UCSB LIBRARY 
 
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 James G. Blaine 
 
 H Sftetcb of bis %itc 
 
 WITH A BRIEF RECORD OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN 
 
 CHARLES WOLCOTT BALESTIER 
 
 Author of" A Fair Device^' ''A Potent Philter,'' etc. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 R. WOKTHINGTON, 770 BROADWAY. 
 
 1884.
 
 Copyright, 1884, by 
 JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY 
 
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 PREFACE 
 
 There are various excuses for a preface — an excuse 
 for it seems always necessary ; but perhaps that 
 which regards it as an opportunity for thanking those 
 who have assisted to give the writer something to 
 preface is among the most reasonable. I, at least, 
 am forced to think so, remembering how much I am 
 indebted for this little volume to others, and how lit- 
 tle I could say for the volume itself if, adopting one 
 of the other ideas of a preface, I should try to justify 
 and absolve the book to my readers. If I began at 
 the head of my list of obligations I should thank the 
 newspapers, and as my professions will scarcely reach 
 their ears, let us say that I thank their editors — the; 
 editors of twenty years ago chiefly. The editors of 
 yesterday and day before have also claims upon my 
 gratitude, and I can only hope they will not feel that 
 they have too many should they glance through this 
 sketch. The author also feels a secret sense of obli-
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 gatioii to the compilers of the indices to the Congres- 
 sional Record, the New York Tribune^ and Times, and 
 it is so unusual to thank an indexer that he is almost 
 inclined to thank them. But there need be nothing 
 dubious about his thanks to Professor Alexander 
 Gow, of Fontanelle, Iowa, one of Mr. Blaine's class- 
 mates, who has given much information and has per- 
 mitted the use of one of Mr. Blaine's letters ; to Mr. 
 William C. Chapin, Principal of the Pennsylvania 
 Institution for the Instruction of the Blind ; to the 
 President of Washington and Jefferson College ; to 
 Mr. John D. Adams and Mr. Richard E. Day, of 
 Syracuse, N. Y. ; to Mr. George Buck, Mr. White- 
 law Reid ; Mr. Charles A. Little, of Hagerstown, Md. ; 
 Mr. D. Nicholson, of New York, and Hon. William 
 W. Phelps. 
 
 I do not know in what degree the subject of this 
 sketch approves of it : the proofs, however, have 
 passed through his hands. But it is certain that, as 
 Mr. Howells has said in the preface to his admirable 
 " Life of Hayes," ** whatever is ambitious or artificial 
 or unwise in my book is doubly my misfortune, for it 
 is altogether false to him." 
 
 If I had not begun with certain declarations I 
 should like, in conclusion, to try to palliate the pages 
 before which this stands. I should like to say that 
 the material for this volume was gathered, and the 
 work essentially written, in the early morning hours
 
 PREFA CE. V 
 
 of a fortnight, and that I am sensible that it must bear 
 
 marks of its extemporaneous creation, and to add that 
 
 this Httle essay, being the first attempt at a life of its 
 
 subject, the writer's voyage has been the doubtful 
 
 and perilous voyage of discovery. All this it would 
 
 give me pleasure to say ; but as I am committed to a 
 
 view of the preface opposed to the expression of these 
 
 things, I must instead ask my critics — the class which 
 
 at last makes the only effectual excuses for the 
 
 writers of books or prefaces — to make these excuses 
 
 for me. 
 
 C. W. BALESTIER. 
 
 The Astor Library, New York, 
 21 June, 1884.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 L— Boyhood, i 
 
 IL — At College, ........ id 
 
 III. — Experiments, i8 
 
 IV. — Editor and State Political Leader, , . .26 
 
 V. — In Congress, 31 
 
 VI. — Speaker of the House and Senator, . , .50 
 
 Vll. — The Currency, . , « 71 
 
 VIIL— The Tariff, . 76 
 
 IX. — American Shipping, 93 
 
 X. — Civil Service Reform, 10 1 
 
 XL — The Amnesty Bill, , , 106 
 
 XII. — American Citizenship, 112 
 
 XIIL — The Chinese Question, . . , . , .116 
 
 XIV. — Slander, , . 125 
 
 XV. — Before the Conventions of 1876 and 1880, , .151 
 
 XVL— Secretary of State, , .166 
 
 XVIL — At Garfield's Bedside, 187
 
 Vin CONTENTS. 
 
 PACB 
 
 XVIIL— "Twenty Years of Congress," . , , .198 
 
 XIX.— The Nomination, 205 
 
 XX. — Reception of the Nomination, .... 220 
 XXL— The Man, 236 
 
 A Brief Record of John A, Logan, 245 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 The Platform of the Republican Party — 1884, . . . 263 
 
 APPENDIX R 
 Speech of Mr. Blaine in the House on National Finance, 
 February 10, 1876, 270 
 
 APPENDIX a 
 Hon. William Walter Phelps on the Charges against 
 Mr. Blaine, 283
 
 JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 
 A Sketch of his Life. 
 
 I. 
 
 BOYHOOD 
 
 An event which occurred in the scanty village of 
 West Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on the thirty-first day 
 of January, 1830, has multiplied its importance in fifty- 
 four years. It will be said that it has been given time ; 
 but it was an event of a sort whose contemporaneous 
 importance — always very large — is at least as likely to 
 dwindle as to grow. The concern in it has also wid- 
 ened, for at the time of its occurrence it touched but 
 two nearly, and was notable only within the limits of a 
 family ; and it has now an interest whose boundaries 
 are those of a country. The event was the birth of a 
 second son to Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Lyon Blaine. It 
 has not a large sound in this newspaper phrase, but
 
 2 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 the son was James Gillespie Blaine, and that name has 
 certainly come to have a meaning. 
 
 His ancestors had dwelt for many years in the fertile 
 region where he was born ; they were among the hardy 
 band of pioneers which settled the rich valley of the 
 Cumberland, and their name and history are part of 
 the local tradition of Western Pennsylvania. They 
 founded the flourishing little town of Carlisle, and left 
 as a memorial of their substantial lives a church build- 
 ing which still meets the observer's eye in that place. 
 The family has honorable memories of the Revolution, 
 for Colonel Ephraim Blaine, the grandfather of the 
 subject of this sketch, was one of its heroes. He was 
 an officer of the Pennsylvania line, and during the last 
 four years of the war was Commissary-General of the 
 Northern Department. He was a determined and en- 
 ergetic patriot, and one need use no imagination to see 
 in him the source of some similar qualities of his 
 grandson. He seems to have been brave and adequate 
 to emergencies ; and at least the little American army 
 gathered in its infirm remnants at Valley Forge had 
 cause to credit him with the latter virtue. In the des- 
 perate straits to which the vacillation and incapacity of 
 Congress, and the rigors of a cruel winter brought 
 General Washington and his army he was the stout 
 supporter of both. It was for him as one of the Com- 
 missaries-General to find a way to maintain the army, 
 and as it was not to be found he made it — made it by 
 liberal use of his own purse and appeals to his friends.
 
 BOYHOOD. 3 
 
 To the extent of his power he left nothing undone, and 
 it is not altogether a fanciful conjuring up of terrors 
 after the event to say, as it is said by excellent author- 
 ity, that the Continental troops might very well have 
 starved without his help. 
 
 Mr. Blaine's grandfather, from whom he is named, in- 
 tended originally, we are told, to enter upon a profes- 
 sional and political career ; ''but a somewhat prolonged 
 residence in Europe after he had completed his studies 
 diverted him, as it has so many young Americans, from 
 following his first and better ambition. He returned 
 to his home in 1793, bringing with him, as special bearer 
 of dispatches, a celebrated treaty with a foreign govern- 
 ment, since become historic." 
 
 In this country it is the custom to look intently to 
 the man himself, with slight consideration of his ances- 
 try ; and certainly if he is not his owm justification he is 
 not likely to be justified by the dead. But if anything 
 in the brief American past is to be accounted creditable 
 to the inheritors of its glories, it must be the efforts that 
 brought us nearer independence. Such honor as that 
 is due Colonel Blaine, and by right of descent, if you 
 will, to his grandson. This stout old soldier, in softer 
 times of peace, was one of the generous and hospitable 
 race of Esquires which, so far north as Pennsylvania 
 at least, has vanished as completely as if it had never 
 been. It was a race which kept its lofty and virtuous 
 traditions sweet, which honored women but was not less 
 chivalrous toward men, which was informed in all rela-
 
 4 JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 
 tions by a knightly and splendid courtesy — which, in 
 fine, spent very rich and admirable lives. 
 
 Ephraim Blaine, the father of James G. Blaine, 
 came into Washington County about 1818, having the 
 largest landed possessions of any man of his age in 
 AVestern Pennsylvania, owning an estate which, had it 
 been properly preserved, would have amounted to-day 
 to many millions. In 1825 he deeded to the Economites 
 the splendid tract of land on which their town with all 
 its improvements and all its wealth now stands. The 
 price was $25,000 for a property whose value to-day, 
 even if unimproved, would be a princely fortune. There 
 were also timber tracts on the Allegheny, and coal tracts 
 on the Monongahela, at that day of no special value, 
 which now represent large fortunes in the hands of those 
 fortunate enough to hold them. Very near the large 
 tracts owned by his father and grandfather, Mr. Blaine 
 is now the possessor of one of the most valuable coal 
 properties in the Monongahela valley. In area it is 
 but a fraction of that which he might have hoped to 
 inherit ; but in value it is much greater than that of 
 the whole landed estate of his father fifty years ago. 
 
 In all this the biographer is conscious of a reversal 
 of the severe and meagre story upon w^hich those who 
 have written of recent presidential candidates have 
 liked to dwell, and it must be trusted that the prosperity 
 which blessed the endeavors of the Blaine emigrants 
 in the valley of the Cumberland will not prove an 
 offence to any honest soul. They were prosperous:
 
 BOYHOOD, 5 
 
 and if that is a shameful fact, the truth must neverthe- 
 less be told. That they not only acquired wealth, but 
 used it largely and toward the finer goods of life will 
 perhaps not mitigate the wrong, if wrong it was. If 
 they had known that a descendent of theirs was to be- 
 come a candidate for an office to which one of the rec- 
 ommendations has sometimes been early poverty, they 
 might have refrained their hands, and by using their 
 honest labor in less profitable fields, or more probably 
 by using less of it, might have kept themselves poor. 
 To those who may have a vague grudge against them, 
 and through them against Mr. Blaine, because they did 
 not, it will be a satisfaction to know that at the time of 
 his birth the family was far from richly bestead. Ephra- 
 im Blaine, his father, was a man of the best education, 
 who had travelled rather widely in Europe and South 
 America before settling in Pennsylvania to the perform- 
 ance of the respectable functions of Justice of the 
 Peace — an office which since his day has parted with 
 something of its dignity. Later he filled the more im- 
 portant position known in Pennsylvania as Prothono- 
 tary. He had inherited a large fortune for the times, 
 but his unstinted hospitality, the support of an increas- 
 ing family, and in a larger measure his handsome gifts 
 to charity crippled him, and at the time of James' birth, 
 though not suffering from poverty, he was at least 
 equally removed from wealth. The conditions of the 
 entrance upon the world of this second son will there- 
 fore be seen to have been reasonably presidential.
 
 6 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 On the side of his father he was of Scotch-Irish ex- 
 traction, and in the matter of religion, on the same side, 
 a very solidly descended Presbyterian. His father had 
 married a Roman Catholic, Maria Gillespie, but he was 
 educated in the sect of his father, as were all the other 
 children, of whom there were seven ; there were besides 
 James four sons, and he had two sisters. One of the 
 calmest and most judicious utterances of recent years 
 upon the subject of religion — certainly the wisest, in- 
 spired by the intrusion of the subject upon politics — is 
 that of Mr. Blaine's in a private letter written so long 
 ago as 1876. 
 
