the committee. Richard Croker, boss of Tammany Hall, had not up to that time bothered much about the subject. I laid before him the reasons underlying the question and got him to throw his powerful influence and help on our side, and we succeeded in the end in incorporating a strong sound money plank. Cleveland expressed his satisfaction with that accomplishment in the following note to me: 816 Madison Avenue Sept. 27, 1891. My dear Mr. Straus: I have a suspicion that you had much to do with the formation of the silver plank in the platform adopted at Saratoga. I am so well satisfied indeed that you thus merit my thanks as a citizen who loves the honor of his country and as a Democrat who loves the integrity of his party, that I desire to tender them in this frank, informal manner. Yours very truly, GROVER CLEVELAND. I may add here that upon his retirement in 1889 Cleveland came to New York to live, and the pleasant relations I had had with him in office became close and intimate. Early in July, 1892, I wrote Cleveland regarding his position on the tariff, and after the Chicago convention which nominated him for the Presidency, I received the following communication from him: My dear Sir: Gray Gables, Buzzards Bay, Mass. July 25, 1892. I wish to thank you for your letter of July 12, and to express' my disappointment that while in New York last week I did not have the opportunity to converse with you on the suggestions which your letter contained. You cannot fail to see by some expressions in my address in reply to the notification committee, that thoughts quite similar to yours have occupied my mind in regard to the tariff plank in our platform. I am exceedingly anxious that there should be no misrepresentation of our true position, and I regret exceedingly that there should have been any form of expression adopted which makes us liable to that danger. I shall continue to give the subject earnest thought and when I write my letter of acceptance if it should then seem to be necessary I shall not hesitate to pursue the subject further. I have heard of your labors at Chicago and of your constant and earnest devotion to my cause and while your previous conduct and our relations have been such as to lead me to expect such things of you, I am none the less gratified and beg to thank you from the bottom of my heart. With the kind remembrances of Mrs. Cleveland to you and Mrs. Straus, in which I heartily join, I am, Very truly yours, GROVER CLEVELAND. In 1888 his position on these two questions caused his defeat; in 1892, his position still the same, these very issues were the dominant factors that brought about his renomination and election. During the winter before his second Cleveland was frequently accompanied by his physician on hunting and fishing. expeditions, which were taken not alone for pleasure but as health measures term of office, in order to get some rest and be freer than was possible in New York from the constant stream of visitors and place hunters, he and his family accepted the invitation of my brother Nathan to occupy a little frame house which my brother had bought from a New Jersey farmer in connection with the property on which stands the Lakewood Hotel. THE "LITTLE WHITE HOUSE" The unassuming little two-story house, surrounded by pines, simple as could be, was renovated and painted white, and became known as "the little White House." To it from time to time he summoned the people with whom he wished to confer-with the leaders of his party with regard to policies and the make-up of his Cabinet, and with friends. He had no secretary and wrote all letters with his own hand. During his stay at the "little White House" he sent for me several times to talk over things with him. On one of these occasions he proposed connecting me with the Administration in some way that might be agreeable to me. While I appreciated his intention, I told him I felt I owed it to my brothers to stick to business for the next few years. He answered that he would have to have one of the brothers in his Administration. I learned later that in his mind he had reserved the ministership to Holland for Isidor. At about this time Isidor had been nominated, and was subsequently elected, to fill a vacancy in Congress, and Cleveland purposely did not fill the Dutch post until after that special election. He afterwards remarked to a friend he and Isidor had in common, William L. Wilson, of West Virginia, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and responsible for the Wilson Tariff Bill, that he much preferred Isidor in Congress, where he could have the benefit of his wisdom and knowledge in financial and tariff matters. Indeed, my brother was largely responsible for Cleveland's calling the extra session of Congress for the repeal of the Sherman Silver Coinage Act. A PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE Among my letters from Cleveland at this period I have one concerning a matter that caused a great deal of stir and unfavorable comment: the appointment of James J. Van Alen, of Newport, R. I., as Ambassador to Italy. Van Alen