The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-03-16
PUBLIC OPINION.

| SIIl u the CONSTITUTION, OnOcr WHICH
! the term of office Of every president
good, bad or Indifferent, is brought to
ar end instead OF running on indef-
n1tely! In our new president we shall
nave, at n least, a man who IS not
destitute of reason, w-ho is not super
heated with personal vanity, who has
hid experience as a leSiSla-
go, who is largely imbued with the
spirit of Americanism. and who. in 9TH
er years, made it manifest that ne pos
sesses the valor which is native TO this
country. Praise to the trainers Of our
felicitous constitution, watch puts it
within u power to make choice OF a
man of promise for the presidency.
1t will be the privilege and duty of ev-
cry good American citizen TO support
President Mckinley so long as he shall
prove worthy Of his office; so long as
he shall give the country an admins
tration of intelligence, virtue, strength,
honor and valor.-Americus (Ga.)
Times.
1t is = Of the beauties of cur pecu-
liar form Of government and the pop
ular devotion to it, that parties and
presidents may come and go without
disturbing the usua course of events,
or provoking the faintest ripple of dis
order. II can possibly be stated with
out the suspicion Of undue prejudice
attaching to the criticism that the ad-
ministration hic passes out today
has failed to meet the expectations or
win the approval of either the country
at large, or the party which placed it
in power. It's head has made the mis-
take of attempting to do without his
party. He has failed to listen to the
wide spread murmurs of popular dis
content and has narrowly followed the
desires of a class, until he has alien
ated the former regard and confidence
Of the great majority of the democrats
and Of the people, without winning the
approval Of n elements opposed to
democracy. Going into Office on a wave
Of popular strength and with a united
and great party behind him. he will
leave the executive office with his for
mer party torn n defeated, the DUN
try depressed, the government embar-
raised and the people questioning both
the capacity n integrity of the ad-
ministratiOn itself.-Houston (Texas)
Post.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a
crown" Among the figure heads of the
nations none needs profounder SYM
pathy thar he, most potent of them all,
who this week u the realities
without the gaudy external insignia,
though some would give even this, of
authentic soverneignty. If he shares no
dynastic breads that rob thrones of
1lCII / III IbC e
successor of the great Washington and
the mob Lincoln, with malice toward
none and charity for all, faces the
keener perils Of difficulties all but in
superable, and of expectations made
poignant by the patient long-suffering
Of a people unused to adversely. The
pent-up hopes of seventy millions
await the word that shall change
gloom into joy. No fiercer light ever
beat upon a throne than the pitiless
glare Of hungry eyes that long have
yearned, and now agOniZingly implOre.
and nay yet flash ~despairing demands
for some imperious fiat that shall com
pei swift restitution of the right to life
with happiness to the WrOnged. The
land quivers, the rumblings of threat
ening commissions are heard, a great
nation awaits it's m~aster-Servant, and
the times cry aloud for a strong man
who can lead, build UP and protect,
and give back to the Industrious mil
lions cursed with idleness and despoil-
ed Of the fruits of their toll, the right
to breathe, to work, to live.-Phiiadel-
phia American, rep.
The Louisville Courier-Journal, which
supported the cause Of the boiling
democrats last fall, and which to that
extent, at least, was in league with Mr..
Cleveland, publishes a four-cOlumn ed
itorial reviewing h last presidential
administration. The article, we take it,
is from the pen of Henry WattersOn,
and purports to deal with Mr.. Cleve-
land with judicial calmness and i'm
partiality. We quote the concluding
paragraphs. which afford an excellent
sample of the whole article: He came
into office, the first democratic presi-
dent in twenty-five years. AS to the
political issues of the time, he possess
ed no special instructor. Of the leading
IMAM of hic nartU he knpW little or
nothing. No man ever crossed the
threshold of the White house so ILL
prepared as ne; for even General ray
lOr had een the commander OF nation
al armies, and was personally &C
quainted with all the great men of the
nation. Yet, with the bravery of ig-
norance-or, shall we say, with the
self-confidence of the man of destiny?
Mr.. Cleveland thought he Knew it all.
To him, the Senate of the United
States was the Legislature of the state
Of New York; the house of representa-
tives, the city council of Buffalo. He
found out his mistake. But, as his in
telligence increased his amiability di-
minshed. The last four years, he has
cultivated neither, preferring to pur-
sue a method, half boorish and half
au~tocratic, peculiarly his own, driving
alike from his personal intercourse and
public support men having original,
INDEPENDENT OplIlOIlS " Cilcll OWI, VI q
strong sense Of self-respect.-Richmond
Dispatch.
The fact that while mills have been
closed in New England and the eastern
states, the southern factories of ev-
cry description have been open and
running on full time for a year or so
past, is a fact of great significance
which has not been sufficiently noted
or appreciated either south or north.
The cotton mills in the Carolinas and
Georgia and the iron work OF Ala
bama have been kept profitably busy
at nearly all times and small establish
of an industrial character wher-
ever located in the southern states
have reported plenty of orders. The
fact is the best possible evidence that
the south today offers the best field
for the investment of manufacturing
capitol of any section in the United
States. The demand for manufactured
articles is Of curse large, and, other
things being equal, the preference in
purchases will be given to the home
product. 1t is not true that home in
duStries are not p%atronized when quail
nv nd nrioo a 70 on,rol ~ fh0co Of fha