Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 August 1884 — CLEVELAND’S VIEWS. [ARTICLE]

CLEVELAND’S VIEWS.

Utterances of the Reform Governor on the Decadence of American Shipping. His Ideas 'on the Accumulation of a “ Useless and Unnecessary Surplus.” It has been slated, says the Chicago Daily Telegram, as an argument against Cleveland that his views on national affairs are not known; that his reputation is local; and that, because he his never be-n connected with either the executive, legislative or judicial branches cf the Federal Government, he is a weak candidate. Experience does not justify this, as several of our best Presidents, notibly Lincoln, were never prominent in the affairs of the General Govemm< nt. It is also said that the views of Gov. Cleveland are not known, and it is intimated that on the great ques.’ious of national importance he has never b?en heard. This is not true, as to two of the leading questions filling the public eyo to-day. Upon the important question of the decadence of the American flag on the high seas, and upon the rectaetion of Federal taxation to an amount necessary for the nesda of tfie Government, he has uttered good Democratic seritiment which is worth reproducing, and which the Telegram recommends as worth reading. His last nnnual message, transmitted to the Legislature of the State of New York, Jan. 1. 1884, concludes as follows: Tire State of New York largely represents, within her borders, the d velopment of every interest which makes ana ion groat. Proud of her place as 1 ader in the community of States, she fully appreciates her intimat e relations to the prosperity of the country; and justly realizing the responsibility of her j o-ition, she recognizes, in her poll y and her laws, as ot first importance, the freedom of commerce from a 1 unnecessary restrictions. Her citizens have assumed the burden of maintaining, at their own oost and lree to commerce, the wa.eiway which they have built and through which the products of the great Wes: are transported iottie seaboard. At the suug stion of d nger sho hastens 1o save her northern forests, and thns preserve to commer, e her caua s und vessel-ladeu rivers. The State his become rcsi onsiblo for a Bureau of Immigration, which i ares for those who siek our shop s from other lands, adding to the nat on’s population and hasten ng to the development of its vast domain; while at the country’s gateway a quarantine, e- tabbshed by the State, protecis the na ion’s health. Surely this great Commonwealth, committed fully to the interests of commerce and nil that adds to a country's prosperity, may well inquire how her efforts and sacrifices have been answered; and she, of all the States, may urge that the interests thus by h r protect'd should by the greater Government, administered for all, bo fostered for the benefit of the American people. Fifty years ago a most distinguished foreigner, who visited this country and studied its condition and prospects, wrate: “When I con emplatc tho ardor with which Americans prosecute < ommerce, the advantage whi. h aids them and the success of their undertakings, I cannot help believing that they will one day become the first maritime power of the globe. They are bound to rule the seas as tire Romans were to conquer the world. * * * The Americans th-m -elven now transport to their own shores nine-tenths o; the European produce which they consume, und they also bring three-fourths of the exports of tho new world to the European consumers. The > hips of the United States fill the docks of Havre and Liverpool; while the number of English and French vessels which are ta be seon In New York is comparatively small." Wo turn to the actual results reached since these words weie wriiten, with disappointment. In 1«40 American vessels carried 82.9 percent of all our exports and imports: in I«!i0, 72.6; in 1860, 66.5; in 1870, 35. • ; in IS 0, 17.4; in 1882, 15.5. The citizen of New York, looking beyond his State and all her efforts in the interest of commerce and national growth, will naturally inquire concerning the causes of this decadence of American shipping. While he Biornly demands of tho home Government the exact limita ion of taxation by the needs of the State, ho will challenge the po icy that accumulates millions of useless and unnecessary surplus in the National Treasury, which has been not less a tax because it w s indii ectly but surely added to the cost of the people’s life. Let us anticipate a time when care fer tho people’s needs as they actually arise, and the application of rim dles as wrongs api ear, shall lead in the conduct of national affairs and let us un icrtake the business of legislation with the full determinat on that these principles shall guide ns in the performance of our duties as guardians of the interests of the State.