Page images
PDF
EPUB

both parties can patiently await the investigation of Commissioner Sedgwick.Philadelphia Record (Ind.), August 17.

IF Cutting circulated the libel in Mexico before his arrest, he was by his own act subject to the Mexican laws and answerable to the Mexican courts, and the United States Government has not the shadow of right to interfere in his behalf.Philadelphia Times (Ind.), August 16.

NOBODY cares for the individual, but as the representative of the nation under peculiar circumstances, Cutting has a strong claim upon and a warm place in the hearts of the American people. Nobody cares to fight for Cutting.-San Antonio Express (Dem.), August 13.

SECRETARY BAYARD has done what, at the very first beginning, he ought to have done, namely, has sent an experienced jurist to Chihuahua to investigate the Cutting affair.-Translated for Public Opinion from Der Deutsche Correspondent (Dem.), Baltimore, August 16.

IF Envoy Sedgwick's report shall show that Cutting was tried and punished according to local law, and only for unlawful acts on Mexican soil, M. Bayard will have to shift his demand for Cutting's release to some new ground.--St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Dem.), August 14.

[ocr errors]

IF Secretary Bayard will devote his attention to something elso for awhile and let the Governor of Texas look after the Cutting affair, he will make Mexico a State of the Union before the first frost, and Cutting will be Governor.-Nashville American (Dem.), August 16.

THE zeal of Secretary Bayard in this Cutting affair is in such extraordinary contrast with his supineness in respect of outrages committed upon citizens of the United States in Canada that it justifies strong suspicion as to his motives.-Troy Times (Rep.), August 16.

SECRETARY BAYARD'S Mexican war cloud don't materialize any more than thunder showers in a drouth. His dissertations on Cutting attract no more attention from the public than they did from United States Senators.-Concord Monitor (Rep.), August 12.

If the purpose of the State Department is to pick a quarrel with Mexico, a change of attitude by the Mexican government, showing that it would have no quarrel if it could be honorably avoided, would, of course, be unwelcome.- Worcester Spy (Rep.), August 16.

the cool weather, then the people in this part of the world may begin to feel vio-
lent and bloodthirsty, too.-Baltimore News (Dem.), August 15.

WE again reiterate the assertion made by the Statesman some time ago, and which has been so much commented on in the Northern press, that Texas alone can whip Mexico as quickly and effectually as in 1836.-Austin Statesman (Dem.), August 14.

THERE is no issue of law, therefore, between the two governments, and Cutting himself is not worth half of the shortest diplomatic dispatch which was ever written by the astute Mr. Adee.-New York Star (Dem.), August 15.

THE war spirit among the Texans is at fever heat, but it appears to be confined exclusively to officers of the line. All the applications to the Governor so far is for one command or another. The privates have not reported.-Austin Call (Dem), August 13.

SECRETARY BAYARD has based his action on the presumptuous claims of the Mexican state department, which is wedded to its absurd claim of ex-territorial jurisdiction.-St. Louis Republican (Dem.), August 15.

IF a fight is necessary to perpetuate the government of Diaz, which seems to be shaky, the guns will soon be heard on the Rio Grande, and our impulsive boys will have a chance to march to the halls of the Montezumas.-- Vicksburg Post (Dem.), August 11.

LET the Governor of Texas be muzzled until the hot weather is over, and let his army go about its regular business of rounding up cattle, harvesting crops, and shooting quail.-Peck's Sun, August 14.

As certain as the sun rises to morrow morning, the United States will be at war with Mexico within a short time, though the leading diplomats of both countries are now earnestly trying to avert it. Washington Sunday Gazette (Ind.), August 15.

BETWEEN the lines of Mr. Bayard's elaborate defense of his demand upon Mexico evidence is discernible that the Secretary thinks he was rather hasty.-Lafay ette, Ind., Journal (Rep.), August 13.

IF the Washington government is resolved to repeal the law of Chihuahua, it must also, in order to fulfill the requirement of Mr. Ireland and the people of this country, repeal the law of France, of Spain, of Italy, &c.—Chicago Times (Ind.), August 14.

WAR with Mexico would cost the nation from five hundred to one thousand million dollars, and make about one hundred thousand widows and orphans.Cleveland Leader (Rep.), August 14.

Mr. BAYARD evidently proposes to follow up that absurd Mexican law and see if he can not secure its repeal, and no war need be looked for in the operation.Chicago Herald (Ind.), August 14.

Ir takes Congress to declare war, and Congress showed no disposition to do it. The Spanish stronghold is palaver, and that may go on for some time yet.--Springfield Republican (Ind.), August 12.

[merged small][ocr errors]

SECRETARY BAYARD performed a clear duty when he peremptorily denied these Mexican claims of jurisdiction, so far as they may affect American citizens.-Buffalo Courier (Dem.), August 12.

In case of war with Mexico most of the Texas editors should be exempt. It wouldn't be fair to expect any of them to go over the line handicapped by what they have said about the Mexican officials.-Fort Worth Mail (Dem.), August 13.

THE fighting end of our Government certainly does not look upon war with Mexico as imminent, as Secretary Endicott has gone off on a long vacation.—Baltimore Herald (Ind.), August 15.

MEXICO is a puny little republic, which we can lick any day in two shakes of a sheep's tail. It behooves us all the more, on that account, to be sure that she deserves a thrashing before we give it to her.-Louisville Courier-Journal (Dem.), August 11.

THOSE who are expecting an immediate outbreak of hostilities with Mexico will do well to review the history of our previous differences with that country.—Army and Navy Journal, August 14.

THE newspapers of the country are pouring it into Secretary Bayard red hot for the great haste he exhibited in the Mexican matter after he had shown the white feather all along the Nova Scotia coast.-Springfield Globe-Republic (Rep.), August 14.

Ir is not creditable to Secretary Bayard that he has hastily encouraged a spirit of brigandage by an attempt to assert a questionable authority.-Illinois State Journal (Rep.), August 14.

