Evening journal., 1910-08-17
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
Cleveland As An Admirer Of
John G. Carlisle

BY "HoIIand."

A few weeks after the first cleo
ton Of William Mckinley as Presi-
dent of the United States met the
late Daniel S. Lamont. then secretary
of war in President Cleveland's Cab
met. and, during Clevelands first
term. his private secretary.
81 find my self wondering these
days. said Colonel Lamont, when
the subject Of the Presidential cleo
ton cropped up. how the election
would have resulted had politics In
the Democratic party turned out as
the governor'-Colonel Lamont al
ways spoke of Cleveland as the gov
ernor-"earnestly hoped they would
Maybe you have heard the story
to the effect that when a Buffalo
friend Asked the governor a few
weeks before his first inauguration as
President how he stood upon the
tariff he replied: - don't know a
damn thing about it, 7 believe the
story is a true one; at any rate,
know that when the governor went 20
Washington in March of 1885 he knew
very little about the tariff. He had
vague sort of idea that the Demo-
cratic party was committed to the
policy OF a traiff for revenue only. but
he confessed to me that he really did
not know thoroughly what tariff
for revenue only meant.
within few months after he went
into the White House. the governor
became we'll acquainted with John
c. Carlisle, then speaker of the House
OF Representatives. He became great
ly impressed with Mr.. Carlisle. ana
especially with Carlisles capacity Tor
industry. The governor himself was
hard worker, and if there was any
thing that really appealed to him K
was the capacity for hard work IA
others-patient. plodding work. SO,
when the governor discovered that
Carlisle was a man Of that sort II
was not hard for him to conceive
liking for the speaker.
'Then there came the day, in the
second year of the governors term,
when he first read Cbrlisles great
speech upon the tariff. delivered in
the House of Representatives in 1882
the speech that made him speaker
the following year, and In which he
bitterly assailed the policy of pro-
lection and declared for a tariff for
revenue only. I remember wildly
how immensely the reading Of that
speech impressed the governor. He
read and re-read t. he talked with
me about It, and I am sure that It
was the first impulse that the gov
ernor received which led him to take
the strong position he did in Decem-
Der Of 1887, when he sent to Con-
sress an annual message exclusively
! devoted to the tariff question. You
may recall that he then described
the existing tariff laws as vicious,
ineuuitable and illogical aud declar-
ed unequivocally for a tarih for rev.
enue only.
"The next year the governor was
defeated for reelection, largely be-
cause OF his tariff views. Still, that
did not decrease his liking for Jonn
/ G Carlisle. In fact during the touf
wears that he was out OF office the
governors admiration for Carlisle :
ability grew greatly as he watOaed
carlisle's career In the Senate. and.
With one exception, Carlisle was the
6rst man picked out by the governor
for n place In the Cabinet following
his, election to the Presidency in 1897.
"During the two years that follow
ed his second Inauguration the gov
ernor came 10 look upon his secre-
tary OF the treasury as being head
and shoulders above any other living
Democrat. as far as intellectual ana
personal qualifications We're concern
cd. and so quite naturally It nap
pened that not long after his term
was half over the governor deter
mined to do all that he properly
could TO impress upon the leaders
OF the party the high aValiaplilly
OF Carlisle as the Democracys next
candidate for the Presidency. He had
set about to do this--was. In fact'
doing this in a perfectly honorable
way-when that cyclonic disturbance
which brought Bryan TO the front ap-
peared on the political horizon. haa
that disturbance not occurred be-
lieve Carlisle would have been nomi-
mated. and I have always felt that u
was the governors opinion that mao
normal political conditions prevailed
during the latter half OF his ad'
ministration Carlisle would surely
have been nominated by the Demo-
cracy and, in all probability, elected
President. And John G. Carlisle was
the only man that the governor ever
seriously considered as his successor
IN the White House.
Copyright, 1910, by r. J. EWaros'
All rights reservedD
To-morrOw Mr.. Edwards VIII lel
Of "a Visit TO Congress with Sir
Henry Irving"