The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-11-10
WHAT THEY THINK DID 1T
SOME DEMOCRATS TELL WHY
CLEVELAND WAS DEFEATED.

Vetoes, and Mugwumpery Credited
with Having Played a Prominent
Part in Shelving the Peoples Admin
istration - Democrats with Differ
ent Views.
With the defeat of President Cleveland
come the widely divergent reasons assigned
by the democrats for his and his party's i'll
fortune. A MORNING NEWS reporter has
noted down some of them az a reflex Of the
public sentiment of Savannah democrats.
"The tariff did it," said one gentleman.
at was made a too prominent feature
think we went a little too far with it. A
tariff for revenue, with incidental protec-
ton to home industries, would not have
ahenated so many votes from the party.
While the real issue was not free trade or
protective tariff, the republican press and
speakers, by persistently claiming it TO be
the issue, succeeded in making the timid
believe that it was an issue of free trade or
protective tariff, and even the more con-
servative tariff people believed it was an
entering wedge and a step in the direction
of ultimate free trade
THE PENSION vEToEs.
Said another gentleman: ut was the
pension vetoes did it, l tell you the sur
plus has been a curse to this country.
Nearly every man who served three months
or more in the federal army during the war
thinks that he ought to be pensioned In
stead of the self sustaining and Independent
citizen we are building up community of
mendicauts In the north, thousands of
whom in nowise incapacitated from labor
or the practice Of professions, are on the
pension rolls and both parties have tried to
outrival the other in legislation to catch the
soldier vote 1t was a dangerous expert
ment to attempt to check the abuse.
Cleveland tried 1t, and the Grand Army of
the Republic mustered its army at the polls
in the close states and defeated him. The
battle-hag episode was another thing that
helped to solldify the soldier vote against
him.
LAID TO MUGwUMPERY.
'Mugwumpery did it." said disguised
democrat. Nov, there's Hill, a straight
out democrat, just as strong on tariff
reform as Cleveland. Call him partisan,
if you will The partisan in politics wins
Cleveland ran on party rallying cry of
turn the rascals out He didn't turn them
all out. The mugwump states of New
York and Massachusetts, do worse by him
than the democratic states of New Jersey
and Connecticut. The mugwumps have
tried twice to defeat Hill, and both times
he carries the state by sweeping
vote, and in New York city the mugwump
candidate for mayor is beaten out of sight
All the mugwump papers in New York
supported Cleveland, and all of them OPP
posed HILL and their opposition was help
full, as their support was fatal. A vigor-
ously partisan administration would have
held New York and Indiana in line, and the
democracy would have retained power in
the general government for many years"
THE sPoILs SYSTEM.
"You think the spoils system the popular
one theup
''Of course Great principles must be
looked after and applied by the statesmen
of the party, but the camp followers expect
the patronage which flows from power in
governments, and no party can hope to re-
linain in power if it does not take care of its
lheelers and strikers. The mugwumpian
idea was thattae millennium had come when,
with the help of the democracy, they
elected Cleveland four years ago. They
are the intensely intellectual fellows who
imagine that in campaign there are
enough of the purest to offset
the detection of the party sti-
pendaries. The mugwumps first tried
to reform the Republican party, and
make it great civil service reform party.
A little experiment with civil service salts
fed it. Then the mugwumps turned to the
democracy and vaccinated it for civil service
1t took at once, for the outs who wanted
to get in had nothing to hope for In the
event of Blaine's election, and so New York
gave Cleveland her electoral vote four years
ago, but as he didn't turn the ms out and
put the outs in, the spoilsmen merely step
aside, show their indignation by electing
Hill and letting the state flop back to the
republican side on the presidential ISSUE
THE PARTY THAT SUCCEEDS BEST.
1t may not be very encouraging to the
friends of conservative government that
spoilsmen may defeat the efforts of the most
profound political economists if they are not
allowed TO run things on the spoils plan, but
it is none the less true that the party seems
TO succeed best that provides best for its |
strikers and heelers If we amt here for |
the offices, what in the - are we here forP |
said a republican delegate to the Chicago |
convention in 1880, and it was blunt way |
Of stating a truism. II the Harrison ad- |
ministratlon don't work upon that plan, he |
will never be renominated. The office |
seekers hold the balance Of power, and the |
Jacksonian principle, that TO the victors |
belong the spoilS, is popular with both par
ies. You will see the mugwumps take a |
back seat four..yeaIs from now.n
IF you want to know the real reason of |
Cleveland's defeat said a gentleman who |
had been a patient listener "Tll tell you.
farsimony is never popular, and while |
iruBalltY ana economy are good catch
traps in platform, they are dangerous in
practice.
ECONOMY NO GOOD.
During the administration of Grover
Cleveland this was notably seen by his veto
OF the appropriation bill which suspended
needed work all over the country. A demo
cratic House had waived its views on some
items of the bill that it didn't favor rather
than see all the river and harbor work STOP
This veto stagnated matters, and
came very near losing the
democrats the last House. The penny WISE
pound-foolish policy is what Disguised
many. The republicans had all along pur-
sued a more liberal policy in appropriations
for public works. The people did not OBJ
ject TO this. All they asked was that the APP
preparations should be honestly expended.
This was the Tilden policy, and his last
state paper was a recommendation to the
Cleveland administration, or rather to the
democratic house, through Mr.. Randall,
that there should be liberal appropriations
for coast and harbor dsfenses.
NO DANGER IN SURPLUS.
A surplus can never be dangerous II 1t is
permitted TO flow out as fast as it accumu-
lates, in public improvements, giving en-
ployment to labor, and putting the country
in a condition to repel foreign foe with
out the risk OF having its sea coast cities,
which aggregate SO much OF the great
wealth of the country, either captured or