afoot, securely guarded our
route. And the alertness of the secret
service men. who swarmed among tho
crowds all the way. up to the Capitol
was demonstrated by the speed with
which they seized the mlscreants who
perpetrated the outrage that later caused
one of my facetious newspaper friends
to remark: THE world sure is advanc-
ing; II no longer crucihes its benefactors
or hands them the hemlock-it soaks
them with rotten apples | remember
that at the time ] could have wished
that the President had been blown into
eternity with a bomb, rather than that he
should have been compelled to suffer this
indignity but now | believe that 1t was
all for the best.
AS one Senator put II, you did not
know whether to laugh or to cry when
on this day the Sergeant at Arms called (;
David lsraels, President of the United
States, David Israels, President of the
articles of impeachment exhibited against
you by the House OF Representatives of
the United States"-and into that packed
and excited chamber walked that proud
man with his clothing besmeared with
the filth of the gutter Yet, pathetic or
pathetic as his first appearance may
have been, emotions far removed from
either bathos or pathos quickly followed.
as he Extraordinarily stood there in the
presence of all the representatives of the
American people-his accusers and his
judges-and with the representatives OF
all the powers OF the world looking down
from the thronged galleries which were
made brilliant. not only by the diplo-
matte uniforms, but by the colors OF
many a fashionable woman's gown.
Perhaps the cessation of the murmuring
was due only to a sudden realization of
the fact that. for the first time In his
tory, a President of the United States
was to address in person the representa-
tives of the people; but l think that the
hush that fell upon the throng was to
be explained. at least In part, by some
thing that came from the man himself
And when, the impressive preliminary
formalities over, he came to answer to
the charge that he had been false to his
oath of office, who can doubt that the
effect of what he said was heightened by
the fact that he bore on his person a
visible symbol of the foul indlgnities
that his fellow citizens had been heaplng
upon him through many long weeks?
There is need here only of my directing
attention to the salient features of Presl-
dent Israels' speech before the Senate
speech that undoubtedly will rank
among the greatest of our historical
documents.
That at the beginning 1t was keyed
very low, undoubtedly helped the Presi-
dent to capture at gpee the absorbed at
tentiOn of his audience. He was sorry
that he was the cause of so much dis
turbance. He regretted particularly that
ne had been forced To place his friends
lin the House and Senate In the painful
position of acting as his aceusers and
Judges. Intermingled with these express
sions of regret were some gently irOnic
statements as 10 how much happier
everybody doubtless would be IT, instead
Of having 10 bother with him, they long
since had been free to spill the blood OF
a few thousand Germans; but what
might be called the opening chapter Of
his address was closed with simple
and obviously sincere statement TO the
effect that II, i'm the conscientious dis
charge of their duty. the Senators must
remove him from office and thus dis
qualify him from ever again holding
ONCE under the United States, he would
cherish no resentment; for he would be
glad to lay his heavy burden down
NOT that he would be able to avoid feeling
great sadness at such a close to his
political career, but he would be content
| in The belief that he had done the best
he could, even II. i'm holding that belief,
he would have to claim the privilege OF
differing with everybody else.
After a short pause. the President went
on 10 say that he must assume that the
| senators would decide the question as 10
whether he had been false to his trust
IN Inc privacy of their own closets, where
na rtIsan strife would cease and from
which the din OF popular clamor would
| ha sbut out; for the Constitution, In as
siening 10 the Senate the duty OF decid-
ine whether civil officers were guilty OF
scts that made necessary their removal,
-6sS 40 far as this duty was concerned,
,,ssfed- each Of the Senators with the
MN ana holy once OF a judge. In other
U-eFds when the Senators entered upon
,hiz dnty. they ceased TO be representa-
/ lives Of the people
80 said the President, stand before
,.o,, impeached by the House of Repre-
seatatIves Ia the name Of All the people