Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-06-05

power caught all the blame, and day
after day a leading Republican news
paper shouted in gleefui headlines.
Another bank gone Democratici"
As the first means of restoring con-
.hdence, Cleveland called O special ses-
sion of Congress for the purpose of
having ii repeal the Silver act of the
Harrison administration. The next
day he submitted himself to the sur
'geon's knife for the removal of a
.cancerous ulcer which had appeared in
the roof of his mouth. His grave
physical condition was concealed from
the panicky mine Of the public. and
the operation was performed in the
closest secrecy aboard yacht as 1t
steamed slowly up the East River, off
York. Not until many years had
passed vas 1t known that when Con-
.gress assembled he faced it with a rub
Der jaw.
Under the pressure of the President,
the Silver act was repealed, but only
after a bitter struggle which left the
Democratic party hopelessly split. The
passage of a tariff bill divided the
party still more. 1t was such a lobby
made. lSg-rolling measure that Cleve-
land refused to sign 1t, but let II be-
come law without his signature. After
that sorry exhibition of themselves,
the Democrats went down in a WE'LL
merited defeat in the Congressional
elections. of 1894.
To complete the general demorali-
cation, the railroads were tied up in
the Middle West by a big strike UNI
der tho leadership of Eugene V. Debs.
With the aid of injunctions and troops,
Cleveland kept the roads open, but
his unprecedented use of the Federal
power served to deepen the popular
feeling that he was more concerned
- H. 49, - - F@G
this interests of the working people.
whose wages were continually going
down.
In the depth of our domestic
troubles the President sent his famous
Venezuelan message to Congress. In 1t
he announced that the British Govern
ment had rejected all our appeals for
the arbitration of a land dispute which
was pressing in South America, and he
boldly proposed that W. ourselves
should decide the question and then
proceed to enforce our decision.
Stocks tumbled headlong in London
and New York, and there was much
wild talk on both sides of the Atlantic.
But the President confidently reassur-
ed his troubled private secretary,
"Thurber, this does not mean war; 1t
means arbitration" And that was the
outcome of all the hubub. Cleveland's
outburst of plain speaking had the
effect of awakening the English peo-
pie. as never before. to the value of
friendship. and it opened a
era in the relations of the two
Governments.
Cleveland's hardest, longest battle
In his second administration was for
the gold standard. Almost alone he
upheld through four years. aban-
doned by most of the Democrats and
unaided by the gold Republicans In
Congress, who were afraid of hurt
the party" with silver people.
Throughout those years of doubt
and panic, the business world morbid
ly watched the fall of the gold reserve.
The treasury was overlooking with
silver all the while, and If the Gov
eminent should be reduced to the
necessity of using 1t to redeem the
paper money and bonds and to pay its
bills, as 1t had a lawful right to do,
the currency and all credits would at
crash down on to a silver basis.
The Nations money being then in
the absolute control of private inter-
ests, Morgan, Belmont and the Roth
finally were called in to be the
of the reserve. The huge
profit they wrung out of the Govern
ment in It's desperation shocked the
bringing censure and even
suspicion upon the President, who
rather overmuch in the dis
Interested patriotism of those kings of
However that may be, for four
Cleveland's strong. r~esolute arms
held the country from sliding down
a silver basis. But for his lone,
stubborn fight, the gold standard must
nave been lost before the campaign of
1896, when he gave the Republicans
issue on which they elected Nc
But he was too stout a parti-
AN to enjoy such a left-handed in
and his estrangement from
he Democrats remained a heavy dis
appointment. |,
Although he left the White House
/ man without q party. men OF all
PARTIES were compelled to respect him, |
lot perhaps as a great but as a fear
ess President, as one of the strongest
one of the most masterful
that we have had In the
Presidency. No one will question the
of his remark. while he was In a
struggle with the last enemy
Of all; st have tried so hard to do