The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-12-28
A yindicttve President.

New York Tribune
The stiffness Of his backbone was for
a time thought 10 be President Cleve-
lands iii distinguishing characteristic,
but as his administration draws 10 a
close the evidences multiply that il Is
his hasty temper from which he de-
rives the most grateful consolation.
Ii cannot be disputed that honest
wrath Is sometimes a virtue rather
a defect. and even an expietive en-
ployed as a safety valve Is occasionally
pardonabIe. The president of the
United States Is not delivered from the
frailties Of this mortal state any more
than the bumblest citizen. but it be-
comes him TO keep his temper In sub
mission at all hazards. or, at the least,
TO set il loose only in the strictest Sc
ciusion. A chief magistrate who is
also a common scold Is never an edi-
flying spectacle, and, moreover,
rulers capacity to serve the people is
closely dependent upon his capacity
10 preserve the dignity OF his station.
II requires neither a long memory
nor an index To newspaper flies 10 re-
call several occasions on which Mr..
Cleveland has been unable to disguise
his iniirmity His letter 10 Mr.. KEEP
Ter was gratuitOus attempt 10 castl-
gate the newspapers which had ven
tured to comment adversely upon his
public acts, and the fact that it was
deliberately committed 10 writing,
signed. sealed, stamped and posted,
il inconsistent with the theory Of q
sudden and uncomfortable frenzy. His
unmauneriy intrusion Of anger and
bitterness into the jubilee Gel
ebration OF Harvard university
marred the festivities without
removing the grievance. If griev-
ance there was. The patriotic rejection
Of the fisheries treaty Hast summer by
the Republican senate. instead of
stimulating his loyalty, oniT served to
provoke "A phonetic reversal OF policy,
and to suggest the Notifying thought
that the pre- ident OF the United states
was a spoiled baby. His decisive dis
misSal by the American people in No
ycmber, after the campaign OF intel
iect which he so ardeutly desired, Was
followed IN bis annual message by
v.ndicuye assault upon the character
and motives Of a vast body of public
pirited citizens who had merely exer-
ci-ed the privilege OF supporting a diff
iereut industrial policy from that TO
AAAt 90 A4N wsAN AfttA AtA1AANAAs -AAl-A AAtAtA
voted in accordance with their convic-
tinus.
The latest ebullition Of the same
spirit from the White House is
specially directed against his success
igl competitor in the recent election.
Unable to forgive GEN Harrison for
having been the instrument OF his
overthrow, the president insults the
president-elect hy -clec ing for an im-
portaut office In Indiana the only
citizen In that state who made it his
business from the beginning to the
end OF the campaign to SANDER the
Republican candidate. undetcrred by
the explicit and ab ointe disproof OF
every charge he made and by the
avOVed contempt % every decent man
i'm his own parry. The choice Of
Bailey for district attorney does not
injuIe Gen. Harrison in the cstima-
ton Of any one, BOAT u has probably
Afforded Mr. Cleveland that peculiar
sort 90! Abstraction which he alone Of
American presidents has been capable
ui seni'yjuE.