 " My ancestors on my father's side were, as you 
 know, always identified with the Presbyterian Church, 
 and they were prominent and honored in the old colony 
 of Pennsylvania. But I will never consent to make any 
 public declaration upon the subject, and for two rea- 
 sons : First, because I abhor the introduction of any- 
 thing that looks like a religious test or qualification for 
 office in a republic where perfect freedom of conscience 
 is the birthright of every citizen ; and, second, because 
 my mother was a devoted Catholic. I would not for a 
 thousand Presidencies speak a disrespectful word of my 
 mother's religion, and no pressure will draw me into 
 any avowal of hostility or unfriendliness to Catholics, 
 though I have never received, and do not expect, any 
 political support from them." 
 
 James G. Blaine was born in a plain but ample dwell- 
 ing, on the single street of West Brownsville, a hamlet 
 in Union Township, Washington County, Pa., not
 
 BOYHOOD, 7 
 
 far from the scene of the campaign which ended in 
 Braddock's defeat by the Indians. In Brownsville 
 proper the visitor is still shown the residence of his 
 grandfather, Colonel Blaine, a wooden building to which 
 a brick addition has been made in later years. The 
 mother of General Sherman's wife happens to have been 
 born at a little distance from Colonel Blaine's home. 
 On the hills above West Brownsville the curious in- 
 quirer may also see the house in which Ephraim Blaine 
 and Miss Gillespie were married, and, finally, the half- 
 dozen houses which quarrel for precedence as the birth- 
 place of this sketch's subject. Mr. Blaine has himself 
 disposed of this interesting contest by fixing upon a 
 certain dwelling among these as the scene of his earliest 
 recollections. The building is of wood, two stories in 
 height, and removed, in accordance with the inscrutable 
 Pennsylvania custom, as little as possible from the road. 
 A narrow grass space decorates the front, and in for- 
 mer years there was the liberal acreage behind, which 
 the German pioneers have taught the people of South- 
 ern Pennsylvania must by no means be allowed in 
 front. This, which may once have been a garden, ran 
 to the river while Ephraim Blaine owned the house, 
 and must have made an admirable play-ground for his 
 numerous children. The house is a solidly built struct- 
 ure, and though its ceilings are low and its windows 
 small, will remain a comfortable residence for many 
 years. In the true spirit of biography it ought perhaps 
 to be said that the visitor to this house is welcomed in a
 
 8 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 hall of the spacious Southern sort, from which a large 
 parlor opens. In this low-ceiled room an enormous 
 chimney mantel has been blocked up ; but it is a dull 
 fancy which cannot set Ephraim Blaine before it in the 
 midst of his unfailing company of guests — the centre of 
 scenes of stately gayety. From this house Mr. Blaine's 
 father removed, in 1843, to take up his duties as Pro- 
 thonotary, at Washington, the county seat. 
 
 Ephraim Blaine was careful to give all his children an 
 excellent education, and when James had completed at 
 home his early studies in the elementary principles, he 
 was sent to the home of a relative at Lancaster, Ohio. 
 This relative was Thomas Ewing, then Secretary of the 
 Treasury. James Blaine was eleven when he went to 
 Lancaster, and he began at once to prepare himself for 
 college, studying with his cousin, Thomas Ewing, junior, 
 now General Thomas Ewing, and once a member of 
 Congress. The boys studied under especially advan- 
 tageous conditions, for their tutor was William Lyons, 
 brother of Lord Lyons, and uncle of the then British 
 Minister at Washington. He seems to have been an 
 early type of the visiting Englishman, and a highly for- 
 tunate type for these young students, for after two years 
 of instruction from him, James Blaine, at the early age 
 of thirteen, entered Washington College. 
 
 His father, with whom he lived at Washington dur- 
 ing his college course, died soon after its completion, 
 and his grave may be seen beside that of his wife in the 
 Roman Catholic cemetery at Brownsville. The mon-
 
 BOYHOOD. 9 
 
 ument which tells their life-story with simple brevity- 
 stands in the shadow of the little stone church. The 
 burial plot lies alone upon a hill, and looks down from 
 its secure repose upon the Monongahela River.
 
 IL 
 AT COLLEGE, 
 
 The history of Washington and Jefferson College, 
 which has accomplished its excellent work in a quiet 
 way, and is little known, it will be interesting to briefly 
 recount. It had its origin, as the colleges of New Eng- 
 land had, in the general respect for religion and learn- 
 ing, and the need of institutions which might be not 
 only conservers of these things and centres for in- 
 struction in them, but sources of supply to the min- 
 istry. Before they had made a home for themselves 
 the people of Western Pennsylvania made a home for 
 those things of the spirit which were dearest to them. 
 It is a rare devotion which inspires the building of 
 churches and schools in advance of full provision for 
 more material needs. It belongs only to the sturdiest 
 class of men — men who have done much for the world ; 
 and is worth noting where we find it. 
 
 It was mainly with the purpose of providing a means 
 for the nurture of a ministry at home that the Rev. John 
 M'Millan, Rev. Joseph Smith, and Rev. Thomas Dod es-
 
 AT COLLEGE, II 
 
 tablished schools of their own at Chartiers, Buffalo, and 
 Ten Mile, in Washington County, about 1780. The 
 most successful of these Latin schools, as they were 
 called, was that under the charge of the Rev. John 
 M'Millan, and when an academy was established at 
 Canonsburgh, in 1791, his prosperous school was 
 merged in it. One of the principals of this academy, 
 James Carnahan, was afterward President of Prince- 
 ton, and one of his successors became the first president 
 of the college which grew out of it, and which in 1802 
 was chartered by the State and named Jefferson. It is 
 not a thing of which Jefferson boasts, but it was the 
 first institution of the higher learning west of the 
 Alleghanies. 
 
 In the same county another college had grown up by 
 the side of Jefferson, called Washington. It was also 
 sprung from an academy and in that form was only 
 five years younger than the town of Washington in 
 which it stood, having been chartered in 1787. The 
 names of the three ministers who in a remote way 
 founded Jefferson stand first on the list of the incorpo- 
 rators of Washington Academy. In 1805 Rev. Matthew 
 Brown became at the same time the first pastor of the 
 Presbyterian Church at Washington, and Principal of 
 the Academy, and under him it met such success that 
 in 1806 the State Legislature gave the trustees a college 
 charter. It had scarcely been established when a union 
 was proposed with its young neighbor Jefferson, but 
 this wise move was not fully accomplished until 1869.
 
 12 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 By the act which united the two colleges the alumni of 
 both are accounted as alumni of the new College of 
 Washington and Jefferson, and Mr. Blaine's college may 
 therefore be said to be Washington and Jefferson, though 
 in fact it was Washington. 
 
 This was probably, when James Blaine entered it in 
 1843, as good a small college as he would have found 
 by going farther from home ; and it had the advantage 
 of all the lesser colleges : the close relation of pupil 
 and teacher. The class with which young Blaine entered 
 was of about the usual number — thirty-three, and the 
 brief list of it may be interesting. The present occupa- 
 tions of its members — / denoting lawyer, m minister, / 
 physician — are indicated after each name, and those who 
 have died are distinguished by the sinister star. 
 
 George Baird, Jr., /., Wheeling, W. Va. 
 ♦Andrew Barr, zw., Wysox, Pa,, 1864. 
 
 James G. Blaine, LL.D., /., Editor, Speaker Legislature of Maine, 
 Speaker U. S. H. R., Senator and Secretary of State, Augusta, Me. 
 Robert C. Colmery, m., Delavan, 111. 
 Josiah C. Cooper, /., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 *Thomas Creighton. 
 George D. Curtis, Moundsville, W. Va. 
 ♦Cephas Dodd, /., Washington, Pa. 
 Hugh W. Forbes, w., Montezuma, Iowa. 
 Alex. M. Gow, Pres. Dixon College, 111., Fontanelle, Iowa. 
 John H. Hampton, /., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 ♦John C. Hervey, Wheeling, W. Va. 
 R. Campbell Holliday, /., Moundsville, W. Va, 
 John G. Jacob, Editor, Wellsburgh, W. Va. 
 Richard H. Lee, Jr., /., Lewiston, Pa. 
 Hon. John V. B. Lemoyne, /., Chicago, 111., M. C. 
 La Fayette Markle, /., Editor, Philadelphia, Pa.
 
 AT COLLEGE. 1 3 
 
 Gasper M. Miller, /., Ottawa, 111. 
 
 * James R. Moore, Prin. Academy, Morgan town, W. Va., 1864. 
 
 ♦William S. Moore, /., Editor, Washington, Pa. 
 
 M. P. Morrison, /., Monongahela City, Pa. 
 
 Robert J. Munce, p., Washington, Pa. 
 
 Edward B. Neely, /., St. Joseph, Mo. 
 
 William M. Orr, /., Orrville, O. 
 
 ♦Thomas W. Porter, /., W^aynesburg, Pa. 
 
 Samuel Power, Nevada. 
 
 Hon. Wm. H. H. M. Pusey, /., Senator, Iowa; M. C, Council Bluffs, 
 
 Iowa. 
 ♦Huston Quail, /., Washington, Pa. 
 John A. Rankin, Xenia, 111. 
 Robert Robb, w., Brownsville, Oregon. 
 ♦James H. Smith, Allegheny County, Pa. 
 John H. Storer, p., Triadelphia, W. Va, 
 Alex. Wilson, /., Washington, Pa. 
 
 One of his classmates, Alexander M. Gow, of Fonta- 
 nelle, Iowa, writes Mr. Blaine's biographer that while at 
 College he was '* a boy of pleasing manners and agree- 
 able address, quite popular among the students and in 
 society. He was a better scholar than student. Hav- 
 ing very quick perceptions and a remarkable memory 
 he was able to catch and retain easily what came to 
 others by hard work. In the literary society he was a 
 politician, and it was there, I think, that he received a 
 good deal of the training that made him what he is." 
 The mother of his college room-mate remembers very 
 well when her son brought him home to spend a vaca- 
 tion. She speaks of him as a " raw, angular fellow, with 
 a big nose," and says that when she met him a year or 
 two ago she was " astounded to find that he remem- 
 bered every incident of those boyish days, and could tell
 
 14 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 her many things which she had forgotten. He remem- 
 bered all the family, their relatives and the neighbors, 
 and could talk of his visit as though it had been but 
 yesterday." 
 
 H. H. M. Pusey, of Iowa, another of his classmates, 
 and a member of Congress from Iowa, says : 
 
 "James Blaine, as I remember him, was a pretty well- 
 built boy and a hard student. He had an impediment 
 of his speech, however, which prevented him from join- 
 ing in our debates and declamations, but he could dis- 
 tance all his classmates in the matter of studies, and his 
 memory was remarkable. We had in the college a liter- 
 ary society, of which I was president about the time 
 Blaine was sixteen years old. One day he came to me 
 and said : * B-b ill, I would like to be p-president of the 
 literary. Can you f-f-fix it for me ? ' I answered : ' Why, 
 what do you know about the literary society ? You have 
 never taken any part in the debates and have always 
 preferred to pay your fine to taking active part. Do 
 you know anything about parliamentary practice ?' He 
 replied : ' No, but I can c-c-commit Cushing's Manual to 
 memory in one night.' Well, the result was that at the 
 next meeting I '■ fixed it ' for him, and at the meeting 
 next week Blaine was elected president, vice Pusey, 
 term expired. As he had promised, he committed the 
 entire contents of Cushing's Manual, and he proved the 
 best president the literary society of the college ever 
 had. 
 
 " I remember one day his father told him to get up 
 early and go to the market to buy a turkey. He gave 
 him a dollar, which was a good deal of money in those 
 days. Well, James brought home the bird and handed
 
 AT COLLEGE. I 5 
 
 it to old Dinah, the colored cook of the Blaine family. 
 When the elder Blaine came down to breakfast Dinah 
 greeted him : * Mars Blaine, dat dar turkey what Mars 
 Jim buyed dis mawnin' am de quarest turkey I's ever 
 seed. Deed it is, Mars Blaine.' 
 