THERE will be no glory in a war with Mexico. Individuals may prove them. selves heroes thereby, but the nation will simply show itself a bully.-Milwaukee Journal (Rep.), August 13.

IF the Mexican version of the case is established as the true one, we hardly see how the release of Cutting can be insisted upon, unless as a matter of comity to allay the excitement and avert trouble. -New York Times (Ind.), August 15.

IF the editors of the Southern newspapers will just keep up the excitement till

THE weak spot in our side of the case is, doubtless, what makes the government especially desirous of exhausting diplomacy before resorting to war.--Savannah News (Dem.), August 11.

WE may patch up our strained relations with Mexico for a time, but it will take steel and lead and gunpowder to bring about a final settlement.-Atlanta Constitu tion (Dem.), August 15.

THE Mexican doctrine can not be applied at the expense of our citizens; but there is no present need of a war to settle this question.-Norfolk Landmark (Dem.), August 15.

THE sensible and manly course of Secretary Bayard in regard to the Cutting case meets with the heartiest approbation of all good citizens.-Albany Argus (Dem.), August 15.

IT is the duty of the Government to ascertain the facts, now, as it was its duty to ascertain them before it committed itself. Washington Critic (Ind.), August 14.

THIS country cannot afford, unjustly, to drive a little nation into war, and to bend like a coward before a great one.-Cincinnati Enquirer (Dem.), Au

gust 12.

ONLY gross mismanagement will bring on a war now, and there is no reason to suspect our State Department of this.-Louisville Commercial (Rep.), August 14. PUBLIC opinion in this country demands Cutting's release, and nothing short of that will satisfy the people.- Washington, Ga., Chronicle (Dem.), August 14. THERE would not be so much war talk in Texas just now if gubernatorial and Senatorial elections were not pending.-Mobile Register (Dem.), August 14. SECRETARY BAYARD has taken a sensible view of the situation, and one that the whole country will sustain.-Salt Lake Herald (Dem.), August 11. MR. SEDGWICK says that he is instructed to assure Cutting of protection by the Government if he is in the right.-Pittsburgh Press (Rep.), August 15.

MEXICO will abandon its unwarranted assumption and release Cutting. There will be no war about it.-Cleveland Plain Dealer (Dem.), August 16. THAT America would be victorious there is no doubt, but at an immense outlay of blood and treasure.—Augusta, Ga., News (Dem.), August 12. WAR on the question at issue would be a shocking criminality richly deserving the wrath of Heaven.-New York Independent, August 19.

SECRETARY BAYARD is preparing to back down in the case of Mr. Cutting. Boston Advertiser (Rep.), August 15.

THE rather absurd crisis is passed and there will be no "wah.”—- Milwaukee Wisconsin (Rep.), August 13,

[ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]

MR. GARLAND's answer.

Washington Post (Dem.), August 17.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL GARLAND's answer to the impertinent and scandalous bill, filed by J. Harris Rogers, is a convincing and clear statement of facts, which must be satisfactory to every fair and unprejudiced person. Under oath the Attorney-General states that he went into the Pan-Electric Company as an ordinary business speculation; he paid his assessments; believed in the legal validity of the patents, and like an honorable man was prepared to live up to his written contract, namely, not to sell his stock until the valid title to these patents was judicially established. He shows how utterly unreliable the Rogerses are, and says he would be only too happy to be relieved of all further connection with the Pan-Electric stock and Prof. Rogers and his son, and prays the court to divorce him from these undesirable associations. It is a fair, straightforward, and honorable reply to his maligners and enemies.

New York Star (Dem.), August 18.

THE most interesting part of the answer is, of course, the Attorney-General's offer to surrender the stock, and to account for all the moneys received by him. Mr. Garland announces that, being satisfied by the misconduct of the Rogerses that the company could not succeed, and evidently being disgusted by the scandal in which he had been involved, he had determined, in February last, to surrender his stock. This statement is in accord with reports which were in circulation at the time, and is known to be true by all who are acquainted with what was then going on at Washington. Mr. Garland had made arrangements for surrendering his stock, but he forebore when the investigation was ordered by the House of Representatives. The report of Attorney Ranney would have made a surrender impotent and useless, but the Rogers suit gave Mr. Garland the opportunity to do what he contemplated doing in February quite as effectively now as then. The offer made by the Attorney-General is not limited by reservations. He joins the complainant in asking for a winding up of the affairs of the corporation. He brings his certificate of stock into court, and places it at the disposal of the tribunal of equity. He asks that whatever his interests may amount to after the payment of the corporation's debt, it may be returned to the Pan-Electric Company, or destroyed, or that it may be disposed of in any other way which the court may direct. His only desire is to be rid of all connection with the corporation or the Rogerses, and to that end is willing to pay into court all moneys which he may have received since his connection with the company. Nothing can be fairer or fuller than this offer, and it ought to set at rest forever the attacks which have been made by the Bell company and certain newspapers possessed of small acumen and tremendous partisanship.

New York Tribune (Rep.), August 18.

THE world is aware that Mr. Garland's assertions in these matters are all essen tially false. It knows that he voluntarily accepted as a gift, while holding a pub. lic office as United States Senator, shares for a million or more in a company which wanted him as one of its incorporators because of his official and political influence as a Senator and as a prominent Democrat. It knows that Garland has repeatedly helped this company by the use of his official position and by his personal influence. It knows that there are hundreds of persons who have been seduced into purchases of rights or stocks by reason of well-advertised opinions of Mr. Garland. It knows that, when he was selected as Attorney-General and knew that he would have charge officially of all suits relating to patents, he took great care not to part with his large interest in the Pan-Electric Company, the claims of which he had publicly endorsed. It knows that he has pocketed considerable sums of money as his share of the profits derived from the sales of State rights or shares in the enterprise, and that he has been counted upon from the beginning to help the company to enrich itself by means of Government suits against rival companies. Being perfectly aware of all this, the world considers that Mr. Garland has disgraced the Government and damaged his party by his participation in this corrupt job. Now he wants to be whitewashed by a court under the direc tion of the Administration of which he is a part. But he may rest assured that no coat of whitewash which any court can administer, so long as Mr. Cleveland is President and Mr. Garland still in his Cabinet, will be of the slightest use to him in changing public opinion regarding him and his performances.

