Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1884-08-21
The Various Defences of Gov. Grover
Cleveland

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The Various Defences of Gov. Grover
Cleveland.
New York Sun, Dem.
Since the first publication in Buffa+
10 newspaper of scandalous story af-
fecting Gov. CIevelanG's private charac.
ter, The Sun has avoided printing any
word that came from his accusers. No
matter how definite the specifications.
nor how worthy of respect the judgment
of those who have been led by their inr
vestigation to a conclusion adverse to
Mr.. Mr. Cleveland, that side of the case
has been excluded from the columns of
this newspaper. We have thought it
right to give our readers the facts only
as they have appeared in the several
statements, explanations, apologies, and
denials put forth in defence OF the Gov
ernor by his friends and political admi-
rers. We have also preferred to form
our own opinion from the evidence Of
| fered Oh one side ui Is that is to say,
the side favorable to the accused. This
is not strictly judicial way of getting
at the truth, but the advocates of man
charged with immortality can hardly
find FAINT with it.
There is reason to believe that the an
swer is now substantially complete. 1t
has reached the form in which it will
finally stand, and it is to be noted that
the defence offered in behalf of Gov
Cleveland against the charge of personal
immortality has passed through success
sive phases. from an absolute. indignant
denial 10 tote to an apology that includes
an admission of the main facts or
iginally alleged.
The principal pleas in defence of Mr.
Cleveland, based, as we assume, on sep
arate and independent Investigations of
the facts, are tive in number. The first
was published in the columns of the
Evening Post, and was reprinted in The
Sun. The second was undertaken by
Mr.. Horatia G. King, in order to satisfy
the conscientious scruples of the Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher about voting for
candidate accused of lechery. The
third is the statement of Mr.. Charles W.
McCune, the editor of the Buffalo COur-
ier. This has been reprinted i'll The Sun !;
it was especially. designed for the bene-
fit of doubling Democrats of the regular
sort. The fourth, like the first,is address
ed to the Independent Republicans who
have committed themselves to Mr..
Cleveland as against Mr. Blaine on an
issue of personal character. We printed
it da, before yesterday. The fifth is the
statement of the Independent newspa-
per.
All five of these statements agree in
one important particular. They all
admit, without attempt at denial, that
Mr.. Cleveland acknowledges the pater-
nifty of boy child, born to him out of
wedlock by widow named Maria Hal
pin. This point, then, is established by
the evidence of MT. Cleveland's ap0loA
gists. 1t was, moreover, the main speci
iication offered by his original accusers
in support of their charge of habitual
immortality. And it must be kept in
view, as the main question at issue, that
it was solely on the strength of the d. Fl
mite, distinct, and unqualified assertion
of the existence in Buffalo of an illegiti-
mate child of the Democratic candidate
for President that the general charge of
unchastity was even listened to by re-
spectacle men. The accusation startled
and shocked the community. Can il
true that Grover Cleveland is a man of
impure life?' was the first question
asked. This charge is made with names
and dates. Let us wait for his absolute
denial. f. II .ei ~ 500 tie authors of
the scandaiJus Ci,~, ,e rHSecuted and
punished for criminal hUel." The au-
thorized reply comes after just twenty
one days that were crowded full of
promises of complete and triumphant
refutation: 1--WE absolutely deny the
chnrge that Grover Cleveland is an I'M
chaste man: his whole life is a refuta-
tiOn of the caluinny. We, who are his
neighbors, know his virtues. True, there
is an illegitimate son of his by the wo
man Halpin, but, waiving that point, we
defy his cowardly and malignant accu-
sers to produce the slightest evidence of
his ulchastity."
This answer conclusively meets the
demand for accurate information con
cerning Mr.. Clevelrnds personal habits
but 1t meets ii in q way that both his
friends and his opponents must deplore.
Another very serious charge was con
tanned in the original publication of the
Halpin-Cleveland scandal. 1t was alt
legged that seven years ago, when the
child was about two years and half
old-that is to say, IN the year ls77-the
mother opportunities so annoyed Mr..
Cleveland that without legal warrant
ne had her seized by detectives in his
employ, who shut her up in the Previ-