The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-02

SMALL Result of the Whole Matter-What the
Democrats Are Hero For.

washington Special to New York Herald.
The net result Of the quarrel between the Sen
ate aud the President may be stated thus, on the
authority of several Republican Senator's:
First-The Senate has soemnlv declared the
President to be a bad man, on the whole like
Charles /.
Second-The President, with hts tongue in his
cheek, does not care q cent for the Senates dec
laration.
Third-The Senate has declared that no nomi-
nation ought to be confirmed in place of sus-
pended officer if the Senate shall call for the pa
pers concerning the suspension and the President
shall refuse them.
Fourth-But the Republican Senators will hot
call for papers hereafter.
Fifth-Because the President will let any Sem
ator see any papers he wishes in any depart
ment under - r..-s. 81 81 seeresSy IS executive
business These papsIs are, however, by his
orders refused to public inspection
Simple minded citizens will wonder what the
dispute was all about, then, and why it was nec-
essary for the President to send a solemn mes
sage to the Senate, and why Mr. Edmunds
should liken Mr. Cleveland to Charles l. Was
it all a mere buncombe proceedings
Well, no. The President has been carrying
on the somewhat prolonged obsequies of the late
Mr.. Civil-service Reform So important per-
sonase needed to be buried with proper and de-
cent ceremonies, even though he dies unra-
gretted by those who have now put him safely
under the ground. He will not trouble either
l. l.
main any friends of the deceased anywhere in
the country they may as we'll put Grape on their
hats and endeavor to reconcile themselves to the
will of Providence, as tie phrase goes.
So long ago as the 10Th of February your cor
respondent sent you what follows:
Democratic Senators have persuaded the
President to refuse certain papers to the open
Senate-that is to say, to the people. Demo
cratic Senators are at the same time engaged i'll
an intrigue to persuade Republican Senators to
,,~af- hos osv,+x 10
"Why is this solcitude of Democratic Senators
to shut the doors on the people? The answer is
plain to everybody here. These Democratic
Senators moving anxiously for secrecy have
been engaged with the President in lot of dirty
patronage intrigue and they dread discovery.
They believe that by persuading the President
to refuse papers they can stir up long debate
on empty constitutional question, and thus
avoid the real question of open sessions and pub
licity about Office seeking, and evade those dis
closures of papers already in the possession Of
the Senate committees, which are quite as dam
aging as any papers the President may have.
1t ought to be known to Democratic as well
as Republican voters throughout the country
that if the President and Senators should be
forced to entire publicity about this dirty pat
ronage business the voters would discover
"First-That good many Democratic Sena-
tors and Representatives have secretly asked the
President to retain their Republican friends in
Office. while openly they were pretending to
''Second-That many Democratic Senators
and Representatives have openly Endorsed sew
eral persons for the same place, and then have
secretly gone to the President and persuaded
him to appoint still another man.
"Third-That Democratic Senators and Rep
resentatives have privately Endorsed and urged
the nomination of men of known bad character,
and have secured such nominations and have
done this in the belief that they would r rbe
held responsible before their constituel Cor
mi w ~ Air
own political advantage.
sFourth-That Republican Senators have
secretly asked the President to remove Repub
licans, and have promised him in return their
support in the secret executive session for his
nominees to fill places so vacated"
When, ten days later. on the LIST of March, the
President sent his message to the Senate, these
assertions were accurately justified by his own
words He said:
81 am quite prepared to avow that the cases
are not few in which suspensions from Office have
depended more upon oral representations, made
to me by citizens of known good repute and by
members of the House of Representatives and
Senators of the United States, than upon any
nation. have not felt justified in suspecting
the veracify, integrity and patriotism Of Ssna-
tors, or ignoring their representations because
they were not in party utilization with the major
ity of their associates, and recall few suspen
sions which bear the approval of individual
members identified politically with the majority
In the Senate
This threat that il they should push him too
hard he would disclose what would make Sena-
tors Of both parties very uncomfortable settled
the business. Five or six Republican Senators
at once declared in private conversation that it
was foolish to make a fight on the President,
and several Democratic Senators expressed the
opinion that it would have been even better had
the President quietly sent all tho papers to the
secret Senate so as to have no fuss at all.
The Senate was too dgnifed body to back
down summarily. A long debate was neces-
General Logan, Mr.. Van Wyck and one
or two others will hereafter call for open SEES
sions the rules will be worked against their
proposition. They will be allowed to speak and
their motions will then be ruled out of order,
and the farce which Mr.. Cleveland and the SEN
ate have been enacting will thereupon be done.
The old bargain and dcker for Office between
the President and the Senate will go on again.
The old phrase Courtesy of the Senate" is
already on senatorial tongues. Mr.. Cleveland's
curtains will remain down. The senatorial bell
will continue to tinkle warning to the COM
mon people in the galleries that now their mas
ters are about to drive them out and lock the
DOORS and hold their senatorial noses over the
great fight about patronage.
Civil service reform, about which so much fuss
has been made for some years, Is now dead and
buried. It remains TO be seen what the Demo-
cratic party in power will do on other matters
between now and next August They do not
nor on anything else 80 far, of public impor
lance
On the whole, it is presumptuous to ask the
Democratic President and Congress what they
are here for.
One Happy Editor.
Quitman (Ga.) Free Press.
r N - Eli