New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-04
TIE MESSAGE.

THE NESSduE.
President Cleveands Message is the snarl
of beaten candidate. In document when
should be digniied State paper he has taken
pains to exhibit the soreness OF uscarueu
politician because the policy which ne hao
forced upon his party was defeated by inc
people In his passion he loses his sense OF
the fitness of things. Even his worshlppers
in "The Evening Post" attribute his use OF
terms here and there which may be con-
sidered injudicious' to 1.-The natural 1eehhgs
of one who has, been beaten. No one VIII
find his respect for President Cleveland IN
creased by his passionate talk about the sell
ish greed and grasping avarice" OF manuiact-
urers as a class or by his suggestion that they
improperly influence voters or by his frantic
assertion that corporations g are fast becoming
the peoples masters" 1t is not true MI CleVe-
land and your defeat is proof. NO other fresi-
Dental candidate has ever had behind MIN DIS
powerful an array of trusts, combinations ana
monopolies'' as that which had been brought
by Executive and legislative lavors to the sup
port of Mr. Cleveland. The telephone con-
spiracy. the Sugar Trust, the whiskey ring, the
combination of Wall Street sharpers with BANK
ers who held over fifty millions OF the pubhc
money. the Washington real estate ]obbers, the
host of other Jobs and monopolies which leagued
with foreign manufacturers and importers to
break down an American policy, hoped to own
the Government after Mr.. Clevelands re-eec-
ton. They failed, and Mr.. Cleveland and his
Free Traders went down with them, ana the
decisive votes were cast, as everybody KNOWS
by the plain people of the farming regions VINO
are not mastered by corporations, and do not
mean to be
lie who scolds sixty millions of people Tor
falling to appreciate his transcendent wisdom
and devoted patriotism offers no new afgu-
ments in self justification, but not unnaturally
borrows from the Anarchists and Communists
Of Paris phrase, 1.-the communism of capital"
and by comparison justifies the bomb throWer
who "attacks with wild disorder the citadel of
rule Most conservative and dlgnihed' these
suggestions But they move the Nation 10 re-
feet with satisfaction that 1t not only decliheu
to re-elect such a Chief Magistrate, but never
would have elected him had not the voice OF
the people been suppressed in certain States
The attempt to stir up Anarchy IN TINS coun-
try by pandering to ignorance and passion oy
innaming employed against employer ana
poor against rich, is not worthy OF any citizeh
in self governing State, but it is nevertheless
the only resort of the Free Trader In debate
when confronted with evidence of the harmon-
Gus progress and unexampled prosperity OF all
classes and all industries under the protective
system
The President sacrifices historical accuracy
to his frce-trade theory when he argues that
the necessity for a reduction OF revenue Is as
great and urgent as it was. The public reve-
nue. is no longer swelling but diminishing. and
would diminish much more were the laws I'M
posing duties on imports construed and en-
| forced in the interests of the people of this
country. and according to the manifest intent
of those laws. The appropriations have been
largely increased by the present Congress,
fact which the Presidents brief reference to
the finances does not make prominent. But 1t
is true that there is no controversy between par
ties as to the propriety Of reduction of reve-
nue.. and in reaching that conclusion the people
do not need to adopt the ignorant notion that
all money left in their hands is worth to them
6 per cent annually which, strange to say, finds
its way into the Message of the President.
The review of the operations of various de-
partments deliberately compliments those Cab
met officers whose performances have been
least acceptable to the country. The manage
ment of the Navy Department is lauded, as II
it had not been made ridiculous by the defects
of costly vessels built upon plans purchased
from England The postal service is praised,
as if it had not been, by its notorious and
shameful inefiiciency, a potent cause OF the
Presidents defeat Even Mr.. Garland is com
plimented, but not for lifting finger to enforce
United States Suffrage laws in Southern States
nor for refusing a gift of stock in a corporation
seeking Executive assistance. To many the
Presidents melancholy silence on the subject
Of Civil Service reform Will suggest that the
occasion for professions of zeal in that direction
has passed.
The Message is not as carefully written as
the Presidents other official papers but its
crude or awkward phrases count for nothing
in comparison with its mschievous tone. 1t
would not be out of place for the Senate sharp
w to rebuke a Chief Magistrate who sets
himself to infame blind prejudice and lawless
passion against employers generally, whatever
their personal worth or merit, and against the
institutions and laws which the people have
recently sustained by their verdict. Mr.. Cleve-
land gained in reputation for courage and can
dor when he cut through DISCUSSES and avOwed
free-trade theories. But he does not gain in
any respect when he gives vent to personal
soreness and passion in his last annual Message.
--
FOREIGN RELATIONS.
The Message contains a perfunctory rather