The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-03-19

President Taft Chief Speaker at
at Memorial Exercises in
New York.
OLD QUESTIONS REVIVED
HONOR ACCORDED LATE ExEcu.
TIVE AT EXPENSE OF PARTY.

New York, March IS. President Taft
who arrived here from Washington to-
day, made an address al me Cleveland
memorial exercises at Carnegie hall
this afternoon. Mr.. Taft's address was
not only Il eulogy of ex-President
Cleveland, but il incidentally referred
TO many public questions which were
dealt with during MIR. Clevelands ad-
ministrat ton.
Mr.. Taft spoke as follows:
Fellow citizens: Grover Cleveland
was as completely American i'm his
character as Lincoln. Without 9 col
lege education, he prepared himself for
the bar His life was confined to west
ern New York. His vision of govern
ment and of society was not Wideued
by foreign travel. He was a public
product of the village and town life of
the middle states, affected by New
England ancestry and the atmosphere
Of clergyman's home His chief char
acteristics were simplicity and hon
esty, courage of his convictions. with
sense OF public duty that has been ex-
ceeded by no statesman within my
knowledge. 1t was so strong in him
that he rarely wrote anything, whether
in the form OF private or public COM
munication. that the obligation of all
men to serve the public was not his
chief theme
Had Remarkable Career.
His career was a most remarkable
one. BY his administration of the af-
fairs of his city as its mayor he showed
his power of resistance to, and over
coming the influences that made for
corruption and negligence in city gov
eminent, both in his own party and in
the party of his opponents. His repu-
tation in this regard spread over his
native state of New York at a time
when such an attitude as his seemed
exceptional, and his standing before
the community became an asset of the
Democrats party. sothat even those who
had but little sympathy with his pr,n-
cipleS were glad TO seize upon him as
means of getting into power Accord
ingly he was nominated for the gov
ernorship. and was elected by the votes.
not only of his own party. but of hum
dreds of thousands of the Republican
party. The discharge of his duties as
governor confirmed and strengthened
the reputation that he had acquired as
a mayor. Before he had ceased his Of
fee as mayor he had been elected gov
ernOr. Before he had ceased his office
as governor he had been elected pres
dent of the United States.
Campaign of 1884.
THE presidential campaign of 1854
degenerated into one of SANDER scan
dal and abuse. but Mr. Cleveland came
through it retaining the confidence of
the American people in his courage and
honesty and his single purpose to bet
ter the public service. Mr. Cleveland
was a Democrat. lie vas a partisan.
He believed in parties, as all men NUT
who understand the machinery essen
tial to the success and efficiency of
popular government His impulses were
all toward the merit system of appoint
ments in the public service and against
the Spoils system: but he had a prac-
teal, common sense view of the prob
lens before him. He dealt with the in
struments which he had. and he not in
frequently was obliged. I'm order to &C
compish greater objects 10 yield to
the demands of those who had no
IDEALS. and who we're impatient of any
thing but the use of government offices
as a purely political reward. Every
time that opportunity offered, how
ever. ard there was not some greater
object in immediate view. he strength
ened and assisted the movement to-
ward the merit system. Mr.. Cleveland s
political career was SO short that he
had great advantage over the prOmi
nent men of his party whose records
reached back into. and were governed
by the bitter quarrels of the civil var.
AS a political quantity. his history be-
gan during the corruption and demon
alizatiOn in the Republican party
which were a necessary result of con-
tinued power durine the war and the
decade succeeding it. He represented
in a sense a new Democrac-. about
which all the older elements rallied,
those strongly in sympathy with his re-
form views. as we'll as those elements
without such sympathy who were anx-
Gus to secure party power.
Beaten by Harrison.
AT the end Of his first term he was
renOminated, but was bea ten by GEN
eral Harrison i'm a close vote. BY that
time the politicians of the old school
in the Democratic party had drawn
away from him and had no desire to
continue his leadership. But so strong
a hold had he upon the affections and
confidence of the rank and file of his
party, and so sure were they that he
was stronger than the party in cleo
toral contests. that he was dominates
in the national convention against the
leaders of most of the state organiza-
lions. and in the election which fol-
lowed he led his party to the greatest
victory in its history.
In this campaign Mr.. Cleveland
stood for an affirmative idea, that of a
reduction Of the tariff, so as to make
1t a tariff for revenue. He attacked
the protective theory and system. lie
stood for something aggressive and af-