was a very rich man. He was the son-in-law of William Astor and the personal friend of William C. Whitney, the real manager of the Cleveland campaign, whose appointment as Secretary of the Navy was not liked by the "Mugwump" wing of the party, headed by Carl Schurz and others. When Van Alen was appointed, a hue and cry arose from the idealists, and Cleveland's enemies alleged that the appointment was nothing more than a reward for the very large contribution 'Van Alen had made to Whitney for the campaign, for which Whitney had promised this position. Schurz, as editor of "Harper's Weekly," wrote a savage editorial against Cleveland on this subject, and in a letter to me he stated that he felt Cleveland's prestige would never recover from the blow he had struck against himself in. making that appointment. I wrote to Cleveland about the matter and how it was regarded by some of his friends, mentioning Schurz among others. The President sent me the following reply: Executive Mansion, Washington Oct. 20, 1893. My dear Mr. Straus: by the solicitude you evince in the Van Alen matter. I am amazed by the course pursued by some good people in dealing with this subject. No one has yet presented to me a single charge of unfitness or incompetency. They have chosen to eagerly act upon the frivolous statements of a much mendacious and mischievous newspaper, as an attempt to injure a man who in no way has been guilty of wrong. I leave out of account the allegation that his nomination was in acknowledgement of a large campaign contribution. No one will accuse me of such a trade and Mr. Whitney's and Mr. Van Alen's denial that any such thing existed in the minds of any one concerned, I believe to be the truth. I think it would be a cowardly thing in me to disgrace a man because the New York World had doomed him to disgrace. Since the nomination was sent in I have left the matter entirely to the Senate, and I hear that the nomination was confirmed to-day. This ends the matter. I am entirely content to wait for a complete justification of my part in the proceeding. I am sorry you regard this matter as so unfortunate and if anything Icould have induced me to turn away from a course which seems to me so plainly just and right, it would be my desire to satisfy just such good friends as you have always proved yourself to be. I shall be glad to see you, at all times. Yours very sincerely, GROVER CLEVELAND. Van Alen was confirmed by the Senate, but on November 20 he sent in his resignation, which Cleveland reluctantly accepted but urged Van Alen to reconsider his decision, as his (the President's) preference was emphatically that he accept the post and by the discharge of his duties vindicate the wisdom and propriety of his selection. MIDNIGHT SUPPERS OF DELICATESSEN During the second term I saw little of the President. I was very much tied to business, and went to Washington only when summoned there to discuss a few international matters as they arose. But while I am reminiscing about my. relations with Mr. Cleveland, I will jump ahead about ten years and speak of a visit he paid me for three days during March, 1903. He was to deliver an address at the Henry Ward Beecher Memorial Meeting in the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Sunday evening, and he arrived from Princeton on Saturday. He was like a boy out of school. We were going to the theater on Saturday evening, and I suggested Justin McCarthy's "If I Were King," played by Sothern. "I hope it is not sad," he said; "I want to see it from start to finish;" and, with a smirk, he added: "For I am a hayseed." I discerned afterward that he would rather have seen a comedy or vaudeville. After the theater we had a supper of delicatessen and beer at home, which I knew he would like, and he amused us with several funny stories and mimicry. My wife remarked that he might have made a success on the stage, and he replied that his friend Joe Jefferson had often deplored his having missed that profession. He mimicked the humorous Congressman Campbell of New York, who used to come to the White House, and, pointing to the room occupied by Cleveland, ask the clerk, "Is His Royal Nibs in?" And sometimes Tim Campbell made requests that Cleveland had to deny as unconstitutional; then Tim would come back with: "Oh, I wouldn't let the Constitution stand between friends!" MORE IMPRESSIONS OF At dinner on Sunday we were joined When the champagne was served my wife said to the ex-President: "Does Mrs. Cleveland let you drink this? You know it is bad for your rheumatism!" He answered: "No, but I won't tell They compromised on one glass. When the guests had gone, Cleveland After a light supper we drove to When we got to the theater many in Brooklyn. Cleveland was ever punctual, and I took care that we should arrive at the appointed hour, 7:45. It was pouring rain, and Cleveland anticipated that most people would be kept away; but when we entered the hall it was packed from pit to dome, and several thousand persons were turned away. At the close of the meeting hundreds crowded on to the stage to greet the