New York World (Dem.), August 18.

THE World advised Mr. Garland many months ago to pursue the course he has now adopted. We can not doubt that he will now recognize, if he has not sooner discovered, the friendliness and wisdom of this counsel. We regret, however, that Mr. Garland has placed his surrender of his Pan-Electric stock on the ground that he has become fully satisfied by the misconduct of Rogers that "the business of the company could not be properly and desirably managed." Would it not have been far better if, in washing his hands of the speculation, he had expressed a sense of the impropriety of his association with it and given that as a reason for his action? As it is, does he not in a measure justify his original entanglement in the job? Is not the Administration still subject to the criticism that one of its most prominent members was associated with this Pan-Electric speculation, and only withdrew from it on the ground of dissatisfaction with the manner in which it was managed, and not with the higher object of correcting a serious mistake and honorably getting rid of a most unfortunate scandal?

Philadelphia Press (Rep.), August 18.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL GARLAND adds nothing to the moral strength of his defense by insisting that he wanted to give his Pan-Electric stock away. Waiving altogether the pertinent question whether he would have been equally anxious to give it away if it had become as valuable as it was expected to, the fact remains that he accepted it without paying cash for it, and with an understanding, either ex

pressed or implied, that he was to make a return for it in another way. That way was, whether he knew it or not, the use of his name and official title to float the stock into market. If he knew this he was as guilty as any other man in the lot, and if he did not know it he is too ignorant to be Attorney-General of the United States. Richmond Whig (Dem.), August 18.

THE answer is regarded on all sides as a complete vindication of Mr. Garland from the absurd charges and vile insinuations that have been showered upon him by his enemies. It remains to be seen whether the journals that have been busiest in this mud-flinging will give him the benefit of his refutation.

Philadelphia Inquirer (Rep.), August 18.

AS TO the telephone scandal, Mr. Garland "denies of it" with all the energy of an Arkansas nature. Nevertheless, he bases his desire to get rid of his stock on the ground that it was not worth anything.

DANIEL MAGONE.

Charleston News and Courier (Dem.), August 12.

Is HE a man after our own heart? This Mr. Daniel Magone, who has been appointed by the President to be collector of the port at New York, and who, by virtue of that appointment, will enter at once upon the power and enjoyment of that office? Just about the time when one of the powerful delegates from South Carolina was exerting himself to the utmost to prevent the nomination of Mr. Cleveland as the Democratic candidate for President, Mr. Magone visited the members of the South Carolina delegation. He then told them that he was a potent factor in influencing public opinion, which had made it possible for us to succeed in the fight of 1876-77, and, above all, that our only hope and chance was in nominating Mr. Cleveland in 1884. We have always been anxious for the time to come when this Mr. Magone, with his amiable relations to the New York Herald, which was a power beyond any ordinary measure and gauge of journalism in those days, should have a public recognition of his unexpected and unsolicited service. If it be the same Daniel Magone, then we have only to say that it will be a pleasure to those of us who knew the value of his services to compliment the Democratic President on making so wise an appointment, and to congratulate his good friend, who was our friend in the day of our adversity, on the simple and just recognition of his value, his worth, and his most effective work.

A DRAMA OF ITSELF.

Detroit Free Press (Dem.), August 11.

THE career of Squire and his appointment as controller of the city of New York reads like a tale from the Arabian Nights, where whimsical caliphs, by some freak or accident, make their grand viziers out of street vagrants. Squire arrived there from Boston with a stage play, of which he was the owner or au thor, and an empty purse. Like many another possessor of this combination, he found that there was as little money in his play as there was in his purse. Being a schoolmate of Mayor Edson, he got from him a letter of introduction to Theodore Moss, of Wallack's Theater, and the father-in-law of Maurice B. Flynn. Flynn is a city contractor, then in partnership with Hubert Thompson, whom Edson refused to reappoint commissioner of public works. Squire had brought his play to Moss, only to have it rejected. Moss introduced him to Flynn, who was trying to put his finger on a man whom Edson would appoint and the aldermen would confirm, and who would continue his contracts with Flynn. Moss thought Squire would be just the man. Edson had introduced him. He was poor and probably desperate. Moss and Flynn went to Edson. He agreed to nominate his old schoolmate, Squire. Tammany agreed to vote for his confirmation if he would deal out Tammany's share of the patronage. Thompson agreed that the County Democracy among the aldermen would vote for him if he would write the letter subsequently addressed to Flynn and recently published, and so New York was treated to a surprise when an unknown man named Squire was put in charge of the millions of dollars that pour through its city treasury. Squire could make a much more interesting play of his own adventures than the imaginary ones he wrote.

ALL IN THE FAMILY.

Philadelphia Times (Ind.), August 18.

THE governorship of Tennessee will be “all in the family," whether the Democrats or Republicans carry the State. The Democratic and Republican nominees for Governor are full brothers, are about equally prominent as leaders in their respective parties, and both possess the character and qualifications necessary to make a first-class executive. The contest between the Taylor brothers for the Tennessee governorship is not entirely unexampled in opposing relatives in our political history. Many years ago, when repudiation rocked Mississippi from center to circumference, the honest debt-paying Democrats nominated the head of the then prominent Brown family for Governor, and his own son accepted the nomination of the repudiationists and defeated his father. Another memorable gubernatorial contest was waged in Tennessee, shortly before the late war, by Aaron V. Brown as the Democratic candidate and Neil S. Brown as the Whig candidate, but they were not closely related, if at all. Both were among the ablest men of the State, and the contest was one of the most desperate known in Tennessee history. Neil defeated Aaron, but only to be defeated in turn by the Democrats two years later.

