The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-06-30
MIR. CLEVELAND. PLEASE STOP AND
THINK

Weekly with unfrendllness TO Mr.. Cleve-
| land any more than 10 charge The Times
| with IT. 1t rendered earnest and valua-
| BILE service I'm electing him President and
! II has warmly seconded such of his pub
| lie measures as 1t approved of. 1t mas
not hesitated. however. TO criticise ana
censure him when his public acts were
IN It's opinion. subversive of the pubic
good. Nor have we a word 10 say In
condemnation Of this course We hold 1t
TO be the duty Of a friend 10 point out
errors inasmuch as 10 accord approval 10
another friends course.
In a recent issue Harper's Weekly has
| discussed. with great vigor and with some
bitterness perhaps, what it alleges is a
tendency in Mr.. Cleveland to mix MIN
self and the presidential office up in the
squabbles Of politics. II says:
"He is no longer. as he was eight years
ago. the leader Of his party lie Is not
we repeat, an appreciate factor ID the
political situation. The hopes That tarlH
reformers placed in him nave been rus
trated II may indeed be said Of nm
as Milton makes the hero OF samson
AgOnistes say Of himself
Promise was. that
Should Israel from Philistia's yoke de-
Ask for this great deliverer now, and find
him
Himself in bonds under Philistian YOKE.
The causes Of this remarkable loss OF
power Of influence, of leadership, deserve
to be investigated. Apparently MI. CIeNe-
land is in a better position now 10 en-
force his views upon his party than ne
was during his former term. Then he was
| comparatively unknown. but he owes Dis
reelection 10 the fact that he was known
! and trusted by the masses not only OF
! his own party but Of the people at large.
] lie had n clear popular mandate, as
! the current phrase goes. 10 carry out the
/ reform of the tariff which was baked
| in his first term by no fault OF his or OF
| his party's. When he took the Pfesi-
| dency for the second time his personal
! ambition had been Eratihed 10 the full.
An unbrOken tradition prevented MN
| from looking beyond the SECOND term. IL
| had no temptation 10 DO aught else than
! TO seek a great and honorable fame by
| rendering solid and lasting public ser
vice. The service which his party ana q
! majority Of the voters looked to him to
! render was TO secure the reform of the
! tariff, and this Is the service which he
| has shown himself impotent to fender.
| The explanation OF the change is not
| far TO seek. 1t has been a change in Mr..
| Clevelands own method. We are quite
| willing to believe, and indeed there is no
| reason 10 doubt that his interest in tariu
| reform IS as ardent and as pure as ever
1
! gust the situation which he r. helpless to
! retrieve or TO affect 1t is in large part a
| situation Of his own making. He is help
! less because he has abandoned the meth
| DDS of his first term. and has become a
| politician. He won his high and unique
| place in American politics because il was
! his practice 10 appeal to public opinion,
| and he did not appeal I'm vain.
| doubtless the politicians Of his own
! party hated him. They followed him re
! luctantly in the new issue he had raised
/ hfrn not .l
| him reluctantly. but they nominated him
! They hated him but they feared him.
! They hated him because his ways We're
| not as their ways; not the arts Of con-
| citation and combination, but plain APP
| peals 10 the people. But they feared him
| because theyf had learned that his ap-
pealS TO the people were successful, and
that il was not safe FOR any ID mOCratic
| politician who hoped for preferment
| through popular favor TO endeavor TO de
| feae them. Now they hate him as much
| as ever but they no longer fear him. Ii
| Is perhaps not too much to say that as a
factor in politics they have come to de
| spise him for having become one Of them
| selves. lie has endeavored to promote
| the causes TO which he had devoted him
| self, not by appealing 10 the people and
| threatening the politicians who opposed
| those causes with the wrath Of the peo-
| pie, but by appealing 10 the politicians in
| the oid-fa shiOned politicians way. by pia-
| eating them with Consulates and bringing
| them into line with marshashps That
| he should employ these untried arts skill
| fully was not to he expected and as a
matter Of fact he has not employed them
| skilfully."
The Democratic Convention Of Illinois
has just nominated Franklin McVeaeh
for the place Of United States senator
All that we know Of Mr. McVca.,h is that
ne is a brother Of Wayne McVeagh. Mr..
| Clevelands former law partner: that he
was Republican until recently; that he
is an entirely sound and respectable man
Of large means; that he is almost un-
known 10 the people Of Illinois: that the
| public men of Illinois at Washington were
astounded at his nomination. and that
his nomination was effected through the
| representation from Chicago. which was
| nearly half the convention, voting in
soldo for him. Ten days ago we had
never heard of Mr. McVeagh: but about
that time we read a long and interesting
special dispatch from Chicago to the
Washington Post stating that Mr.. Nc
| Neagh was MIR. CleVeiand's candidate for
senator. and that the administration was
using every influence 1t could command
land its influence at this great port, Chi
cago. is immense TO secure a delegation
10 the convention that would vote for
him. 1t is hardly possible to doubt that
Mr.. McNeagh's nomination is the direct re-
suit of administration work. The Nlichi-
| gan Democratic Convention has lust been
held also. and the complaints are loud
there that Don VI. Dickinson controlled il
through the active interference of the
President and Federal oAiceholders.
Now. Mr.. Cleveland has had no SUD-
porter Of most of his public acts warmer
or more loyal than The Times but The
| Times protests against the principle that
| the Federal administration shall interfere
! in any way whatever in State politics TO
| influence the selection Of those who are
to represent a State. The principle is
not 10 be tolerated. Yet We in Virginia
loyal friends and supporters Of Mr..
| Cleveland that We are, are compelled 10
| admit that there is only too much proba-
| blity in the charge that he IS prone 10
| interfere in State politics. During the con-
| test for nomination for Governor of Vir-
| ginia. year ago, we saw the politicians
OF the whole State corralled and held in
| the grip Of one candidate because the
word was allowed to be passed around
| that that candidate alone possessed the
Presidents ear. Though complaint Of this
was constant and persistent at the time,
Mr. Cleveland did no act nor uttered one
word to show that IT was not true, and
the whole State knows that ii easily con-