There is no need to mince matters upon this subject. It is plainly and obviously the duty of Grover Cleveland to give some outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace which is in him. There is no time to waste in this matter. Grover Cleveland understands too well that he was not elected by the Democratic party; that he will have the support of the party of the people, call it by what name you will. The Populists, representing, as they do, some of the grievances of the “plain” “Common People,” will act with Grover Cleveland’s party, the party of the “Common People.”
The New York World furnishes an admirable article upon the subject, “Why Are They Natural Allies?” speaking of the Populists. Because they are the party of the plain “Common People,” who, along with the Democratic party, will control the legislation of the nation, Grover Cleveland represents this army of “Allies,” as surely as did Wellington, at the Battle of Waterloo, and the “Common People” will expect him to defeat, “horse, foot, and dragon,” the enemy—the sham aristocracy, the representatives of “caste,” and the monopoly of money, who have, like Napoleon, carried devastation and destruction into our country; just as Napoleon did into every country of Europe. Grover Cleveland will have the assistance of these “Natural Allies,” the Populists, which is indicated in the timely article below, from the New York World, of December 15, 1892:—
“The Populists in the next Senate will be the natural allies of the Democrats on the most important matters that will come before Congress.
“The Democrats and the Populists fused in several of the Western States. They will together control several of the legislatures. The third party has no affiliation with the Republicans. It is composed in the main of voters who have become disgusted with Republican rule.
“The Republicans cannot rely upon retaining their grip on the Senate by the votes of the men who have overthrown them at the West.”
If Grover Cleveland and the party which nominated him will but once recognize, and at once, that they did not triumph by reason of the conversion of old Republicans to the doctrines enunciated in the Democratic platform, at Chicago, but will now promptly come to the conclusion, which is so obvious, that they were elected by the “Common People,” for the plain purpose of righting those wrongs which the people have endured in silence, then it will be impossible for Republican newspapers to claim that they are “at sea without a chart.” They are “at sea without a chart” at present, because the Democratic party, under the whip and spur of Democratic newspapers, driving them to cling on to Democratic principles, and to hold to Democratic doctrine, will prevent Grover Cleveland and the Democratic party from taking any action which would furnish relief to the people. The New York Sun, under the able and magnificent management of Hon. Charles A. Dana, cries for Protection and against the Income Tax; while that most potential newspaper, the New York World, also Democratic, under the control of the Hon. Joseph Pulitzer, inveighs against Protection and in favor of an Income Tax. Torn by the dissensions in its own ranks, the Democratic party, if it attempts to cling on to the old ideas, will simply do nothing; and that is what the people fear.
Now is the occasion for Grover Cleveland to prove himself to be a “great” man. Now is the time for those representatives, elected by the will of the people, to demonstrate to the people that they are willing servants, and that “public office is a public trust”; that, as trustees of the will of the people, they will comply with the request of the people. And the request has gone forth to give relief to the people from this tumor which has grown upon the body politic—“caste,” snobbery, and sham aristocracy, and the attendant evil which was the cause of the tumor—excessive taxation and class legislation. Throw old doctrines and principles of the Democratic party to the winds. Cleveland, the next House of Representatives, and the Senate of the United States were not elected and selected upon old principles, which were part of the constitution of the Democratic party. They were elected upon a broad democracy, and if they will adopt the will of the people, their wants and needs, and apply such remedies as the people may demand, then will it be impossible for Republican writers, who wield a trenchant pen like that of the Hon. John A. Cockerill, to truthfully say: “The incoming party is at sea without a chart.”
The New York World, of December 11th, says of Grover Cleveland’s speech, that its generalities are eminently sound and patriotic, and that he asserts that the people can be trusted and that they know what they want, which is here given:—
“Those who looked for any definite statement of his policy from the President-elect in his speech at the Reform Club banquet last night will be disappointed. Mr. Cleveland evidently thinks, and probably correctly, that the time for this has not yet come.
“But Mr. Cleveland’s generalities are eminently sound and patriotic. Especially excellent is his sturdy assertion of the good Democratic doctrine that the people can be trusted, that they know what they want, and are entitled to have their will respected. Contrasted with the current Republican talk that the voters have been befooled for three years and are bent on turning the progress of their country backward, Mr. Cleveland’s robust patriotism and faith are eminently refreshing.
“The spirit in which he contemplates the responsibility soon to be placed upon him and his party is equally admirable. There is neither shrinking nor boastfulness, but a calm courage characteristic of the man and befitting the occasion. It is to be hoped that Mr. Cleveland’s admonition to and defence of economy, as something about which ‘there is nothing shabby or discreditable,’ will not be lost upon the present Congress.”
This fills us with hope, we “Common People,” who regard the World as a leading light in the Democratic firmament of journalism. It is like a bow of promise set in the heavens of the future, and especially when, upon the succeeding day, the World, which voices the sentiments of the Democratic party, publishes the following:—
“A monopoly organ declares that an income tax is ‘undemocratic.’ It says that ‘the only excuse for the income tax was that it was a war measure,’ and asks: ‘What excuse can be given for reimposing it?’
“The excuse of necessity. The government is confronted with the condition of an empty treasury and a demand for tariff reduction twice made by the people. Either one of these things may make new taxes necessary. Combined, they are almost certain to do so.
“With an annual expenditure of over $220,000,000 due to the war (for pensions and interest upon the public debt) a choice in war taxes would fall on a graded income tax upon every principle of economy and justice.
“It is surely Democratic to tax luxuries rather than necessaries, superfluities rather than essentials. As one of the speakers at the Reform Club said: ‘Any tax on what men have is better than a tax on what men need.’ It cannot be undemocratic to tax those who are best able to pay, to apportion public burdens in a manner to cause the least hardship to the greatest number.
“A graded income tax is the coming tax if the expenditures of the government are to continue anywhere near the present mark.”
It is with hope and trustfulness that we regard the future.