St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-12-01
IRe-published from Sundays Globe.
WEIGHING CLEVELAND.
Jay Hawker," of the Cincinnati
Enquirer" Sees the Next
President,
tnd, After a Good Square Look at
Him, Gives the Public His
Impressions.
Ne Thinks the Governor will stubbornly
Insist on Being President
Himself
[special Telearnm 10 thn Glnhe !

a correspondent Of the Enq1drer and a Re
publican, as most Of the correspondents of
that milk and water Democratic sheet are. has
been to see Gov. Cleveland, and is now bet
ter able to appreciate the true greatness Of
the president-elect. lie says:
wrnt with Senator Voorhees, and Hon. R.
j. Bright to see Gov Cleveland. was not
invited TO interview him nor to advise him as
TO the policy of his administration, and did
neither. / had formed impressions
of him during the canvass, and
wanted to learn how far those impressions
would be sustained by personal contact.
did not 90 there as one OF his worshipers
On the contrary, / was under many appre-
tensions that he had not shown sufficient
mental and political stature to carry him
through the great trial of a change in admin
istraton of the executive power in the coun
try. l was prepared and expected to meet
heavy, stoid, stubborn man, who had honest
intentions and desire to carry them out as
far as he could see to do it. More than this
did not expect. When / came away ] had
been captured and carted into camp and
released on my parole. My disappointment
was Of the most agreeable nature.
No picture or photograph that have seen
does Mr.. Cleveland justice, because the cx-
preston of his face. that index to the ge-
nial side OF his character, is wanting. He
has fine, blue eye which lights up with his
other features in con versation, but always so
Quiet that you see at once that the bolster
Gus element is wanting in his character
Nor is there particle of arrogance in bis
manner Of speech. II would only be nat
nral for any man, even after a life Of poliu-
cal triumph and honors, to allow
an out-cropping Of vanity at some
point, but, with my biased feelings
against him, / failed to detect
single trace of it. Had not known who he was
would have pronounced him a quiet, un-
assuming great man, whose greatness had
been overlooked by the scram bling politicians
who were ambitious to sit in places of honor
In the ordinary meaning of the terrE,I would
Say he is not a politician, for he knows moth
ing of political methods, and j somehow feel
that he would have been stronger in the can
vass without a committee than he was with
it. But, under his modest demeanor of frank
manner, there is observable a firmness of
character which will not allow any
person or circumstance to override his
convictions of duty, and when that quality
is added to his great quantity OF common
sense and his patience in listening it is evil
dent that but few men living are so well
equipped as he for the campaign upon which
he is entering. 1t is evident to any observer
that Mr.. Cleveland appreciates the magni-
tude of his task, and that with his methods
he will be equal TO it.
The question of patronage is the one
which meets him at the threshold, and, while
it incidentally becomes a feature of his pol
icy. there will be a demand that it be dis
posed of before he can move in any
direction, and it is equally evident that he
knows that legal distractions in his way will
prevent anything like an immediate general
compliance with that demand. He is not
the man to be driven to override any law,
and is too good lawyer to be misled as to
the meaning of any statute. The Republi-
cans have so interviewer their legislation on
the subject of appointments that without the
friendly cooperation Of the senate the pres
ident is badly handicapped. The
tenure of Office law protects
the commissioned officers while the
civil service act does the same for
the non-commissiOned class, who hold places
through its certificates. The president can
FIJI vacancies when the time for which the
appointment was made has expired, or for
cause, which must be satisfactory to the SEN
ate, if that body chooses TO make the inquiry.
In fact, cabinet officer cannot be appointed
without the consent of the senate, and so
nearly is that body identified with the execu
tive by virtue of the laws that no president
can afford to quarrel with its majority when
he could be held to be in fault,
and as the civil service law makes
it felony to remove The nou-
commissioned officials except for cause, the
department and bureau officials are as much
handicapped by it as the president is by the
tenure of Office law. Allowing that Mr.. Cleve-
land desires that the offices be held by Dem
ocrats, it is apparent to everyone who will
stop to think that it will be out of his
power to make changes very rapidly, and
that when he has done all of that the great
majority of the pleasant little offices are be-
yond his reach. This fact was well known
to the department employees, and was the
contributions and that refusal very materially
aided in the election of Mr.. Cleveland.
| Another fact is evidently well understood
by Mir. Cleveland, and that is that the cleo
ton figures show that the D, mocratic party
lacks nearly half million of popular ma
jority, and that its narrow victory in the late
election was due more to hatred of Blaine
than to a love of or confidence in the Demo
cratic party, and certainly every one must
admit that the deciding. vote was given to
Mr.. Cleveland rather than to his party
Therefore, while Mr.. Cleveland is trying to
give the country an honest administration
he is bound to so temper it that Democratic
control will not end with his term
of office. 1t is hardly possible
that Mr.. Cleveland will be able to satisfy the
party machine, for he has not done so as
governor of New York, and that very failure
made him president. While he has grown
stronger, the machine element of his party is
weaker than it was two years ago. For in
lance, where the tariff was made a distinct
issue in important states the Democracy have
been losers, but Mr.. Cleveland gained be-
cause his conservative manner made the
peile1 that no matter what his personal views
might be he would consult the interest OF
the ople before taking any step which
would affect the general prosperity.
In 1852 the Democrats practically carried
the coaltry osc lse dr Lin coin hIls not
made clean official sweep of the country,
but by 1864 tie people saw the wisdom of bis
action. Gov. Cleveland is familiar with tn
political history of the country, and has his
lessons from the experience of the past.
II is amusinp to see the ofirious reoor,