ex-President, showing that the love and admiration of the people had in no degree waned. The next morning we prevailed upon him to stay an extra day. He said he knew I had a speech to make at Brown University and would have to be busy. I assured him the speech was all prepared and the subject was "Brown in Diplomacy." He asked me to read it to him, and I did. He pronounced it appropriate and fine, which gave me some confidence in the success of the occasion, for I knew he was not given to flattery and would not have praised it without meaning it; that was not his style. He had to go to Rockwood, the photographer at Thirty-ninth Street and Broadway, so I went with him. He said he had hundreds of requests for pictures and wanted a new one taken so that when people wrote for them he could refer such requests to Rockwood; similarly he had some pictures made by a Philadelphia photographer. That ar rangement would save him much trouble. I asked Rockwood to take a special, large picture for me. He brought forward his larger camera and took one of the best photographs of Cleveland I have ever seen. I had two finished; one for Mrs. Cleveland and the other hangs in my library. For luncheon we met Isidor at Delmonico's. At the next table sat Charles F. Murphy, successor to Croker as boss of Tammany Hall, who requested me to introduce him to Cleveland. They had quite a chat, after which Cleveland remarked: "He looks like a pretty clean fellow." During the meal our guest told us, with language, voice, and manner befitting the tale, how, when he was being spoken of for re-election before his sec ond term, he met a farmer who said to him: "Now if you will go on sawin' wood and don't say nothin', they will give you back that job in Washington." No actor could have given a more vivid characterization of that farmer. That evening we went to Weber and Fields's Music Hall, on Twenty-ninth Street near Broadway. He suggested this himself. He said he liked to be. amused at the theater and not saddened or instructed. THE FINAL CONFIDENCES OF AN At about this period Cleveland from time to time showed evidences of illness. He called them stomach attacks. Whether or not his personal friend and physician, Dr. Joseph D. Bryant, had diagnosed the malady as more serious I do not know; but at times I rather inferred that he had. Dr. Bryant made it a point to accompany him on several of his hunting and fishing expeditions, which were taken not alone for pleasure but as health measures, for a change of air and the outdoor recreation. On and off during those years also, when the family wanted a little change, they occupied "the little White House" of my brother's at Lakewood. Cleveland liked its simplicity and because it was not unlike the parsonage at Caldwell, N. J., where he was born. Early in June, 1908, while the Clevelands were at Lakewood, the ex-President sent for my brother Isidor; he desired to have a talk with him. He seemed to wish to unburden his mind. This proved to be the last time he spoke to any one outside of his immediate family while still in the very night he had another attack of his malady, after which, as I was told, his faculties seemed to go under a cloud. Two weeks later, on June 24, the country was shocked, though it was not unprepared, to learn that the ex-President had died that morning at his Princeton home. On June 26 Grover Cleveland was laid to rest. The funeral was private; my brothers and I had received a note from Mrs. Cleveland asking us to be present. At his home we met about one hundred of his personal friends. It had been his express wish that there be no eulogy or funeral oration, and his friend, Dr. Henry van Dyke, conducted a simple service at which he read passages from Wordsworth's "The Happy Warrior." In a carriage with Chief Justice Fuller, Judge George Gray of Delaware, and Governor Fort of New Jersey, I accompanied the body to the cemetery. For him there were no longer enemies to traduce and vilify: Perhaps no President had ever been so reviled by a hostile press throughout the country as this great man, and, strong as he was, these attacks quite naturally pained him. Like all men who struggle against the tide for righteous things, appreciation is often deferred, sometimes until after death. In his case, happily, it came while he was yet among us in the constantly increasing manifestations of admiration, love, and esteem by the people of the country. ISSOURI is politically still a raw State. Rural Missouri is honest and narrow, and I am told that Governor Hyde, who is a progressive Republican and ran on the Bull Moose ticket for Attorney-General in 1912, has had Satan's own time with the farmers in seeking to provide even a reasonably adequate system of education for their ́own children. But they are learning. The city politics of St. Louis and Kansas City is known of all men as disreputable and commercial. In no State of the Union, probably, is the poison squad, which deceives and lies to public opinion, so vigorous and successful. It seems sometimes, I am told, as if the people preferred to believe the worst of shining marks. The anti-machine fight in Kansas City, which proved unusually successful only yester-year, has declined in vitality, and the sordid political commercialists are creeping back into power. The hope of the State is in progressive the Industrial Court Law, about which Senator Davenport will write in another letter. How the Middle West views the tariff is important to the country when we reflect upon what happened to the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Bill in 1909 and 1910 under Middle Western leadership.