The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-09-05
MHAr THEY THINK OF IT.

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES HeIIItUCEo, o
as that in which the senate bill was char
acterized as an act Of party perfdy and
dishonor. Toledo Blade (rep).
While ii is to be regretted that Mr..
Cleveland finds himself unable to place
his signature to the bill, his scruples Will
be respected. They are the scruples OF a
conscientious man, deeply in earnest TO
keep strict faith with the people, Jealous
of the good name of his party and utter
~ intolerant OF corporate interference
with the enactment of the peoples VIII.
Boston Post (dem-)-
There are a good many sincere demo-
Gratis who will believe that the president
might have signed the bill, notwithstand-
ing mis- aversion to certain features or IL.
But that is a rigid Interpretation y put
on the conditions. If his signature had
been necessary to give the force OF law
to the bill, he would have subscribed II.
But silent acquiescence has the same
effect and in view Of his declaration in
the Wilson letter, that is all that could
have been reasonably expected now
Kansas City Times (dem).
The only Interpretation that can be
placed upon his conduct in this matter
| is that he felt the bill to be an evil thing,
but was too cowardly to veto it. He per
mitted nay, directed, the house 70 &C
| cept it. and then tried to throw the re
sponsibility Of its acceptance on his faith
full followers. It Is the act OF recrednt'
caithless leader, 50 far as his party Is
concerned; a wretched shirldng Of duty,
so far as the country Is concerned. In
his despicable attempt TO doge the re-
sponsibility of this bill Grover Cleveland
has enveloped himself in a cloak OF
cowardice such as no other president OF
the United States ever wore.-N. I. Re
corder (rep).
Without presuming to pass judgment
upon the personal honesty of those zen
off xr-f1rs d ~
dear to the hearts Of the great majority
Of the democrats may have proceeded
from notions, however unpopular, or eX-
pediency, almost all the democrats CT the
country will share with President Cleve-
land his regret that no greater tariff-re-
form victory could be gained. President
Cleveland deemed II 90 be for the wei
fare Of the country to allow the senate
bill to become operative, and with him
the democratic party has no desire nor
occasion to "avoid the responsibility Of
the passage of the law.
Record (dem).
He has not character enough to veto
or to sign bill the perfidy and dis
honor Of which he has publicly declared.
It will stand, this tariff Of 1894, not only
as a monument of democratic corruption
aSd dishonesty, but also Of the small
ness and inflated vanity of Mr.. Cleveland
He might have signed on the ground
that the bill was to him better than no
bill, and most Of his partisans would
have approved. He might have vetoed,
and every man who cares for honesty in
government would have approved. But.
although whipped and Inundated as no
other president ever has been, he lacks
manhood even for real resistance.-N. y.
Tribune Cep).
Put into prose this means that Mr..
Cleveland intends his party shall give
the country an additional dose of free
ID 70 o. a.
ductions of the present tariff law are not
sufficient for him. There have not been
enough conflicts between employer and
employee in the attempt to reorganize
American industry ON the basis Of the
new democratic wage scale. The un-
happy experiences Of the last year are
to be repeated on the same or a moe ex-
tensive scale. Happily the voters nave
a great deal 10 say about these further
forays on protection. Mr.. Cleveland may
propose, but the people have the dispos-
ing in their hands.-ChicagO Tribune
Crep).
His position, therefore, is one thai the
public will readily understand without
the assistance of explanations or
apologies. The senators who were
offended by the Wilson letter may now
say to the president, If they We're gu1iIy
of party perfidy and party dishonor in
passing the bill, that the same terms may
be applied to him, in refusing to veto it.
This opprobrium is aggravated by the
fact that he held II in suspense for ten
days affording the mOnopOlies an ODpor-
tunity to enrich themselves at the ex-
pense Of the people. 1t matters not
which horn of the dilemma the president
takes hold Of, he stands before the peo-
pie as a coward, and so far as this meas
ure is concerned, as a fraud.-Cinclnnai
Commercial Gazette (rep0.
We are confident that the American
people will justify Mr.. Cleveland in the
course which he has pursued. They
would not at all have justified MIN in
VetOing the bill for whatever may be
said Of its defects It is, on the whole
a very considerable measure Of tariff
reform and an immense Improvement
upon the Mckinley act. We thinX In
deed, that it is a good deal better meas
ure than the president takes It 10 be.
He holds far too much in disparage-
ment. Still, he Is unquestionably con-
scientiOus in doing so, and his conscience
has been his guide in Withholding his
signature. AS he regards the bill, it IS
to borrow a Scotch saying-"O'er bad
to bless and Ger good to BAN" and he
has shaped his action accordingly.-BOs-
ton Herald dnd).
BY his action in this matter Mr. Cleve-
land has done all that was possible for
a consistent, fearless high-minded man
to do. A better politician. so con-
sidered, a man Of less scrupulousness, Of
less earnestness, would have recanted
and yielded to party pressure. Mr
Cleveland Is not that kind Of a man.
He has never wavered since he wrote
that letter TO Mr.. Wilson. What he said
in that letter he has, as far as actions
demonstrates stood by. He believed
then. as he believes now, that il is a poor
fulhllment of the prodigal promises of
election, and so believing he could not
give it that cordial assent which would
be implied by a signature. To char
acterize a measure as he has done, and
then TO give il his appreciation, would
be entirely inconsistent with his record
as a man who does nothing save on a
profound belief in principle. 1t was folly
to think that he would do otherwise
Kansas City Star (dem.).
AS q matter Of fact he says some
things in his letter which he could not
have said with propriety either in a mes
sage or an address to the general public,
and they are things which is was neces-
ton at all satisfactory TO his party. To
his method of communicating his views
to the public. and especially to his party,
Hardly so much can be said in regard of
Seeing that he decided to let the bill be-
come a law, why did he not sign it?
He might have supplemented il either
with a statement such as he has made
10 Mr. Catchings, or with a message set
ting forth his objections to certain
features of the BILL and stating why he
sicned Il notwithstanding his objections