THE SITUATION IN EUROPE.

L'Eco d'Italia (Ind.), New York, August 17.
[Translated for PUBLIC OPINION.]

although it is difficult to believe that even Lord Salisbury can be ready to make such a desperate throw. Fortunately the new electorate in England renders this attempt to dodge reform by breeding war not only foolish and wicked, but dangerous to the proposer. Before the last redistribution bill Lord Beaconsfield fell on appeal to the country on such a policy, and Lord Salisbury will go down in the House of Commons without even an appeal to the voter if he embarks on the same perilous policy.

RUSSIA has an itching for war, but is afraid. France would willingly form an alliance with the colossus of the North, with an eye to revenge on Germany. At the present moment Russia and France are at the stage of Platonic love, and dare not advance farther, seeing what preparations are going on on the other side. On the other side matters stand thus: Germany and Austria allied, with Italy in tow. To these three powers England is perforce allied, because if the others fear the advance of Russia in Europe, England is still more terrified at the advance of Russia toward English possessions in Asia. Naturally the movements of Turkey should follow in the wake of England, whose life or death depend on the issue of the political combinations of the other powers against Russia. In England the Conservatives are restored to power, and it is known that in foreign politics the Conservatives have shown themselves more active and energetic than the Liberals. Lord Salisbury, the inspirer of the present policy of England, will do everything to draw closely together the ties of friendship with Germany in order to paralyze Russia, but Germany will not accede so easily to English solicitations, but will prefer to remain between the bear and the whale, in an attitude which so well pleases the "Man of Iron." Germany, in fact, interested in the preservation of peace, will never do anything to hasten the outbreak of war; Germany will carefully avoid any step whatever that could force Russia to throw herself into the arms of France; Germany, which has in the East interests immensely less than those of England, will not be willing to contract engagements almost exclusively to the advantage of England, without an equivalent equally advantageous to herself. After the imbroglio in Bulgaria, in which Prince Alexander of Battenberg wanted to sustain England and to defeat Russia; after the closing of the port of Batoum upon the Black Sea, and with the question of Afghanistan always held in abeyance, the rivalry of Russia and England may be said to have reached its maximum of tension. Either in Europe or Asia, sooner or later, it is absolutely necessary that the encounter should come; but, for the present, even the two rivals chiefly interested are doing their utmost to avoid the grand duel. And, in fact, the situation of the hostile powers is strikingly peculiar: One of them being eminently continental, the other eminently maritime. Will the whale be able to land in order to attack the bear? Will the bear plunge into the sea and by swimming encounter the whale? Alone, scarcely not, but with allies the struggle becomes possible. And yet the moderator of European politics, and the regulator of alliances for the moment is Bismarck; and the grand chancellor clings to the armed peace, and until the moment that he shall be able to eliminate all the perils of war, calming English resentment, and tempering Austrian ambition against Russian pretension. Thus is delineated the situation in Europe from European journalism in general, and from that of Italy in particular. It is a situation greatly strained, from which can burst forth a conflict from one hour to another. Nevertheless, in this attitude with every government the determination should prevail to prevent rather than to encourage a war, and at the point we have reached, with the season so far advanced, a general confidence is revived that for this year at least war will be spared us. But the next year! Who will live to see?

in

THE AFGHAN BOUNDARY QUESTION AGAIN.
Philadelphia Press (Rep.), August 18.

New York Times (Ind.), August 18.

THE sudden reproduction of the Afghan question as a "live issue" is more than suspicious. It is not the first time that a prime minister who was anxious to divert attention from other questions has had occasion to view with apprehension and alarm the condition of the Afghan frontier. The Tories who have so often during the past generation spent their terms of power masquerading in the uniforms of their opponents may not improbably borrow their political tactics as well as their political creeds from their opponents. It remains to be seen whether the diversion will prove so successful a second time. No doubt there are the elements of trouble between Russia and Great Britain in Afghanistan, as there have been for at least five years past. But the sudden realization of this fact, upon two occasions, by two prime ministers, at times when some diversion was sorely needed, will not inspire universal confidence in the sincerity of the appeal to England made by the minis. terial organ. The pretext of this revival is no more substantial than that of the former. The recall of a boundary commission before its work is done or its final report made is a step which a government would scarcely take if it had no ul terior interest. England has waited so long that she can surely afford to wait until. the disagreement between the English and Russian governments appears in the usual course of events. The question of the boundary is, in fact, precisely where it was left by Lord Salisbury's former ministry and by Mr. Gladstone's before that. But the former production of the question perfectly answered its Parliamentary purpose. There is no one in the House of Commons who can make such an ap peal as succeeded because it was made by Mr. Gladstone. His speech was one of the most striking of his Parliamentary triumphs. The opposition was prepared to resist his motion for a war credit, and to put to him some very awkward questions about his competency as a war minister as exhibited in the campaign of the Soudan. His appeal was so skillfully made that it disarmed all this opposition, and that the grant he asked for was made almost by acclamation. As Lord Salisbury looks over the list of Conservative members of the House of Commons in search of an orator capable of repeating this feat he must be much discouraged. On the other hand, if the question were really one of war Lord Salisbury's government would have an advantage. There is no doubt that Mr. Gladstone fails to command public confidence as a war minister, and that most Englishmen would feel safer, if there was a chance of actual fighting, under Lord Salisbury. But the question has by no means reached that stage. The London stock market shows that the sensation of the Standard is not taken for more than it is worth. If it be possible to put the Afghan question foremost in the debates, the Government will at least gain time for the consideration of other questions, and time is one of its needs.

