The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-08-30
GROVER CLEVELAND
 WAS A PARTY MAN
PERSONAL MEMORIES OF HIS PARTISANSHIP AND HIS
 INDEPENDENCE
THE FAMOUS
 VICTORIA DINNER

Cleveland's Own Word for the Asser-
 tion That No Person Could Disap-
 prove His Part in the Conference
 Held on That Occasion.
 (F,rom Richard Watson Gilder's 'Cleve-
 lands Reelection and Second Ad-
 ministration'' in the September Gen.
 tury)
 MT. Cleveland was decidedly a party man. He believed that every man should be active in politics, and he practiced this doctrine from early man. hood. After his retirement we had a talk about this, in which he spoke as having had a letter from a, young man asking his advice concerning party af- filiations. He said he told him of his own experience. how he had early gone into local party work. standing all day at the polls. MT. Cleveland added, 'I never had anything to do with any, thing that was shady or corrupt"
 I sometimes had an amused suspic- ion that although he admired and was grateful to the Independents who came to his support more than once. and although he felt keen moral sympathy with them, and gave some of them his intimate friendship, the fact that they had been Republicans, and might easily become Republicans again, was just a slight regret in his mind. When, off on some inland fishing expedition, he fell in with an ofd-time Democratic farmer, especially one who was faithful to what the President considered "sound Demo cratic doctrine" he warmed up to the old fellow amazingly.
 I do not believe he ever voted for a
 
 might have been willing to do SO in certain campaigns in his later years, possibly-owing to what he looked up on as un-DemOcratic platforms and candidates-if he had not possessed an ever present sense of obligation be- cause of the great honors and respon- abilities his party had bestowed upon him. He doubtless voted at times for Democrats not on the regular ticket" but a feeling of propriety kept him of his party, even if such a candidate, ir his opinion, might be leading the party into strange and unfortunate paths. |.
 Yet inside of his regularity he manifested always a singular inde- pendence and, at times, even detach- ment. I have mentioned with what nonchalance he held the Tammany leaders at a, distance at a. time when he and they might easily have fallen into some sort of friendly relations.
 Incidents connected with the famous dinner at the Victoria, which MT. Whit ney urged him to attend, during the campaign of 1892, were dramatically characteristic. was told at the time by a prominent member of theNation- al Committee that MT. Whitney be- came alarmed at Tammany's lack of interest in the canvass. MT. Cleve- lend was shrewdly clinging to the pro- tective isolation of his summer home at Gray Gables, when MT. Whitney let him know that it was important that he should put something into writ ing by way of a peace proposition, or pledge, which would so far satisfy the Tammany leaders as to get them to work for the candidate.
 To this-so I was informed-Mr. Cleveland's reply was that if the Ma tional committee regarded such a. writ ten pledge from the candidate as a ne- cessity, they, being well acquainted with the circumstances, must be right; and. therefore, he would gladly step aside so that they could obtain candidate who would make the required pledge! 70.
 As the resignation of the nominee was a thing not to be thought of, he was then asked if he would meet some of the Tammany Readers at dinner. MT. Cleveland replied that he would meet any persons that the committee thought it desirable for the candidate to meet. He thereupon came to New York and met at table his leading committeeman. with MT. Croker and members of the Democratic machine. The next day one of the papers an- nounced that at that dinner he had given entirely satisfactory assurances to Tammany Hall.
 AS it happened I was walking down the Kentucky poet. Robert Burnes Wilson, and thought I would drop in and introduce him to the ex-President. Seeing his private secretary. MT. Rob ert Lincoln OBrien, in the hall at the top of the stairway, I told him my errand, and asked what was going on- When he informed me who were in council I said that I was sure I was not wanted; but he insisted upon an- nouncing my name, when out came MT. Cleveland, to spend some time in genial talk with the young Kentuckian. So when, next morning, I read the news of his surrender to Tammany Hall, I could not believe it, not only because it would be out of character, but because he was, when I saw him, far from having the air of a man who was doing something against his will and judgment.
 Mr. Cleveland never told me just what happened; but I was told by one who was there that when a certain politician made the demand of writ ten pledge, MT. Cleveland famed up, and bringing his fist down on the table with a crash, declared that rather than do what was asked of him he would suffer damnationl At this one of MT. Cleveland's leading support CTS turned pale,'' thinking that it was "al up'' After this unmistakable declaration of independence, MT. Cleve- land calmed down somewhat, and sub sequently said that if he ever were President again he would not divide the party into personal friends and personal enemies, but would regard all alike and without partiality. It was this last statement to which the Tam many representatives clung, getting what comfort out of it they could The course of events, in the ensuing it may be added, showed that no embarrassing compact whatever was entered into by the can didate.
 Now let us go forward to the eve of ruoxr.1a-5,z eaoo-d au1o+;o,