The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-07-30
ArR. cLNaVELANp,s LArEsr-

, MR. cLhlNIsLAiSlo' 8 LATEST
! New 1opA. srrv,...n..
II The publication Of Mt. CrsVeHnd's
Y somewhat effusve leuter to a MIR. John
! Temple Graves, Of ca. org,a, calls fresh
| attention to that gentlemHns 5 queer habit
| of writing TO all sorts of people on all
sorts of subjects without che smallest
visible propagation or the least vestige
of propIte1y. Mr.. Cleveland evidently
harbors the conviction that the Ame:i-
can people stand IN need OF periodical
communications, unnoun1 ment5 Aad pre-
ceps from himself, and IN the NNtilca-
tlon Of this deep yeaunlng he has adopted
the cumsy eNpedlent Of pretending to
write private lstteus to more or less OBJ
scure pers5ns. The country is therefore,
surprised from time to time by the pub
| llcNtlon OF a Cleveland letter to some one
| OF whom it had never heard before,
though the discerning few at once per-
| celve That tine letter Itself is really adj
dressed to the people at large and is IN
tended for purposes purely personal tc
Uhe writer. The n. n.cIpient Is 10 Nj. CleVe-
land what Mrs. Harris was to the es,im-
| able Mrs. Ganlp-a msce dummy upon
which to drape the confec,ions Of his
Thought and fancy.
! In Ithe present instance Mr.. Cleveland
has selected las the medium Of rather
| sensational ouuburst OF Genlaiment q small
| PROVINCIAL Journalist Of Georgia, named
| John T,mple GihVes. 1t must be said
| OF Graves that he has not courted OBJ
scurl.y. On the contrary he has been
| hytheHcally anxious TO escape It, Severll
| years ago he ANNOUNCED himself as th.
successor Of Henry w. Grady" and soon
anteuward persuaded The New England
society TO Invite him TO speak az one
Of their big dlnn, rs. But Graves didn't
| succeed Grady or anybody else when the
time came AS matter OF fac. he failed
He burned out to be nothing more than
a m8ud.ln sophomore, fun of wind, con-
ceit aEi empty Phrases, and The New
England society dropped him eagerly.
Next he uEiortook controversy with
Colonel Henry WNttCrsOn, Of I,ha Louis
vile C0urer-JournNl, He conducted the
controversy" ali by himself for awhile,
undl, one day, WaAerson became aware
thaA som tliing was annoying him.
looked Tor 1t, found It, and cracked It
on HIS thwmbna.l. Otherwise. NIr, John
Temple Graves mad not been heard Of
or considered outside Of The relpOte
bucoilc n.ishNorhood in which he cul-
tlvltes his m0desty until Saturday morn
ihg laslt, Nhel he appeared, first us the
reservoir W Mr., CleveAnd's tenderest
emotions aud next as tha conduit through
which chose emotions were delivered TO
The cOuGrry. The leuter was written ia
DeceuyA.r, 1890 1t appears, and was no
63ulb Designed for sentimental effect
up1u the people In 1892, but, when
Graves inHocently asked FOR permission 10
publish h, lhs writer left N TO his
"de,lcaoy and discretion" and so nearly |
Ave years have been wasted In inroduc-
ing ip.b Graves system an Idea that
would have occurred Ito an ordinary per4 |
son In as MANY minutes. The letter has
seen THE hight 0t last, however. and |
though NJ is very improbable that Mr. |
GevaNnd will wrd(e 10 Gnavcs again, |
the Successor of Henry w. Grady is |
enjoying 1t Immensely NOW. He is con-
splcuous for a brief momeni at least, |
as The recipient OF "a great n.nns most
sacred coniid.nres, and as ne poses as the
proprietor Of n ''de,icacy and discretion" /
that held out four years and a hlif under
truly fenrful temptations.
We do mot pretend % understand why
Mr., CieveIil1 should write such a lt-
ter to Graves, or, for that matter. 70
any one else IL seems proper to say,
however, ill0t Il brisles wien the most
ldmlral2 ari proper Sentiment-senh-
ment which plain, everyday people
keep to themselves, however, aud /
to suggest tClat, although the publication
NJ thls time comes too laha 10 be pf SER
vice Ia iSs2, II does not come too late to
give certain tender grace 70 an am
b.eton that migA9 otherwise seem
yoraclous In 1896.