The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-03-05
THE INDEPENDENT ELEMENT.
CleyeIands Attitude Toward the Mug,
wump Contingent.

wump Contingent.
President Cleveland is wise in his
day and generation. and his wisdom is
broader, deeper and more respectable
than that which gauges its course,
however shrewdly, to catch the cross
winds of expediency. To a visiting
delegation he recently expressed the
opinion that .'it is wise to endeavor to
retain the friends that came to our
support in the last campaign" and
also to "secure further accessions of
the same character in the North and
West" This declares Difference to
the effective Independent support in the
last campaign which is its due. The
character of that support was one
which we ought to be glad to gain.
and which we should use all honorable
and self-respectful means to retain. A
few days after the election, when the
choice of Governor Cleveland was as
sured b You'd a reasonable doubt, the
Post said: Governor Cleveland has
been elected by a combination of the
best elements of both parties and will
come into his new responsibilities
under the happiest auspices. The
men WHO have contributed most
to his election are reasonable men,
more anxious to secure an hon
est and vigorous Administration for the
country than to provide easy and
profitable places for themselves. The
Mugwumps have proved themselves a
great deal more than an incident. They
have prepared for themselves an honor
able niche in the country's political
history. and will occupy it The
credit which we were then disposed to
give them in our profound, satisfaction
over the result, We are not inclined to
qualify in the slightest now. They have
been considerable and discreet since the
election as they were OutSpOken and
brave before it. They have done moth
ing to lessen our belief in or respect for
the sincerity of their declared motives.
when they stood up and bore testimony
to their love of country before party,
and their confidence in transformations
honesty rather than in the most brilliant
and plausible demagogi>m that ever
tempted the patriotism of a great
people. The Independents as a
body have asked nothing for
themselves in the new official dis
tribution that viii naturally take
place. They have taken a profound
interest in the movements and rumOrs
of movements that are to have an i'm
portant bearing in shaping the per-
sonnet and policy of the incoming Adj
ministration. That they should take
such an interest is both natural and
proper. Perhap, we should expect them
to be more anxious than Democrats
even, for to many the complete iustiti-
cation OF Their course in the recent
campaign depends upon the moral and
political success of President Cleve-
lands Administration. All this the
new President keeps in view. He wants
the aid and advice of all who preferred
him to his most formidable opponent,
no matter what their nominal political
affiliations may have been He shows
a disposition to Law the foundation of
policy that shall b. Democratic, cathO-
lie, patriotic and National. He wishes
the Independents to remain his friends
and to find in the partyof which he is
now the most conspicuous representa-
tive, tie consideration and fellowship
that have been denied them elsewhere.
--Boston TOst.