Life — August 19, 1897 — page 15: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Y DEAR MAJOR: I observe with great interest that you are said to be one of the most popular Presidents the White House has held for some time, and that you have the faculty of pleasing all those brought into contact with you. This is, of course, a delightful trait, and in itself can only be the subject of congratu- lation, The trouble is that your charming manners can only be shared by the com- paratively few who see you. There are others, more numerous, who view you at a distance, and who are not so hypnotized by your personality as to be deceived into too much praise. I refer tothe People ot the United States. It is true, no doubt, that this captious crowd is difficult to please; and yet they seem to have acrude intelligence which has stood them in good stead in the past, and while they occasion- ally make errors, due to misleading reports they see in the newspapers, in the main they are likely to be right, It is not too much to say that while from some quarters can be heard the faint sounds of praise, the main body of your audience is silent. They brought you on the scene not only in order to avert a worse tragedy which they saw in prospect, but also in the hope that you would please them mightily. They have been anxious to applaud and vindi- cate their own choice, and therefore their present silence is all the more indicative of keen disappointment. Of course I realize that your present position has not been a pleasant one, and it must be said that, in the same position, more men have failed than have succeeded. You have not been able to stand up against the pressure of those immediately surrounding you, for the sake of the others beyond. You have truckled—pardon the word, but it exactly conveys my meaning—to the ubiquitous Office-seeker, to the relative and to the spoilsman, and in doing so you have lost ina great measure the respect of the intel- ligent many who have elected you. Above all things, the American people admire a man whocan say No. They will forgive his other mistakes if they find him capable of using this little word at the right time. They are beginning to fear that you are incapable in this respect, and their fears do not seem to be altogether groundless. Mr, Cleveland made mistakes, but when he abolished the consular fees, which you have just reinstated, this was not one of them. When he awoke the bitter resentment of the New York Sun, whose pxans of praise for you contain up A DESERT SPOON. to the present time no note of discord, this was not one of them, When he refused to be coerced by Congress and by the hungry horde of demandants, who are even now reviling him, preferring to be guided by the promptings of his own backbone—was this a mistake ? Possibly so. But now, thanks to you, my dear Major, we are enabled to view the other extreme and to judge for ourselves, Yours, more in sorrow than in anger, Lire. CAxt always sometimes most generally tell What a man is by his clothes, But you form an estimate toler'bly well By the blossom on his nose.