Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-01-05
MR. -CLEYEI.AND,s FEARS.

MR.. CLEVELAND'S FEARS.
New York Nail snd Express.
\ small, but pregnant paragraph in
AIr. Cieyeland's Free Trade Message has
SO far escaped that especial attention
which L deserves. for it disclcses the
spirit Of It's author and reveals his ap-
prehension Of the uprising of American
sentiment which his English views Of
the American system of Protection have
actually provoked.
The paragraph to which we refer gives
the KEY to the whole Message, and we
commend it to the study Of all thought
fuI Americans. Here it is, in all its un-
guarded simplicity of damaging confes-
sion. viz:
" We are in the midst Of centennial eel
ebrdti0ns. and tCith becoming pride 1Ce re-
j0ics IN american skill and ingenuity, in
Amerio1n energy and enterprise, and in
the lC0RderfW natural advantages and
resources deceIoped By centuTy'S ma
tionGI grO1Cth. Yet 1Chen an attempt is
made to justify a scheme achich permits
tao to be laid upon eceTy consumer in
the land for the benefit Of our Dadn'gdc-
tuFes. qltite beyond q reasonable demand
for governmental regard, it suits the p'tr-
pose Of QdcOcacy to call Our manufactures
infant industries. still needing the high
est and greatest degree Of .tdc0r and fOS-
tsri4g care that can Be ICrGng from fed
eral legislation.
Now, whoever may have put into shape
the rough draft of the Message, its spir-
it, its crude ideas and its unscientifc
manner of dealing with most difficult
questions are unqueStionably Mr.. Cleve-
lands own. His peculiar personality per-
vadeS it as rude shaping power. His
abnormal deficiency in patriotic instincts
and sentiments is as manifest in the Mes
sage as it was during the war for the life
of the Nation, when he was so numb,
apathetic and dumb that, although law
yer and a politician, not one public ut
terance of his is on record indicating that
he took the slightest interest in the long,
doubtful and terrible struggle that turn
ed tens of thousands of quiet and re-
firing citizens into effective orators for
the Union cause, for the relief of our
sick and wounded soldiers or for the sup
port Of the government.
Though series OF political accidents
that not no man could have believed
possible shot Mr. Cleveland into the
Governorship and the Presidency, his
character, such as it is, was formed and
hardened before he defeated Judge Fol
ger. With that persistence and stolidi-
ty which well equipped him for retain
ING his ingrained characteristics amidst
personal triumphs that would have upset
far ADLER men, he has carried into the
White House all the limitations and in
sensibilitieS that he hadwhen he was Sher
iff. 1t would be as impossible for him
to conceive of the religious enthusiasm
of Peter the Hermit or Of IgnatiuS Lo-
yola as to comprehend the blazing zeal
that Henry Clay's lofty nature in his
magnificent appeals for 1.-THE American
svstenn.' or that has enabled Mr.. Clay's
ab,est successor in the propagation and
defence of that system, James G. Blaine,
to make his statistics of the tremendous
developments of American interests, un-
der Republican tariff.
Yet. insensible as Mr. Cleveland
naturally and necessarily is to the patri-
otiSm of politics and political economy,
he has a rudimental, perhaps unconsci-
Gus, feeling of enmity and apprehension,
whenever the achievements of Ameri-
can industry, under the system of pro-
lection, are presented with such natural
enthusiasm and patriotic pride as such
splendid developments of American
skill, enterprise and daring must inspire
in all right-minded and warm hearted
Americans. Sentiment rules the world"
said BeaconSfeld. in the latter part of
his career, after all the Illusions of ma
ture manhood had passed away. "Sen-
timent'' is what our Angiomaniac Mug
wumps hate, as Satan hates holy water,
and as Mr.. Cleveland both hates and
fears it.
II was the controlling sentiment" of
the English organs Of Free Trade that
detected instantly and with unerring
certainty the un-Anlerican and anti
American spirit and drift of Mr.. Cleve-
lands Message. 1t was the incautious
and hearty expression of this "Senti-
ment" that came to US over the cable
in hot response to that heavy broadside
against American industries, and that
moved the London SATURDAY Recie,U to
say that THE President cautiously de
clines to dub himself Free Trader, but
takes up a Free Trade position without
disguise. He and the leaders of the
Democratic party have taken up again
the old Free Trade policy of the South
Carolina politicians.
1t was this sentiment" that moved
the London No1nillg Post to declare that
the Message will strengthen the Free
Traders case throughout the world,
and the London Daily Ne1nS to predict
that 1.-The stone now set rolling will not
stop till the idol of the protectionists is
broken in pieces" 1t is an open issue
between English and American ''senti-
ment' that our pachydermatous Presi-
dent has made, and the wisest part of
MS whole Message was that which we
have quoted, and which discloses even
the fears of so unsentimental and unpa-
triotic a man, as to the celebration of
American centennials that revive the
patriotism and inspire the pride of the
American people.
NOTES ON NOTES.
Notes dated Sunday are void