The Red Cloud chief., 1895-12-06
The Prcsident's Message.

The curiosity Of the country will be
gratitied this morning by the printing
OF many millions OF copies OF the presi
dents message in the daily newspapers
OF the land. Those that expected much
will be disappointed. Mr. Cleveland
does not consider the time ripe to take
the people into his confidence. The
great part Of the document this year is
a labored attempt to make us believe
that the inglorious financial career Of
Mr.. Cleveland's administration was not
the fault OF the democratic %monkeying
with the tariff, but the fault OF congress
in the seventies, which, instead Of wiping
ont the greenback currency Of the u
try and returning perhaps to the old
wildcat system Of paper money, author.
lied the continued reissue of treasury
notes or legal tender, and provided a
gold reserve Of a hundred million OF
dollars to guarantee the redemption OF
such OF them as should be presented at
the treasury counter, in gold.
1t is perhaps a sublime spectacle, but
it is not business, and doubtless Grover
knows as we'll as any OF US that there
would not have been the constant with.
drawals Of gold from the reserve had not
the . paralyzing seadow Of democratic
revenue legislation Immediately covered
the land.
The fact that under republican rule
with republican credit and republican
revenues, the government was never in
any embarrassment, but easily replen.
ished the reserve from it's in
gold without thinking Of issuing bonds,
is a complete refutation Of his painfully
built argument.
He recommends the issue Of $500, OOO,.
900 more bonds for the redemption Of
the greenback currency, under the pre-
tense that il the treasury notes were
only cancelled and gotten out Of the
way they would stop withdrawing
gold" from the reserve.
However, no one expected that Mr..
Cleveland was the man to acknowledge
out and out the utter failure of his ad.
ministration in the matter OF the ma.
tional revenues and currency.
The first part Of the message is taken
up with our foreign relations. Here
Mr.. Cleveland expsnds a good many
words in saying nothing. He is abso-
lutely non-committal as to his policy.
He discusses the Waller case, but is
careful, IL he knows anything about the
merits OF 1t, to conceal that knowledge.
In the Venezuela case he tells us
about that note he sent to Salisbury, but
declares that it will not be answered.
In his account OF his dealings with
Hawaii he takes a very different stand
from that he assumes in the dealings
with France In the Waller case. He
would not allow that an American citi. |
zen could be deprived Of life, property
and liberty by q court.martisl in Hawaii
for bearing arms against the government,
but he isn't at all certain that IN the
Waller case, In which France was mere
ly invading q country in which an
American citizen was q resident, that it |
wasn't perfectly proper to court martial
him and sentence him to twenty years
penal servitude.
The message speaks Of the insurrsc.
ton In Cuba without saying anything.
The message says nothing about tho
burning question Of the deficit In the
national treasury. 1t makes, conse-
quently, no recommendations on that
score. 1t thus lodges the ell Absorbing
question OF the hour. II winds up with
an elaborate but altogether useless ar
gument against free coinage.
In short the document 10 remarkable
for what II does not cay, aud 10 In strik-
ing contrast to the corresponding mes
sage sent In to congress eight years ago
by the same president.