Omaha daily bee., 1886-12-08
The Message Not Conciliatorr.

The message OF the president will dis
appoint those democrats who hoped or
expected that he would avail himself of
the opportunity to conciliate the party
by such modification of views and rec.
concentrations regarding the leading
policies of the administration as might
mitigate the hostility, if it did not fully
satisfy, the factions in ayowed opposl-
ton to those policies. 1t cannot be known
how much personal effort has been
brought to hear upon the president to in
ducc him to take such a course, in order
that party disaffection, now marked and
widespread might be remedicd and
harmony established and maintained.
but he has had abundant counsel and
suggestion in this direction from the dom
ocratc press, with warnings that a
failure to heed the advice would nevita
bly, prove disastrous TO his own and the
| party's political future. Ever since the
| November elections the New York Sttl1
| and World the Louisville CoUrier-Jour-
| nal, the st. Louis Republican, and other
| less potential exponents of democratic
| opinion, have been rendering the presl-
dent instruction rs to his duty in the in
| terest of the party, not always emitting
a pungcnt arraignmcnt of the course he
| has thus far pursued.
Iii possible that much of this counsel
and criticism failed to reach the atten-
ton of the president, but in any event
the message is evidence that it has not
been needed. >Mr. Cleveland stands
| firmly on the lines which he marked out
In his first message, and which created
factional opposition to his administration
ana threw the party into disorder He
has abandoned nothing and made no
concession to any element On the sub
ject of tariff revision he speaks with even
greater earnestness than before, as might
have been expected from a fuller and
more comprehensive acquaintance with
the subject. The year of study which
the president has devoted to this qucs
ton has given him clearer perception
of the injustice which the great body of
the people suffer from the burden of tax
alton imposed 10y the present tariff sys-
| tom, and he therefore states his views of
the situation and its demands with
| greater elaboration, clearness and force
than before. He Is no less firm in main
'''hihFo mo pOSlbloil iSopSSbih- thV SOih
pulsory coinage of silver, though his
reference to this subject is much less cN-
tended than Il year ago and the reasons
he gives for his faith not more impress
slve. There have been changes IN the
relative position of silver within the
past few months that have done much
to confound the theories of the
anti.siIvac element. Regarding civil
service reform the president holds out nc
hope to the opposition that this will not
continue to be the pet policy of his ad
ministratlon. He avows mistaken faith
in the necessity and usefulness of the re
form, and believes its maintenance
essential to the safety and success OF
American institutions, invoking for it the
support of congress.
Thus with regard to these chief ques
tions of political policy the president
occupies the same relation to his party in
congress that ne held throughout the last
session. Having declined to offer any
terms for conciliating and uniting
the party, the question is will the party
go to the president? Will Mr.. Randall
and his faction abandon their opposition
to a revision of the tariff in the direction
pointed out by the president, and which
Carlisle and Morrison have promised tc
again attempt? Will the western ant
southern democrats, for the sake of party
peace, yield to the eastern demand fol
the sacrifice of silver coinage? Will the
nearly entire democratic representation
which manifested its contempt for tbs
civil service reform policy at the last
session now stultify itself by acceding tt
the recomwendations of the president for
strengthening this policy? We believe Il
to be entirely safe to assume that none o.
these things will happen, aud that the
result of whatever expression the
democrats in congress may make
regarding these questions will leave
the administration and the representa-
tives of the party as widely separated as
they now are. As to the next congress,
assuming that Mr. Cleveland will adhere
to his present position, Of which there
can be no doubt, the chance of reaching
better understanding will be even les:
than now. Thus broken and divided
what reasonable hope can the democracy
have of success in the next national con
test?