The Washington critic., 1886-08-11
PRECED ENTS.


his rejection by the Senate. tits not i'm
probable. a speech delivered in the |
Senate last March by Mr.. Coke of |
Texas lies before us In which he says,
relative to this very questions "rhe
President nominates; the Senate con
sents to the nomination or refuses as
sent to 1t. If the latter, the President
may nominate the same person again
and again, as often as he is rejected, rs
was repeatedly done by General Jack.
SON" And Mr.. Cleveland, we are told,
is a good deal of Jacksonian Demo.
crat
But we doubt If n precedent set in
this way-that is, by course of obstl-
nate persslency on the part OF the
President until the patience of the SEN
ate is exhausted-riscs to the dignity
Of settled principle or is to be ac.
cepted as an authoritative ilterpreta.
tion of the Constitution.
That statesmen differ on this point
is shown by speech delivered on the
same question by Senator Brown Of
Georgia, in which he clearly maintains
that in case of the rejection of nom
inee ii becomes the duty of the Presi
dent under the tenure. of-otiioe act "to
continue to make nominations until q
person shall be nominated who com
mands the consent of the Senate" by
which we are given to understand that
he is not to renew an appointment
against which the consent of the Sen.
ate is already recorded.
But no matter how many precedents
may be hunted up for Mr.. Cleveland's
action in the Matthews case, this does
not make his action right. There are
precedents for filing responsible offices
in the Territories with imported aliens
and strangers to the people, but the
policy has been solemnly condemned
by public sentiment, and nothing can
justify it. We believed it to be so en-
phatically condemned by both the
great parties that their condemnation
would not be vetoed by the President
in the case of the District of Columbia.
We may safely assume, however,
that after all the precedents have been
collated for reappoin,ing n rejected
nominee there will not be found a sin
gle one 10 specifically bear ont the
President in the course he has taken.
We challenge the President AMI his
friends to produce Il case of the same
features with the one now in question;
where, in the first place, the voice of
the people Immediately intcreste in
the appointment has been absolutely
ignored, and in the second place,
where an appointment thus made has
been rejected by such an overwhclm.
ing vote of the Senate as was cast
against Matthews If there is an in.
stance of this kind on record, we
should like TO have 1t produced. If
not, then the preccdens they talk
about in general way, count for little
or nothing.
THE Burlington (ycrmonD Free
Press republishes the speech delivered
in that city by Senator Edmunds in
August, 1884, on the opening of the
campaign, to show the incorrectness of
the allegations so freely made since,
that he did not desire the success of
the Republican party. The friends of
the Senator should not protest too
much. There should be no occasion for
defending his loyalty. AT the same
time there was nobody then who be-
heved that his wish to see Mr.. Blaine
elected amounted to an overweening
anxiety, and he has already told us
with regard to the next Presidential
campaign that the success of the Re-
publican party depends upon the Sc
lection Of candidate from the West.
But his beliefs, one way or another,
will not stand in the way of his re-
election TO the United States Senate
DAY before yesterday the American
schooners Shiloh and Julia Ellen were
quietly sailing up Liverpool Harbor in
Nova Scotia, supposing it to be q
friendly port, when they were over
hauled by the Canadian cruiser Terror
and ordered to heaye TO. The order
being emphasized by a shot across tn,
bows Of the somewhat astonished yes
sells, of course the Yankee skipper,
had no alternative but to obey, aut
shortly afterwards put to sea again
Yet we are assured by the State De
partment that the outlook for al
amicable settlement Of all existing dif
fculties is serene and no exception
must be taken to these reiterated in
suits. 1t goes decidedly against tn,
American grain; still there seems to b,
nothing else to DO but to take the Gov
ernment at its word and blde results.
THE Treasury of New Jersey Is in d
better condition than that Of almos
any other State in the Union 1t owe
little less than 81 ,0O0,O 600, and there Il
always in the sinking fund IN amour
in excess of the Indebtedness, the latte
Of which is being cancelled as fast a
the holders of the bonds can be in
duced to have them redeemed. Tht
result Is that there is no State tax
But ii costs money to run even such /
frugal government as this, and by {
process peculiar to New Jersey the
railroads are made to furnish IT, The
property of these corporations is first
tayed nm fhe amount of nronertv that