New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-11
THE DEMOCRATIC RESPONSIBILITY

! THE DEMOCRATIC RESPONSIBILITY.
The friends of President Cleveland complain
| that his efforts in respect 10 silver were not
| appreciated i'm the recent election. The fact is
that he has received all the credit he is entitled
to- and great deal more. There has been
disposition all the time to give the President
all possible credit, because but for his power
the prospect Of silver coinage and imitation
would have been much greater. He has not
done all that he could. but he has done much
good and so much more than the Democratic
Congress that people are inclined 10 give him
more credit than he deserves
| II was an object lesson that President
| Cleveland meant 10 give the country. and it
turned OUT to be- one which the people will moi
soon forget. That was the statement months
ago, before the great body OF failures began
Then he declared that he would not call Con
grcss together until September, because he
wanted the people TO learn something by IN
object lesson. Reading between the lines. men
perceived that his real difficulty WAS. not that
the Repeal bill could not be passed, but that it
could not be passed by Democratic votes The
naked fact is that the President risked or
brought Il tremendous disaster upon the coun
Try. WIFI losses 10 llliUI vi
and creditors and wage-earners, in the hope
that he might succeed in educating the Demo
cratic party sufficiently 10 pass the Repeal bill
10y a majority Of Democratic votes. He waited
for that purpose from March until August. His
own statement shows that be- feared great dis
:istcr was likely 10 result from this delay.
Threeqiarters of the bank failures which have
occurred came in June, July and August and
much the greater share Of the commercial fail
ures of the year thus far The closing Of the
manufacturing works throughout the country
occurred in great part during the same months.
The reduction of the wages of the working peo
pie was also 10 Il great extent effected within
the same months. The President, according TO
the reports of his most devoted associates, as
serts that all these disasters were caused by
the continuance of silver purchases. 1t is not
the fact that was only and not the
most important cause OF the disasters But if
il were the one cause. and the only one he is
responsible, because lie did not choose to call
Congress together in March, and delayed until
August on the theory that business disasters
might educate Congress and the Democratic
party in particular to vote for the repeal.
The fact is that the distrust of the Demo
cratic policy has been general involving fear
OF silver coinage, II fear Of State bank issues
and fear OF Free Trade. This general diStrrlst
has made the mischief under which the coiln-
try has suffered. and the only way in which
the President could by any possibility have
lcsscncd that distrlst was by calling Congress
together in March, and compelling the Demo
cratic members to show their hands. He thought
it best To refuse. Everybody knows that his
reason was because he believed the ma 0rity
of tie Democratic party would vote against
him and the policy he deemed wise Instead he
chose 10 give the country IN object lesson
as he called ii, with view of convincing the
majority Of Democrats that they could not af
ford to vote according to the pledges given
TO their constituents. He really wanted. when
his own statement is fairly interpreted.
10 wait till the business disasters We're
sufficiently. important 10 force Il ma
iority Of Democratic Representatives and
Senators To sustain his policy and TO give
him IA chance TO appear the savior of the
country by reason of his control Of majority
Of Democratic votes, irrespective of Repub-
leans He waited for months Then the time
came when the disasters were so grave that he
conld wait no longer. and in the end hc was
compelled To rely upon Republican votes 10
avert defeat of the measure he deemed ncccs-