Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-11-14

commanding abilities or superior at
tainments no one of intelligence seri-
ously commended. More was thought
of Cleveland luck than Cleveland
craftsmanship. In the election of '84
Wall street did not take a.hand. There
was no reason why it should. Its in
terests were entirely safe in the hands
of Mr.. Blaine, and it was felt that one
Daniel Manning,a national banker, had
the new political star in leading
strings. and, therefore. no danger was
to be unprecedented from that source.
So it fell out that on the morning after
the election of 1884 Mr.. Cleveland
found that he was the nations chief
magistrate by something over thou
sand votes.
His first cabinet was composed O.:
men of safe mediocrity. 1t was soon
ascertained that the new President
did not intend to be overshadOwed by
men of superior ability; that he had
an idiosyncracy for the single gold
standard, and for the English system
of life tenure in Office, commonly call
ed Civil Service Reform. But it oc-
Cured to no one that he considered
himself better than his party, or that
he would refuse to obey its commands.
About the middle of his term the
working classes began to grow rest
less. Labor organizations sprang up
as by magic; gigantic strikes were in
augurated. and society became con-
vulsed. To avoid impending political
defeat he began crusade to strike the
shackles from our foreign commerce.
This he did against the advice of the
agents of the trusts that were close to
him. His tariff message awoke his
party like the blast of a bugle, and
never was call to arms responded to
more cheerfully. The message was
Democratic throughout. Mr.. Cleve-
lands peculiar views about Civil Ser
vice Reform were overlooked; his gold
standard prejudices were forgotten;
his national bank Secretary of the
Treasury was lost sight of; and his
nomination was forced by the rank
and file in 1888. He was defeated by
treachery, although he had a majority
of over ninety thousand in the popular
vote.
In 1892 the politicians were again
| run over, and his nomination was de-
manded in tones that they did not dare
to disregard. The election that fol-
lowed was in the nature of an ovation.
Then succeeded a series of incidents
that made Democrats hold their
breath.
The inaugural was ponderous and
platitudinous.
His cabinet was the most remarka-
bic. collection of curios ever assembled
around council board.
His Secretary of State was a raw re-
cruit from the Republican party, but a
man of ability. His Secretary of the
Treasury was man of ability, but in
an unfinished moral condition: his
Creator had neglected to provide him
with a backbone. His Secretary of
Agriculture had as much dignity and
intelligence as laughing-jackass, and
as much vanity as a peacock; and the
other members of his cabinet were not
known beyond the boun daries of their
respective townships.
Rumors had been current before the
election of 1892 that Mr.. Cleveland
had favored calling halt in the fight
for tariff reform, ard had desired that
the tariff plank of 1884 should be in
serted in the platform of 1892; but no
one believed these rumors. The fact
that the platform contained a protec-
ton plank, and free trade plank,
side by side, was thought to be the
WOFk Oh SUCH STATESMEN as SdiNlu ..
Brice and David Bennett Hill.
All Democrats expected an extra
session of Congress not later than May,
to deal with the Tariff question; but
alas! they were doomed to disappoint-
ment.
An extra session was called to deal
with the silver question, which, dur
ing the campaign, had been kept in
the background, and the tariff ques-
ton was not mentioned.
Congress, with a shameful subser-
viency, consented to the transfer of
our silver money from an asset to a
liability.
The outcome of the Tariff Reform
agitation was the Wilson bill, an off,
spring about as creditable to its par
entage as mulatto child to a reput-
able white family.
In 1894 the land again became con-
vulsed by another upheaval of the la
boring classes. The serfs of George NJ.
Pullman. whom he had herded to- /
gether in a city near Chicago, under