The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1886-12-09
LET Us REASON TOGETHER.
DEMOCRATS INVITED TO REVIEW
THE LAST CAMPAit.N.
Newspaper Editors and Other Grum bleT>
Taken TO Ta>k---A Defense OF Mr.
Cieveiaud'> Administration.

English language whose utterance affords
a certain class Of advisers % much real
pleasure as the interjectiou AHA
4 neutral party gen' rally stands BY dur
ing the issues Of some important question.
and when the thing results adversely to
his preference, he utters his disgusting
ANA" with triumphant contempt.
such an adviser comes in too late, and
even then he comes with words that smart
and burn rather than comfort or instruct
We cannot appreciate such counsel, if
counsel We may call if it is given il the
ahaspirt.
The writer confesscs that he has had lit
tie to say during the political turmoil Of
the past few months, and Yet what shall
be SAID IN this paper will not be III the
spirit mentioned above.
One month has passed since the two
contending political parties Of this great
country met in conflict, armed With the
most potent weapon in the cause Of free
mems rights-the ballot. The contest was
10 decide which party shall hold the bal
ance Of power in the Fiftieth Congress Of
these United States The work all done
the returus all made, and all inquiries an
swered aS to who has been elected, who
shall go out and who shall come IN; ii is
worth while calmly to contemplate the re
suits, and see if there are not some lessons
10 be learned. Indeed, this is the very
thing that has been done a thousand times
already lessons drawn, | mean, but the
calm contemplation Of the situation and
the causes for the defeat claimed against
the Democratic party seems not TO have
been 50 general. Many hasty newspaper
editors, no doubt were ready with Invec-
tives, yituperations, and harsh criticisms,
to predict the results of the election and
give the cause before the time Certain it
is that many have done little else since the
election but erltlclse the present admins
tratIOn, and predict worse things for the
Democratic party in the future
1t is generally conceded that the party
has lost ground during the present admin
istration; and many lmpulSiye writers and
speakers assay to give the undenlable rea
son, namely, because the President has
been guilty of dereliction of duty and ha,
proved himself untrue to his party.
shall say nothing here Of the policy
ITO the victors belong the spolls, neither
shall | comment on the cry, turn the rae
Gals out.' Bnt | shall offer the views Of
one who has done little else, 50 far than
listen to an occasional wrangle on Civil
Service Reform; and who voted the Demo
cratic ticket, full and round, and that too
with as much anxiety for the party as any
man in the nation. One principal reason
given by many for the loss of ground in
our ranks, is because Mr.. Cleveland has
done 50 many wrong things and 50 few
right ones. And the very ones who allege
these things against him use the means Of
harsh criticism and sometimes abuse to
correct the President of this great nation.
Every such criticism, whether reasonable
or not, has its effect on some one. And
undertake to say, that III my opinion. one
Of the chief reasons why our party is losing
ground grows out of want of harmony
in our own ranks. The simple, plain truth
Of the matter is, there has been too mnch
growing, snarling, and barking at the ad-
minstration, and too little of ''HURRAH
FOR OUR SIDE" The kingdom of God itself
could not stand, save by the special sup
port of Omnipotence, in the face of 50
much adverse and hostile criticism
When Mr. Cleveland was elected and en-
tered upon his administration, many in
telligcnt voters, many journalists, and
perhaps many would thought states
men thought that great and mighty chan
ges could be made by the government in
a day, without a jar ora single disaster.
Well, such thing was simply beyond
the ken of human possibilities. However,
many writer's and speakers promised as
much during the Presidential campaign,
and for it they raised a hue and cry from
Die for even the equal of Solomon, of course
it was not done. These sanguine Demo
Gratis soon became disappointed, expressed
it freely, and began to make their con
stituents and followers feel disappointed
also. From this there arose a murmur of
discomfort, which has kept on increasing
IN volume until 1t Is now mighty wall of
the party from lakes to Gulf, and from
ocean to ocean, that our President is dis
loyal to the principles of his party and un
true to the millions who bestowed upon
him the highest honor within the gift of
his fellow cOuntrymen.
TO those who are 50 bitter against Mr..
Cleveland and almost all that he has done,
am willing to grant the vantage ground
OF the fact that humanum est errare; and
that Mr.. Cleveland is by no means infalli-
BILE, and that he has doubtless made mis-
takes. But the wonder is, the manner in
which our party has tried to correct the
errors. When our President has made
mistakes it has been the duty of our Jour
nalIsts to say 50, and that in positive
terms; but why denounce the whole ad
mlnlstratiOn because some things have not
been done precisely as we would like to
see them done, or forsooth, as we would
have done them ourselves!
OF the thousands of white men even in
North Carolina who did not vote in the
late election. many were weak-kneed De
mCcratS, VINO became confirmed in their
apathy through the influence of some
growing leader or some disgruntled news
paper editor
Have our people taken into due consid-
GRAFTON the critical period at which the
administration began? We're the times Of
Washington's first administration more
demandant upon true craftsmanship and
careful manipulation of matters of gov
ernment than the era of Cleveland's in
auguration: We're the affairs of State
more critical when Jefferson stepped down
and out than when Cleveland stepped in?
1t is true that after the life struggle for
freedom during those seven bloody years
that more than tried mems souls, there
were great questions at issue. The victor
ious colonists, standing on the heights of
freedom gained, had before them a work
truly problematical. They We're declaring
| themselves free and Independent States,
and yet what they should develop into, or
how they should reach their ideal of gov
ernment was work for the brightest in
\ tellects and truest hearts of the fathers
| of our great nation And when a number
! of years had been spent in engaging the
/ supreme talents of the founders and build
els OF American independence; when the
! father of his country had led her armies
to victory and had been her Chief EXecu
! tive his allotted time; and when another
/ had followed him and had done his best;