Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1892-10-06
PUBLIC OPINION.
MAN.AFRAIp oF.HIs-HoRsEs.

Afraid f-HlS-H0rSeS. HreSumdOiy IL
was not a name that he liked, but per-
petuated the memory of a failing which
had been detected by the young braves
who feared nothing. He could talk as
big as anybody, no doubt, and scalp a
dead man with as much heroism. But
to the day of his death he remained
Man Afraid of His Horses. Had he lived
little later he might have enjoyed the
luxury of sympathizing with Demo
cratic candidate for the Presidency.
Mr. Cleveland is plainly afraid of the
horses he started out to ride SO triumph
antly. He was the boldest of riders
once, and expected to sweep the East
with his No-Silver steed and the West
with his No Protection steed. But they
were going in opposite directions, these
fiery and untamed horses, and he was
not broad enough to ride both. Between
the two he came to the ground with a
fearful crash in 1888, and when he tried
to ride No Protection alone in a small
Rhode Island race this year he came
down again with sickening thud; ard
now he is a second 'Man- Afraid of His
Horses"
The letter of acceptance tells the
story with distinctness. More than half
of it is devoted to an attempt to smooth
over what he has said heretofore and
what his party has said in its platform
on the tariff question. Another part is
an effort 10 escape the effect of the letter
which he wrote to denounce free coinage.
when he had just been elected by free
coinage party. His supporters try hard
to persuade themselves that there is no
weakening on his part. But any child
can see that his language on the tariff
is not that of the daring leader who took
an entire annual message to utter his
detestation of Protection and protected
manufacturers. No longer is there the
stern and uncompromising word of COM
mand with which he dictated to free
silver Democrats in 1884. Esch declara-
tion of purpose he is now careful to
hedge with an impossible condition. He
is in favor of war against a tariff, un-
constitutional, blundering and corrupt
ing, provided it shall not be such a war
as will harm any industry. He is in
favor of Bland Coinage bill, provided
it will keep gold, silver and paper dollars
absolutely equal Mr.. Hosea Biglow's
great statesman who took position facing
south by north was the prototype of Mr..
Cleveland.
His most Jealous supporters detect,
though they are careful not to mention,
this timidiiy of the candidate whom they
have been fond of calling fearless. Even
the New York Times, while carefully
quoting editorially only the phrases it
likes, says his letter is mot at all crisp
or ringing letter." but is "a little stiff
and heavy" The New York Herald
quotes without trying to reconcile its
irreconcilable phrases, and then observes:
at is not an argument, but statement
1t is not ringing document, but calm
summary of views" The New York
Sun says the candidate "has labored
hardest over the subjects which are OBJ
scurest in the light of the present situa-
ton. If there were absolute
unity" among Democrats ''a dozen clear
and ringing sentences would have been
enough, = = but Mr.. Cleveland
found himself bound by the obligation
of his representative post to address
himself to every one of the forty or more
tariff schools within the great and
glorious and united Democracy" This
10 not tho language of fnllowArS who ara
proud of great leader. The fact is
Mr.. Cleveland has ceased to lead-until
he can get elected again.
1t would be unfair to him to suppose
that his beliefs or his prejudices on
either question have changed. In all
probability he is more devoted to his
errors than he was before they brought
him to grief That is the nature of the
man. But he has deliberately chosen to
gloss over and mask his beliefs so far as
he can without giving fatal offence to
his followers. Perhaps, as Democrats
go in these days, he has been wise.
Doubtless he believes that it is possible
to get the party together in struggle
for the spoils, on any principle or no
principle. But it was no longer possible,
he had learned with sorrow, to win over
American voters to the notion that
British policy was the one best calculated
to secure their happiness and prosperity
WHY CURTIS ABANDONED CLEVELAND.
Ohio State Journal
George Ticknor Curtis, the great Dem
ocratic jurist, who some time ago aban-
doned Cleveland, has written another
strong letter to the American Protective
Tariff League setting forth his reasons
for abandoning the Democracy this
campaign. He says, in part:
First, however, let me observe, by way
of preface to what 1 am about to say,
that although have for very many years
acted and voted with the Democratic
party l can not do so in the coming
Presidential election. A vote for the
nominee of the late Democratic National
Convention will mean vote for free
trade. 1t will mean vote for the doc
trines enunciated in the platform which
denounces the Republican tariff as a
fraud on the great majority of the
American people for the benefit of
few, stigmatizes a protective tariff as
unconstitutional and proposes to lay
duties for obtaining revenue only with
out regard to the protection of our own
industries. L can not by my own vote
affirm anything so false as this. A man
must pay some regard to truth in politics
as well as in other things. To affirm
what 1 believe to be untrue political
doctrine is something that never did,
and l shall not do it now. l consider
the anti protection ''plank" in the Dem
ocratic platform to be as false as any
thing that have ever known to be as
serted in a similar instrument. If it had
said that the existing tariff needs re-
vision might have concurred. But it
has gone the whole length of denying
that any protection of our domestic in
dustries is within the constitutional
power of Congress. L repudiate this
doctrine because know better.