Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1903-04-09
WOODBURY., n J, THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1903
Champ CIark's
Letter..
Especial Washington Letter ]

| seems that some people, who
| are given to seeing hobgoblins
and ghosts, are laying too much
stress on ex-President Cleveland's pro.
posed swing around the circle. 1t may
be that Grover is estimating the edu-
eational effects of that much adver.
tised trip too highly himself. This Is
a free country, and we say, "Let him
swing!' A president of the United
States once swung around the circle
hoping thereby to drum up votes
enough to nominate himself to succeed
| himself, but his swing was teetotal
failure. The writer of this is not author.
lied to speak for G. G. and therefore
does not know that he is swinging
around in search of votes, but if he is
and his whole past justi6es the belief
that he is-he may be, and perhaps
will be, as greatly disappointed as
was A. ]. in 1868 So let the old man
travel. 1t will not hurt him unless the
train jumps the track or there is a col
lision- things which may happen to all
travellers and his perambulating about
the country will not hurt anybody else
He may even pick up some valuable
information to enable him to write
some more of his delightful essays on
fishing for the Saturday Evening Post
of Philadelphia, the paper started by
/ oId Tr.ar ,Iy1i ~ n ct, -. - ~
| line of literature, and it causes people
to have kindlier feeling for the portly
old gentleman. He is doing no harm
| fishing until he turns fisher of men
AS long as he sticks to the gospel OF
lZaak Walton he is all O. *. If people
could be convinced that he is not q
candidate for president-and at his age
he should not be, he is sixty -six-he
would receive more generous wei
come than he is likely to receive as il
is, but unless he chokes off such yaup-
ers as Joseph Pulitzer and ex-Govern-
or Charles T. O'Ferrall of Virginia his
| trip is likely to be construed as the de.
vice of a perpetual candidate, and he
will find the cold shoulder oftener than
the glad hand.
A Wise Constitutional Provision.
The constitution of Missouri contains
provision which authorizes the gov
ernor to veto any particular provision
of an appropriation bill or to scale ii
down. What pity that provision
like that was not placed in the federal
constitution! 1t would save the people
millions annually. AS it now is the
| jobbers all seek to have their jobs fas.
tened on to bill of general import
and general necessity. That done, they
feel certain that the president will not
veto the bill of which their job consti.
futes paragraph, section or item. The
Missouri plan takes from the jobber his
golden opportunity provided there is
an honest and courageous man in the
executive chair.
There Is another provision of the Mis-
souri, constitution which is Invaluable
in operation. That is the requirement
that on roll call there must be an af
firmative voteeeast by majority OF
each house in order to pass any bill
If that were also a part of the federal
constitution, it would cure many legis
| lative ills.
The Philadelphia North American
Wanamaker paper and therefore Re
publican-says: AS a stern warning tC
officeholders the assistant attorney gen
erals will be accepted, and "a change
of methods will be effected in the of
fee. This will be severe blow to the
get rich quick concerns and Mr.. Ty'
ner's clever young relative"
Truth to tell, Tyner had been in his
quiet official berth so long that people
thought he was dead. A great many
public men live too long.
Lees Statue.
The ways of making an ass of one
self are so numerous that it may be
superf1uOus to point out one, more Oh
less. The fact that the legislature OF
Virginia has selected the statue OF
General Robert Il. Lee to be one of hel
two representatives forever in Statu'
ary hall, the American Valhalla. has
afforded occasion for several gentle
men to spring into sudden prominence
by making exhibitions of themselves
Among them regret to note my friend
Major John Il. Lacey of Iowa. The
major is unreservedly against the Lee
statue and rushed into print to say so
Now, am too young to have been in
the civil war. So are large majority
of American voters, and men of my
generation and of the younger genera
ton regard the prominent actors in
that bloody drama as great historic
personages. no matter on which side
they fought.
have heard a vast amount of talk-a
good deal of it gush and twaddle-
about "a reunited country" If 1t Is
reunited. neither Major Lacey nor any
body else ought to object to General
Lees statue in Statuary hail. If it IL
not reunited. let us hear no more roi
about it. Certainly il General Fitz-
Hugh Lee and General Joe Wheeler
are fit to wear Uncle Sanl's uniform
and to be on Uncle Sans reti~ed list
General Robert E. Lee. the courtliesi
knight of them all. would not contami
nate the other inmates of Statuary
hall by standing in their midst.
Another thing Major Lacey and 9th
er kickers should remember is this
tley have nothing to say about who
shall stand in Statuary hall-that
nothing to say properly. because each
state has a right to select two of he,
distinguished sons in Statuary hall
and nobody has a right to say the state
nay. 1t is matter exclusively for the
state.
Another thing, the fame of General
Lee grows day by day. The consensus
of public opinion is that he was one OF
the greatest of all English speaking
captains. If the American people had
their way, unbiased by cheap John pol
iticians, they would decree that Gener.
al Grant and General Lee should be
disinterred and reburied side by side
at Arlington. Inter ALA we claim to
be the most generous people on earth,
Let us prove it now. 1t has taken the
English government-not the English
people 250 years to so far forgive that
immortal rebel, Oliver Cromwell, as to
permit his statue to be erected in Lon
don. That Robert e. Lees statue will
some day be erected in Washington
/ there can he no dolI1hf Will xxo iy,,ifa 70