The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-05-09

hope a patIent hearing may be accorded
The writer is a native-born Nirginian
| lover of Democracy and lover OF mar
mony in the party. Among sucn anec-
tions however, there also turks weak
ness for the plain unvarnishea ruth
| which, Il would seem, Is not beins 50
fully and frankly exploited at thls 'inie
as 1t might and ought to be-
The Dispatch's correspondent Is I'M
questionably correct In saying mat
| Grover Cleveland is superior TO VindictiNe
| motives and proscriptye policy In any
4 event. but the whole implication oil ms
article was that the pro-Cleveland ana
anti-CIeveland men in Virginia iase
springs were divided simply and soieiy
| by a question of availability.
| have seen what appeared TO De
similar intimation on the Dispatch edl-
torial page. but it is certain that no man
I'm Virginia who actively participated IN
the differentiation contest can-suceess-
fully make that claim.
That there was radical objection to Mt
| Cleveland by the bulk OF his virginia
opponents is indisputable. II they in SO
many instances fought his proposed
nomination. as they did, on the ground
| that he was mot a Democrat, no
friend OF the South" but was "a gold
| hing" "the poor mans enemy the
tool of Wall street" and "the snubber OF
n distinguished Southern woman was
he not TO them not only unavailable but
undesirable? According to them, Mr..
| Cleveland had winked at the Force bill,
and as to his appoinrments-why John-
| ston. Goode. Maury, Withers. Curry and
others were all forgot. and Matthews in
| the District of Columbia was MS sole
appointed!
The men who had TO and did combat
this sort OF opposition are the so-called
fool friends" from which the correspon-
dent is so anxious to see the President
saved"
The promulgators Of these ante-nomina-
ton views were by results proved to be
not In complete sympathy with their par
ty. North or South. and it is no injustice
| If they should not now be first choice as
| parts of President Cleveland's admins
traticn. What If the party whip brought
some in line before November?
What if so many others, yielding TO
overwhelming numbers and even con-
sderation of eXpediency. fell IN ana
worked Loyalty for Mr.. Clevelands
| election?
A man may we'll be felicitated. but is
rot necessarily to be rewarded for re-
fusing 10 commit political suicide.
The fact stands out that there are
Democrats whose way is not Clevelands
way. which is now the creed of the ma
tional Democracy, and 1t Is this class
which the correspondent seems to think,
| i'm common justice, should alone sur
| round him as advisers and co-workers in
Virginia.
As one Of the alleged fool friends" of
| Mr.. Cleveland who has never Submitted
his claims" to anybody and never sought
office. l have more liberation for my
brethren than the Dispatches corre-
spondent, and their position does not
seem to me 10 be entirely beyond the
pale of common sense. They probably
| reasoned thus:
1. Sympathy with tie administration
seems TO be desideratum in appoint
ments to office; else why turn out Re
| publcans?
| q Some Democrats are in fuller sym
pathy with the administration than others.
| g. The differentiation attitude, not
present professions. actions at critical
| juncture where only principle could I'M
pei. are crucial test of the sincerity
of such sympathy.
Not an utterly bad line of reasoning
surely.
At any rate it is certainly good anti
| Cleveland doctrine that the Offices should
be dealt out as rewards for partisan SER
vices.
The writer. who has been sneered at as
a civil service reformer. cannot subscribe
to that theory, but he cannot understand
the consistency Of the anti-Cleyelandites'
! objection TO an application of his pet
theory to Mr. Cleveland's fool friends
| Does the Dispatches correspondent?
Mr.. Cleveland wouldn't do" last
spring. because forsooth in his first adj
ministration he had kept his enemies in
| office.
| This spring he is a narrow minded and
| vindictiye unless he appoints his oppo-
nents and fault-fnders, and affords them
! the pleasure Of seeing his unmistakable
friends turned down" by his own hand.
see, said the blind man. The simple
truth is this. novel though the idea may
be TO the Dispatches correspondent, that
there are hosts Of sentimental" Demo
Gratis i'm Virginia who are in real and
| close accord with Mr.. Cleveland's indi-
yidual ideas. methods and purposes-from
| tariff reform TO civil service reform-and
! want above all else 10 see them exem-
| plihed. encouraged and carried out IN
| Virginia. and for this reason alone wish
10 see his tested and undoubted sympa-
| thizers put In position Of influence IN
stead Of the men who despise some Of his
most cherished ideas Of reform and who
| In private and out Of the office seeking
| season are open I'm their contempt and
l
in the masked ball at the White House
along with the sometime trimmers and
| other highly original Cleveland men.
And as TO the trlmmers, those discreet
| and prudent persons who in the contest
! Of last spring stood alOof. and, In the
! furtherance OF their personal ambitions,
| waited 10 see which way the eat would
| Jump. did not believe such trines as
principles should be allowed 10 disturb
party harmony, and did not believe that
! Individual members Of a party should
have preferences for men until a conyen-
ton Of these same individuals had made
a choice CiD-well. tho most outspoken.
persistent and rabd Hill man is as
| suredly a BETTER Cleveland Democrat
and safer presidential appointee than such
as these who are generally loudest now
in Wanting their latent CieVelandlsm
| and first In seeking the honors of the
| party.
The Disratch's correspondent must
| pardon the men who believe IN ana
wrought for Grover Cleveland and what
! he represents. even II they kick when
| they see these and other political con-
tortionists swarming in Washington and
| warning the President against his fool
! friends"
II the Presidents followers IN Virginia
who think he is entitled to know facts
| have kept silent. | fancy it is because
| they believe him fully capable of avoiding
| whatever he might consider imposition
! upon him without their assistance.
| And rest assured further, that the real
t Cleveland men everywhere ere incapa-
| BILE Of becoming "disgrunued' with the
4 ID an |r.n.. yna