What To Fear

A writer in the Irish World has the following sharp paragraph about President Cleveland: " The President is a ratber witted man as regards the naastery of great and general questions: He was absolutely ignorant about them when he was eiected. He set to mastering the silver question as soon as he was eiected. It is simple enough to be 'got up' in a few lessons, and before the time rame for his inauguration he was full of it to running over. He anticipated his official career by what was virtually a message to Congresa on the coinage of silver while Mr. Arthur was still president of the United States. And in his firft message he pressed the question with equal urgenoy. The coinage of Standard silver dollars was to be the ruin of the whole country if it were not stopped. Congress did not stop it. It still proceeds, yst Mr. Cleveland has not a word to say about it now. There is for him now nothing but the tariff question. Some people have not room for more than one idta at a time." We think this well characterizes the president. The main thought we get from it is that if the silver question, the Mormon question, or the fisheries question, had seemed to present to him and his advisers the best Btring on which to pull for the purpose of uniting his party and to present an " issue," he would have seized it as readily as he once did the silver question or as he no w does the surplus question. It is inconsistent for the president to omit any reference to the silver question now unless he admits that the importance which he attached to it before wae largely fanciful ; in other words, that he was mistaken. The truth is, of course, that finding he could make nothing out of it in the way of a party cry, because of the fact that his party is divided on it, he dropped it for something else, just as he will drop the surplus question if it does not work well for his interests. The Eepublican party need not fear this manoeuvre of Cleveland's on the tariff and surplus questions. The surplus danger is as fanciful as was the silver danger about which the president was once so greatly alarmed but which he does not seem to remember ; and when there is any real surplus, the Kepublican party would be surer to bring about a safe reduction of revenue than the Democratie party. As we have before eaid, the greatest thing the Kepublicans have to fear in the next presidential election is the carrying of New York by " boodle" and all species of corruption such as render electione in the metropolis mere farces.