“Neither a nation, nor an individual, can surrender conscience to another’s keeping. A just war is far better for the soul of a nation than the most prosperous peace obtained by acquiescence to any wrong or injustice.”
Mr. Watson thinks that the manner in which the President emphasizes the fact that a nation, like an individual, should not consent to live under dishonorable conditions, was very fine.
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In addition to the editorial expressions which have been incidentally quoted in the foregoing summary of the message, The New York World says that “if Roosevelt would advocate tariff reform and if Mr. Bryan would stop advocating government ownership of railroads, they would be substantially in accord.” The New York Tribune says “the message is characterized throughout by that courage with which the President habitually faces public questions.” The New York Press thinks the reading of it must have given the trust-owners “a night of restless slumbers.” The New York American calls it “the most ambitious state paper of his career.” The New York Times thinks the wisest counsel the President gives Congress is to “obviate the evil of prohibiting all combinations of capital, whether good or bad.” The New York Sun devotes its criticisms chiefly to those matters affecting the judiciary.
Cabinet Changes.
The echoes of the Presidential message had scarcely died away, when the President communicated to the Senate a long list of nominations which included many changes in his Cabinet. Root, Taft and Wilson will remain where they are. Charles Jerome Bonaparte, will become Attorney General; Secretary Victor H. Metcalf, Secretary of the Navy; Oscar S. Straus, of New York, Secretary of Commerce and Labor; George B. Cortelyou, Secretary of the Treasury, in place of Leslie M. Shaw, who is to resign, and Mr. Cortelyou will be succeeded in the Post Office by Mr. George V. L. Meyer; James R. Garfield, Secretary of the Interior.
The appointment of Attorney General Moody to a position on the Supreme Court Bench has brought forth considerable criticism. Before him, in that capacity, must come for review much of the litigation in which he, as prosecuting attorney for the government, has been interested. Nearly forty million dollars in various suits are being held up for a hearing before a full bench. According to established precedent, Mr. Moody should not pass upon them, after having been identified with them in the Department of Justice. No definite opposition to his confirmation is manifested, however.
The General Elections.
The general elections are receding farther and farther into the past, and public interest in the matter is abating. The returns in the state of New York, showing the election of the entire Democratic ticket with the exception of the head, have been interpreted according to the personal views of the interpreters, but the truth seems to be that there was a general uprising in favor of reform, brought largely to the forefront by Hearst, but that the personality of Hearst himself, coupled with his adhesion to Boss Murphy, was something that the people would not stand for, and hence his defeat. Representative Jas. W. Wadsworth paid the penalty of his opposition to the meat inspection bill, and will not be in the Sixtieth Congress.
WHEN THE SIXTIETH CONGRESS CONVENES