Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-05-06
THE ORACLE OF HONESTY"


party in Florida has all gone to the Popu-
lists.
THE ORACLE OF HONESTY"
Grover Cleveland made an address in
New York last Saturday night which,
though Immediately addressed to select
and happy coterie who had joined with Mr..
Cleveland in a twelve dollar wine supper
as the occasion for his speech, was evident
~ prepared and delivered as public proc
Iamation of the late public functionary's
opinions, and, as such, was to fal' with pom
derous effect on the public opinion of the
country. To that end its full publication
was procured in all the New York dailies OF
the next morning.
We doubt its having the intended effect,
but quite the reverse. Brief and contempt
uous comments on it have already come
from the representative men of both parties
in all parts of the country. Levity and
ribaldry have been excited in mild way
among those not reYerent of ex pub func-
profundity.
In fact, the American people. who are
nova days quite numerous and quite con-
troversial, are not very prone to take their
opinions ready made from any oracle, and
are rather suspicious than otherwise OF
either intellectual or moral viands thrown
to them from $12 -a-dish board of banquet
ers
Facts and logic are necessary to the
moulding of American public opinion
They always were wanted in such work,
and now more so than in all the long period
of their proud independence as people.
Grover Cleveland, in the oraoular utter
ances with which he presumes to move
them, makes no pretensiOn to offer single
fact for their consideration, and does not
appeal to their reason at all. The assump-
ton he makes of facts and conclusions that
his depths of wisdom have absorbed, are
just what the people have already subjected
to the full light of open agitation and have
pretty unanimously rejected. the seven
million voters who supported Mr.. Nc
Kinley in the recent election did SO on
platform that fave red trying to get Bimetal-
ism by international action. The six and
half million who voted for Mr.. Bryan did SO
on platform declaration for restoring the
double standard by American action inde-
pendent and immediate. And now Mr..
Cleveland, without any attempt at reason
ing nor apology Tor not It asoning, says the
thirteen and half million who voted Tor
pie of his country are all wrong, and thai
the one eighth of a million voters who sup
ported the gold single-standard ticket and
whose votes represented less than one
eightieth of the people were alone right.
This is qu te an assumption for even an
ex-President to indulge in. The man who
makes it is evidently no longer republi-
can; he is royalist, for he assumes the
right of the few to rule the many-the few
1--WE must infer who can indulge in SIP
suppers and who can spend a thousand
u.
Grover Cleveland's present attack on the
party which had three times trusted his
Democratic pretenses and twice given him
the highest honor people can bestoW-and
given the opportunities which he has SO
entirely turned to his personal enrichment
and the profit of his personal followers
-
reckless creed" dangerous and unwhole-
some" The Democratic party of 1896,
whose standard he thus stIgmatizes, was a
greater party by seventeen hundred thou
sand than the Democratic party of 1884
which exalted him to the Presidency. II
was more than million votes mightier than
the party of 1892 which gave him his
triumphant reelection. Did that election
and reelection SO loftily exalt him that he
can remain forever after III nights of SELF
conceit SO elevated as to spurn and spit upon
the platforms wherein ali his greatness was
built? Here they are:
Platform OF 1s8l-Cleyeland and Hendricksl
We believe in HONEST MONEY the
GOLD AND SILVER cUlnage OF the Cunstitu
ton, and circulating medium convertible
into such money without loss
Platform of Cleveland and Stevenson
I'VE hold to the use OF both GOLD AND
SILVER as THE standard money OF the
country, and to the coinage of both gold
and silver without discriminating against
either metal or charge for mintage"
Those are the plain words of the party
declarations which Grover Cleveland adopt
ed as his own when on those pre- enses he
attained whatever right he has today to
speak either for his party or his country.
Not an ahonest Democracy now Not
an .honest money party Then what
was the party when Grover Cleveland was
its cadidate and carried its banners with
words like those inscribed upon it in the
inseparable gold and silver cOlors of the
Constitution?
Will this oracle of honesty" assall the
A.g beneath which he himself was twice
made President and given whatever great
ness he has
Rufifhe will not first repudiase the Demo
cratic platforms of 1884, 'SS and .92, how
can he honestly denonnce that Of So
And if he is not thus honest az man,
how can he set himself up as the one
.ssound.v infallible expOunder q either
honest money or honest politics?
Ciint0n Democrat,