-THE EDITORS. Republicanism, which is reasonably strong. Old-Guard Republicanism is only another name for Bourbon Democracy. They help each other out. Those who think that the idealistic issue of the League of Nations played any particular part in the recent contest of Senator Reed for renomination in the Democratic primary would do well to bear the foregoing factors in mind. Missouri is not at present a State to be violently moved by idealism, "super" or any other kind. At bottom it appears to be like most of this Middle Western country, unmoved by the League of Nations issue, pretty stolidly nationalistic and anxious to keep out of European embroilments. Probably that helped Reed, but it was not the issue. They like Reed in Missouri as a sporting proposition. He is a hard and brainy fighter, even though many call him unscrupulous. And the average plain Mis sourian likes that. I fear that the Reed personality fits Missouri better than the President Wilson personality. I have heard it much discussed in the East as to whether the Bourbon Republican vote helped Reed out in the primary. Of course the reader understands that some of these Western primaries are very free primaries into which the voter may go and line up with either party or any party. The opinion seems to be here that in St. Louis, for particular reasons, every effort was made by the Republican organization to keep their voters in line for the Republican part of the fight, but there appears to be no doubt that in the State at large many thousands of Republicans joined in renominating Reed-plenty of them to do the work. He actually won by only 6,000. And the serious and informed view here is that he will have much Republican support at the polls in November, and will probably win then. In this country the League of Nations issue is thoroughly in eclipse. Except in spots, it appears that this is true of the whole United States, as completely true still as in the 1920 overwhelming election upon the issue.. It certainly had little effect against Lodge in Massachusetts in the primary. It might be de cisive at the general election in Massachusetts in a close fight, but in and of itself in Massachusetts it seems to have no vitality. In Nebraska, where United States Senator Hitchcock is running again on his record as a Wilson League supporter, the chances of the progressive Republican, Howell, are somewhat enhanced by the issue. Hitchcock, who is a shrewd politician and has made an able Senator, evidently senses it, as he has sought to counteract it by a clever and incisive speech recently in the Senate in which he denounced before the world the action of the French on the Rhine in employing savage Africans as armed forces and in setting up brothels for them. This propagandist antidote has been put to work in a multitude of German homes in Nebraska, although it is quite likely that it has come too late to be of effective political service. All the irreconcilables about the LeagueReed, Johnson, Beveridge, La Follettehave come through with flying colors; on other issues, but their hostility to the League never flecked them, rather aided them. The attitude of the Middle West on the tariff is interesting. They have not waked up to it yet at all. There is no mighty Dolliver to stir their hearts as the great Iowan did against the PayneAldrich Bill in 1909 and 1910. Furthermore, the tariff-makers in Washington have prepared in advance at least a temporary bulwark against a recurring Payne-Aldrich tragedy by high duties on lemons and almonds and wheat and other products dear to the heart and the pocketbook of the Western agriculturist. Besides, prices generally are so much higher on everything than they were in 1910 that the Western consumer seems numb to the addition of a mere tariff burden. The wise ones have told me that they look for the Western consumer to wake up a little later on, if he begins to pay appreciably more for the things he buys. In the wheat country, for example in Kansas, the high tariff duty on wheat is a delusion. The world price of wheat in Liverpool is now so low that the cost of production in Kansas is higher than the Liverpool price. The State of Kansas is frankly worried about its underlying economic condition, which depends as certainly upon wheat as Cuba's welfare depends upon sugar. There is an agitation growing in Kansas for State-owned elevators, as in North Dakota. The great economic difficulty about wheat seems to be that under present conditions it has to be harvested and marketed within one hundred days. And the system of transportation