The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-19
TRIBUTES 7oaHEyVEAND Melnurial -Es.ercises in
 Nsy70fk. PREsDENys TAFT SPEAKS Expresses Admiration for the Great
 Democrat. His Devotion to Real Interests ef the People and His Protection of
 courts Proved Ills
 WoRth.

anniversary or tne iate TEesiuohe Grover Cleveland at memorial exer- cises, in which President Taft, Gov ernor Hughes. Chief Justice Fuller and Mayor Mcclellan made addresses ana several hundreds of New Yorks most prominent citizens attended.
 Mrs. Cleveland. with . party or friends. occupied box in carnegie Hall. where the memorial was heid.
 A second memorial was held tonight at the College of the City of New York, at which speeches were made by Governor Hughes. Senator Root. Mayor Mcclellan. Judge Gray of Delaware: William B. Hornblower and Edward M- Shepard.
 Carnegie Hall was tastefully deco rated with palms. French sm'ina. which was set along the front or tne stage, and pots of roses and daisies while from the tires of boxes were festooned large silk American hagS
 The brilliant audience rendered hearty cheer when President Taft. 0ov- ernor Hughes, Chief Justice Fuller, Mayor Mcclellan, together with former Iudre cray, woodrow Wilson. Andrew Carnegie, pr. Lyman Abbott. and men prominent in the city. took their places on the stage.
 President Taft was introduced py Mayor Mcclellan. who called upon u.e audience to rise and be presented ~ the President of the united n.ae s,nr s President spoke with unusual fervor in his eulogies of MT. Cleveland. ana freouently the course of his address was broken by applause.
 President Taft said:
 "C;royer Cleveland was as complete'y American in his character as Lihcolh' Without A college education. he pre-
 For confined to western New York. Ills vision of the government and or socie.y was not widened by foreign travel. lie was a pure product of the Village ana town life of the middle states, affected by New England ancestry and the atmosphere of s cisrsyman % nni,ci. ty and honesty, courage of his convio- tions, with a sense of public duty that has been exceeded by mo- statesman within my knowledge. It was so strong in him that he rarely wrote anything, whether in the form of private or public communication. that the obligation of all men to observe the public interest was not his chief theme.
 His career was a remarkable one. By his administration of the affairs of his city as It's mayor he showed his power of resistance to. and of over coming the influences that made for corruption and negligence in city gov ernment, both in his own party and in the party of his opponents. Ills reputation in this regard spread over his native state of New York at a time when such an attitude of his seemed exceptional, and his standing before the community became a public asset for the Democratic party that even those who had but little sympathy with his principles were glad to seize upon as a means of getting into power. Accordingly he was nominated for the governorship and was elected by the votes not only of his own party, but of hundreds of thousands of the Repub- lican party
 'The discharge of his duties as governor confirmed and strengthened the reputation that he had acquired as mayor. Before he had ceased his of flee as mayor he had been elected gov ernor Before he had ceased his office as governor he had been elected presi- dent of the United States.
 "The presidential campaign of 1884 degenerated into one of islander. scan- dal and abuse. but MT. Cleveland came through 1t retaining the confidence of the American people in his courage and honesty and by his single purpose to better the public service.
 Democratic And Partisan.
 
 was a partisan. He believed in par ties, as all men must who understand the machinery essential to the success and efficiency of popular government. His impulses were all toward the merit system of appointments in tho public service against the spoils sys- tenn: but he had & practical. common sense view of the problems before him. He dealt with the Instruments which he had. and he not infreQuently was obliged, fin order to accomplish greater objects. to yield to the demands of those who had no ideals and who were impatient of anything but the use of government offices as a purely politi- cal reward. Every time that oppor- tunity offered. however. and there was not some greater object in imm ediate l view. he strengthened and assisted the | movement toward the merit system.
 ''Mr. Cleveland's political career was so short that he had a great advantage over the prominent men of his party | whose records reached back into and | were governed by the bitter Quarrels of the civil war. As political Quan- tity. his history began during the cor | ruptfon and demoralization of the Re- l publican party which were a necessary result of continued power during the | war and the decade succeeding 1t. He represented in a sense a new demo- cracy. about which all the older ele- | ments rallied. both those strongly in l sympathy with his reform views as | we'll as those elements without such | sympathy, who were anxious to secure | party power,
 At the end of his first term he was renomlnated, but was beaten by Gem eral Harrison in 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 90 strong | a hold had he upon the affections and l confidence of the rank and file of his | party. and so sure were they that he | was stronger than the party in an electoral contest that he was nomi- mated In the national convention against the desires of most of the state organization leaders; and in the election which followed he led his par- ty to the greatest victory in its his tory.
 Cleveland Was Positive.
 "In this campaign MT Cleveland stood for an affirmative idea, that of + a reduction of the tariff, 30 as to make sA Naw l