Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-18
OF WORLD wilde INTEREST
MIR. CLEVELAND,.S BIRTHDAY
BY FREDERIC }. HAsklN

notable one. He was born the son
of q Presbyterian clergyman and had
Scotch, Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch"
blood In his veins, his maternal grand
mother having been a Quakeress. Left
an orphan at an early age, the fifth of
family of nine children. it devolved
upon him to help support the family.
He was never out of a job. A rollick-
ing, lusty youngster. fond of fishing
and hunting he always did his work
well and acted on the principle that he
who does all he is paid to do and more
besides makes tenfold profit before
the final reckoning. After clerking in
O store for some years he and his elder
brother went to New York, where he
got a position as teacher in an insti-
tion for the blind. Returning home,
at the age of Is, he borrowed $25 from
a friend and set out for Cleveland,
Ohio. But he stopped off at Buffalo
TO visit well-to-do uncle This uncle
was preparing a Shorthorn herd book
and got Grover to help him with it,
The uncle then got him into promi-
nent law office and he was admitted to
the bar by the time he reached his
majority.
At "a he was made assistant prose-
cutting attorney, and was later defeated
for the prosecuting attorneyship. After
to his nomination for mayor. He was
elected and his vetoes attracted state
wide attention, He was plain spoken.
If a thing was a steal he said so. He
never minced words nor temporized
with wrong. In 1889 the Democrats
We're looking for gubernatorial timber.
and he was selected. He was the victor
at the polls. Soon the Democratic
party of the nation was looking for
presidential timber, and again he was
selected as the best possible material.
For the first time in twenty years the
Democrats had picked winner. When
he came to Washington Mr. Cleveland'5
inner life was almost unknown. There
were no anecdoteG giving familiar
glimpse of his life. When he went to
take the oath on Inauguration day he
didn't have note or a sign of manu-
script The only president in the his
tory of the nation who has delivered
his inaugural without notes was Mr..
Cleveland. When taking the oath he
put aside the Bible which Chief Justice
Waite had provided, and took it on the
one his mother had given him when he
started out into the world. AS presi-
dent he followed the simple rules of
life that had characterized him at Buf-
falo. He was more economical in the
expenditure of the contingent fund of
lnt w Illc I1Oube diiy OliiCl ptCSi-
dent. One of his first acts after he
reached the White House was to dis
charge the newspaper clerk, whose duty
It was to clip the references to the pres
ident from the daily newspapers. He
had no valet, because he said he did
not need one. The man who had
shaved a number OF his predecessors
himself. He did most of his important
writing with his own hand. All of his
vetoes were written out by him, and he
addressed his wedding invitations and
the boxes of wedding cake which he
sent out.
The wedding of the Clevelands at the
White House was the only presidential
wedding that has taken place there,
and II was an event of national inter-
est. The bride had just completed
European trip after her schooling, but
the new honor enough to turn the
head of almost any woman, never
spoiled her in the least, and she be-
came one of the most gracious occu-
pants the White House has ever had.
The honeymoon was spent at Deer
park, and there was much complaint
about the lack OF dignity with which
many newspapers handled the story
Mr.. Cleveland first official act was
to sign q bill restoring General Grant,
who had met with reverses, to the re-
tired list of the army. His first ad-
ministration was rather favorably re-
ceived, even by the Republicans, Theo-
dore Roosevelt. now president, wrote
a magazine article in which he said
that, all things considered, Mr.. Cleye-
land was doing better than had been
expected. How he vetoed pension bills
and was defeated for reelection Is ia
miliar history. He is the only man
to date who has been called back TO
the presidency after an intervening
term, or that has been thrice nonli-
mated. The history of his second term
is too familiar to be discussed here:
When the cold, calm hand of his
tory comes to write the true estimate
of the public service of Mr.. Cleveland,
II will perhaps be different from that
which is formed at the close range OF
partisan prejudice. He himself has
recognized the widespread hostility TO
him, saying recently in a public ad-
dress that he doubted II any man
were ever more belabored than he had
been for seventeen years, and that 1t
seemed to him that the people appear
to regard public office is sort or
pillory. But with all that, he spends
his time growing old gracefully, feel
ing the consciousness of duty we'll
done, and willing to let time write
the verdict upon his public career. Ana
there are perhaps millions who believe
that he need not fear that verdict.
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