 " < Why, what's the matter with it, Dinah ? ain't it big 
 enough ?' replied the old gentleman. ^It ought to be, 
 surely ; Jim paid a dollar for it' 
 
 *' ' Oh yes, Mars Blaine, de turkey is big 'nuff, but it 
 am de funniest turkey dis yer nigger ever seed.' 
 
 " * Mars Blaine ' went out to the kitchen to look at 
 the 'turkey' and found it to be a ten-year-old goose. 
 
 " He called Jim down and hauled him over the coals, 
 saying : * Why, Jim, you ought to be ashamed of your- 
 self. Fifteen years old and can't tell a turkey from a 
 goose ! ' 
 
 *' Jim hung his head and simply replied : ' Why, how's 
 a boy to tell a turkey from a goose when its feathers are 
 off.' " 
 
 Another who seems to have known him says : 
 
 " To the new scholars who entered in succeeding 
 classes he was a hero — uniformly kind to them, ready 
 to give assistance and advice, and eager to make pleas- 
 ant their path in college life. His handsome person 
 and neat attire ; his ready sympathy and prompt assist- 
 ance ; his frank, generous nature, and his brave manly 
 bearing, made him the best known, the best loved, 
 and the most popular boy at college. He was the ar- 
 biter among younger boys in all their disputes, and the 
 authority with those of his own age on all questions." 
 
 Young Blaine's chief diversion while in college seems 
 to have been the hunting of the bushy-tailed fox, which
 
 1 6 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 abounded in the region. In his sportsman's excursions 
 he often accompanied a negro named Randolph Tearle, 
 who was accounted the most skilful huntsman in the 
 valley. Washington County is in the midst of gently 
 undulating hills, covered with generous forests, and was 
 a fruitful field for this kind of sport when James Blaine 
 roamed over it as a boy. The county is now, as it had 
 begun to be then, a rich agricultural region. More wool 
 is taken from the sheep that pasture on its hills than 
 from those of any other county in the United States, 
 and it has fairly productive beds of coal. On its streams 
 the college lad beguiled his idle hours boating or fishing. 
 The Monongahela River is the eastern boundary of 
 Washington County, and there are numerous creeks 
 within its limits. One of his acquaintances in the town 
 of Washington says : ''There is not a stump or rock on 
 these hills that Blaine doesn't know. He knows the 
 country about here better than most of the people who 
 have never lived anywhere else. He must have scoured 
 these hills while he was a boy." 
 
 He is very well remembered by every one about his 
 old home, of course — that is the privilege of all men 
 who go away from any home to become famous. But 
 not all men in whose careers their ancient neighbors 
 find cause for honest pride, are held in such kindly re- 
 membrance. In Brownsville and Washington the visi- 
 tor's ear is assailed with reminiscences of his early years. 
 These are not all memorable or even very entertaining, 
 but they are invariably delivered with a heartiness
 
 AT COLLEGE, 1 7 
 
 which gives them a value as expressions of the popular 
 liking for Mr. Blaine among those who have known him 
 intimately. Perhaps he is liked not only because these 
 people remember him pleasantly, but because he remem- 
 bers them pleasantly, for when he has returned to his 
 old home his capacious memory has accompanied him, 
 and his success has not taught him to deny the humblest 
 of his old associates. 
 
 The class list will have shown his standing upon 
 graduation, — certainly not discreditable to one who is 
 remembered as a good but not sedulous student by his 
 companions. It is said that he excelled in mathematics 
 and the languages. It was a fit close to his college 
 career, as well as a prophetic beginning of his life-work, 
 that his commencement oration should have been upon 
 **The Duty of an Educated American."
 
 III. 
 
 EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 "A FEW months after graduation, in October," says 
 Mr. Blaine, in a letter already presented to the reader, 
 *' I went to Kentucky." That is a simple record, and 
 conveys no intimation of the causes which impelled the 
 step ; and it does not become his biographer to be more 
 wise. He sought his fortune in what was then known 
 as the West ; and the journey, though a briefer one in 
 miles than that to the region now known under that 
 name, may very well have occupied as much time, for 
 he went by boat. His fortune was not found at the 
 Western Military Institute, a school for boys estab- 
 lished at Blue Lick Springs, Kentucky. But as a 
 professor he won the general liking which had fallen 
 naturally to him as a student, and was rather uncom- 
 monly successful, it would seem, in a calling which 
 could not have been congenial. He was upon excellent 
 terms with all the boys, kept ready command of their 
 Christian names, as well as of the characters for which 
 those names stood, and was able in this way to exert a
 
 EXPERIMENTS. 1 9 
 
 positive influence, though occupying a subordinate posi- 
 tion. When a contest arose between the owners of the 
 Springs and the faculty touching the removal of the 
 school he exhibited his personal courage. The diffi- 
 culty finally occasioned a melee in which the knife and 
 revolver played the usual part. The young professor 
 from Pennsylvania only used his fist, but used it skil- 
 fully, fighting with the greatest coolness and courage. 
 
 But the most important fruit of his Kentucky resi- 
 dence was not the proof it offered of his personal cour- 
 age, his ability to do a thing not after his calling wxll, 
 or his security in the approval of his fellows in a wider 
 world than that of the college. It w^as at Blue Lick 
 Springs that he met the admirable woman who became 
 his wife. Miss Harriet Stanwood, a native of Maine, 
 had been sent to be educated at a seminary for young 
 ladies at Millersburg, Kentucky. This school was 
 presided over by the wife of the principal of the West- 
 ern Military Institute, and was twenty miles from Blue 
 Lick Springs. The intercourse between the two schools 
 was of course constant, and it was natural that the pro- 
 fessors of the military academy should meet the young 
 girls of the seminary. No account remains of the woo- 
 ing, but in little more than a year after his arrival in 
 Kentucky he married Miss Stanwood, and soon after 
 returned with her to Pennsylvania, where he for a time 
 studied law. Though prepared he did not present him- 
 self for admission to the Bar, but the grounding in 
 legal principles then gained has been of essential ser-
 
 20 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 vice in all his later work. He was perhaps in need of 
 some more immediately remunerative occupation than 
 the study of the law, for in 1854, being then the father 
 of a boy of two, he answered the advertisement of Mr. 
 William Chapin, Principal of the Pennsylvania Institu- 
 tion for the Instruction of the Blind, for a teacher. 
 This excellent home and school for the blind still stands 
 at the corner of Twentieth and Race Streets in Phila- 
 delphia, and Mr. Chapin is still its admirable principal. 
 He has furnished the writer of these lines with ''the 
 little he so pleasantly remembers" about the young 
 man who offered himself for the vacant position thirty 
 years ago : 
 
 "We needed," he writes, *'a principal instructor in 
 the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the 
 Blind, in the year 1852. A large number answered my 
 advertisement ; and one, whose fine manly presence 
 and intellectual features struck me so favorably that 
 no difficulty existed in making a selection. The ap- 
 pointment was at once made. His estimable wife and 
 little son, Stanley, a beautiful boy of about two years, 
 was welcomed with the husband and father, though 
 not within the rules of the institution in such cases, 
 and the only exception ever made. But we could not 
 afford to reject a case whose promise was as one in a 
 thousand. 
 
 "We were not disappointed. He had charge of the 
 higher classes in literature and science. The blind are 
 taught orally in great part. Their mental work is
 
 EXPERIMEN-TS. 2 1 
 
 remarkable. The most abstruse and difficult mathe- 
 matical problems are mastered by them. And Mr. 
 Blaine's brilliant mental powers were exactly qualified 
 to enlighten and instruct the interesting minds before 
 him, and solve all their difficulties. 
 
 *' He was a good speaker and talker. He had a re- 
 markable fluency of words, and his language was good. 
 He was an excellent scholar. His memory of facts and 
 persons of the long past was wonderful. He was es- 
 pecially fond of debate, and his ready memory gave 
 him great advantages. We had many argumentative 
 contests together during the two years he remained 
 with us. He was positive, self-possessed, and deter- 
 mined, if possible, to gain his point. 
 
 '' Mr, Blaine, it will be remembered, was at that period 
 (1852 to 1854) a young man. His experiences since then 
 have all been in the direction of improvement and great 
 enlargement of opportunity in public life. If he was 
 a young intellectual giant then, we may presume those 
 powders are now somewhat colossal. 
 
 '' He left our institution in 1854, to take charge of a 
 public journal in Maine. I marked his rapid course. 
 He was elected soon to the State Legislature. I noticed, 
 but without surprise, his statistical reports on State and 
 other subjects. He was great on figures, dates, and 
 facts, as had been already noticed when wHth us, in the 
 compilation, in manuscript, of a quarto volume of 284 
 pages, giving all the business, history, and facts con- 
 nected with the progress of the institution until the day
 
 22 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 he left. This large voluntary work, in his own quiet 
 liours after the duties of the day, was a surprise and 
 gratification to the managers, who made a suitable rec- 
 ognition of this interesting gift. The volume is pre- 
 served in the institution as a testimonial of its author, 
 and is the more valued for the great and popular favor 
 he now enjoys tliroughout the country." 
 
 " He was a man," Mr. Chapin has elsewhere said, "of 
 very 4pcided will, and was very much disposed to argu- 
 ment. He was young then — only twenty-two — and was 
 rather impulsive, leaping to a conclusion very quickly. 
 But he was always ready to defend his conclusions, 
 however suddenly he seemed to have reached them. 
 We had many a familiar discussion in this very room, 
 and his arguments always astonished me by the knowl- 
 edge they displaved of facts in history and politics. His 
 memory was remarkable, and seemed to retain details 
 which ordinary men would forget." 
 
 The title-page of the book which he compiled reads : 
 
 Journal 
 
 of the 
 
 Pennsylvania Institution 
 
 for the 
 
 INSTRUCTION OF THE BLIND, 
 
 from its foundation. 
 
 Compiled from ofhcial records 
 
 by 
 
 James G. Blaine. 
 
 1854.
 
 EXPERIMENTS. 2$ 
 
 The book is made with perfect method, the abbrevia- 
 tions used being explained on the first page. On the 
 fly-leaf is the following : 
 
 ** On this and the four following pages will be found 
 some notes in regard to the origin of the Pennsylvania 
 Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, furnished 
 by I. Francis Fisher." "From this page, the i88th," 
 says a Philadelphia journal, " in which is the last entry 
 made by Mr. Blaine, every line is a model of neatness 
 and accuracy. On every page is a wide margin. At 
 the top of the margin is the year, in ornamental figures. 
 Below it is a brief statement of what the text contains 
 opposite that portion of the marginal entry. Every year's 
 record closes with an elaborate table, giving the attend- 
 ance of members of the board. The last pages of the 
 book are filled with alphabetical lists of officers of the 
 institution and statistical tables, compiled by the same 
 patient and untiring hand. One of the lists is that of 
 the 'principal teachers.' No. 13 is followed by the 
 signature 'James G. Blaine, from August 5, 1852, to* 
 — and then, in another hand, the record is completed 
 with the date November 23, 1854." 
 
 " I think that the book," says Mr. Chapin, *' illustrates 
 the character of the man in accurate mastery of facts 
 and orderly presentation of details. We still use it for 
 reference, and Mr. Frank Battles, the assistant princi- 
 pal, is bringing the record down to the present time. 
 
 " Mr. Blaine taught mathematics, in which he ex- 
 celled, and the higher branches. His wife was univer-
 
 24 JAMES G. BLAIXE. 
 
 saily beloved, and often read aloud to the pupils. 
 When he went away to become editor of the Ke7i7iebec 
 Journal we felt that we had lost a man of large parts, 
 and we have watched his upward career with great in- 
 terest. He has called here a number of times when he 
 stopped in the city on his way to and from Washington. 
 The last time he was here he heard with great interest 
 of the progress of D. D. Wood, the blind organist of St. 
 Stephen's church, who was one of his pupils, and re- 
 called Mr. Wood's proficiency in mathematics." 
 