LORD SALISBURY's discovery that he could not command the steady support of Lord Hartington and his Whig followers, much less of Mr. Chamberlain and his "Unionist" contingent of the Liberal party, has been followed by a fortnight of indecision. With a large part of the estimates to be passed it was not possible to get along without a session. With a session it was difficult to avoid doing something, and without a secure majority it is not easy to do anything. An appeal to coercion, pure and simple, without Liberal support, is out of the question for Lord Salisbury; a hasty Irish bill is equally impracticable, although Lord Randolph Churchill has plainly proposed something of the sort, and the Belfast riots have made it impossible to postpone action until Parliament meets again next winter. So Lord Salisbury leads the trump Tory card of a "vigorous" foreign policy and stirs up Russia. This the reported withdrawal of the Afghan boundary commission seems to mean, however, "officially" denied. For nearly two years off and on the work of securing a line between Russian possessions and Afghanistan has been Since the last time over Pendjeh, England and Russia have narrowly progress. escaped war. If, in April, 1885, Lord Salisbury had been minister instead of Mr. Gladstone, war would have come. But it was happily avoided, and there is now nothing left for any possible difference between the two nations except such quarrel as can be picked over the few barren leagues which lie, debatable ground, between the Russian advance and the loose lordship exercised by the Khan of Cabul. Now, not in all Asia is there a sharp frontier line between land and land. China comes nearer to drawing one than any other Asiatic power, and its policy has always been to place semi-dependent realms outside its chain of armed imperial posts. Two organized military monarchies, like Turkey and Persia, ran on for some centuries without knowing within forty or fifty miles where their boundary ran, until it was laboriously fixed by a European commission. tract given to wandering tribes, through which an Anglo-Russian commission has been marking a boundary between Russia and her lesser neighbor, offers endless room for senseless dispute, if a "cocky" English prime minister proposes to make a stand for every mudwalled encampment or stretch of pasture which the Khan's irregulars have harried at one time and another. In default of any escape from the pressing domestic problems offered by Irish misrule and the English land question Lord Salisbury appears to be ready to run the risk of war by giving Parliament and the country something else to think of. This is the first and natural infer ence to be drawn from the pause in the work of the boundary commission,

The barren

New York Herald (Ind.), August 18.

THE Afghan frontier commission is an admitted failure. The Russians claim portions of the Khoja Saleh district, on the Oxus; the Afghans urge that all those portions are part and parcel of their possessions in Turkestan; whereupon the English take the high moral ground that they can not consent to a spoliation of the Ameer's dominions. To believe Russophobists is to regard Russia as simply repeating the tactics which she pursued with so much success at Penjdeh. We are told that the coveted territory is a fruitful one, if not of much strategic impor tance, and that possession of it will do much to help the Russians to a monopoly of the right of navigation on the Amu Daria, as well as to a much-needed coaling station within convenient distance of Kilif. But there is something to be said on the other side of the question. Russia is naturally and justly opposed to any mere temporary settlement of the dispute, and she is above all aware that a decision which fails to keep apart the Afghans on the Oxus and the Erzari Turcomans can not in any sense be regarded as final. The aim of Russia is to take account of ethnological as well as geographical faits accomplis, and thus to pave the way for a reign of peace and civilization in a territory which has been cursed with nomad warfare for centuries. Surely this is a higher and even a more practical ambition than that which seeks a mere triumph of diplomacy, regardless of conse quences in the future.

New York Tribune (Rep.), August 18.

It is not surprising, then, that the surveyors have been involved in a hopeless dispute respecting the location of the terminal point. Whether Khoja Saleh was or was not on the Russian military map where it was on the British-Indian maps, unfortunately it was not on the left bank of the Oxus, where its latitude and longi tude could be definitely ascertained. For this reason it will not be more difficult for the diplomatists in London than it was for the engineers in Afghanistan to discover where it ought to be.

Philadelphia Record (Ind.), August 18.

THE interminable Afghan question again rises to plague the British ministry. An appeal to arms is likely to be the only way by which the dispute will ever be satisfactorily settled; but while the foreign office in London is negotiating with St Petersburg, Russia is quietly advancing her forces and her railroads, and, under cover of the mists of diplomacy, is pushing nearer to the gates of India.

[blocks in formation]

PRESIDENTIAL POSSIBILITIES. DISCUSSION of candidates and issues for the next Presidential campaign is increasing in volume and earnestness.

New Yorker Staats-Zeitung (Ind.).

(Translated for PUBLIC OPINION.)

THE thrusting into the national election of the personal element has led as a legitimate sequence to the introduction of like methods, here and there, within the party itself. Long before the real contest can be fought out in the convention for the nomination, the leaders of the party begin among themselves a sort of guerrilla warfare, in which the one seeks to butcher the other from the rear; the ultimate survivor (in case one of the combatants issues from the fray unscathed, or with a few light moral scars only) then expects that the nomination will fall into his lap as the palm of victory. Senator Edmunds is attacked in his own State by the Blaine emissaries, who not only endeavor to assist the anti-Edmunds faction in the legislature in defeating the Senator's renomination, but are seeking also, later on, to destroy his prospects for the Presidential nomination. Edmunds, on his side, has distinctly emphasized in a public speech the declaration that the next Republican candidate for the Presidency must be taken from the West. As a well-aimed thrust these words have pierced the expectant aspirant from Maine, and shown him that the Edmunds of 1888 will not be more pliant than the Edmunds of 1884. Blaine's satellites in the Federal Senate and in the press have not omitted sharply to attack the former most prominent rivals of their lord and master, Logan and Sherman, and wage a warfare against the first of these gentlemen, for which the Payne scandal offers a ready handle, thus scoring a certain number of points in the game. Whilst in former years the candidates for the Presidency vied with each other, in a laudable way, to win the confidence of the people by acts of wise statesmanship, by an able administration of public affairs, and a skillful leadership of their respective parties, now debasing fractional wrangles have usurped the place of this praiseworthy emulation, each Presidential aspirant plastering his opponent with mud in order to bend upon him the gaze of the public, and thus expose his unworthiness. The legitimate result of such policy is an unbridled bitterness of cliques or factions toward each other, which later on must lead to a disruption of the individual parts, and finally the dissolution of the party itself. Here we again have verified the adage, "whom the gods wish to destroy they first strike with blindness." It is worthy of note that these jealous bickerings have so far been confined to the Republican camp; in the Democratic the same factious dissensions and personal feuds have not as yet appeared. This is partially due to the fact that the number of candidates is not so great, and the latter do not so openly press forward into the foreground with their aspirations. A further explanation may be found in the fact that important questions of public policy now pending have called forth divisions in the party. The latter, it is true, augment almost as greatly the difficulties of a candidate in uniting upon himself the support of his party as the envious disaffection of his rivals in the case of the Republicans. But it can not be denied that a far more dignified deportment prevails with the Democratic Presidential aspirants, whether their name be Cleveland or Carlisle, Randall or even Hill.

