Birmingham state herald., 1897-03-04

l and the welfare of the country. He had | not then sat four years at the feet of the | money kings of Wall street, nor absorbed l to saturation the doctrines of those l Efama1iels of finance and the stock ex- | change and bucketshsps. He had not be- l tTayed, in 1892, the effect Of their assoeia- | tion and teachings. and once more, I against the advice, and over the protests l of the great, tried and faithful leaders l of the democratic party-who knew and | proclaimed him to be no democrat-its l rank and file again nominated and I elected him. And most Wofully have they repented their folly.
 I Four years ago today Grover Cleve- | land was a second time inaugurated pres 1 ident of the United States under the most suspicious conditions that ever favored ] the recipient of that unequalled honor; amid the joyous shouts and glad accaims of hosts of exultant democrats, who be- lieved and had reason to believe that their party had won an enduring victory and that it's principles would speedily be- come part of the laws of the country. And nations God speed'' attended the president to the White House. No sign had been given, no word spoken to warn the people that every party principle ev- cry platform pledge. every campaign promise, would be ignored repudlated and trampled upon by the man whom they had so implicitly trusted and so highly honored. Democrats had sup ported and voted for the ancient doc trines of their party, and had had no mo- tice that the agent they had chosen would betray their trust, violate his com mission, turn his hand against them, and attempt to force upon their party as it's future creed the distinctive and most cdious dogmas and policies of their po- litical enemies. They had been most treacherously deceived The first import ant official act of his second administra- tion was to call congress in extraordi- nary session, not to execute the will of the people as expressed at the ballot-box, not to redeem denocrat tic pledges, but to scorn democratic doctrines. violate demo- era tic promises and enable him to spit upon ard tear to tatters the platform the people had endorsed by electing him to carry 1t ifsto execution. And for what? That the masses might the more easily be sold into bondage to the bond-grab- bers and money-gamblers of Wall and Lombard streets, They had demanded and voted for the use of both gold and silver as the standard money of the coun- try. and for the coinage of both metals
 without discrimination against either
 metal or charge for mintage-the binet-
 allism of the Constitution. He turned
 his back upon them, and arrogantly de-
 manded unconditional legislatio intend
 ed to rob silver of all it's nights as a
 money metal and established gold as the
 only money metal and practically the
 sole standard of money of the country;
 owned by the interruptions, if not cor
 rupt use of the patronage at his com
 mand brow-beat and coerced trucking
 and subServlent congressman to do his
 bidding and mlsrepresent their constitu-
 ents. The people who were feeding him
 asked for bread and hes gave them a
 stone.
 The people had demanded and voted
 for revenue tariff, adeuuate to the ne- cessities of the government honestly and economically administered. Tn response, he demanded and tried to force upon the country measure of hotch-potch high tariff and free trade that would have yielded an appalling deficit in the pres ence of an already bankrupt treasury, and when a less irrational and deficit breeding code was prepared, insolently charged its authors with party perfidy and dishonor." The people pleaded for
 lish,, and he would have given them
 serpent
 Under the shallow and hypocritical pre- tense of maintaining the honor and cred 1t of the nation" he permitted, if he did
 not invite, time and again, bond-gamb-
 lerrs' raids upon the treasury. which rob
 bed it of it's gold reserve, to restore
 which he bartered the nations obligations
 at pawnshop discount to the shylocks of
 New York and London, without a pro-
 test, and even complacently; and then
 crayeniy, if not corruptly, paid the same
 three-ball gentry millionaire of the peo-
 ple's money to protect the federal treas
 ury against their further forays for
 brief few months With characteristic pig-headed obstinacy, and questionable
 warrant of law he increased the bond ed debt of the government nearly three
 hundred millions, under the false pre-
 tense of maintaining "the parity" be-
 tween gold and silver: but for the. real purpose of increasing the disparity of the
 two metals, and making an easy way to
 furnish his great and good friends"
 Belmont, Morgan and Rothchilds, with gilt edge, non-taxable investments, when
 one manly, patriotic refusal of their l-
 legal demands, and one firm warning against repetition, would have protected
 the treasury, and served the people bet
 ter, and saved them the increased bur
 den of these hundreds of millions of
 bonds and the interest upon them, to be
 paid for in the labor and sweat of the
 toiling masses. and spared the commer-
 cial and productive industries of the
 country the longest and most disastrous
 business prostration and paralysis it has
 ever suffered.
 Parading as the high priest of civil ser-
 vice reform, he abused the principle and
 nsused the system unblushingly and
 against the party that placed him in power, that it is universally conceded
 that no administration has eyer so shamelessly controlled federal appoint ments for the personal ends and political purposes of the president as that of Gro-
 yer Cleveland.
 President of the greatest republic, chief
 magistrate of the most patriotic and
 liberty-loving people on earth. in the
 early days of his last administration he attempted to reinState a Saddle-colored
 queen upon a throne from which she had
 been depcSed by her revolting subjects
 and re-esta bish rotton monarchy upon
 the ruins of an infant republic. Nor is
 this the worst. For two years, within
 100 miles of the shores of thd United
 States a. brave and patriotic people