 ** Three persons now holding positions in the institu- 
 tion, Michael M. Williams, William McMillan, and Miss 
 Maria Cormany, were pupils under Mr. Blaine. Mr. 
 Williams says : ' Everybody loved Mr. Blaine and his 
 wife. Both were always ready to do anything for our 
 amusement in leisure hours, and we had a great deal of 
 fun, into which they entered heartily. I think that Mrs. 
 Blaine read nearly all of Dickens' works aloud to us ; 
 and Mr. Blaine used to make us roar with laughter by 
 reading out of a work entitled * Charcoal Sketches.' 
 In the evening he used to read aloud to both the boys 
 and girls. Then we would wind up with a spelling-bee. 
 Sometimes Mr, Blaine would give out the words and 
 sometimes one of the big boys would do it, while Mr. 
 Blaine stood up among the boys. Then we would have 
 great fun trying to 'spell the teacher down.' " 
 
 When this institution, in which Mr. Blaine for the 
 second time discharged the functions of teacher, was 
 first established, there was but one other similar estab-
 
 EXPERIMENTS. 2$ 
 
 lishment in the country, that of Boston, which had be- 
 gun its work only the year previous. " It was, there- 
 fore," we are told, ** an untried enterprise that its found- 
 ers undertook, and its success is wholly due to their 
 wisdom, energy, and devotion to the interests of the 
 blind. Starting in a rented house, with an assessed in- 
 come of only $i,ooo a year, it now possesses a fine 
 building, and has, in addition to receiving a subsidy 
 from the State, through the liberality of its friends, 
 an income of its own. The fiftieth anniversary of the 
 foundation of the institution was publicly celebrated 
 by appropriate exercises at Association Hall, on March 
 5, 1884."
 
 IV. 
 
 EDITOR AND STATE POLITICAL LEADER. 
 
 In his work here it is evident that Mr. Blaine was 
 successful, but his wife was anxious that their home 
 should be made in her native State, and, guided perhaps 
 by his own ambition for a larger field as well as by a 
 spirit of complaisance to his wife's wishes, he resigned 
 his position in the school and removed to Augusta, 
 where his home has since been. He found himself, per- 
 haps, without certain of the theories of life and affairs 
 which prevail in Maine, but he either readily assimi- 
 lated them or found that his own sound and honest 
 theories sufficed ; for, from the editorial chair of the 
 Kennebec Journal, purchased with Joseph Baker, a 
 prominent lawyer of that place, he presently exercised 
 an important influence in his adopted State. The your- 
 nal was a weekly and an organ of the Whig party, and 
 under Mr. Blaine's management did vigorous service 
 for that expiring cause. In 1857, just after the first 
 convention of the Republican party, he disposed of his 
 interest in the Journal and assumed editorial charge of
 
 EDITOR AND STATE POLITICAL LEADER. 2/ 
 
 a daily newspaper in Portland, called the Advertiser. 
 During the campaign of i860 he for a time again edited 
 the Kennebec J^ournal^ its regular editor being ill ; but 
 with his election to the State Legislature, in 1858, he 
 gave up the active pursuit of journalism. His connec- 
 tion with the press may, however, be reckoned as ex- 
 tending from 1854 to i860, a period of six years. 
 
 The loosening of party lines at this time offered a fruit- 
 ful opportunity to young men. The old Whig party 
 was breaking up, inadequate to the solution of the tre- 
 mendous problems which had risen. When a party 
 came into sudden being, eagerly ready to solve the larg- 
 est problems, and, though so swift a growth, entirely 
 capable of solving them, the moribund Whig organiza- 
 tion died instantly, and the young Republican party 
 took up its abandoned endeavors with fresh energy and 
 a determination before which everything went down. 
 It came into existence with an alertness at which dazed 
 conser\^atives blinked, and it organized, and uttered its 
 simple convictions with a positiveness which made both 
 its friends and opponents start a little. Its convic- 
 tions involved large consequences, for they expressed 
 themselves in a moral purpose, and when that danger- 
 ous thing has got abroad we know that small parties 
 and small men must take care of themselves. It was a 
 party built upon an idea — a prodigious idea. It looked 
 to the future ; it broke with the past, and it was there- 
 fore pre-eminently the party of young men. One young 
 man, at his editorial desk in a town of Maine, felt that
 
 28 JAMES G, BLAINE, 
 
 with the accustomed quickness of his sensibility. He 
 saw that the time of the Whig organization had come ; 
 he recognized the fresh impulse, he perceived its value, 
 and he was among the first in his State to throw himself 
 into the new cause. It was a time when young men 
 readily secured a hearing. They were indeed the archi- 
 tects of the party which had just sprung into being. 
 This movement, coming at the outset of Mr. Blaine's 
 political career, gave him an opportunity for which he 
 might otherwise have waited long. His writings on the 
 subject which now engrossed all men's thoughts were too 
 vigorous and earnest to escape attention, and he found 
 himself a leader almost before he could have expected 
 to be thoroughly recognized as a subaltern. His early 
 success is the explanation of his attainment, at little 
 more than fifty, to the highest honor of his party. The 
 reasons of that early success are obvious, and it is im- 
 possible to refuse one's admiration to the courageous 
 conviction and the prompt action which gave it force. 
 It is an old message now — that which came to the large- 
 fibred men of 1856 — it has grown dull in our ears. But 
 its genuineness was not so clear then. Enemies strove 
 to hinder its voice, and it was scoffed at. The men who 
 heard that whispered message through the contumely 
 of adversaries and the doubtful murmurs of half-hearted 
 friends, who heeded it and thundered it at last through 
 the iron throat of war, are men who must always be 
 gratefully remembered by loyal hearts. 
 
 The sentiments which Mr. Blaine made so freely
 
 EDITOR AND STATE POLITICAL LEADER. 29 
 
 known through the columns of a newspaper he was 
 ready to champion in person ; and he was sent as a 
 delegate from Maine to the first convention of the 
 Republican party. He was made one of the secretaries 
 of that body, and when General Fremont was nomi- 
 nated returned home to find himself, at a ratification 
 meeting, called upon for his maiden speech. A writer 
 says : 
 
 " At that time he had exhibited all the qualifications 
 of an orator, but had never ventured upon the public 
 platform. He seemed to have a strong fear of address- 
 ing a public audience, and it was only after much persua- 
 sion that he consented, on this occasion, to speak. When 
 he arose to his feet he was in such a state of perturbation 
 and embarrassment that it was some time before he was 
 able to command himself so as to begin to talk. From 
 the moment he got possession of his voice he continued, 
 and made one of the finest speeches he ever made in his 
 life." 
 
 The late Governor Kent, of Maine, speaking of Mr. 
 Blaine's career in that State, has said : ** Almost from 
 the day of his assuming editorial charge of the Kennebec 
 Journal^ at the early age of twenty-three, Mr. Blaine 
 sprang into a position of great influence in the politics 
 and policy of Maine. At twenty-five he was a leading 
 power in the councils of the Republican party, so rec- 
 ognized by Fessenden, Hamlin, and the two Morrills, 
 and others then and still prominent in the State. Be- 
 fore he was twenty-nine he was chosen chairman of the
 
 30 JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 
 Executive Committee of the Republican organization 
 in Maine — a position he has held ever since, and from 
 which he has practically shaped and directed every 
 political campaign in the State, always leading his 
 party to brilliant victory."
 
 V. 
 
 IN CONGRESS. 
 
 An even, certain ascent has distinguished Mr. 
 Blaine's political advancement. It has gone forward 
 by promotions as regular as if they had been won in the 
 army or navy. The time had come for a new step 
 which was to widen his field from the State to the 
 Nation. 
 
 In the convention which first nominated him for Con- 
 gress he stated his convictions as to the policy that 
 should be pursued in suppressing the rebellion. He 
 said : " The great object with us all is to subdue the 
 rebellion — speedily, effectually, and finally. In our 
 march to that end we must crush all intervening obsta- 
 cles. If slavery or any other * institution ' stands in the 
 way it must be removed. Perish all things else, the 
 national life must be saved." He added that he was 
 determined to stand heartily by the Administration of 
 Abraham Lincoln. He declared that he should be the 
 unswerving adherent of the policy and measures which 
 the President in his wisdom might adopt. Mr. Blaine's
 
 32 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 patriotic utterances met with a hearty response, and he 
 was elected over his Democratic competitor by the larg- 
 est majority ever given in his district, it exceeding 3,000. 
 During his first term there sat with him on the 
 floor of the House, Elihu B. Washburne, Owen Love- 
 joy, George W. Julian, Godlove S, Orth, Schuyler Col- 
 fax, James F. Wilson, William B. Allison, John A. Kas- 
 son, Alexander H. Rice, Henry L. Dawes, William 
 Windom, F. P. Blair, Jr., James Brooks, Erastus Corn- 
 ing, Reuben E. Fenton, Francis Kernan, George H. 
 Pendleton, Robert C. Schenck, James A. Garfield, Sam- 
 uel J. Randall, William D. Kelley, Thaddeus Stevens, 
 G. W. Schofield, and many other men who have since 
 become prominent. From this time, it has properly 
 been said, his career is part of the national history. He 
 took at once an active part in debate, and presently be- 
 came known as a shrewd and ready speaker. His long 
 speeches were not numerous, but in the swift skirmishes 
 which are constantly in progress in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives he was excellent, even at this early stage of 
 his congressional career, beyond any other member. 
 The nimble movement of his mind furnished him with 
 a tremendous power, and the ceaseless shower of small 
 shot with which he vexed his adversaries proved, in the 
 result, at least as effective as if he had trained the sol- 
 itary canon of heavier speakers upon them. His brief- 
 est replies and comments, even as one reads them, re- 
 mote from the stirring scenes which induced them, and 
 turned cold upon the dreary pages of the Congressional
 
 IlSr CONGRESS. 33 
 
 Record^ have a tenacious quality of life and spirit. The 
 zest of this hurtling fire has the rarest power which we 
 know — the power to recreate the time and the occasion, 
 and to put a pulse in words long stiffened into type. 
 It is the force of a munificent personality. 
 
 This dexterity, this quick and daring form of attack, 
 may seem to one who merely reads of it, and has not 
 been privileged by sight of it in action, a clever but su- 
 perficial parliamentary method. But only to read the 
 report of one of these animated passages at arms, which 
 anyone may still do, is to become aware of the solidity 
 of their foundation. They sprang from the securest 
 knowledge of their subject, and were so ready because 
 the chief actor in them was filled with understanding 
 of the issue. Mr. Blaine's comprehension was alert even 
 in his college days, but if his mind went forward by 
 leaps it always alighted on perfectly firm ground. His 
 wide and abundant interest in every public topic contri- 
 buted directly to the strength in rapid debate long at- 
 tributed to him. He not only always understood but 
 was always interested, and his zeal often turned what 
 appeared to the casual eye a common sort of road dust — 
 familiar to the House of Representatives — into a very 
 fair quality of gold. His speeches are illustrated by the 
 ample acquaintance with history and literature which 
 he gained as a young man, and his comparisons are 
 usually strikingly felicitous. His style, however, is sim- 
 ple and direct, and leaves the flowers of rhetoric uncut. 
 It assails its subject with straightforward vigor and takes 
 3
 
 34 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 hold of the substance of it. His earnest manner carries 
 a conviction of its own with it, and those who like it are 
 willing to grant in advance the unfailing cogency of ar- 
 gument upon which it rests. 
 
 During his six years on the floor of the House Mr. 
 Blaine was a favorite among frequenters of the gal- 
 leries, not alone for that common and not necessarily 
 lofty ability to enliven the drowsy hours, but for his 
 devoted championship of every just and wise measure. 
 It was a prophecy of the wider popularity which began 
 to reward his tireless zeal in the public service. 
 
