The Salt Lake Herald

FLATTERY IS NOT LOYALTY.
Administration parasites-sycophants
who pray to Hanna, smack their lips
at the mention of embalmed beef, and
rail at men whose stomachs are turned
at the odor of cadavers on the dining
table-are entering now upon the sec-
ond part of their imperial programme.
They are trying to invest the presi-
dent with that sanctity with which the
sultan surrounds himself, and cry
"treason" whenever his official acts are
criticised
or
his
infallibility
is
questioned.
The New York Press
is
one
of
the
most
servile
of
these
courtiers
of
the
new
imperialism. It holds that those who do
not approve of the president's policies
are traitors to the government. This
is sheer nonsense. Mr. McKinley is just
as apt to make mistakes as any one
else is. He made some in congress, he
made many as chief executive of Ohio,
and he is still making them. None of
our presidents have been infallible. He
is no better than the rest. They were
not immune from criticism. Nor is he.
In a republican form of government
where popular will and favor form the
basis of power and national strength.
criticism and free comment are not only
privileged, but essential. Public opinion
is formed by free and open discussion
of public questions, and from it flows
the will of the nation expressed in free
speech and through the ballot box.
When the press furnishes information
which may reveal the strategic move-
ments of our army or navy to an ene-
my it is right and timely to establish a
censorship. But the abuse of authority
by the party in power, its mismanage-
ment of affairs, or its violation of sol-
emn pledges and representations to the
people of home and the nations of the
earth, are proper subjects for com-
ment, whether such comment is favor-
able or unfavorable.
Whenever public opinion is compelled
to yield to the views of the adminis-
tration, and men are to be accused of
"treason" for dissenting from the opin-
ions of the money-changers who hap-
pen to hold temporarily the reins of gov-
ermerit, all the essentials of a mon-
archy are established, and imperialism
in its most aggressive character is re-
vealed. The right to discuss state and
national policies and the conduct of
public servants should remain inviolate,
and must be recognized in a republican
form of government.
Patriotism is
the last refuge
of
scoundrels when they use it to cover
their own mistakes and misdeeds and
to throttle the press and the people
while grave wrongs are being perpe-
trated in the name of progress. Behind
this bigotry of patriotism lies partisan
intolerance and servility to political
power.
Fulsome flattery is not loyalty. Hon-
est criticism is quite as patriotic as is
the adulation of administration news-
papers and of men who are influenced
largely by personal obligation or hope
of party advantage or reward.
Imperialism that reaches out for ter-
rritory and believes in conquest is not
so bad. But the kind which tries to re-
vive the old theory that the king can
do no wrong is inimical to the institu-
tions of the republic.