The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-04-05
AN IMPOSSIBLE THEORY.
II Conflicts with the Presidents Character
and Insults Mr.. Voorhees,.
N. Y. Times

IL CONNECTS Win the fresiuents character
and Insults Mr.. voorhees,.
N. Y. Times
An appointment for district attorney of
the United States in Indiana, which Mr..
Cleveland has made, and one of less inn
pOrtsnce in some respects in the diplo-
matte service have given tho impression 10
some of the presidents friends in Indiana
that he is seeking TO 'placate" Senator
Voorhees, of that state. who by right OF
seniority has Just succeeded to the chair
manshlp OF the senate committee on
finance. Those who have received this
impression appear TO reason in this way:
Mr.. Voorhees, is a free-silyer man;
his new position gives him
great influence in shaping financial
legislation; the president is op-
posed TO free silver, and sees that the
repeal Of the act OF 1890 and the mainte-
nance of gold payments by the treasury
are necessary TO q sound currency; he has
thought that, by appointing the brother
in-law of Senator Voorhees, to an honora-
BILE diplomatic poet and an intimate politi-
cal friend to the district attorneys Office,
he may induce the senator to forbear from
using his place at the head of the finance
committee to thwsrt the policy of the adj
ministration. Such line OF reasoning is
not inconsistent with the practice of for
mer and very recent presidents. The
course attributed TO Mr.. Cleveland may
seem very natural and even pTaseworthy
to those who are accustomed 10 the ways
OF politicians. and who adhere TO the no.
ton that appointments in the public serv-
ice, domeatlc or foreign. are legitimate
and practical means OF influencing iegis.
latioB. But these gentlemen leave out of
view two essential facts. One is the char
acter OF the president The other is the
actual effect produced by such use OF pat
ronRge, which has been almost uniformly
tho opposite OF LhG! which has been in
tended.
The part assigned to Mr.. Voorhees, in q
IDEAL" OF the kind that is imagined is at
once discreditable aud impracticable. X is
assumed that 40 would barter his convie-
tions Gs to important legislative meas
ures for political and family advantage
which assn n ptioh is al insult TO him. 1t
ia further assumed that. having made such
a bargain, he could carry 1t out without
utter political ruin, which is absurd.
The moment he took any decisive step in
that direction he would be met by angry
constituents with tho charge that he had
sold himself and them, and ageinst such a
charge his only defence would be TO adhere
to mis- former convictions On the other
hand, the motives attributed TO Mr.. Cleye-
land are equally Incredible. Surely he is
not believed by any considerable number
of Americans to be frivolous, short-sight
ed iUtriguer, who seeks his ends by leans
that would shock and discourage all his
friends, and that would n oreover be hope
lessy inelfcacious Mr.. Cleveland has
convictions botn intellectual and moral
as to sound currency, He has reached
Al. :. n. l.,
has never compromised or concealed
them. He has openly and firmly Upheld
them on eli proper occasions, and hao
more than once staked his fortunes as a
leader OF his party upon their msinten-
ance. This conduct has won Tor him the
deep and unquestioning respect and con-
fidence OF the great body of the Ameri-
can people On that he can rely. as he
has relied in the past implicitly. But as
he could not rely upon it long il he I'M
dertOok to carry out his views with con.
gress by deal in which Offices were
traded for votes ii is not conceivable that
he contemplates such deal.
What Mr.. Cleve and's real conception is
of the means by which his party can be
strengthened and his principles applied IN
national affairs is very aptly expressed by
President Low OF Columbia college in the
current number OF the Forum. Dir. Low
says:
Mr.. Clsveland's appointment Of Judge
Gresham secretary OF state seems to me 20
have chiefly this significance. that he wishes TO
intimate. so far as he can do so, to the large
numbers oil men WHO are out o. the republican
party as to present issues, and yet not in the
democratic party, thar the democratic party Is
their true home. Such mer, while largely in
sympsthy with the democratic party of recent
years in netionsl Ioiisr, have been fearful OF IL
and largely fearful of il still. because in the
North. in tho great centers OF population,
where democracy - strongest, the administers
ton Of local aiIeirs and often of state affairs
has not been conducted By genuinely demo-
cratic methods or upon genuinely democratic
principles.
This is simply 10 cav THAT Mr.. Cleveland
appeals to the intelligence and conscience
OF the country. He appeals just as
frankly against the advocates Of the free
silver fallacv in Indiana as against the
local riggs of spoilsnen in New York or
elsewhere. He is no more lkly to trade
and dicker"-as Mr.. Charles Francis
Adams said in lS72-with one than with
the other. He knows that his strength,
remarkable and inspiriting. as il has been
shown TO be, lies in the mutual confidence
between himself and the honest voters of
the country. They trust him, even when
they do not agree with him, because be
trusts them. To his noble and constant
appeal TO their manhood and honor they
have responded magnificsntly. He is not
likely to throw away a force of this proved
greatness TO take 10 politicians methods
OF barter. The appointments that seem
10 some to give force to such wild infer
ence must be set down to the errors of
judgment that any man is exposed to. or
to inisinformation or bad advice. They
cannot be accepted as evidence Of gratul-