 In writing of his power as a speaker, his unusual 
 success in what is euphoniously termed " stump speak- 
 ing " should be recognized. The qualities which gave 
 him the leadership of the House, lent his political ad- 
 dresses to the people a force entirely new. and peculi- 
 arly well adapted to its object. His speeches for can- 
 didates have won them votes. No one who hears him 
 can doubt that ; but it has been repeatedly shown. la 
 his own State, where it is easy to number political pulse- 
 beats, and to learn their origin with some accuracy, his 
 championship has more than once saved an election, 
 and in the broader field of national politics, though his 
 influence is not so easily measured, it has counted for a 
 tremendous force. One wonders if the speeches of a 
 canvass in common really do gain votes ; we have at 
 least all heard addresses which must have lost votes. 
 The quality in Mr. Blaine's manner of talking to a 
 political meeting — for like other successful speakers of
 
 IN- CONGRESS. 35 
 
 this kind he uses no formal oratory — which leaves in 
 every mind a confidence of its effect, is not a thing to 
 be reached by casual analysis. It may be doubted if 
 any process would make it known at last. The current 
 explanation, we believe, is "personal magnetism," but 
 that is very weak. We at once ask, what is " personal 
 magnetism?" and as no one knows what it is, though 
 every one has felt it, the answer waits. It is at least a 
 remarkable power ; it engrosses and fascinates his au- 
 diences. His zeal, his energy, his overmastering belief 
 in the truth and righteousness of his cause, are things 
 which reach the dullest minds and sway them. His 
 arguments, stoutly but plainly put, have a very especial 
 and unusual cogency, and their march is in a solid 
 front. It is, however, in a less palpable quality than any 
 of these that his highest power resides — a quality 
 which in trying to express we begin to compare and to 
 find symbols for. There is no adequate word, and our 
 borrowings from the language of the most mysterious 
 of natural forces are themselves only attempts at the 
 expression of the inexpressible. 
 
 An attempt to pursue his course step by step during 
 the long term of his service in Congress would be weari- 
 some. He spoke upon every important measure, and 
 briefly discussed many petty laws about which none 
 but sedulous readers of the Congressional Record will 
 ever be perfectly informed. They had their bearing 
 at the time, as evreything has ; and it may as well be 
 admitted, as a reply in advance to those malevolent
 
 36 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 Students of the proceedings of Congress who assist at 
 all presidential campaigns, that Mr. Blaine occasional- 
 ly fancied they had a bearing which later it was plain 
 they had not, and that he made mistakes enough in his 
 votes to relieve his biographer of the duty of proving 
 his perfection. 
 
 The list of committees on which he has served dur- 
 ing his long term of service exhibits almost as well as 
 any other record the kind of work he has done during 
 his long term of congressional ser\dce. They are the 
 better worth giving in full, as they represent the kind of 
 work for which, except among Congressmen, the labor- 
 ious committee-men have little credit. It is usually dull 
 routine labor, and can be made as abundant as one will. 
 It has always been very abundant with Mr. Blaine ; by 
 means of it he has doubtless saved the public treasury 
 and the statute-book from more than either his friends 
 or opponents know, and as it has been done in silence 
 it will perhaps bear a little trumpeting. 
 
 First Session, Thirty-ninth Congress. 
 
 Committee on Military Affairs. 
 
 Robert C. Shenck, of O. Sydenham E. Ancona, of Penn. 
 
 H. C Denning, of Conn. John H. Ketcham, of N. Y. 
 
 Oilman Martin, of N. H. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 LovELL H. Rousseau, of Ky. Chas. Sitgreaves, of N. J. 
 John A. Bingham, of O. 
 
 Select Committee of One from each State represented on the Death oj 
 President Lincoln. 
 
 E. B. Washburne, of 111. K C Schenck, of O. 
 
 James G. Blaine, of Me. G. S. Shanklin, of Ky.
 
 IN CONGRESS. 37 
 
 J. W. Patterson, of N. H. G. S. Orth, of Ind. 
 
 J. S. Morrill, of Vt. J. W. McClurg, of Mo. 
 
 N. P. Banks, of Mass. T. C. Beaman, of Mich. 
 
 G. A. Jenckes, of R. I. J. A. Kasson, of Iowa, 
 
 D. C. Denning, of Conn. J. C. Sloan, of Wis. 
 J. H. Griswold, of N. Y. W. Higby, of Gal. 
 
 E. R. V. Wright, of N. J. W. Windom, of Minn. 
 T. Stevens, of Penn. S. Clarke, of Kans. 
 
 J. A. Nicholson, of Del. K V. Whaley, of W. Va. 
 
 F. Thomas, of Md. 
 
 Second Session, Thirty-ninth Congress. 
 
 Committee on Military Affairs. 
 
 R. C. Schenck, of O. S. E. Ancona, of Penn. 
 
 H. C. Denning, of Conn. J. H. Ketcham, of N. Y. 
 
 G. Marston, of N. H. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 L. H. Rousseau, of Ky. Chas. Sitgreaves, of N. J. 
 
 J. A. Bingham, of O. 
 
 Committee on War Debts of Loyal States. 
 James G. Blaine, of Me. J. A. Plants, of O. 
 
 T. Hooper, of Miss. W. A. Newell, of N. J. 
 
 B. F. Loan, of Mo. T. W. Ferry, of Mich. 
 
 B. M. BoYER, of Penn. J. R. Hawkins, of Tenn. 
 
 W. A. Darling, of N. Y. 
 
 First Session, Fortieth Congress. 
 Committee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. N. P. Banks, of Mass. 
 Elihu B. Washburne, of 111. J. Brooks, of N. Y. 
 
 Second Session, Fortieth Congress. 
 Committee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. N. P. Banks, of Mass. 
 Elihu B. Washburne, of 111. J. Brooks, of N. Y. 
 
 Third Session, Fortieth Congress. 
 Committee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. N. P. BANKS, of Mass. 
 Elihu B. Washburne, of 111. J. Brooks, of N. Y.
 
 38 JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 
 First Session, Forty-first Congress. 
 Committee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. James A. Garfield, of O. 
 N. P. Banks, of Mass. James Brooks, of N. Y. 
 
 T. W. Ferry, of Mich. 
 
 Second Session, Forty-first Congress. 
 Committee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. James A. Garfield, of O. 
 N. P. Banks, of Mass. James Brooks, of N. Y. 
 
 T. W. Ferry, of Mich. 
 
 First Session, Forty-second Congress. 
 Committee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. S. S. Cox, of N. Y. 
 N. P. Banks, of Mass. S. J. Randall, of Perm. 
 
 James A. Garfield, of O. 
 
 Second Session, Forty-second Congress. 
 Committee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. S. S. Cox, of N. Y. 
 N. P. Banks, of Mass. S. J. Randall, of Penn. 
 
 James A. Garfield, of O. 
 
 Third Session, Forty-second Congress. 
 Comm.ittee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. S. S. Cox, of N. Y. 
 N. P. Banks, of Mass. S. J. Randall, of Penn, 
 
 James A. Garfield, of O. 
 
 First Session, Forty-third Congress. 
 Committee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. S. S. Cox, of N. Y. 
 Horace Maynard, of Tenn. S. J. Randall, of Penn. 
 
 James A. Garfield, of O. 
 
 Second Session, Forty-third Congress. 
 Co?nmittee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, James G. Blaine. S. S. Cox, of N. Y. 
 Horace Maynard, of Tenn. S. J. Randall, of Penn, 
 
 James A. Garfield, of O.
 
 IN CONGRESS. 39 
 
 Third Session, Forty-third Congress. 
 Committee on the Rules. 
 The Speaker, Jaines G. Blaine. S. S. Cox, of N. Y. 
 Horace Maynard, of Tenn. S. J. Randall, of Penn. 
 
 James A. Garfield, of O. 
 
 First Session, Forty-fourth Congress. 
 Com?fiittee on Ways and Means. 
 N. R. Morrison, of 111. J. T. Tucker, of Va. 
 
 Fernando Wood, of N. Y. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 J. Hancock, of Tex. W. D. Kelley, of Penn. 
 
 P. F. Thomas, of Md. James A. Garfield, of O. 
 
 B. H. Hill, of Ga. H. C. Burchard, of 111. 
 
 C. W. Chapin, of Miss. 
 
 Committee on the Rtiles. 
 The Speaker, Ja7nes G. Blaine. N. P. Banks, of Mass. 
 S. J. Randall, of Penn. S. S. Cox, of N. Y. 
 
 Select Committee of the House, on the Centennial Celebration and the 
 
 proposed National Census of 1875. 
 James H. Hopkins, of Penn. A. A. Hardenbergh, of N. J. 
 
 J. Hancock, of Texas. W. D. Kelley, of Penn. 
 
 .W. H. Barnum, of Conn. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 N. P. Banks, of Mass. W. Lawrence, of O. 
 
 C. H. Harrison, of 111. W. H. Baker, of N. Y. 
 
 W. J. O'Brien, of Md. J. R. Rainey, of S. C. 
 
 A. S. Williams, of Mich. 
 
 Second Session, Forty-fourth Congress. 
 Senate Com?nittee on Appropriations. 
 
 W. WiNDOM, of Minn. Ja7nes G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 J. R. West, of La. D. G. Davis, of W. Va. 
 
 A. A. Sargent, of Cal. R. E. Withers, of Va. 
 
 W. B. Allison, of Iowa. W. A. Wallace, of Penn. 
 S. W. DORSEY, of Ark. 
 
 Senate Committee on Naval A fairs. 
 A. H. Cragin, of N. H. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 H. B. Anthony, of R. I. T. M. Norwood, of Ga. 
 
 A. A. Sargent, of Cal. W. P. Whyte, of Md. 
 
 S. B. CoNOVER, of Fla.
 
 40 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 Forty-fifth Congress. 
 Committee on Appropriations. 
 W. WiNDOM, of Minn. Jatnes G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 J. R. West, of La. H. G. Davis, of W. Va. 
 
 A. A. Sargent, of Cal. R. E. Withers, of Va, 
 
 W. B. Allison, of Iowa. W. A. Wallace, of Penn. 
 
 S. W. DORSEY, of Ark. J. B. Beck, of Ky. 
 
 Committee on Naval Affairs. 
 
 A. A. Sargent, of CaL W. P. Whyte, of Md. 
 
 H. B. Anthony, of K L J. R McPherson, of N. J. 
 
 S. B. CoNOVER, of Fla. C W. Jones, of Fla. 
 
 James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 Committee on Rules. 
 James G. Blaine, of Me. A S. Merrimon, of N. C. 
 
 T. W. Ferry, of Mich. 
 
 Select Committee of the Senate. 
 
 B. K Bruce, of Miss. L G. Harris, of Tenn. 
 Jatnes G. Blaine, of Me. A. CAMERON, of Wis. 
 W. P. Kellogg, of La. T. B. Eustis, of La. 
 
 F. M. COCKRELL, of Mo. 
 
 First Session, Forty-sixth Congress. 
 Committee on Appropriations. 
 H. G. Davis, of W, Va. W. Windom, of Minn. 
 
 R C. Withers, of Va. W. B. Allison, of Iowa. 
 
 J. B, Beck, of Ky. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 W. A Wallace, of Penn. N. Booth, of Cal. 
 
 W. W. Eaton, of Conn. 
 
 Committee on Naval Affairs. 
 J. R. McPherson, of N. J. H. B. Anthony, of R. L 
 
 W. P. Whyte, of Md. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 C. W. Jones, of Fla, J. D. Cameron, of Penn. 
 Z. B. Vance, of N. C Z. Chandler, of Mich. 
 J. T. Farley, CaL 
 
 Committee on Rules. 
 J. T. Morgan, of Ala. Jam^es G. Blaine, of Me, 
 
 F. M. COCKRELL, of Mo.
 
 IN CONGRESS. 41 
 
 Select Committee on the Mississippi River. 
 L. Q. Lamar, of Miss. B. F. Jonas, of La. 
 
 F. M. CoCKRELL, of Mo. James G. Blaine, of Me, 
 
 I. G. Harris, of Tenn. W. P. Kellogg, of La. 
 
 Second Session, Forty-sixth Congress. 
 Committee on Appropriations. 
 H. G. Davis, of W. Va. W. Windom, of Minn. 
 
