The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-05
CLEVELAND--AN ESTIMATE.

William Allen White has written a sketch of Grover Cleveland for McClurc's Magazine for February. Possibly ii Sen- ator fiatt reads the kansans estimate of the exAPresdent his anger against the young man may be renewed, as it's very much hereverse of the picture the Wes- tern editor drew of the veteran boss. In that part of the article devoted to Cleve- lands younger days MT. White writes as follows.
 '"rhe best homes in Buffalo were open to him, but he could not be called a so- cial butterfly. Indeed, if he owned a dress suit before he went to Albany as Governor, no one ever saw him wear it. He chose to live mans life. He de- voted his leisure hours to hunting and fishing, and was familiar figure on the Niagara River in his fishing boat. As soon as he could afford it. Cleveland left bed room over his law office. In those days he was tall, burly, hard faced. soft.voieed, but 9ulck-spoken fellow. hard headed, hard-living. hard-working, had the young animals desire to drink and to eat well When he ioafed, he loafed with men, in clubs and in the re- sorts and haunts of the young bachelors of the city. man is said to be no stronger than his stomach, and cleve- lands stomach was as hard as his head ana his face and his hand. Whatever he put in his stomach by night did not trou- bls him by day, but he never lost an op. portunity to make the most of himself.
 Tn the law he was a bladder. He won his cases bv digging. not by inspiration. As Assistant District Attorney he be- came good trial lawyer, but he was never an orator. He was good talker, because he Knew his case. He impressed jury with his passionate sincerity"
 Of Cleveland as Governor his bIcgre- pheI says:
 He worked this way for two years, with nc selise of scentc effect sage bus mess, or curtain time ecasionaliv he did q 9reat thing. but he did it without any relation to anything else. and mere ly because 1t was part of the days work It was without climax, and sometimes passed without applause. But it was all honest and all true and all brave in a perfectly impersonal sort of way. as a rock in a fortress is brave because it cannot realize danger nor avoid it. This spectacle was most remarkable in Amer ican political life. Nothing like it had ever been seen before For two years as Governor of New York Grover Cleve- land stood the one strong. looming figure in the nation"
 Cleveland, as President, appears in this aspect to Mir, White: Cleveland as a statesman will be reme en1bered az the man who stopped things. He checked abuses; he prevented bad men from accomplish lnR their schemes; he warjed of impend- ing calamity; he reduced revenues and saved taxes; he stayed the ebbine tide
 
 stopped foreign aggrandizement on the American contin ent. Always he was the safety. valve. He brought no new doc Urine to the people; he had no theory of government-mereiy. an ideal of duty for tho hour. He founded no institutions; in the political life of his time he con structed nothing. As a statesman he will be remembered as one who every hour of the working day did what he thought was exactly right. and who never at tempted to guide the current of the pub lie business. but always to see that the business was wisely and honestly done. He was modest. industrious public ser want, who lived so closely the motto, A public office Is public trust that peo- pie came to believe that he invented it. which he did not He must remain to posterity disembodied spirit, an ideal of honesty bearing a mans name--the symbol of national inspiration towards public virtue
 Time has mellowed Cleve land. and ex- perience has taught him a kind philoso- phy. There is a tincture of humor on his outer face now, and a strong. placid light of happiness glowing from his heart. He fills in his days with writing. reading and recreation. When duty prompts him to say a thing, he says 1t in few words and in good taste. Youth still tempts him out fishing and hunting, and he .Oves the fields and woods and waters as he loved them when he was a ruddy-cheeked boy. He has lived to see his enemies put to rout and much that he advocated vindi- cated by events and justified by the bal