Baltimore News (Ind.).

IT will not be surprising to us to see the Republican party catch at this issue (prohibition) before any rival-either old or new-can avail of it, and thus prevent not only the drain on its ranks that is now going on, but bring back to it those thousands of earnest and unselfish men who are already battling in the cause of temperance. It will be still less surprising to see this made the cardinal issue of the next Presidential campaign if Mr. Blaine takes the pregnant step which it is reported he contemplates. Nothing would stop the Republican rush in that event, and there are strong indications that either the prohibition movement will be merged into the Republican party or the latter merged into the former before very long. In a State like Ohio, Senator Sherman was re-elected after the most explicit enunciations of his hostility to the liquor interests. In a number of Republican State conventions the party has committed itself to prohibition principles. It will not have far to go to become the national champion of the cause, and it will only need a declaration from so important a chieftain as Mr. Blaine to bring that about immediately. There is more significance, more importance, in the rumor from Bar Harbor than people are disposed at once to concede. To us it points strongly to the possibility of a political revolution which all parties will watch with the gravest concern.

*

*

*

*

*

Our opinion is that the party which nominates a man like George W. Childs will sweep the country. The election of such a man would be conceded from the start, and no organization would make a hopeful fight against him. The mere mention of his name in that connection by the News was taken up in every part of the country and most favorably commented upon, showing the universal esteem and affection in which he is held. He is the only man who would satisfy the Prohibition element or so restrict its votes as to make his own success assured, and he has the warm affection and regard of every class of laboring men to an extent that would induce them to give him their enthusiastic support.

New York Sun (Dem.).

THIS, then, is the conclusion of our inquiry: Mr. Cleveland has entirely fulfilled the expectations that were formed of him by the Republicans and the no-party men, and especially by the Mugwumps; he has also fulfilled the expectations of the Democratic revolters, and has thus justified their revolt. He has done wisely in getting married, and in spite of the Pan-Electric absurdity and jobbery, he has been, on the whole, a well-meaning President. At the same time, he has carried out his own ideas without regard either to the Democratic party or the Democratic platform on which he was nominated, and has made himself independent and a kind of autocrat in the Presidency. Thus, whatever his admirers may say of the general honesty and dignity of his Administration, it has not been designed to satisfy the Democracy, and it has not satisfied

them. Accordingly, they can not be expected, unless great changes should take place within the next year, to renominate Mr. Cleveland in 1888. The idea that they may be compelled to renominate him by the pressure of outside sentiment will not wash. How, for instance, could any pressure of outside sentiment procure for Mr. Cleveland in 1888 that united delegation from the State of New York which Daniel Manning, armed with the unit rule, procured for him in 1884? It is not to be expected. Without such a delegation the chances are poor. As the case now stands, we can discover but little reason to suppose that Mr. Cleveland is likely again to be a Democratic candidate for the Presidency. Yet as an English poet hath it:

We are living, we are moving, In a grand and awful time.

Between August, 1886, and August, 1888, lots of political surprises may be in store for us, and, nevertheless, human nature will remain essentially the same. Rochester Herald (Rep.).

*

*

*

It looks to us as if it would be bad policy for Mr. Blaine to become the cause of Senator Edmunds' defeat. Next to the Plumed Knight himself, there is no man in the Republican party who commands so wide and deep an influence upon the action of that party as the Senator from Vermont does. If, with no special personal provocation, the latter could, in 1884, simply by maintaining silence, divert many votes from the Blaine ticket, one can not doubt that his active hostility, not to speak of the resentment of his friends throughout the country, would inflict vastly greater damage on the Blaine ticket of 1888, if there should be such a ticket. We believe that the great body of Republicans throughout the country desires the re-election of Mr. Edmunds to the Senate, and it would seem to be poor politics for one who aspires to be the leader of that party in the next Presi dential campaign to defeat that desire. A special to the New York Mail and Express from Bar Harbor, Me., represents Mr. Blaine as uneasy over the developments of the prohibition movement in his own State and throughout the country. On the authority of "a close, personal friend" it is alleged that he is preparing a speech in which he proposes to come out flat-footed in favor of a strict and impartial enforcement of the prohibitory law. Should Mr. Blaine conclude to throw the weight of his great political prestige and influence in favor of a strict enforcement of the prohibitory laws in such States as have them, that fact alone would give great momentum to the prohibition movement, and might result in an indorsement of the principle of prohibition by the National Republican Convention; but it is probable that the party will prefer a more conservative course. If this question were not in the way, the prospects of the Republicans for the approaching Congressional elections and at the national election two years from now would be very flattering.

Indianapolis Journal (Rep.).