 R. C. Withers, of Va. W. B. Allison, of Iowa, 
 
 J. B. Beck, of Ky. Jatnes G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 W. A. Wallace, of Penn. N. Booth, of Cal. 
 
 W. W. Eaton, of Conn. 
 
 Committee on Naval Affairs. 
 J. R. McPherson, of N. J. H. B. Anthony, of R. L 
 
 W. P. Whyte, of Md. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 C. W. Jones, of Fla. J. D. Cameron, of Penn. 
 
 Z. R Vance, of N. C. Z. Chandler, of Mich. 
 
 J. T. Farley, of Cal. 
 
 Committee on Rules. 
 Morgan, of Ala. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 , Cockrell, of Mo. 
 
 Select Committee on the Mississippi River. 
 Lamar, of Miss. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 , Cockrell, of Mo. W. P. Kellogg, of La. 
 
 J. G. Harris, of Tenn. B. K Bruce, of Miss. 
 
 B. F. Jonas, of La. 
 
 Third Session, Forty-sixth Congress. 
 Committee on Appropriations. 
 H. G. Davis, of W. Va. W. Windom, of Minn. 
 
 R. C. Withers, of Va. W. B. Allison, of Iowa. 
 
 J. B. Beck, of Ky. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 W. A. Wallace, of Penn. N. Booth, of Cal. 
 
 W. W. Eaton, of Conn. 
 
 Committee oti N'aval Affairs. 
 J. R. McPherson, of N. J. H. B. Anthony, of R. I. 
 
 W. P. Whyte, of Md. James G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 C. W. Jones, of Fla. J. D. Cameron, of Penn. 
 Z. B. Vance, of N. C. T. W. Ferry, of Mich. 
 S. T. Farley, of Cal. 
 
 J- 
 
 T. 
 
 F. 
 
 M. 
 
 L. 
 
 Q. 
 
 F. 
 
 M.
 
 42 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 Co?ninittee oit Rules. 
 J. T. Morgan, of Ala. W. A. Wallace, of Penn. 
 
 F. M. CocKRELL, of Mo. G. F. Edmunds, of Vt. 
 
 Jaines G. Blaine, of Me. 
 
 Committee 07t the Mississippi River. 
 L. Q. Lamar, of Miss. B. F. Jonas, of La. 
 
 F. M. CocKRELL, of Mo. Ja?nes G. Blaine, of Me. 
 I. G. Harris, of Tenn. W. P. Kellogg, of La. 
 
 Select Committee on the Bill (^S. 227) to provide that the principal Offi- 
 cer of each of the Executive Departments may occupy a Seat on 
 the Floor of the Senate and the House. 
 
 G. H. Pendleton, of O. R. Conkling, of N. Y. 
 D. W. Voorhees, of Ind. W. B. Allison, of Iowa. 
 T. F. Bayard, of Del. Jajnes G. Blaine, of Me. 
 AL C. Butler, of S. C. J. J. Ingalls, of Kan. 
 
 J. T. Farley, of Cal. O. H. Platt, of Conn. 
 
 It has been thought convenient to set forth elsewhere, 
 under separate heads, Mr. Blaine's position on the larger 
 issues which have engaged the attention of Congress 
 during the past twenty years, and in these the major 
 part of his congressional history will be found. Some 
 connected record of his more important acts during his 
 stay in the House may, however, be made with advan- 
 tage. 
 
 It will be seen that in the Thirty-ninth Congress he 
 w^as Chairman of the Committee on the War Debts 
 of the Loyal States. The subject engaged his best 
 energies, and his first distinction as a speaker was won 
 in a speech upon it, in which he contended that it was 
 the duty of the General Government to assume these 
 debts, and maintained the ability of the North to carry 
 on the war, then in progress. The speech attracted
 
 IN CONGRESS, 43 
 
 wide attention and in the Presidential election of 1864 
 was used as a campaign document. When the war was 
 done he returned to the matter and reported a bill for 
 the payment to the States of fifty-five dollars for each 
 soldier sent by them into the field. 
 
 In 1864, he offered a resolution to the following effect : 
 
 '■^Resolved, That the Judiciary Committee be directed 
 to inquire into the expediency of proposing an amend- 
 ment to the Constitution of the United States, by strik- 
 ing out the fifth clause of section nine, article one, 
 which forbids the levying of a tax on articles exported 
 from any State." 
 
 He was one of the most active members of the House 
 in framing the important Reconstruction acts which for 
 several years following the war engrossed almost the 
 entire attention of Congress. 
 
 On January 22, 1866, Mr. Fessenden, of the Senate, 
 and Mr. Stevens, of the House of Representatives, 
 brought before those bodies a partial report from com- 
 mittee, recommending the passage of the following joint 
 resolution : 
 
 "That the following article be proposed to the Legis- 
 latures of the several States as an amendment to the Con- 
 stitution of the United States, which, when ratified by 
 three-fourths of the said Legislatures, shall be valid as 
 part of said Constitution, namely : 
 
 '■'■ ^Article — . Representatives and direct taxes shall 
 be apportioned among the several States which may be 
 included within this Union according to their respective
 
 44 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each 
 State, excluding Indians not taxed : Provided, That 
 whenever the elective franchise shall be denied or 
 abridged in any State on account of race or color, all 
 persons of such race or color shall be excluded from the 
 basis of representation.' " 
 
 Mr. Blaine addressed the House, detailing some objec- 
 tions to the measure. He said : ''While I shall vote for 
 the proposition, I shall do so with some reluctance un- 
 less it is amended, and I do not regret, therefore, that 
 the previous question was not sustained. I am egotistic 
 enough to believe that the phraseology of the original 
 resolution, as introduced by me, was better than that 
 employed in the pending amendment. The phrase ' civil 
 or political rights or privileges,' which I employed, is 
 broader and more comprehensive than the term * elec- 
 tive franchise,' for I fear, with the gentleman from Illi- 
 nois [Mr. Farnsworth], that under the latter phrase the 
 most vicious evasions might be practised. As that gen- 
 tleman has well said, they might make suffrage depend 
 on ownership of fifty acres of land, and then prohibit 
 any negro from holding real estate ; but no such mock- 
 ery as this could be perpetrated under the provisions of 
 the amendment as I originally submitted it." 
 
 In relation to taxation, Mr. Blaine remarked : "Now 
 I contend that ordinary fair play — and certainly we can 
 afford fair play where it does not cost anything — calls 
 for this, namely, that if we exclude them from the basis 
 of representation they should be excluded from the basis
 
 IN CONGRESS, 45 
 
 of taxation. Ever since this Government was founded, 
 representation and taxation iiave gone hand in liand. If 
 we shall exclude the principle in this amendment, we 
 will be accused of a narrow, illiberal, mean-spirited, and 
 money-grasping policy. More than that, w^e do not gain 
 anything by it. What kind of taxation is distributed 
 according to representation ? Direct taxation. Now, we 
 do not have any direct taxation. There have been but 
 twenty millions of direct taxation levied for the last fifty 
 years. That tax was levied in 1861, and was not col- 
 lected, but distributed among the States and held in the 
 Treasury Department as an offset to the war claims of 
 the States ; so that, as a matter of fact, we are putting 
 an offensive discrimination in this proposition and gain- 
 ing nothing for it except obloquy." 
 
 On July 12, 1867, Congress having under considera- 
 tion the government of the insurrectionary States, he 
 made a most important addition to the Fourteenth 
 Amendment, which was generally discussed as " Blaine's 
 Amendment " and was finally adopted in substance. He 
 said : 
 
 '*My purpose in taking the floor at this time is to say 
 very briefly that whether amended or not I shall vote 
 for this bill ; but at the same time to express the earn- 
 est hope that it may be amended in one important 
 feature. I hold in my hand a provision which I trust 
 may be incorporated in it, and I appeal to my distin- 
 guished and venerable friend from Pennsylvania [Mr. 
 Stevens] to allow us at least the privilege of a vote upon
 
 46 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 it. I propose it as an additional section to the pending 
 bill, and I ask the attention of the House while I read 
 it, as follows : 
 
 "'Sec. — . And be it further enacted, that when the 
 constitutional amendment proposed as article fourteenth 
 by the Thirty-ninth Congress shall have become a part of 
 the Constitution of the United States by the ratification 
 of three-fourths of the States now represented in Con- 
 gress, and when any one of the late so-called Confeder- 
 ate States shall have given its assent to the same and con- 
 formed its constitution and laws thereto in all respects ; 
 and when it shall have provided by its constitution that 
 the elective franchise shall be enjoyed equally and im- 
 partially by all male citizens of the United States, 
 twenty-one years old and upward, without regard to 
 race, color, or previous condition of servitude, except 
 such as may be disfranchised for participating in the 
 late rebellion ; and when said constitution shall have 
 been submitted to the voters of said State, as thus de- 
 fined, for ratification or rejection ; and when the consti- 
 tution, if ratified by the popular vote, shall have been 
 submitted to Congress for examination and approval, 
 said State shall, if its constitution be approved by Con- 
 gress, be declared entitled to representation in Congress, 
 and Senators and Representatives shall be admitted 
 therefrom on their taking the oath prescribed by law, 
 and then and thereafter the preceding sections of this 
 bill shall be inoperative in said State.' 
 
 **Now, 1 ask, what more does the bill passed to-day in
 
 I A' CONGRESS. 47 
 
 regard to the civil government of Louisiana demand of 
 that State than this demands of all the States ? That 
 applies to only one State ; you have said nothing of the 
 kind to the other nine ; you propose no civil govern- 
 ment for them. You do not know what may be the 
 result of tha^bill. If you incorporate this amendment 
 in this bill and send it to the Senate, whichever bill the 
 Senate may adopt we shall have achieved something as 
 a basis of reconstruction, and we bring Congress up to 
 the declaration of making equal suffrage a condition 
 precedent to admission. We have never done that yet, 
 and for lack of that declaration we are weak before the 
 country to-day. 
 
 " It happened, Mr. Speaker, possibly by mere accident, 
 that I was the first member of this House who spoke 
 in Committee of the Whole on the President's message 
 at the opening of this session. I then stated that I 
 believed the true interpretation of the elections of 1866 
 was that, in addition to the proposed constitutional 
 amendment, universal, or at least impartial suffrage 
 should be the basis of restoration. Why not declare it 
 so ? Why not, when you send out this military police 
 authority to the lately rebellious States, send with it that 
 impressive declaration ? This amendment does not in 
 the least conflict with the bill for the civil government 
 of Louisiana which we passed to-day. It need not con- 
 flict with any enabling act you may pass in regard to 
 the other nine States. If you choose you may follow 
 up this action at the opening of the Fortieth Congress
 
 48 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 by passing enabling acts for the other nine States. A 
 declaration of this kind attached to this bill will, it 
 seems to me, have great weight and peculiar signifi- 
 cance. It announces to these States what it is im- 
 portant for them to know, and what alone the Congress 
 of the United States can authoritatively declare. 
 
 " In the first place, it specifically declares the doc- 
 trine that three-fourths of the States represented in 
 Congress have the power to adopt the constitutional 
 amendment, and it does not even by implication give 
 them to understand that their assent or ratification is 
 necessary to its becoming a part of the Constitution. 
 It implies that their assent to it is a qualification for 
 themselves ; merely an evidence, both moral and legal, 
 of good faith and loyalty on their part. We specially 
 provide against their drawing the slightest inference 
 in favor of their being a party in any degree essential 
 to the valid ratification of that amendment." 
 
 On the motion to strike Florida from the Reconstruc- 
 tion bill he voted nay. In 1868 he voted for the bill 
 to continue the Bureau for the Relief of the Freedmen 
 and Refugees. He favored the impeachment of Pres- 
 ident Johnson. When Secretary Stanton was assailed 
 by the party opposed to Reconstruction, he joined in 
 Senator Edmunds' vote of thanks and confidence to 
 him. From the opening of the rebellion he had been 
 the faithful champion of the Union on the floor of the 
 House. When others doubted, he was hopeful ; when 
 others failed, he was stanch ; and when the war w^as
 
 IN CONGRESS. 49 
 
 ended, he was chief among those who strove by judi- 
 cious and pacific measures to bind the broken Union 
 together. 
 
