Huntsville gazette., 1891-06-13
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CLEVELAND AT BUFFALO.
The Encyclopedic Orator Deals In Glitter
49, Ing Gcneralfties.

speech. his audience being composed of
the Buffalo club and other citizens of
theg citys Inasmuch as Mr. Cleveland
IS aspronounced candidate for the pres
idency in 1899, it may be well to notice
what he said and to surnisc at least
what his programme for next year
will be. 9e3ftf9 sGu Sfk3 I
Being Grover Cleveland his speech
was necessarily a Jeremiah. Never in
the history of the; United States has
there benin public lifesucli aiprophet
OF evil and disaster as he. He began
by sal wing: A"Iibelieve the most threat
,cning feature which to-day stands in
the way of our government, the hap
spiness of our people, is reckless and
wicked extravaganza in our public ex-
renditurcs This most fatal of the
deadly brood born OF governmental per-
version hides beneath its wings the be-
trayal of the peoples trust. and holds
powerless in its fascinating glance the
peoples will and conscience"
A purist might criticise the confusion
of images, embracing tie harpy and
the rattlesnake in single SEN
tence; but passing the defective rhet-
ORIG, let us see with what facts Mr.
Cleveland attempted to deal. and upon
whrt he rests his charge of wicked and
reckless extravaganza.
First, then, he refers to the surplus
which lately remained in the public
treasury, which suplus by the way, he
spoke Of in 1887 as ''presaging financial
convnlsion and widespread disaster"
and arraigns the republican party for
having disposed of that which threat
ened national bankruptcy and all other
sorts of evils. But what does he say
were the methods adopted for reducing
the awful surplus? One was the increase
of the pension roll, another the ex-
penditure of public money for internal
improvements, a third a shipping sub
shy, and a fourth corruption and ex-
travagance in public Office. All the
rest of his speech, after the usual man.
ner of the speaker, is ''sound and fury,
signifying nothing" and meant only
to catch the ears of those who hear
without reasoning.
If, then, Mr.. Cleveland has formu-
lated the democratic platform for 1892.
his party must go to the country on
these propositions-rep of the pen
sion laws, stoppage of all internal i'm
provements, utter neglect of American
shipping interests and general
crusade against malfeasance in office.
This last plank, by the way, is only
the 1884 cry of Examine the books
revamped and put into new form,
and means nothing more, SO it may be
left out of consideration.
AS to the other planks, if Mr.. Cleve-
land advocates repeating the pension
laws he should say so now, in so many
words. If he intends to revert to the
old-time democratic doctrine of the I'M
constitutionality of national appropri-
ations for internal improvements, he
should state his intention plainly and
explicitly; and if he deems it a national
evil that congress has, in a partial and
possibly Intellectual way attempted to
follow the example of other maritime
nations in encouraging our shipping in
dustry, he should point out wherein the
evil consists. If Mr.. Cleveland really
thinks the people of the United States
will consent to take backward steps in
these matters, let him announce him
sell squarely and fairly, and not ap-
proach these important questions by
indirection. saa zsssz SD 90 -
But this Cleveland speech is noticea-
bic not less from what Mr.. Cleveland
did not say than from what he. did say.
He was, says ia democratic contempo-
rary, ''in the house of his friends and
the camp of his followers, and he knew
it, and yet he carefully refrained from
allusion to the two great subjects of
national interest, the tariff question
and the silver question. Even he must
have known that under the Mckinley
bill foreign commerce is rapidly in
creasing while domestic industries are
multiplying with equal rapldity; and
yet his only allusion to the tariff was
to call it ubiquitous which was only
an echo from his free-trade message of
1887. He must also have known that
numerous democratic newspapers have
declared that no anti-silver candidate
can receive the democratic nomination
in 1892, yet he made no allusion either
TO the Warner letter or to his recent in
terview with the state treasurer of Mis-
souri,, in which he announced himself
as open to conviction on the question of
free coinage, in spite of all that he had
said heretofore.
In short, Mr.. Cleveland talked good
deal but said very little, as is his Gus
tom. He evidently intends that the
campaign of 1899, if he controls it. shall
be made upon platform of economy
and reform, but without any pledges Or
definitions of the meaning or kind of
economy and reform. He doubtless
reasons that he won on glittering gen.
eralitics in 1854 and was defeated on a
concrete platform in 1888, so he will try
the generalities gam BIZ. again. He will
find that what he is pld3sed to call the
campaign of education has already
progressed and that he cannot deceive
the American people a second time with
promises couched in indefinite terms
and with accusations that have not a
shred or title of evidence to support
them. San Francisco Chronicle
REPUBLICANS AND THE SOUTH.