Notes and Remarks [excerpt]

     The attempted assassination of President McKinley on Friday of last week, at Buffalo, N. Y., is for many reasons a most deplorable event. Occurring at a time when the country is agitated by serious ruptures between capitalists and laborers, and when the political situation both at home and in our foreign possessions is anything but settled or satisfactory, there is no telling what evils may result from an incident in itself calamitous. That it should be deemed necessary for the President of our country to be provided with a body-guard in times of peace is a significant circumstance; and that in broad daylight, in the presence of a multitude of people, an attempt should be made on his life is evidence of what is to be feared, even in the United States, from the spirit of anarchy. The anarchist is abroad, and his disregard for law and order is shared by many who have no preference for his name. Everyone knows how contagious crime may become. Hereafter our chief executives will have fresh cause for anxiety, and the crowned heads of Europe will be more uneasy than ever. An inevitable effect of war is to lessen the value of human life, and to render deeds of violence more tolerable to those who abhor them, and less inexcusable to those who do not. The killing of so many innocent people in China, Africa and the Philippines has prepared the world for an epidemic of savagery of which there are symptoms everywhere.
     The sympathy of the whole world will go out to our stricken President and his invalid wife. Throughout the United States sincere grief is manifested in every community, irrespective of religious beliefs or political affiliations; for Mr. McKinley is everywhere regarded as a man of moral worth and high intelligence, as a true patriot and an exemplar of honorable citizenship. He has endeared himself to the people of this country by manifestations of goodwill toward all classes of citizens, and it is to be hoped there are few who do not feel deep detestation for the dastardly crime of which he has become the victim.