The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-05-22

Kentucky, Missouri, and, perhaps, Ten
nesseee would become not merely doubtful
States, but almost certainly Republican
States. The proposal to nominate Mr.
Cleveland, in short and in fine, taking it
seriously,sis a proposal, first to Mexican
zle the Democratic party, and, through
the Democratic party, to submit to the
voters the issue in 1904 of Mexieanzing
the Republic.
Mr.. Watterson is charged with hating
Mr. Cleveland. If he did hate him, he
would want him to become once more
nominee for President. He would not.
in our opinion, receive an elector vote in
the North. or West, and would lose some
of the Southern States.
For years an Infamous story has been
going the rounds of the newspapers
wholly disgraceful to Mr. Cleveland. If
1t were true, there would be no impro
priety in Mr.. Watterson saying so IF It
We're true he would certainly despise Mr..
Cleveland and would not hesitate to say
so, and to say why. 1t is simply shame.
fully untrue Not an unfriendly word ever
passed between Mr.. Cleveland and Mr.
Watterson. No request of Mr. Watterson
was ever sighted by Mr.. Cleveland
though he made but, few and none for
himself-during either of his two admin
lstrations. AS a faithful man-as a con-
scientious writer-he has given certain
impressions of Mr.. Cleveland, which some
opportunities for observation-but never
any personal intimacy-never any ties of
obligation, or friendship-made upon his
mind. That Mr. Cleveland is a strong.
lor, ol,a a.
He is steady, self-confident man. with
large capacity for work, and with an in
ordinate love of power. which he often
exercises with brutal reconsideration. In
the common affairs of administration he
was indefatigable and dutiful But. as
party-leader he lacks all the essential ele-
ments of true leadership: familiar knowl-
edge of great public questions fidelity to
his public utterances; the sense of obi
cation and comradeship among his imme-
date adherents and supporters. Tact and
temper are as Greek to him. Coarse of
fibre, coarse of habit. coarse of moral ma
ture, he knows but two ways of-reaching
his objective point the one to force it.
the other to buy it. With all his profes.
slons OF civic virtue the patronage was
never more distorted to serve political
ends than during his second Administra-
ton. Long before the split of 1896 he
was at war with nearly every Democratic
Senator. All of them could not have been
wrong, he only right
THE keynote of Mr. Cleveland's char
acter is unrelenting, unsparing selfish
ness Hence his refusal to eliminate him
self from the chances of a nomination by
the National Democratic Convention of
1896, though indecently quick, later on, to
decline sacrificial nomination which
might have been thrust upon him by the
succeeding Gold Bug indianapolis Conven-
ton. He wrecked party that might
have been united He failed of every
Democratic promise. He sent German and
Scott to the st. Louis Convention of
1888, with a cut-and-dried Platform ignor-
ing his Free Trade Message, ignoring the
Mills Bill then before Congress, and re-
peating the straddle which, with old Ben
Butler astride our back and Sam Randall
on our flank, we had been forced to make
at Chicago In 1884. He sent another
quasi protectionist Platform to Chicago
IN 1892, which the Convention set aside
Affecting to be Indifferent, even reluct-
ant, to take nomination in this latter
year-just as he is doing now-he had
seven members of his Cabinet, headed by
Bayard and Villas. on the ground, with
the incompatible Whitney to work the
machine for all it was worth. Brought
back by the miracle of the Homestead
Riots, he no sooner found himself again in
the White House than he proceeded to
knock-down and drag-out after his pc
culiar fashion, beginning by notifying his
old office-holders, who had renominated
him, that they were not in it, and ending
by Tariff Bill that ought to have salts
fled the Republicans, being a complete
reputation of the party pledges as en-
bodied by the Platform on which he had
been nominated and understood by the
people who had elected him.
These constitute our case against Mr.
Cleveland. Over and again as he has been
brought to the front by his imprudent adj
mirers we have specified them, our sole
objective point the truth of History. No
body has pretended to meet, or answer,
them. They are ignored by the Cleve-
land worshippers for riff-raff of personal
abuse, misrepresentation and ridicule of
the Editor of the Courier-Journal At
length Mr. Cleveland appears as to every
intent and purpose an avowed candidate
All well and good In that character he
becomes a legitimate object of criticism
What we mainly assail is the pretention
that he is not candidate, that he is a
model of civic virtue who would fain be
let alone and cam only be induced by
the call of his country, whilst a powerful
machine cooked and primed works up an
artificial movement affecting to represent
this CALI