Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-12-02
lNew York World.
THE PRESIDENT DEFENDED.

a small portion Of your valuable space.
/ am Democrat of fifty years stand
ing. have not been actively engaged
in politics for several years. In the
passionless shadow of my library have
watched with interest the course of the
President since the Democratic party
has elected him. | think some of the
criticism passed upon him from the
leaders of the Democratic party have
been altogether too severe. l must say
at times the World has shocked some
of my old-fashioned party notions by
the freedom of its criticism, but | be-
lieve you to be fair and that you will
not be disinclined to permit me to come
in nv feeble way to the defense of the
President from the hands of his former
friends.
At the outset l am willing to confess
that the President has not been all that
my fancy thought he would be, and that
in O measure | am somewhat disap-
pointed. But Ipropose to take him as
L find him, and to clearly indicate how
natural have been his errors when one
considers his past history and present
surroundings.
In the first place no man who ever
entered the office of President came to
the performance of its duties with such
q profound ignorance of what was re-
quired of him. Mr.. Cleveland has
never had any national Office. He had
never been i'm Washington except for a
flying visit of few days. He was not
o man who could have acquired a gen.
eral knowledge Of national affairs by
reading.
He had no knowledge of the world,
no general experience to make his
mind fertile and receptive to new con-
ditions.
Taking him as he really was, you find
him aprOvincial country lawyer, whose
only escape from the narrowness of
his Buffalo existence was found in the
smaller town of Albany, but in the
larger office of Governor. 1t is hard for
any one who has not lived in Washing
ton to understand how difficult it is for
President to gain accurate knowledge
of current affairs. He is surrounded by
a crowd of subservient f1atters, who tell
him nothing but pleasant things. The
truth, if disagreeable, rarely reaches
him. Unless President has had rare
experience, or is especially skillfuI in
judgment of men, he is certainly to be
misguided and misled, no matter how
honest he may be.
From whom could Mr.. Cleveland eX.
pect accurate information and loyal,
friendly judgment? To whom in his
Cabinet could he have gone if he had so
willed?
In the first place Mr.. Bayard is ab-
sorbed in himself, and has very poor
opinion of the President. He has
frequently spoken of him in private in
tercourse with his friends as "This
man, Mr.. Bayard was bitterly dsap-
pointed at his failure to be nominated
at Chicago, and can look with indiffer-
ence upon any mistake of the President
that will help illustrate the awful and
almost tragical blunder of the party's
passing over the gifted son of Delaware
in selecting chief.
Messrs. Manning and Whitney came
into the Cabinet as fresh to the admin
istration of public affairs as the Presi-
dent. They may have been more apt
in some ways rs students, but they have
thus far had more than enough to do to
attend TO their own affairs. Neither
have ever heard that they were very
passionately devoted to the Presidents
interests. | do not think l err now in
saying that Mr.. Manning is considered
to-day as q candidate for the nomina-
ton in 1883 by many Democratic poll
ticians, who believe that he will use
what credit the Administration has
gained as his just due, while the blum
ders are all to be put upon the broad
shoulders of Mr.. Cleveland.
Mr.. Whitney is the most serene and
cynically Indifferent of all the Cabinet
members. 1t would be hard to imagine
him interested in any ones political
fortunes save his own, and it may nst-
urally occur to him that the blunders Of
his chief and his political wear and
tear may be the very thing to give the
Young, rich protege in the Navy De-
partment his opportunity in 1888.
It is useless to refer to Endicott or
Garland. Both of them are as negative
as the dead, who speak not, Lamar is
u dreamer, statesman, If you please,
at the first grade, but not unselfish,
afraid of losing his place, and harnessed
to the desk where dull business plod-
ding is requisite, his usefulness is as
much impaired as would be thorough
bred horse tackled to subsoil plough.
Wins is another political tyro who owes
his transplanting from obscurity to the
fact of his having O rich, rotund voice
and impressive air. He captured the
fancy of Cleveland.
Here, then, YOU have two trained
statesmen in the Cabinet: one a Jealous
t:t IL hos ,,,,lo ,,,oro bj,ndors