The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-12-05
A CRITIC CRITICIZED.

II is usual LOT the tribune IN Its
editorial columns to descant on the
literary style of Grover Cleveland
whenever he sends message to Con-
gress. This time his address is criti-
sized as follows:
1t will be read generally by the
masses of people west of the Alleghe-
MES, with what would be termed dis
appointment except that had the in
strument been any different, it would
then have been disappointment. The
same turgid and stilted style of phrase
ology which has distinguished all his
State papers is present in this
The paper which makes that criti-
cism is more frequently given to tur-
gid and stilted utterances and obscure,
complicated and ungrammatical SEN
fences than any other important daily
in the west. Here are a few samples
from the same editorial page of the
same issue in which appears that criti-
cism of cleveland.
He is prone to absorb nothing from
his surroundings"
Prone to absorb nothing is splen-
did literary style, is it not? Here is
another specimen:
He expresses a desire to cooperate
with any plan which promises financial
relief for the country, but we have not
much faith in his execution"
The President does not talk about
cooperating with a plan," his style
is not so ''turgid' as that. He express
ses his desire to cooperate with Con-
gress in perfecting any other measure
than that which he proposes for thor
ough and practical financial relief
That is altogether different. AS to the
Tribune's faith in the Presidents "exe-
cution' there is this to say: While
the enmity and malevolence~ of that pa
per might suggest the execution" of
Grover Cleveland, the execution of the
writer of such execrable English in a
criticism of the Presidents style, would
be vastly more appropriate.
Here is another quotation from the
same editorial columns: Quoting from
speech by Charles a. Dana, Of the
New York Sun, the Tribune editor
makes this lucid comment:
We believe the old man meant that
There is only one amendment that
ought TO be made, and that is unless
the leader of that people happened to
be d man against whom Mr.. Dana had
a prejudice, and in that case he would
see no good in the cause, and would
want to see a people enslaved that
would lean upon such leader.
And the writer of that hodge podge
complains of Cleveland's style as ''tur-
gid" But we will clip one more of his
own peculiar sentences:
But without discussing that at all,
things being equal, the brain that is
the best developed is the brain that
is above the most patriotic heart, and
our belief is that a man who goes
every day to the depths, fighting with
mans forces against natures forces.
wrestling the treasure from the depths,
standing off the gnomes, the darkness,
the flood, and from the depths wrest-
ing triumph after triumph. the effect
at last is to enlighten a mans intel
lect, TO keep his brain alert and his
heart warm.
The writer guilty of that gross viola
ton of the rules of syntax and of
common sense, has been uttering daily
bits of falsehood and nonsense about
Democratic opposition to high
schools" If such a piece of compost
ton as the last we have quoted were
to pass muster in any common distric,
school. to say nothing of high school,
it ought to lead to the principals Off
c;al execution.
Reference to these choice bits of
Tribune literary style would not have
been made but for the attempted criti-
cism of the Presidents phraseology. It
suggests two trite sayings, both apple
able to the Tribunes position: with