Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1892-09-22

DenOcfatlC party arc ucHStIy lHuO-
rant of the political history of this
country
When did Mr.. Cleveland become a
leader of tariff reform He was dis
covered as passive presidential pos
sibility because he had no record on
any great national issue, but while he
was yet wrapped in the obscurity of
his own reticence, the Democratic
proclamation had gone forth that tax
es should be levied only for the expen-
ses of governmet, and to tax one in
dustry for the support of another was
Il fragrant violation of the principle of
equal rights.
Die. .hc ever advocate "tariff for
revenue only" while governor of New
York. or during his first candidacy for
the Presidency, or in his letter of ac-
ceptance, or in his inaugural, or IN
his first message to Congress, or at
any time while the unequal contest
was raging aloong that line during his
presidential term ? During all this
time did he not always touch the tar
ifr question tendcrly? Did he not
uniformly and always speak of tariff
reformation to be so cautiously in
augurated as to work no detriment to
our "protected industrieSW Was not
this his policy till December, 1887.
when, ignoring the councils of wise
experienced and delibcrative states
men, who constituted the very anatO-
my of organized Democracy and upon
whose stalwart shoulders lie had been
lifted to his exalted station, he thrust
his i'll timed and fatal message upon
Congress and the country, precipita-
ting an overthrow that well nigh en-
quilted the forms of representative
government and choied, to the point
Of strangulation, the very spirit of
civil liberty? What was there in
that notorious message that character
except the incousidcrate haste and
questionable taste with which he
thrust himself to the front arrogat-
ing to himself the function, which
nationally and lcgitimatcly belonged
to the national convention, Of formu-
lating and promnlgating the policy of
the party7
Every sentence and syllable Of that
message had been iteratcd and reiter
ated Il thousand times, through the
press, in the halls Of Congress and
1pon the hastings; but it was Mr..
Cleyeland's first compilation of the |
argument, his first feverish utterauce
in behalf of Il "tarifffor revenue only"
1t was his taviff debut and his politi-
cal hemock. Let him sleep the slum-
Der of his own Lethcan draught, |
brewed in the cauldron of his own am
bition and swallowed in the cagerncss
of his own self seeking
Democrats may refuse to vote for
Cleveland for the "valid reason" that
'hiS record. as to craftsmanship, is II
veritable blank No capable leader,
or competent commander would at
tempt to diSlOdge powerful and full
ly embattled foe by assailing only Il
single redoubt. No Chief executive,
worthy the name of statesman, should
blindly and unfeelinglv disregard the
most vital interests of the constituency
to whom he was mainly idebted for
his promotion, by hingiDg the fortunes
of his party upon single adventure,
the most difficult to achieve and which,
if successful, would have been little
more than theoretical in effect viz
the reduction of the tariff from AZ to
42t per cent.
This country has survived and even
enjoyed q marvellous growth anl i'm
mense prosperity under the iniquity
of tariff ranging from % to 30 per
cent for a period of ~ years, from 1916,
to 1888, with an average of 80 per cent
for the various tariff laws. Thousands
of intelligent Democrats, unknown to
fame and never dreamed of in the
lists of official favor or preferment,
clearly understood and keenly realiz-
ed, at the time, that it were far safer
and infinitely wiser to bear, little
longer "the ills we had'' than to rash
~ make our "quietus" with the "bare
bodkid" of tariff message. Mr..
Cleveland was elected President by
the vote of five Northern States and
fifteen Southern States. He received
219 electoral votes, 66 from the North,
153 from the South. Would not com
mon judgement, common justice and
common gratitude have prompted any
great and good man to have carefully
and maturely considered the effect
that any contemplated administrative
measure might impose upon the So
cial, political and material interests
and most sacred constitutional rights
of people who had contributed three
fourths of the electoral vote that car
ried him triumphantly to the head of
the National Government 7 The con-
sideration which, for thirty years, has
dwarfed and overshadowed all others
in the minds and hearts of the South
ern people, is the preservation of
their ancient heritage, the lawful
maintenance of white supremacy and
the privilege, under the Constitution.
of administering their own affairs,
free from unwarranted restraint, or
interference of partisan force i'm the
exercise of Federal power. All this,
Mr.. Cleveland frigidly and ruthlessly
disregarded in his vain premature
challenge to the greedy minions and
helmcted highwaymen of the protec-
tion dynasty.
His short-sighted folly was the seed
bed of the Mckinley bill and made
the Force bill so near a possibility
that we could hear the tramp of its
marshals and see the CLEAN of its bay,
.onets. Another stronghold of supreme
Importance to the Southa and the Dem
ocratic party, lost by tile weakness of
Mr.. Cleveland in his own state, was