PRESIDENT AND PREMIER.
WAR now, as it did in the sixties, is drawing public attention in this country to the position of the American President. Our people see an LInglish-speaking man placed in a position not only of immense power and authority, but wielding his vast influence with the appearance, as well as the reality, of power. Such visible " might, majesty, and dominion " belong to no other man of our race. A British Premier in peace time often possesses more real authority and power than the American President, for as long as he is Premier he can command the Legislature as well as the Crown and the Executive. A Premier with a great majority behind him, and great influence in the country, is not even restrained by his Cabinet. As Lord John Russell said, a Prime Minister is only in theory primes inter pares, because when he differs with a colleague it is the colleague who resigns, and not the Premier. But great as are the powers of a British Premier, they are largely invisible. The front of the political stage is crowded with majestic wax figures in gorgeous robes. There is one in the middle representing the Royal Power enthroned. Next it is the majestic figure of " her Majesty's Government,"—i.e., the Cabinet. Lastly, there is the great image of gold with the feet of earthenware which represents the Legislature. Behind these gorgeous and overpowering figures we can only catch an occasional glimpse of the Premier and his two or three assistants—i.e., the inner Cabinet—who wind up the machine and make the images move. Though it is so well known, the fact that the man in the black coat has the real power, and does what he thinks best, is not patent to the world. The American President, however, is authority visible and personified. When he is armed with the terrible and far-reaching war powers which Mr. Lincoln formulated and employed with such astonishing results, there is no man, except the Russian Czar, who is so obviously the direct ruler of men. The Governor-General of India no doubt wields as great powers as the President, or indeed greater, for he can in fact legislate as well as execute, but then he does not, in theory at any rate, possess so secure a tenure. During his tenure of office the President cannot be dis- missed. The Governor-General may be recalled or over- ruled. No wonder, then, that the American President is a figure of such intense interest to the whole Anglo-Saxon world. At this moment it is his order and his will alone which direct the course of the war. He might at any moment order the American ships to leave Havana and sail straight to Europe and seize Majorca and Minorca. That would, no doubt, be a very foolish order at this juncture, and will not be given, but if the President gave it it would be obeyed, and there would be no power in the country to recall the order even though the whole nation were mad with annoyance. A British Premier who gives an order of which the country absolutely disapproves can, if Parliament is sitting, be hurled from power in a few days, or even hours. Whatever he does, America must endure Mr. McKinley till his term of office is over. Congress might twitch his elbow a little if they were angry with him, but they could not make him change his policy. • Naturally enough, our people are keenly anxious to know what kind of man it is in whose hands the law and constitution of the United States has clenched these immense powers. Is he worthy of the destiny which has fallen to his lot ? Up till now all that the world has known about Mr. McKinley is that he appears to be merely one of those " plain men " who swarm throughout the English-speaking world,—honest and shrewd, and able to wait, to bargain, and to control affairs, but with- out a touch of imagination, or of the heroic feeling in regard to human existence. Look at Mr. McKinley's record. He was the author of an oppressive, even if cunningly devised, piece of Protective legislation, and he obtained the right to preside at the White House because the party wanted as their candidate an honest and safe man who would fully satisfy the Protectionists without absolutely infuriating the silver men. This does not read like the record of a great statesman and ruler of men. It looks, however, as if we were to see yet another example of what has so often happened in the history of our race. A plain Englishman, if destiny places him in a position of great responsibility and great power—a position fraught with enormous opportunities for good or evil— will constantly rise far above what appears to be his real nature, and draw, as it were, a sort of inspiration from the strain and perplexity of the crisis. Lord Hastings went to India with hardly the reputation of a plain man. He was only known here as a rather foolish and good- tempered person, who could not manage his money affairs. In India he was called upon to face the Pindaree War, to put a hundred and fifty thousand men into the field, and to carry on operations in a theatre of war half as large as Europe. Yet he dealt with a continent on fire with perfect self-possession and discretion, and lives in history as the man who finally subdued the Mahrattas. At present it looks very much as if President McKinley were going to turn out one of the plain men who are remade and illuminated by the force of the mighty issues with which they have to deal. All the accounts from Washington seem to show that the President is facing a very difficult problem with just the quiet dignity and strength which one would desire to see displayed by the Head of the State. Like all, or almost all, rulers of men, he is developing that curious feeling about destiny which seems a prerogative of the great Kings. The correspondent of the Daily Mail tells us, for example, that the President cannot be persuaded to take precautions in regard to the possibility of assassination. On being reminded of the fate of Presidents Lincoln and Garfield, Mr. McKinley said : " They had done their work, although they knew it not. If I have finished mine it makes no difference how many policemen and guards there may be around the White House. That is one of the dangers voluntarily assumed when I took office. I have no fears." The Pre- sident, the Daily Mail correspondent adds, walks and rides out daily. " The deep lines of anxiety and care are now smoothed away. His eye is bright, his step is brisk, and his salutation cheery." That note of fatalism, coupled with a true serenity of demeanour, is very striking. It is seldom that the men who are little at heart, and incapable of taking big questions in a big way, are able to show such an example of the wens tequa in arcluis. Wordsworth tells us that the happy warrior is he who, when called upon to face great issues,- " Is happy as a lover, and attired
With sudden brightness like a man inspired."
If the accounts we have quoted are well founded, it would seem that the President has been able to face the situation in the true spirit. If he can, America should be grateful, for, in spite of her vast power, and Spain's weakness, America may yet find the need of the cool head and the steady hand. There seems a tendency among the people of the United States to call for quick successes. If this temper continues and increases it may require all the President's firmness, tact, and temper to pursue his own course. The attempt to gain quick successes is sure to lead to a fiasco, but it may require a man of perfect calm and self-possession not to be carried away by the excitement and the demand for instant action. Our own belief is that Mr. McKinley will prove equal to the crisis, and will refuse to allow the country to be guided by the chatter of the Press, but of course only time can show whether we have judged or misjudged his character. At present he is a plain country lawyer with intelligence and a conscience, who has shown decided promise of capacity to rise to a great occasion.
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