Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-08-24
NOBODY ASKING FOR THE PEN.

NOBODY ASKING FOR THE PEN.
1t is by no means an unusual thing to
seek the possession of the pens with
which the signatures of great men and
great rulers have made operative meas
ures of grave Importance in the advance
ment of civilization. They are consid-
cred objects OF more than ordinary inter-
est, If not of veneratiOn, carefully pre-
served in velvet or satin cases and treas
ured in the show cases of historical mu-
seums. The pen with which King John
signed the great charter of English liber-
ty is preserved in the British museum
and the one by which Abraham Lincoln
struck the shackles from the limbs of
four million of slaves is in the Smithson-
ian Institute at Washington.
1t was considered worthy of especial
mention that Delegate Caine, of Utah,
prepared apen and pen holder with which
President Cleveland was expected to
sign the bill for the admission of that
territory into the Union, and as charaG-
terisGic of the President that, having for
gotten to use them and having used an
ordinary, everyday stub pen to approve
that document, he could not and would
not sacrifice the truth for the sake of
sentiment and, in emulation of the first
president, refused to tell lie. Hence,
he presented Delegate Caine with the
stub pen, and this will undoubtedly find
its proper place in the archieves of Utah.
Although the action of President
Cleveland with reference to the tariff bill,
recently adopted despite his earnest and
emphatic protest, is not known to the
public and it is, of course, possible he
may never sign nor veto it, but permit it
to become the law of the land by mac
ton, yet it is somewhat remarkable no
one thus far has endeavored to mortgage
the pen by which he shall seud it back to
Congress with the protest of his right
eous wrath at the perfidy and dishonor
its passage entailed upon his party, or
with which he shall shower the bless
ings of partial reform upon this Nation.
Up to almost the day when more than
nine-tentbs of the representatives of
Democracy surrendered to the unholy
demands of an unholy combination, the
editorial columns of many Democratic
and all Mugwump newspapers were
crowded with denunciations of the meas
ure. Since then, they have generally
discovered it is not nearly as bad as they
thought it was, albeit it has not been
changed by the dotting of an ''i'' or the
crossing of a st" In few days or
weeks they will declare it is on the whole
the fullfillment of every Democratic
promise and the full fruition of every
Mugwump hope. This is, of course,
based upon the assumption of the presi-
dental approval. If, perchance, he We
toes it, they will, l,hark back to their afOre-
time utterances and declare the Presi
dent could not have signed the bill with
out the sacrifice of his political manhood
and the abandonment of his repeated
consecrations. Be sure, whatever he
does, every Mugwump in the land will
crack his voice in approving cheers.
Possibly, it is the doubt regarding his
action that has delayed applications for
the instrument by which his will shall be
made known to the people. Congress
man BOurke Cochran, for instance, could
hardly be expected to care for a pen
which sanctioned the most disgraceful
chapter in American history" nor would
Senator Villas be eager to obtain posses
sion of pen with which the cause of
tariff reform was postponed for twenty
years. But such considerations cannot
be expected to affect the Mugwump mind
and it is astonishing no appllcation-or
at least no public pplicatiOn-has been
made for the pen which is to throw the
consecrated halo of presidential approval
above and around and about the viola
tion of Democratic principle and Demo
cratic good faith, or to signalize the presi-
dental hatred of party perfdy and party
dishonor.
And 1t is even more astonishing that
the Boston Herald and the New York
Evening Post have not competed for the
custody of this pen. What is done with
and by it by the hands of Mr.. Cleveland
is not of present consequence. 1t can be
properly labeled when the fate of the
bill is determined-Mes