The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-06
MIR. aoRMAN AGAIN.

cratic Presidential nomination has stirred up both The Selma Times and The Birm- ingham Age-Herald. They take issue with us, but on different grounds.
 The Times boils down It's criticism in this paragraph:
 After reading all of The Advertisers reasons, it seems to us that the principal grudge 1t has against the Maryiander is. that he would not allow Mir. Cleveland to boss him completely. In other words. if German had submitted to having a ring in his nose, and been ied along fke good little boy by the big fat man The Advertiser Is supporting. then he would be fine piece of Presidential timber in 1904. But the Maryiander kicked against Cleveland, hence he is mo good" now as a candidate.
 Our contemporary minimizes the i'm portance of Mir. Germans attitude towards Mir. Cleveland in 1892. In the first place, Mir. German had tried to be a candidate for the nomination that year. but his candidacy collapsed before the ballot began. After Mir. Cleveland was nominated Mir. German sulked. He made no secret in Washington of his belief that Mir. Cleveland would be overwhelmingly beaten. He refused to have anything to do with the campaign, until about two welxs before the election, when seeing that Mir. Cleveland was going to be. elected, in spite of the Senator's prophecies and his capacity, he went to New York and was about headquarters for awhile and it was claimed afterward that he helped save New York. That was a poor be- ginning for Mr.. German as a great Democratic leader.
 | MT. Cleveland was elected on the tariff issue, and he at once set to work to redeem the pledge of the Party 10 tariff reform. In the lower House a bill was framed and put through In a reasonable time. But when this Democratic meas ure got to the Senate, 1t was held up for nearly year by the Republican minority with Democratic assistance and the tariff bsrons got in their work in the long delay. The bill was so changed that its friends hardly knew 1t. In that work of delay and change Mir. German assisted the Republicans. He was particularly active against any substantial reform in the sugar schedules Instead of using his skill as a manager and his influence to help along the Democratic measure tsent from the Democratic House, inspired by the Democratic President in pursuance of tho Democratic platform, MT. Cor mans sympathy and effort were with the Republicans and against tariff reform. | SFhaNa noRnnrraflo respondents at the time who were bold | enough, perhaps unjustly, to charge that MT. German made enormous profits in sugar operations In the New York mar ket. At any rate the Democratic tariff bill was laid out for nearly year. and the Democratic majority in the Senate was cursed by hundreds of thousands of voters who had supported the Democratic ticket to secure tarif reform. and had been baked in their purpose.
 On this point The Age-Herald comes to the rescue of MT. German. It says:
 Those who were in the best position to | know the whole truth concerning the ac- | tion of the Senate on the Wilson bill. say | that such charges as these against MT German are unjust. unldnd and unfound- ed. MT. German saw ahead a deficiency in the revenue if the Wilson bill should go through as 1t came from the house | and his efforts were devoted to amend ments that would insure ample revenue A deficiency would have set back the cause of tariff reform a generation.
 That deficiency argument Is all bun. combe. Mir. German was not wiser than all the other leaders of the Party from the President down. If they were satis- fled on the revenue question, why should he have been so anxious? That was a weak excuse. He was believed by the bulk of Democrats at the time to have been actua.ed really by one of two motives-either antipathy to MT. Cleve- land and the Issue on which he was elected or else by an unnatural fondness for the tariff robber barons.
 As to setting back tariff reform for A generation, which The Age-Herald claim. ed MT. German wanted to avoid, 1t looks more as if that result had been brought about by his alleged anxiety as to a dc. ficiency. The paralysis of business brought about by that fall-down of the ! oA y tN AONVSh ANS piSN6c III compete prompt bill, undermined the confidence of the country in the capacity of the Democracy to govern. This conviction gained strength in 1896. when Mir. Cor. mans machnations against Mir. Cleve land and his policies bore 'rult in the split on the money question. The Re publicans have succeeded twice since, ant tar1ff reform has already been set back twelve years. So if MT. Germans pu: pose in 1893 was to prevent tariff reform from being set back, he made an ignomin ious failure. He has demonstrated tha he is not O sagacious statesman, thougi he may be a shrewd, trick manager.
 Now The Advertiser Is not saying tha MT. Cleveland must be nominated ncx year; 1t simply believes that he is tn, strongest nominee, that he can get mor, votes than any one else. It may bccom, necessary to nominate some one else MT. Shepard of New York or Judg, Parker. But 1t ought not to be MT. Cor man. He would not arouse the enthu siasm of tarlff reformers, who are neccs sary to success. He would not secure the support of the opponents of the trusts which the tariff has created and whict he has fondled. He would not commanj the confidence of the mass of independent