De Alexander: “Taxes and elections were the mere spoil and booty of a corrupt junta in Tammany.”

In accepting the Democratic nomination Cleveland had the great advantage of not being obliged to refer to anything of which he was ashamed.

Referring to the fraudulent practices, he said: "No one claims, no one believes, that I had lot or part therein, or previous hint or suspicion thereof.

He writes of the Filipinos as he found them, and with the knack of the true investigator, has avoided falling in with the political views of any party or faction.

Indeed, his administration admittedly ranked with the best that had adorned the State for a century, and his friends, including Independents and many Stalwarts, rallied with energy to his support.