 The high position which Mr. Blaine had won in the 
 House has been elsewhere touched upon, as well as his 
 general popularity among his associates. They were 
 now to give him the highest proof of their esteem. 
 4
 
 VI. 
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. 
 
 Mr. Blaine had served six years in Congress and was 
 still a young man, having only reached the age of thirty- 
 nine, when he was chosen Speaker of the House by a 
 highly complimentary vote, the ballot standing 57 for 
 Mr. Michael C. Kerr, of Indiana, and 135 for Mr. Blaine. 
 The new Speaker was accompanied to the chair by 
 Messrs. Dawes and Kerr, and said : 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : 
 
 '' I thank you profoundly for the great honor which 
 your votes have just conferred upon me. The gratifi- 
 cation which this signal mark of your confidence brings 
 to me finds its only drawback in the diffidence with 
 which I assume the weighty duties devolved upon me. 
 
 " Succeeding to a chair made illustrious by the services 
 of such eminent statesmen and skilled parliamentarians 
 as Clay, and Stevenson, and Polk, and Winthrop, and 
 Banks, and Grow, and Colfax, I may well distrust my 
 ability to meet the just expectations of those who have
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. 5 1 
 
 shown me such marked partiality ; but relying, gentle- 
 men, on my honest purpose to perform all my duties 
 faithfully and fearlessly, and trusting in a large measure 
 to the indulgence which I am sure you will always 
 extend to me, I shall hope to retain, as I have secured, 
 your confidence, your kindly aid, and your generous 
 support." 
 
 Nothing that could be said of his public career would 
 meet with readier assent from both his enemies and 
 his friends than the statement that he was one of the 
 best equipped men for the position who have sat in 
 the Speaker's chair. This, in the long space during 
 which he presided over the deliberations of the House, 
 was not denied on any hand, and even his Democratic 
 opponents yielded their admiration to his discharge 
 of the difficult duties of presiding officer. His least 
 reasonable detractors have always admitted his eminent 
 fitness for the post, and a writer in a newspaper, pro- 
 fessedly opposed to Mr. Blaine, speaking after the 
 nomination, says of his bearing as Speaker : ** His 
 quickness, his thorough knowledge of parliamentary 
 law and of the rules, his firmness, clear voice, and im- 
 pressive manner, his ready comprehension of subjects 
 and situations, and his dash and brilliancy have been 
 widely recognized, and really made him a great presid- 
 ing officer." And a contemporary account says : " Mr. 
 Speaker is really wonderful for despatch of business. 
 Red tape is not to his notion, and he has an admirable 
 faculty for cutting corners and knocking away obstruc-
 
 52 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 tions, SO that the House may go by the most direct route 
 to the end it is seeking." Elsewhere it is added : ''It 
 has been said that no man since Clay's speakership pre- 
 sided with such an absolute knowledge of the rules of 
 the House and with so great a mastery in the rapid, in- 
 telligent, and faithful discharge of business. His knowl- 
 edge of parliamentary law was instinctive and complete, 
 and his administration of it so fair that both sides of the 
 House united at the close of each Congress in cordial 
 thanks for his impartiality." 
 
 The high place in the esteem of his associates which 
 his labors in this office won him is best exhibited by 
 the fact that he w^as re-elected without opposition from 
 his own party Speaker of the XLIId and XLHId 
 Congresses. This warm approval had its highest ex- 
 pression, however, in a scene said to be without par- 
 allel in the history of Congress. It occurred at the 
 end of his third term as Speaker, when on March 5, 
 1875, he brought the second session of the XLIIId 
 Congress to a close with the following brief address : 
 
 "Gentlemen : I close with this hour a six-years' ser_ 
 vice as Speaker of the House of Representatives — a 
 period surpassed in length by but two of my predeces- 
 sors and equalled by only two others. The rapid muta- 
 tions of personal and political fortune in this country 
 have limited the great majority of those who have sat in 
 this chair to shorter terms of office. 
 
 " It would be the gravest insensibility to the honors and 
 responsibilities of life not to be deeply touched by so
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. SI 
 
 signal a mark of public esteem as that which I have 
 thrice received at the hands of my political associates. 
 I desire in this last moment to renew to them, one and 
 all, my thanks and my gratitude. 
 
 " To those from whom I differ in my party relations — 
 the minority in this House — I tender my acknowledg- 
 ments for the generous courtesy with which they have 
 treated me. By one of those sudden and decisive 
 changes which distinguish popular institutions and 
 which conspicuously mark a free people, that minority 
 is transformed in the ensuing Congress to the governing 
 power of the House. However it might possibly have 
 been under other circumstances, that event necessarily 
 renders these words my farewell to the chair. 
 
 *'The Speakership of the House of Representatives is 
 a post of honor, of dignity, of power, of responsibility. 
 Its duties are at once complex and continuous ; they 
 are both onerous and delicate ; they are performed in 
 the broad light of day under the eye of the whole peo- 
 ple, subject at all times to the closest observation, and 
 always attended with the sharpest criticism. I think no 
 other official is held to such rigid accountability. Par- 
 liamentary rulings in their very nature are peremp- 
 tory, almost absolute in authority and instantaneous in 
 effect. They cannot always be enforced in such a way 
 as to win applause or secure popularity, but I am sure 
 that no man of any party who is worthy to fill this 
 chair will ever see a dividing line between duty and 
 policy.
 
 54 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 ** Thanking you once more, and thanking you most 
 cordially for the honorable testimonial you have placed 
 on record to my credit, I perform my only remaining 
 duty in declaring that the XLIIId Congress has reached 
 its constitutional limit, and that the House of Repre- 
 sentatives stands adjourned without day." 
 
 A newspaper of the day adds : " As the Speaker closed 
 his address and walked down from the chair, an out- 
 burst of hand clapping and cheers broke from the up- 
 standing members, and was joined in by the immense 
 assemblage on the floor and in the galleries. Never 
 before was witnessed such a scene at the close of a 
 Congress." 
 
 Mr. Blaine was not only technically an admirable 
 presiding officer, but during the course of his adminis- 
 tration, so far as consistent with his function, threw his 
 weight in favor of economy, of hard money, and of clean 
 public service. One of the most notable instances of 
 this conscientious use of his office on its moral side 
 was his refusal to accept the increased salary which the 
 well-known Salary bill provided for the Speaker. Jan- 
 uary 31, 1873, the House then considering the bill for 
 the increase of the salary of the President, Congress- 
 men, and others, the Speaker asked permission to make 
 a personal statement and said : 
 
 *' The Chair now desires to make a statement per- 
 sonal to himself. In reading the bill the Chair pre- 
 sumes the language of this amendment would make the 
 Speaker's salary J 10,000 for this Congress. The salary
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. 55 
 
 of the Speaker, the last time the question of pay was 
 under consideration, was adjusted to that of the Vice- 
 President and members of the Cabinet. The Chair 
 thinks that adjustment should not be disturbed, and the 
 question which he now raises does not affect the pay of 
 other members of the House. He asks unanimous 
 consent to put in the word 'hereafter,' to follow the 
 words 'shall receive.' This will affect whoever shall 
 be speaker of the House of Representatives hereafter, 
 and does not affect the speaker of this House, but 
 leaves him upon the same plane with the Vice-President 
 and Cabinet officers, upon the salary as before ad- 
 justed." 
 
 To the Speaker's proposition considerable opposition 
 was manifested, but by his rulings Mr. Blaine sustained 
 his intention. At the next session the bill was repealed 
 in spite of the forces arrayed against it. The two sides 
 were so evenly matched that when a question of adjourn- 
 ment arose, proposed to defeat the repeal, it was nega- 
 tived by the deciding vote of the Speaker. 
 
 When the democratic "tidal wave" of 1874 swept 
 over the country, the Republicans lost their majority in 
 the House and Mr. Blaine returned to the floor. The 
 prestige won as Speaker gave him an especial eminence, 
 and he added to his early reputation as a debater by his 
 fresh and vigorous speeches. He was as before looked 
 up to as the party leader in the House, and began to 
 stand in the minds of Republicans far from Washington 
 as among the foremost men of his political faith. His
 
 56 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 adroitness, his swiftness to take advantage of every 
 point which could honestly help forward the measures 
 which he urged, his dexterous exposure of the weakness 
 of his opponent's arguments, above all his assured com- 
 mand of the principles of parliamentary law, rendered 
 him one of the strongest among those who have led po- 
 litical parties. 
 
 Among the last measures urged by Mr. Blaine in the 
 House was the adoption of the following amendment 
 to the Constitution : 
 
 ** No State shall make any law respecting an estab- 
 lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
 thereof ; and no money raised by taxation in any State 
 for the support of public schools, or derived from any 
 public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted 
 thereto, shall ever be under the control of any religious 
 sect ; nor shall any money so raised or lands so de- 
 voted be divided between religious sects or denomina- 
 tions." 
 
 This was lost among several other amendments of 
 different purport offered at the same time, among which 
 was that providing that '' no person who has held, or 
 may hereafter hold, the office of President shall ever 
 again be eligible to said office." 
 
 At about the time this amendment was proposed he 
 took occasion to write a strong letter in favor of it, 
 which contains so sound an argument that the reader 
 must be put into possession of it. Writing of the elec- 
 tion in Ohio to a prominent citizen of that State he said :
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. S7 
 
 "Augusta, Me., October 20, 1875. 
 
 " My Dear Sir : The public-school agitation in your 
 late campaign is liable to break out elsewhere, and oc- 
 curring first in one State and then in another, may keep 
 the whole country in a ferment for years to come. This 
 inevitably arouses sectarian feeling and leads to that 
 bitterest and most deplorable of all strifes, the strife be- 
 tween religious denominations. It seems to me that 
 this question ought to be settled in some definite and 
 comprehensive way, and the only settlement that can be 
 final is the complete victory for non-sectarian schools. I 
 am sure this will be demanded by the American people 
 at all hazards, and at any cost. 
 
 *' The dread of sectarian legislation in this country has 
 been felt many times in the past. It began very early. 
 The first amendment to the Constitution, the joint pro- 
 duction of Jefferson and Madison, proposed in 1789, de- 
 clared that ' Congress shall make no law respecting an 
 establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exer- 
 cise thereof.' At that time, when the powers of the Fed- 
 eral Government were untried and developed, the fear 
 was that Congress might be the source of danger to 
 perfect religious liberty, and hence all power was taken 
 away from it. At the same time the States were left 
 free to do as they pleased in regard to 'an establish- 
 ment of religion,' for the tenth amendment proposed 
 by that eminent jurist, Theophilus Parsons, and adopted 
 contemporaneously with the first, declared that ' all 
 powers not delegated to the United States by the Con-
 
 58 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved 
 to the States respectively, or to the people.' 
 
 ** A majority of the people in any State in this Union 
 can, therefore, if they desire it, have an established 
 Church, under which the minority may be taxed for ' 
 the erection of church-edifices which they never enter, 
 and for the support of which they do not believe. This 
 power was actually exercised in some of the States long 
 after the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and, al- 
 though there may be no positive danger of its revival 
 in the future, the possibility of it should not be per- 
 mitted. The auspicious time to guard against an evil 
 is when all will unite in preventing it. 
 
 ''And in curing this constitutional defect all possi- 
 bility of hurtful agitation on the school question should 
 be ended also. Just let the old Jefferson-Madison amend- 
 ment be applied to the States by adding the following 
 to the inhibitory clauses in section lo, article i, of the 
 Federal Constitution, viz. : 
 
 " ' No State shall make any law respecting an establish- 
 ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there- 
 of ; and no money raised by taxation in any State, for 
 the support of the public schools or derived from any 
 public fund therefor, shall ever be under the control of 
 any religious sect, nor shall any money so raised ever 
 be divided between religious sects or denominations.* 
 
 *' This, you will observe, does not interfere with any 
 State having just such a school system as its citizens 
 may prefer, subject to the single and simple restriction
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. 59 
 
 that the schools shall not be made the arena for sec- 
 tarian controversy or theological disputation. This ad- 
 justment, it seems to me, would be comprehensive and 
 conclusive, and would be fair alike to Protestant and 
 Catholic, to Jew and Gentile, leaving the religious faith 
 and the conscience of every man free and unmolested. 
 '* Very sincerely yours, J. G. Blaine." 
 
