Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-08-15
4 Letter From DR.. Ball.
BUFFALO, y. y. Aug. |.
To me Edjtor ot me Minneapolis Ertn-
ina JOUrHui.

To me Edjtor Of me .NinucdpoIiS ErcH-
ing JOurnui:
\ friend of mine in your city sends me
the krcujng .IourHui of July %, in which
you discuss the Cleveland scandal. Allow
me to say that it is in no sense il cam
paign lie Mr. Cleveland was first nomi-
mated for mayor at Buffalo, pledged to en-
force the excise law and laws against
gambling. as well rs to protect the city
from II system of robbery that prevailed
In view of the pledges temperance men
put him ON tlcir ticket and elected him. !
say elected him, because their ticket was
made up of selections from the two parties
and every man they voted for was elected
aud all the others defeated. Mr. Cleve-
land was unknown to temperance men,
but his friends assured US he would en-
force the law and we trusted them. OF
course we were terribly sold. our re
form mayor" did well on financial points,
but nothing for the suppression OF
vice. We were not pleased OF course,
but what most worried the Clergymen
who had been active in the canvass were
reports which began To come to their
ears that Mr. Cleveland was personally Il
debauche Then came the craze over the
Saratoga Fraud and the rush which
elected Cleveland gONcrnOrOl the state. The
people were angry and ready to vote fol
any one to spite the ring managers. me
few Clergymcn who knew of Mr.. CleNc-
the second time | assure YOU. Then h,
began to boom for the Presidency a. Il
"rcformer' and Il man of superior moral
excellence" Religious Journals began t.
praise his rare virtues and To advise the
| Democratic party to nominate nm. | 1T
case was quietly considered by some of TIL,
pastors OF the city. Investigations Wer,
made the llalpin case in all It's horrors
was found to be literally true: his antcce
dent and subsequent life doWnto date was
found to he 50 vile and low as to be act
ualiy loatncsOmc and impossible To de
scribe. Letters, therefore, were WRITER
to Christian editors, warning them not Il
mislcad the people in regard t'
Mr.. CleVeland's morality. one o
mine WAS tclcgraphed to san Francisco
published and went over the land. foi
this am branded as IL vile Slanderer' IL
your columns. If | am ii slanderer'
dozen other pastors are under the sam,
condemnation, and two score more %
them stand as endOlScrS. am not II Sian
dercr. nor political SenSitlonallst, ai'
had no design To do more. by writing as
did, than to protect Christian editors iron
the shame of commenting one OF the
Vilest men that lives, to be il model OF Nlr
tue If politicians are disposed to eXalt I
liherti inc to the Presidency they must bcal
the responsibility. and | must cndeaNor t.
do my duty to them and expose and de
nounce their sin. Both Republican pa
pers here admit that the terrible story
is true. that they were iii possession of tn,
facts and were urged to publish then
during the gubcrnatOrial canvas, but con
Cludcl ii better not to do 50. The Demo
cratic papers do not deny the allega
tons. Mr.. ClcVcland's political friends
. admit the scandal to be true but sug
grst possible mitigating circumstan
crs. such as that the woman might no
: have been correct before Mr.. CleNelan'
!, met her, that the detectives who kidnapped