Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1893-12-14
THE BULL AND THE CHINA SHOP.

THE BULL AND THE CHINA SHOP.
Juvenile legend as well as adult aphor-
ism has made US all the hearers of many
an apt and forceful fable which seems to
take on strength with added years. OF
these, none seems more pat than that
one which pictures the bull and his de-
structive perversity, the china shop and
it's fragility and the owner thereof and
his profanity. Peculiarly do the situa-
tions in the tale find counterpart in the
present reform administration of which
Grover Cleveland is the head.
1t cannot be said that the President
has not had the full measure of oppor-
tunity for the exercise of those qualities
of high craftsmanship which have in the
past been claimed for him by his friends.
1t cannot be said that Republican
minority in congress, or press through
out the country, has unjustly hampered
or criticized him, for the facts do not
support such statement. Since his cleo
tion there has been very generally ex-
pressed hope and belief among Republi-
cans that Cleveland, being elected as
"better than his party" might prove a
bulwark of safety between the nation
and a political party which had never
proved its claim to public confidence.
There has been partial trust in Cleve-
land not shared by the party which
elected him.
That this trust has been misplaced !;
that Mr.. Cleveland has now utterly failed
in the qualities which were expected, is
very seriously to be deplored. That he
has miscalculated, misiudged and misin-
terpreted everything American from her
laborers to her constitution, is a shame
full but true charge. That he stands
to-day in q most grave and difficulty posi-
ton, is admitted as witiip .h, Jr,4tt. oa
all sides and by authorities of every
shade of political belief. The record of
the few months of his administration
are not edifying but they show what
may be accomplished by a president who
has obstinacy in place of principle and
egotism in place Of patriotism.
The national " china shop of which
Mr.. Cleveland has temporary manage
ment is repository of bequests and
legacies of priceless worth to every
American, and history has placed there
bits Of ideal governmental virtu not else
where to be duplicated. There are treas
ures there which call up memories of
stalwart independence against tyrannous
oppression; there are fragments carry
ing the sombre bloodstains of free men
who went to their death because of the
death of the idea of unfettered liberty
there are on every hand promptings of a
government formed by a free people who
would brook no dictation, and there are
sacred biographies there telling of mar
tyred presidents, the secret of whose
strength rested in the very dependence
they placed upon the people. The cata-
logue is voluminous but its every page is
lustrous. In the hands of the American
youth its study calls out in dreams of
the to be the best of human resolutions
and the soundest of citizens resolve.
The old man, too, who scans its multi
tude Of landmarks, recalls some pictured
policy in which he was q factor, and
smiles as he reviews the wondrous pros.
perity which has attended this sister
hood of states.
Until now these heirlooms have been
cared for by men who appreciated thei1
value to the people Of the United States,
and to the world; who moved among
them with reverence and touched them
if at all, with due respect. 1t was re-
served for President Cleveland to make
exception to this rule. If there has been
within him any respect for American
ideas of popular rule, any reverence fol
American usage in international matters,
or any intelligent appreciation of the
deeds of American capital and American
labor, he has most lamentably failed tt
show it. His first brusque order was ir
plain view of impending panic, when or
all sides he was advised to call congress-
into immediate session. The letter Of
this order was: ''The Democratic party
needs an object lesson. 1 shall wait,
but the spirit of that order was: "Tak'
down that dusty old tradition which ha'
been there since Lincoln The creates
good for the greatest nnmber,' and shove
it back out of the way. j. am the peo
ple."
Once more he spoke through his ap
proval of the venomous schemipg pol
icy of ex-Confederate generals in the
pension department. He phrased hi
order: ssThere are frauds in the pension
department which must be corrected il
the interest of the public" but i
l xhso s,C, y pnvz