Wichita eagle., 1888-06-27
AN AuToCRAT.
There Is O. Cleveland Party Which al
Owns and Controls, but There is Nc Long


Owns and Controls. but There is No Long
er Democracy.
There is no Democratic party in existence
to-day. There is an organization which is
the personal property Of Mr.. Cleveland,
which introduces bills and calls conven-
tons and elects delegates by his direction;
and that is all. Never In the history of any
party 1as there seen such perfect exam
pie Of the one-man system as is furnished
by the Democratic body of the present.
The fall of Governor Hill Is but the crown
ing act Of long series which have estab-
lshed the autOcracy OF President Cleve-
land His party took him from obscurity be-
cause they thought that with him they would
have a chance to win, and believed that his
obstinate disposition would yield easily TO
the need of counsel that must beset a man
so suddenly elevated to unfamiliar station.
To no others has he been the cause of such
sudden, sad and complete surprise as to his
own supporters. They, as well as he, be-
heve that his denomination is Indispensable
to the party success. Il says the St Paul
Pioneer Press, the Democracy should confess,
by choosing another, that its first attempt to
govern the country after twenty-four years
of exclusion from power had been failure,
it would have little chance of again COM
handing the support of the country. Com
PEELED by this necessity, the party has been
at the mercy Of Mr.. Cleveland. And he has
shown DO disposition to be generous. He
rules his followers with rod Of iron.
Knowing that he can defy the opposition, he
has set himself deliberately at work topun-
ish those who dare resistance to his will.
His hand has been felt in every State where
that will was not accepted as law.
He d-ragooned Pennsylvania and filed its
convention with Federal ofhceholders, for
the purpose of showing Mr.. Randall that
he could not afford to antagonize his superb
or on the tariff. He has served out like
humiliation to others not q few. But he
reserved the walls of his bitterest dis
pleasure for Hon. David B. Hill. Governor
Hill had been guilty Of the objectionable
sin. Not only had he taken occasion to re-
feet, more than once, in unmistakable
terms upon the Presidents policy, but he
had dared to aspire on his own behalf to the
Presidency Mr.. Cleveland could have af-
forded to let this pass. He knew that his
denomination was secure. And broader
and farther-sighted man would have made
friend by permitting Governor Hill to
amuse himself with his dream, and would
have been satisfied with his disappointment
Mr.. Cleveland. With the vindietiveness of
the true autocrat, he gave out the word
that Hill must be punished And his igno-
miny was felt to be complete when he was
not only left off of the State delegation to
St. Louis, which he had expected to lead,
bnG when he found but five men in all that
body to dare the anger Of their party despot
by voting for him as delegate-at-large. He
would be useless to search for any possess
sion of power so complete or any exercise
of it so merciless in the recent annals Of
party. That Mr.. Hills personal unitness
had nothing to do with his rejection the
party took care to demonstrate. 1t was not
body of men imbued with new principles
or higher ideas Of party or of politics that
diSgraced him.
1t was the same true-bIue Democracy
Lest there should be any mistake about
that, the convention showed its mettle by
indorsing the Hill administration, badly
smirched by corrupt deals so recent invest
igations have shown it to be, and by pass
ing resolution denouneing the Ballot Re-
form bnl, now in the hands Of the Governor.
In the preparation of that bill the labors Of
the better class of Democrats, of Repub-
lcans, of Independents and of representa-
tives of organized labor united. 1t is bill
which has nothing to do with parties, ex-
cept as it tends to prevent and discourage
fraud at elections. But the convention
which showed Governor Hill the door was
at some pains to vindlcate it's Democracy by
voting that frauds at the polls should be
maintained as an aid to Democracy, in New
York City as well as IN Cincinnati and IN
Indianapolis. 1t registered Mr.. Cleveland's
personal wishes, and then adjourned. And
it taught other members of the party the
penalty that attaches to holding opinions Of
their own. 1t might have occurred to a
broader man than Mr.. Cleveland that, while
this policy may be soothing to ones vanity
and gratifying to his desire for revenge, it
is not exactly calculated to develop popular
strength. Neither people nor party will
rest patiently under despot.