THE New York World of Thursday contains an editorial article of remarkable significance, and one that the President should read and think about. If it does not cause him to stir himself, nothing will. It treats on the question of two terms in the chair of the Chief Executive, and demonstates that none have been so honored without some very good reason, and accompanies the claim with the names of those who have been distinguished, showing that they were men who had been conspicuous in the history of their country, and were not merely political "accidents" or makeshifts. There is undoubtedly something in it, as a glance at the names of the two-term Presidents will show. They are: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Lincoln, and Grant. All these were tall men in the affairs of their country before they were called to the Presidency, and not one of them was an accident." The evident purpose of the World is to discount whatever chance Mr. Cleveland may have of receiving the nomination of the Democratic party two years hence. Neither the Sun nor the World has any desire to have him foisted on the party the second time, their fear being that he could not be re-elected. This must be the reason, since it can not be denied that both would prefer him to the election of a Republican. It is, then, peculiarly ungrateful that these representative journals should thus array themselves against the second candidacy of Mr. Cleveland. It is a hint to him that he is not great enough to aspire to such an honor, which can but be humiliating to him. It is interesting to note this fact as indicative of the esteem in which he is held by the party organs. These two papers have been very close to him from the moment, not so long ago, when he emerged from the obscurity of the shrievalty of Buffalo, and they thus confess that he is nothing more than a political accident that can not repeat its success.

The Irish World.

AN individual hailing from Philadelphia and at present sojourning in Belfast, in a letter to the Northern Whig a few days ago, undertook to denounce James G. Blaine, and to foretell his defeat should he again accept the nomination for the Presidency. This writer speaks as a Prohibitionist, and his language shows him to be, moreover, a bigot, and a stupid one. He declares, alluding to Mr. Blaine's magnificent home-rule speech at Portland, that the American statesman champions the cause of "Parnell, the Pope, and persecution," but that his anticipated candidacy for the office of President need cause no alarm to "the noble men of Ulster" because of his refusal to be controlled by the leaders of the Prohibition party, who will work strenuously to defeat him. We are told by this would-be prophet that "the influences which defeated Mr. Blaine in 1884 are still at work and more largely developed," that the Prohibition party has greatly increased, and that it will poll in 1888 at least from 500,000 to 800,000 votes, "every one of which will be cast against James G. Blaine." "With the Prentice Boys' of 1688 at Londonderry," adds this compound of fanaticism and fraud, "our watchword is No Surrender,' and we intend to conquer our country's great enemy or perish in the effort." The Prohibition party may, by the actions and language of its declared representative at Belfast, gain the sympathy of the Orangemen of that quarter in its plots against Mr. Blaine, but the advantage accruing from this will be infinitely overbalanced by the indignation and contempt excited in the minds of all self

[blocks in formation]

THE appointment of an experienced and able politician as collector at New York is interpreted in many quarters, Democratic as well as Republican, as an indication that the President is "looking after the Presidential delegates in 1888." Nothing in Mr. Cleveland's past career warrants any such conclusion. He has made the most rapid and remarkable advance ever known in our politics, by the honest and fearless discharge of his public duties, without any dependence upon the help of politicians, and commonly in disregard of their wishes; and it is not likely that he will change his course at this late day, when it is not too much to say that he is as little dependent upon the politicians as he ever was. Mr. Clevelaud is himself enough of a politician to know that his only chance for a renomi nation lies in making himself so strong with the people that the politicians of his party will not dare to throw him overboard. He can only do this, so far as the offices are concerned, by making them, as one of his supporters puts it, "models of honest and successful management." His selection of Mr. Magone for collector at New York was probably due to the fact that he has found that only a smart and experienced politician, an able lawyer, and fearless man is capable of defeating the schemes of the party factionists in that city to make the custom-house a source of spoils and the driving-wheel of a political machine. If the new collector shall administer the office in accordance with the President's ideas, it will strengthen both him and his party. It is still true that he serves both himself and his party best who serves his country best. If the President secures a second term at all, it will be because the country demands it of his party.

Philadelphia Record (Ind.).

AN enthusiastic organ of Blaine that has devoted itself to the task of killing off his rivals East and West makes the admission that the Delmonico banquet cost him his election in 1884. There is no doubt that this gathering of Wall street millionaires, bringing their tributes of money to Blaine, made a profound sensation among the merchants and business men of New York, and caused the loss to him of a good many more votes than the plurality of Cleveland in that State. But the Delmonico banquet was too late in the campaign to make a deep impression on the rest of the country. Yet would not that event have a great influence on the next election should Mr. Blaine be again the Republican candidate? Its significance to the masses of the people consisted in the fact that the great money corporations and monopolies centering in Wall street were willing to pour out their treasure without stint to put Blaine in the office of President. This sinister event is not forgotten, and its impression will continue to deepen as long as Blaine is mentioned as a candidate for the Presidential office. Jay Gould, Russell Sage, Cyrus W. Field, and their associates would not hold another banquet and ostentatiously bring to their candidate their munificent tributes of money to sway the election, but their contributions would be none the less generous than before on that account. The recent revelation of Colonel George Bliss concerning the large sum of money paid by Jay Gould to Jimmie O'Brien is a pleasing proof that much of this corruption fund never reached its mark. But while the Delmonico banquet startled the country in 1884, it would cast its baleful shadow over the whole Republican campaign should Blaine be made the candidate for President in 1888.

Omaha Bee (Rep.).

ern man who would be really strong at the East. In long and varied experience, native ability, cleanness of record, soundness of principle upon the questions before the country, and breadth of political support, Sherman is easily the first man to-day in the Republican party. He is the only Republican who would make heavy inroads into Mr. Cleveland's friends among the business men of New York City and at the East generally. He was handicapped in 1880 by his position as Secretary of the Treasury and by the factions of Ohio politics. He is now the only Ohio New York World (Dem.).

man left.

IT is certainly creditable to the good sense of the American people tha the Presidents they have honored with a second term were one and all patriots and statesmen, whose fame reaches beyond their own country, and whose careers were distinguished not alone for local reforms and sterling honesty, but for their association with the great events of history and with the broad principles and policy of the Republic.

