The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-03-15
cerely hope he will accept the News
apology in the same spirit in which it is
offered.


CLEVELAND In THE FIELD.
Ex-President Cleveland chose his time
for making the announcement of his
candidacy for the Democratic nomina-
ton for the Presidency with slumbrous
shrewdness. The junior New York
Senator is speeding through the South,
talking pretty continuously-his loved
and lost bag of speeches having been
recovered-and with admirable lung
power from car platforms. Echoes OF
the shouts of s. Hill /! Hill. Our young
hickory Hill :" penetrated the shades of
Lakewood, aud slowly and ponderously
the only American Jack Bunsby reused
himself to listen and remember that a
letter he wrote last week Wednesday
had not yet been mailed.
Cleveland has replied TO Gen. Bragg,
who cloves him for the enemies he has
made and the votes he cannot get =
with fine deliberation. Bragg's letter,
putting before him 1.-the danger to the
public interests which failure of the
Democratic party would involve" and
calling for "an open avowal of your
Willingness 10 submit TO any service to
which your party may assign you" is
dated March 5. Cleveland's answer
quieting forever the unnecessary "fear
that yOu may decline further public
duty, which none but you can etfectually
remove" seems to have been penned on
March o; but the conscientious revision
and wise and thorough interlineation, in
accordance with the latest edition of the
Encyclopedia Britannica-we hope not
the cut, hashed and gashed American
ized' version-to which it was probably
thought judicious to subject it, has de-
layed its appearance until this morning.
But in the eyes of all good Mugwumps
better late than never, more especially
as the pans bestowed upon it have
made the great aspirants declaration "A
mine of wealth, from which devotees
may draw in all future time sentences
rich with inspired commonplace, freight
ed with trite wisdom.
The Clevelandesque way of saying,
''Yes, I'm in it," is as follows: IF in
answering your question, / might only
consider my personal desires and my in
dividual ease and comfort, my response
would be promptly made, and without
the least reservation or difficulty. But
if you are right in supposing that subject
is related to duty owe to the country
and TO my party, a condition exists
which makes such private and personal
considerations entirely irrelevant" In
simpler phrase thfs might read, That
fellow Hill has big start of me, and
running is hard work for man of my
weight, but if You think I've the least
show of catching and thrashing him,
why, here goes, III try"
The rest of the letter is of very little
significance. The statement, Il cannot,
however, refrain from declaring to you
that my experience in the great Office of
President of the United States has so
impressed me with the solemnity of the
trust and its awful responsibilities that
| cannot bring myself TO regard a candi-
dacy for the place as something to be
won by personal strife and active self
assertion" is Of course a vindication Of
the repose of the sleeping Buddha, and
a fairly well aimed slap at Hill.
Cleveland expects the mountain TO come
to him, but whether the mountain will
do so or will wait for the livelier Ma
homet Hill to come TO it, time alone will
show.
Respectable, if sluggish, mediocrity is
in every way preferable to convulsively
wrigglipg trickery, and in the interest
of fair fight it may be hoped Cleve-
lands late decision may not have put
him out of it hopelessly. That he wants
the nomination and has lingering hope
the Democracy will put it on silver
platter and bow and extend it to him
gracefully is evident. The Democracy
has shown up to date more of an in
clination to agree with Dan Sicliles, who
says "the party has no use for restora-
tions," but the ex-president is right to
go in and win, if he can.
ff1e wrestie-for it will be a wrestle
and no platter business-will be good,
even if he gets fall, for his digestion
and his wind.