, 1885-03-12


A LITTLE more than a week has elapsed
since President Cleveland took the helm
of the government, and his confidential
advisers have had scarcely the time to
look about them in their departments, yet
it is an added element Of the public inter
est, that the new executive has gradually
and quietly. but very surelyand effectively,
come to be looked upon by the country at
large as a man who possesses the essential
attributes Of true power; as one who can
lay down a policy of his own; whose adj
ministntion Of his exalted office seems
likely to develop qualities of genuine
craftsmanship. and whose wise reticencc
and quiet steadiness and iirmness Of
character give form and substance to the
expectation hat he will make not only a
thoroughly honest and patriotic presi-
dent, but a wisely sagacious one,
whose to his high station,
however originating, was at least
not a blunder or a mistake. In more than
one respect the advent Of Grover Cleye-
land reminds one of the sudden rise of
Abraham Lincoln. There are circum-
stances in both of these situations hat
recall. with new and peculiar significance,
the oft-quoted S~hakespearian lines
There IS a divinity that shapes our ends.
Rough-hew them as we wili.''
Lincoln's was destined to be a stormy and
troubled reign-lighted on its solemn path
only by the dire fame Of the worlds
greatest civil war. His responsibilities
were heavy and constant. No other pub
lie servant, since Washington led his i'm
poverished army through seven years of
fearful trials TO final victory, ever felt a
greater weight Of accountability. That
brief, but tremendous, period Of four
dramatic years embodied the potencies of
centuries. Ii removed a great block
from the wheels Of progress. Whatever
the shortcomings or the weaknesses of
Abraham Lincoln may have been, nobody
ever talks or speaks of them now. Seen
in the revealing perspective Of history,
his course was marked by wisdom-as it
certainly was by sincere patriotism and
thorough honesty.
The assassin's pistol which 50 tragically
ended his mortal career, proved a voice
that penetrated the heart Of friend and
foe alike, and drowned all notes of con
domination in the general lament No
where is the name Of Lincoln mentioned
to-day with more respect and hearty good
will than in the southern states.
The firm and honest man who has just
taken the helm has before him a career
that seems to be as completely different,
when contrasted with Lincoln's stormy
and battle-shaken term. as could well be
imagined. But its actual responsibilities
and its real significance in its bearings on
our country's near future, may mark it as
only second in its practical import to that
Of Lincoln. President Cleveland has
before him no holiday term-no easy
going time like that of his immediate
predecessor. Men somehow have to do
the work for which they are fitted. The
hour must have its man. The our of
the ship of state for the next four years
is not going to be over summer seas or
along rose blooming shores. Ii is appar-
emily going to be a time that will test the
rock-like honesty and firmness Of thenew
president and show the world Of what
genuine stuff he is made. He cannot be
held up by his friends; he must stand on
his own feet; he must be his own re-
deemer. He will need all his sa-
gacity, all his firmness. Like Jackson, he
will be confronted with a break and bitter
hostility in his own party; and this ex-
p~erience seems to be awaiting him at the
very outset of his official term. The So
called silver question, for the present an
important one, will be the occasion, or
would be at the present time if congress
had remained in session. The president
is right in his position in favor of sus-
pending silver coinage for a time, in order
to ascertain the real necessities of the
country in respect to silver coinage. Let
him stand on that question and on all
others firmly in his W convictions, and
he need not doubt the country will stand
by him. There are going to be some i'm
portant political changes during the next
four years.
0s THE fourth Of March Speaker Car.
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