Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-04-24
! Battle-Ground Of Principle.

AAOoiuCAo OiCVCidAu may SSp A"HA'
IN the estimation Of some, with the
great statesmen of the country. Yet
he has demonstrated sagacity in
that respect which has rarely been
exemplified even by the most distin-
:..ished public men, The reason Of
his great success, both as party
leader and as the Chief Executive of
the coun try, is that he is a man OF
clear discernment and Of strong COM
mon sense. These qualities, after
all, constitute the basis OF all success
full craftsmanship. But Cleveland is
also equipped with other qualities
without which no man can be either a
recognized statesman or q successful
leader. He is honest and courageous.
When he gees clearly what is right, he
he goes straight for it, regard
less Of who or what it hits. 1t is
not in his nature to temporize,
nor would he, if he could, resort to
crooked courses to gain point. He is
of the straightforward sort who would
rather be right than President. But
few men in his position would have
come out flat-footed in favor of re-
vision of the tariff on the basis of the
old-time Democratic policy, when the
party, with such men ns MAR.
tin Van Buren and Silas Wright
at its head, fought the protective
principles of the Wing party with
Henry Clay. the greatest apostle OF
Protection the country ever knew, as
it's champion. Up to the time that
Cleveland In his message placed the
Democratic party squarely upon the
issue of tariff for revenue with Incl
dental protection, that party in a
desultory and tentative way had dal-
lied with the question, recognizing 1t
in sort of far-away manner. There
was lacking that positiveness IN It's
declarations which gives cohesion
and force to the believers in any
tenet. The boldest leaders were not
backward in their denunciations OF a
tariff which was sapping the ener-
gies of the country and robbing the
many to enrich the few; but the
timid or forceless members would
only touch the question in sort
of apologetic way. The time
was ripe for one in authority in
the party and the Nation to speak Out
clearly and boldly, and Cleveland
with his characteristic sagacity, saw
the opportunity and crystalized the
question, which had been eluding the
grasp of the less courageous leaters
into a concrete, positive, living prin
ciple of the party. There was nc
evasion, no temporizing, no daily
ing. The great mass of the party
saw at once that the issue hat
to be met on open ground-that i
possessed principle of vitality of th'
last Importance to the Nation-that i
was bringing back the policy OF The
party to it's old standard,-and they
fell into line with an alacrity which
showed that the word only had to bt
spoken at the right time and from the
right place to solidify and re-enthus'
the cohorts of Democracy. 1
brought politics in both the an
tagonistic camps out of a mere con
tention of personalities into th'
higher sphere of conflict upon {
great rational principle. 1t put al
end to the era Of men withou
measures, and brought us back t.
the better epoch when parties Tough
upon measures alone as incarnated il
their great leaders. The Democratic
party now stands upon high ant
solid ground, and we would rathe
40 with it to defeat upon tn,
Great issue which cleveland hal
placed upon its banner than to vii
on : platform Of mere glittering ant
unmsaning generalties. Clevelant
fhorefore stands amongst that higher
erylar II statesmen who have directed