*

*

*

*

*

*

The interesting but absolute truth is that if a New York State Convention had to elect delegates to day, it would unanimously indorse Mr. Cleveland's Administration but elect Hill delegates. The friends of Governor Hill control the party organization completely-even more so than they did last year, when they secured his nomination against the perfectly well understood wishes of Mr. Cleveland, Manning, Whitney, etc. This is the interesting situation to-day, and in stating it the World is simply free and independent, not in the least committed to Mr. Hill or any other candidate. Of course, a year hence the situation may be different In fact, it is very apt to be different if the new and able political boss from the Canadian border will use the custom-house (and its army of 1,500 office-holders) for all it is worth. But even in that case the young Governor, with his personal popularity, sagacity, and energy, will prove himself quite a power in the State. Washington Correspondence Philadelphia Telegraph (Rep.).

MR. EDMUNDS, being safe in his Senatorial seat for another six years, thinks that the Republicans should skip the East in their search for the next Presidential candidate. Mr. Edmunds is safe from assault. The railroad icicle from the Green Mountain State will not be approached by the next nominating convention. With undoubted ability, profound learning on constitutional questions, and long experience with national affairs, Mr. Edmunds has yielded too often to the blighting blandishments of the corporations to expect popular support as the nominee of his party. It is scarcely probable that Mr. Blaine will be again selected to lead the party. A defeated candidate is not ordinarily considered a party mascotte to head a second assault. Those who are wisest in the party councils are generally agreed that nothing would be gained by taking up the cause of the man from Maine a second time and again waging a defensive campaign on the question of record. This is possibly what Mr. Edmunds hints at in his remark. But how about the West? Mr. Ingalls is out of the question. He is able, brilliant, and witty, but he lacks mental ballast. The corporations of Kansas and elsewhere find in him one of their strongest bulwarks against anti-monopoly pressure. Mr. Ingalls would not do. John Sherman is doubtless in training. John A. Logan has his weather eye care fully trained on the White House. Perhaps Mr. Edmunds meant to hint gently that Republicans should carefully weigh the claims of the two Senators last mentioned as standard-bearers in the next contest. Republicans could go further and fare worse.

*

*

*

*

Springfield Republican (Ind.).

[blocks in formation]

IN the course of his Hingham interview with the Boston Advertiser reporter, Gov. Long says:

MR. PAYSON (Rep.), of Illinois, is one of the fairest-minded and ablest members of the House. His opinions on all political points are valuable. In a conversation just before adjournment he expressed the opinion that, notwithstanding the apparent "boom" for Blaine, the fortunes of that gentleman were in reality waning. Blaine, he thinks, has had his day. His friends always adopt the aggressive policy-always try to make it appear that he is stronger than he really is--and this they are doing now, as usual. In Mr. Payson's own district, which was formerly enthusiastic for Blaine, they are not talking much about him nowadays, and this is true generally of the whole State of Illinois, he thinks. General Logan and Mr. Sherman are also losing ground as Presidential candidates, in Mr. Payson's opinion. The general, he says, hurt himself greatly in his recent bout with Sherman in the Senate; in fact, he always hurts himself when he goes into personalities, and has done so twice already this year, the other time when he got angry over the Army increase bill and hit out at Blaine and his friends. Mr. Payson does not know who has the best chance for the Republican nomination in 1888, but he evidently does not expect either Blaine or Sherman or Logan to get it.

There was a good deal of talk in regard to the Presidential nomination in Washington, and, while it is very evident that Mr. Blaine has a strong following, there is also growing up a decided feeling among a large number of conservative Republicans that we should Bo Wer to select a candidate. This opinion was expressed by Senator Edmunds, and the man we see no most advantageous in such a view is Senator Sherman, of Ohio. He has the couidence and respect of the conservative element all over the country, and I am quite sure, if nominated, he would carry New York and be elected. I don't think that he has that fervent and hearty backing at present which Mr. Blaine possesses, but a great many of Mr. Blaine's best friends are of the opinion that it would be best for him and for the party if, at the next convention, he should decline to have his name presented and cordially help to unite the party upon some man who would be acceptable to all. In that respect, however, I think Mr. Blaine has improved very much in the past two years. The less said about Sherman the better for the present. He is the only West

[blocks in formation]

Mr. Magone will make an excellent official, and his character is beyond question. But what of Hedden? The present collector was appointed by Mr. Cleveland and he was confirmed by the Senate. What kind of civil service reform is it that turns him out after a year and a half service? Perhaps, however, since Hubert O. Thompson's death the administration believed that a vacancy existed in the office. Hedden was strictly Thompson's man; in fact, only a shadow for Thompson. Therefore, perhaps, the death of Thompson was construed to mean a vacancy the New York custom-house. At any rate, the appointment of Magone is a sure sign that Governor Hill will have to fight for the control of the New York machine if he wants it. Cleveland will be a candidate in 1888.

Washington Critic (Ind.).

He is a firm be

THERE is one thing upon which Mr. Allison is clearly in the right, and can afford to break the reserve with which he often hedges himself about. liever in liberal appropriations for rivers and harbors, and an equally firm disbeliever in what he calls the "driblet principle" of doling out insufficient sums for public works. Appropriations for all needful improvements should, in his opinion, be made outright, and in such amounts as to insure their uninterrupted progress and speediest possible completion. This announcement will make the Senator particularly solid with a large and influential section of the country which is pretty likely to make itself more powerfully felt in both of the next national conventions than ever before, and he is wise, perhaps, in thus early defining his position. Whatever the outcome is to be, it is quite certain that the Republican party might go further and fare a good deal worse than to make William B. Allison its standard bearer in 1888. Many signs point to the West for a candidate, and some of them point further west than Ohio.

Chicago Inter-Ocean (Rep.).

No truer words, and few so weighty, were ever uttered as General Grant's declaration to the effect that the mission of the Republican party would not end until every American citizen could safely vote as he pleased, and be sure that his vote would be counted as cast. In a government of the people there can be no more sacred thing than the ballot. The Republican party may be censured justly for not doing more in that line while in power; but it must be conceded that all the effort ever made in that direction was by the Republicans, and that nothing will be done until they do it. The work may be delayed many years, or it may be pushed to the front as a live issue at the very next Presidential election. How ever that may be, the duty or mission of the party of positive ideas and purposes

« PreviousContinue »