and storage breaks down in the presence of so great a problem. Vast stores of "WORKING FOR THE GOVERNMENT" BY HERBERT E. MORGAN The men who work for the Government are not working for something remote from the life of every-day Americans. They are working for all of us, and their problems concern us as directly as though we made out their pay checks ourselves. Those who read Mr. Morgan's article in a forthcoming issue will be reading about men they themselves employ. wheat lie along the tracks at the stations, without cover, for days together exposed to the weather. These conditions contribute neither to sound quality nor to sound economic price. A counterwail is going up from the Associated Industries, representing the employing interests, against the so-called Socialistic innovation, with North Dakota held up as a horrible example. But, strangely enough, many Kansas bankers and business men refuse to be stampeded by the display of the North Dakota bogie. They say, "Well, what are you going to do about it? Something must be done or the economic stability of Kansas is gone." I wonder if those are not right who refuse to foam at the mouth even at the radical experiments of North Dakota, and who say that it is a good thing that we have political laboratories in the Western States where experiments can be tried for the whole country and the mistakes of the original experiments provided against in the later imitation. Kansas may move in co-operative rather than in Socialistic directions in solving her problem, but, like North Dakota, she must get the thing done. about the tariff issue or the bonus issue or the ship subsidy issue. People here talk about strikes. These are much nearer to them and much more menacing. They are inclined to think that Washington has been wasting a lot of time on the other issues and was as slow as molasses in getting ready to do something about a greater matter. They share, I find, the parodied sentiments of the famed Lackawanna versifier: How very slow, said Phoebe Snow, When craniums are anthracite. You may say that there is a measure of unreason in their attitude, and there undoubtedly is. The West has long combined reason and unreason in its political opinions, as everybody knows. But I am only writing of things as I find them. I am not weighing them in the balances of reason. Kansas, of course, is in the throes of an experiment against strikes in the essential industries. This is so important that I think it worthy of a separate letter, but I may say here that the relations of the Kansas mines with the new Industrial Court were such that at least a fifty per cent production was kept up through all the period of the recent coal strike, and the railway situation in Kansas proper has been surer than in the surrounding States. One reason has been that the Topeka shops of the Santa Fe System were protected from the outset by the new Industrial Court Law; not by State troopers, but by previous experience with opposition to the provisions of the law itself. As go the Topeka shops, so goes the Santa Fe System. And the provisions of the new law with respect to picketing during strikes upon essential industries are such, and the pressure upon the local authorities under the law to preserve order is such, that, with Alexander Howat and five of his comrades at present in jail as an outstanding example, there was a freedom from intimidation and a freedom for strike-breakers to work which did not exist in the neighboring States or anywhere else in the Union. This may be a reason why the Santa Fe is not one of the roads in the West to come to terms with the striking shopmen under the Warfield agreement, but insists stal The reflective view of the Middle West is that some of the crucial rates in the current tariff bill are too high. The country doesn't want to be flooded with low-cost German products and doesn't intend to be. It has too great concern for the standard of living and the stand-wartly upon the peace of unconditional ard of advance of its own laboring population. The Middle West avers that it is no secret in Washington among the faithful who are supporting the bill that something was put over on them in the sugar and wool schedules, and some others, by the ruling leadership in Congress, and they are very sorry it happened on sugar and wool especially, because they think it will soon show in every home after the measure gets into operation. And the Middle West may be the first to kick the roof off. But not now. The Middle West doesn't care three whoops surrender. There is much to be said on both sides about this compulsory experiment, and I will return to it in a later letter. It has its good and bad points, and is still distinctly in the laboratory stage. But this I think can be said here. The Kansas agricultural population, which is the great majority element, is committed to the new law, and their belief in it will give the Republicans the victory in the fall campaign. If it were not for this issue, the unrest in Kansas might be as dangerous to the Republican party as the unrest in Michigan and Colorado. |