The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1886-08-28
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A Maine View of the President.


A prominent Portland friend of Mr..
Blaine, who felt more free to criticize the
personnel of the Administration than Mr..
Blaine, said to me this afternoon:'I should
think in a canvass there will be a good
many things to be said which will be
most effective with the people. Cleve-
land is profoundly ignorant man upon
everything relating to public affairs and
he does not appear to belong to the type
of men who learn easily. He is self
opinionated, dogmatic aud big headed
with the idea that he is the man of des-
tiny. lie performs what | call the shirt
sleeve act, and belittes the character and
dignity of the Presidential office by his
absurd drudgery over scrub routine work.
That man sits in his shirtsleeves and
ploughs through work which lie should
not require his own private secretary to
look at. In other words, the work that
he does makes him really rank about as
third assistahtprivate secretary tohimself.
No President of the United States ought
to give more than four hours day to the
actual routine work of the Executive
office. He should give two hours a day
to seeing officials, heads of departments
and people who have important business
with him. The other two working hours
he should devote to the briefest possible
memoranda of cases which have been Ie-
ferred to him on appeal. He should have
about him a Cabinet which would be
competent to transact all of the general
business of the Government SC that moth
ing should come to him but matters of
the greatest Importance. A President
with his time so divided would then have
time to consider national questions. All
of the great generals and the great lead
ers of the world have been men gifted
with this capacity for divesting them
selves of detail work. The men who
cannot rise above detail, who cannot tt IN
mates, are men who have no executive
capacity"
CRITICIsING MR. BAYARD.
He then went on to pass in review the
Cabinet and, as it represents some of the
points that will be made during this Re-
publican campaign in this State it is per-
haps well enough to give them. This
gentleman said: Il think Mr.. Bayard is
the great failure of the Cabinet and he is
a failure simply because he has been
found out. There exists throughout the
Democratic masses in this country dis
position to idealIze some one, to set up
somebody as a hero who is 10 be wor-
shipped as the possessor of all the virtues
which are dear to the Democratic heat.
Bayard, for many years, has been that
hero. He is of good family and came
into his seat in the Senate by Inheritance.
The Senate is the greatest place in this
country for man to shirk and dodge re-
sponsibilty. 1t appears to have been
specially created by the fathers for the
purpose of atfording refuge for the weak
in the world where a man can SO easily
| acquire reputation for capacity. All
| he is required to do is to dress well, to
pose well, and to look solemn and digni-
| fed and, upon rare occasions read an
essay to the Senate. These essays are
easily procurable. The current rates for
them are not high in Washington, and
with such material great regulations are
often made.
Mr.. Bayard came TO the Senate with
long face, a pedantic manner and with
the most thorough drill in dep prtment.
He never attempted to engage in run
ming debate, but confined himself largely
to long drawn ont and previously prepar-
cd harrangues. If any Senator desired
to interrupt him, to put to him ques-
ton requiring exact information or
ability to answer, he would simply move
up to a higher plane of department and
beg the questioner with grandiose air
CONTINUED on FOURTH PAGE