The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-08-20
Defences Of Cleveland.

We have steadily declined to publish
the details of the charges against the
private life of Governor Cleveland. We
could see no necessity for spreading the
scsndalous stories broadcast over the land.
The main charge against the democratic
candidate, that he is the father of child
born out of wedock, and the fact of the adj
mission of the truth of this charge by his
supporters, have been published in our
columns. Various defences of Governor
Cleveland have been put forth by his politi-
cal friends, both democratic and indepen-
dent These defences have not greatly COM
mended the democratic candidate to the
support of men who believe that personal
purity should be among a candidates quail
ficstions for office. The New York Sun, a
democratic paper opposed alike to Blaine
and Cleveland, has the following review
of the several defenoes which have been
made in the latter's behalf. 1t is candid
and quite impartial We present it as
a measurably fair and just review of
an exceedingly disagreeable personal cpl
sode of the canvass. The Sun says:
"Since the first publication in Buffalo
newspaper Of scandalous story affecting
Governor Cleveland's private character, the
San 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
investigation TO conclusion adverse to Mr..
Cleveland, that side OF the case has been ex-
cluded 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 governor by
his friends and political admirers. We have
also preferred to form our own opinion from
the evidence offered on one side only-that is
to say, the side favorable to the accused. This
Is not strictly Judicial way to get at the truth,
but the advocates Of a man charged with i'm
morality can hardly find fault with it. There
is reason to believe that the answer is now
substantially complete. 1t has reached the
form in which it will finally stand, and 1t is to
be noted that the defence offered in behalf OF
Governor Cleveland against the charges of per-
sonal immortality has passed through successive
phases, from an absolute, indignant denial in
toto to an apology that includes an admission
OF the main facts originally alleged The
principal pleas in defence of Mr. Cleveland
based, as we assume, on separate and indie
pendent Investigations of the facts, are five 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.. Horatio c. King, in order to satisfy the
conscientious scruples OF the Rev. Henry Ward
Beecher about voting for a candidate accused
OF lechery. The third is the statement Of Mr.
Charles w. McCune, the editor of the Buffalo
Courier. This has been reprinted in the san;
1t was especially designed for the benefit of
dnn ia x.fN hn rx,.ln
fourth, like the first, is addressed to the indie
pendent republicans who have committed them
selves to MIR. Cleveland as against Mr. Blaine
on an issue OF personal character. We printed
it day before yesterday. The fifth is the state
ment of the Rev. DR.. Kinsley Twining in the
Independent newspaper All five of these
statements agree in one important particular.
They all admit, without attempt at denial that
Mr.. Cleveland acknowledges the paternity of
boy child, born to him out of wedlock by
widow named Maria Halpin. This point then,
is established by the evidence of Mr.. Ceve-
lands apologists. 1t was, moreover, the main
specification 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 definite, distinct and unquali-
fed assertion of the existence in Buffalo of an
illegitimate child Of the democratic candidate
Tor president that the general charge OF un-
chastity was even listened to by respectable
men. The accusation startled and shocked
the community. Can it be true that Grover
Cleveland is man Of impure life p was the
first question asked. This charge is made
with names and dates. Let us wait for his
absolute denial. Then let US see the authors
OF the scandalous charge prosecuted and pun
ished for criminal libel The authorized re-
ply comes after Just twenty-one DAYS that
were crowded full of promises of complete and
triumphant refutation: We absolutely deny
the charge that Grover Cleveland is an unchaste
man; his whole life IL refutation of the
calumny. We, who are his neighbors, know
MS virtues. True, there is an Legitimate son
OF his by the woman Halpin, but waving that
point, we defy his cowardly and maginant
accusers to produce the slightest evidence of
his alleged unchastity.' This answer conclu-
sively meets the demand for accurate informa-
ton concerning Mr.. Cleveland's personal
habits but it meets it in way that both his
friends and his opponents must deplore
Another very serious charge was contained in
the original publication Of the Halpin-Cleve-
land scandal. 1t was alleged that seven years
ago, when the child was about two years and
half old-that is to say, in the year 1877
the mothers opportunities 80 annoyed Mr..
Cleveland that, without legal warrant, he had
her seized by detectives in his employ who
shut her up in the Providence Insane Asylum
The several defenders of Mr.. Cleveland do not
dispose OF this accusation in satisfactory
manner. The EUening Post adds to the other
damage which it has done to the candidates
reputation by asserting that the chosen para
mour OF Mr.. Cleveland-the mother OF his
child-was a common drunkard, and that the
detectives who were employed by Mr.. Burrows
lawyer engaged by Mr. Cleveland to do work
dlstasteful to himself, found Maria Halpin in a
mt OF delirum tremens, and thereupon put her
into an inebriate' asylum. On the other
hand, the Rev. DR.. Kinsley Twining, who in
vestlgated the matter in behalf OF the hide
penaent newspaper, says that the officer sent
after Mrs. Halpin, acting on the right OF per-
sonal judgment, did, in fact, place her in the
Roman Catholic Providence Asylum but that
she was not incarcerated, and was not en-
tered for permanence' In MT McCune's
statement in the Buffalo Courier the episode
is summarily dismissed as a separation of the
mother and child by the removal of the former
to an inebriate asylum The sixteen indie
ptndent republicans, said to be prominent
citizens OF Buffalo, who signed the latest GER
tifcate of Governor Cleveland's good moral
character, merely say that the allegations
respecting her Maria Halpin'sl abduction and
II treatment are wholly false We do not
know what were the results OF Mr.. Horatio c.
Kings explorations OF this part of the scandal.
Ills general assurance that there is nothing In
the Halpin matter which need prevent the Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher from voting for Mr..
Cleveland Is probably satisfactory TO both OF
those gentlemen. The charge Of abduction
and inhumanity Is denied; the specification
that the woman was seized without legal war
rant, and that she was locked up in an asylum
by men acting in Mr.. Cleveland's interest, Is
admitted. The general charge that Mr.. Cleve-
land, apart from the Halpin case, is known in
Buffalo as a man OF licentious habits, Is en-