 Lot M. Morrill, for many years Senator from Maine, 
 resigned in June, 1876, to accept the portfolio of the 
 Treasury, and the Governor of Maine immediatel)r ap- 
 pointed Mr. Blaine to fill the unexpired term. He ac- 
 cepted, July loth, and was duly installed, when he wrote 
 to his constituents : 
 
 " Beginning with 1862 you have, by continuous elec- 
 tions, sent me as your representative to the Congress of 
 the United States. For such marked confidence I have 
 endeavored to return the most zealous and devoted ser- 
 vice in my power, and it is certainly not without a feel- 
 ing of pain that I now surrender a trust by which I 
 have always felt so signally honored. It has been my 
 boast, in public and in private, that no man on the floor 
 of Congress ever represented a constituency more distin- 
 guished for intelligence, for patriotism, for public and 
 personal virtue. The cordial support you have so uni- 
 formly given me through these fourteen eventful years 
 is the chief honor of my life. In closing the intimate 
 relations I have so long held with the people of this 
 district it is a great satisfaction to me to know that
 
 6o JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 with returning health I shall enter upon a field of duty 
 in "which I can still serv^e them in common with the 
 larger constituency of which they form a part." 
 
 The Kennebec Jour7ial says : 
 
 ''Fourteen years ago, standing in the convention at 
 which he was first nominated, Mr. Blaine pledged him- 
 self to use his best services for the district, and to sup- 
 port, to the best of his ability, the policy of Abraham 
 Lincoln to subdue the rebellion, and then and there ex- 
 pressed plainly the idea that slavery must and ought to 
 be abolished to save the Union. That he has kept his 
 pledge faithfully his constituents know and feel, and the 
 records of Congress attest. To this district his abilities 
 were freely given, and as he rose in honor in the House 
 and in the public estimation he reflected honor and 
 gave strength to the constituency that supported him. 
 Every step he made in advance was a gain for them. 
 It was a grand thing for this district to have as its Rep- 
 resentative in Congress for six years the Speaker of the 
 House, filling the place next in importance to that of 
 President of the United States, with matchless ability. 
 It was a grander thing when he took the lead of the 
 minority in the House last December, routed the Dem- 
 ocratic majority, and drove back in dismay the ex-Con- 
 federates who were intending and expecting, through 
 the advantage they had already gained, to grasp the 
 supreme power in the nation and wield it in the inter- 
 est of the cause of secession and rebellion revived. For 
 what he has done as their representative in Congress,
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. 6 1 
 
 never will this Third District of Maine forget to honor 
 the name of James G. Blaine. It will live in the hearts 
 of this people even as the name of Henry Clay is still 
 loved by the people of his old district in Kentucky. 
 His position in national affairs immediately gave him 
 a place among his new associates not common for a 
 young man, and he was presently one of the most 
 prominent figures in the Senate. When the Legislature 
 of Maine met the governor's appointment was con- 
 firmed, and when the question of Maine's representa- 
 tion in the Senate again came up he was chosen for the 
 full term ending in 1883. His acts in the Senate are 
 sufficiently set forth elsewhere. He spent five years as 
 Senator, and only resigned his position in i88i to ac- 
 cept the portfolio of State in Garfield's Cabinet." 
 
 EXTRA SESSION OF 1879 AND THE MAINE ELECTION. 
 
 Within three weeks of the adjournment of the regu- 
 lar session of Congress, March 4, 1879, the President, it 
 will be remembered, called an extra session. A demo- 
 cratic majority had attempted to starve the Executive 
 into submission to their wishes by refusing to make the 
 usual appropriations for the support of the Govern- 
 ment. It was an unprecedented act, though the leaders 
 in it endeavored to find parallels for it. Legislative 
 " riders," as they are called, were not new ; the incor- 
 poration of legislation in appropriation bills was not 
 unknown. But an attempt like this to force the compli- 
 ance of the Executive was radically novel, and involved
 
 62 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 the most disastrous consequences. It was an occasion 
 for decisive action, and the President lost no time in 
 calling Congress back to the discharge of its neg- 
 lected duty. Every department of the Government had 
 been left without provision for its continuance. The 
 money which kept them in motion and which Congress, 
 after more or less debate upon the amount, had been ac- 
 customed to appropriate to their maintenance from year 
 to year was wanting, and there seemed nothing to do 
 but to close the doors. 
 
 In this posture of affairs the President was in need of 
 the ablest seconders of his policy in Congress — men who 
 might rouse the Opposition to a sense of their puerile 
 error. In the House several such men were found, but 
 their leader was Garfield. In the Upper House the as- 
 sault was led by Blaine. Day after day, with a company 
 of staunch supporters, he exposed the folly of the De- 
 mocracy. He arraigned them especially for their effort 
 to use a false issue to carry through the measure on 
 which they had conditioned the appropriations. The 
 speech in which he summed up the charge against them 
 is one of the most cogent and striking arguments w^hich 
 Mr. Blaine made in Congress, and so much of it as space 
 can be spared for must be given here. 
 
 The Senate having under consideration the bill (H. R., No. i) mak- 
 ing appropriations for the support of the army for the fiscal year ending 
 June 30, 1880, and for other purposes — 
 
 Mr. Blaine said : 
 
 "Mr. President: The existing section of the Revised Statutes num- 
 bered 2002 reads thus :
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. 6^ 
 
 "No military or naval officer, or other person engaged in the civil, 
 military, or naval service of the United States, shall order, bring, keep, 
 or have under his authority or control any troops, or armed men, at the 
 place where any general or special election is held in any State, unless 
 it be necessary to repel the armed enemies of the United States, or to 
 keep the peace at the polls. 
 
 " The object of the proposed section which has just been read at the 
 Clerk's desk, is to get rid of the eight closing words, ' or to keep the 
 peace at the polls,' and therefore the mode of legislation proposed in 
 the Army bill now before the Senate is an unusual mode ; it is an extraor- 
 dinary mode. If you want to take off a single sentence at the end of a 
 section in tlie Revised Statutes, the ordinary way is to strike off those 
 words ; but the mode chosen in this is to repeat and re-enact the whole 
 section, leaving those few words out. While I do not wish to be need- 
 lessly suspicious on a small point, I am quite persuaded that this did not 
 happen by accident, but that it came by design. If I may so speak, it 
 came of cunning, the intent being to create the impression that, whereas 
 the Republicans in the administration of the General Government had 
 been using troops right and left, hither and thither, in every direction, 
 as soon as the Democrats got power they enacted this section. I can 
 imagine democratic candidates for Congress all over the country read- 
 ing this section to gaping and listening audiences as one of the first 
 offsprings of democratic reform, whereas every word of it, every syllable 
 of it, from its first to its last, is the enactment of a republican Con- 
 gress. 
 
 " I repeat that this unusual form presents a dishonest issue, whether so 
 intended or not. It presents the issue that, as soon as the Democrats 
 got possession of the Federal Government they proceeded to enact the 
 clause which is thus expressed. The law was passed by a republican 
 Congress in 1865. There were forty-six Senators sitting in this cham- 
 ber at that time, of whom only ten, or at most eleven, were Democrats. 
 The House of Representatives was overwhelmingly republican. 
 
 "We were in the midst of a war. The republican administration had 
 a million, or possibly twelve hundred thousand, bayonets at its command. 
 Thus circumstanced and thus surrounded, with the amplest possible 
 power to interfere with elections had they so designed, with soldiers in 
 every hamlet and county of the United States, the republican party 
 themselves placed that provision on the statute-book, and Abraham 
 Lincoln, their President, signed it. . . . 
 
 "What then is the real motive underlying this movement ? Senators on
 
 64 JAMES G. BLAIN-R. 
 
 that side, democratic orators on the stump, cannot make any sensible set 
 of men at the cross-roads believe that they are afraid of eleven hmidred 
 and fifty-five soldiers distributed one to each county in the South. The 
 moment you state that, everybody sees the utter, palpable, and laugh- 
 able absurdity of it, and therefore v^^e must go further and find a motive 
 for all this cry. We want to find out, to use a familiar and vulgar 
 phrase, what is 'the cat under the meal.' It is not the troops, that is 
 evident. There are more troops by fifty per cent, scattered through the 
 Northern States east of the Mississippi to-day than through the Southern 
 States east of the Mississippi, and yet nobody in the North speaks of it j 
 everybody would be laughed at for speaking of it ; and therefore the 
 issue. I take no risk in stating, I make bold to declare, that this issue on 
 the troops being a false one, being one vidthout foundation, conceals 
 the true issue, which is simply to get rid of the Federal presence at 
 Federal elections, to get rid of the civil power of the United States in 
 the election of Representatives to the Congress of the United States. 
 That is the whole of it, and disguise it as you may there is nothing else 
 in it or of it. 
 
 "You simply want to get rid of the supervision by the Federal Gov- 
 ernment of the election of Representatives to Congress through civil 
 means, and therefore this bill connects itself directly with another bill, 
 and you cannot discuss this Military bill without discussing another bill 
 which we had before us last winter, known as the Legislative, Executive, 
 and Judicial Appropriation bill. I am quite well aware, I profess to be 
 as well aware as any one, that it is not permissible for me to discuss a 
 bill that is pending before the other House ; I am quite well aware 
 that propriety and parliamentary rule forbid that I should speak of what 
 is done in the House of Representatives ; but I know very well that I 
 am not forbidden to speak of that which is not done in the House of 
 Representatives. I am quite free to speak of the things that are not 
 done there, and therefore I am free to declare that neither this Military 
 bill nor the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Appropriation bill ever 
 emanated from any committee of the House of Representatives at 
 all. They are not the work of any committee of the House of Represent- 
 atives, and although the present House of Representatives is almost 
 evenly balanced in party division, no solitary suggestion has been al- 
 lowed to come from the minority of that House in regard to the shap- 
 ing of these bills. Where do they come from? We are not left to 
 infer ; we are not even left to the Yankee privilege of guessing, because 
 we know. The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Beck] obligingly told us
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. 65 
 
 — I have his exact words here — that * the honorable Senator from 
 Ohio [Mr. ThurmanJ was the chairman of a committee appointed by 
 the Democratic party to see how it was best to present all these ques- 
 tions before us.' 
 
 "We are told, too, rather a novel thing, that if we do not take these 
 laws we are not to have the appropriations. I believe it has been an- 
 nounced in both branches of Congress — I suppose on the authority of the 
 Democratic caucus — that if we do not take these bills as they are planned 
 we shall not have any of the appropriations that go with them. The hon- 
 orable Senator from West Virginia [Mr. Hereford] told it to us on Fri- 
 day ; the honorable Senator from Ohio [Mr. Thurman] told it to us last 
 session ; the honorable Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Beck] told it to us at 
 the same time, and I am not permitted to speak of the legions who told 
 us so in the other House. They say all these appropriations are to be 
 refused — not merely the army appropriation, for they do not stop at 
 that. Look for a moment at the Legislative bill that came from the 
 Democratic caucus. Here is an appropriation in it for defraying the ex- 
 penses of the Supreme Court and the Circuit and District Courts of the 
 United States, including the District of Columbia, etc., $2,800,000; 
 'provided' — provided what? That the following sections of the Re- 
 vised Statutes relating to elections [going on to recite them] be repealed. 
 
 " That is, you will pass an appropriation for the support of the judiciary 
 of the United States only on condition of this repeal. We often speak 
 of this Government being divided between three great departments, the 
 executive, the legislative, and the judicial — co-ordinate, independent, 
 equal. The legislative, under the control of a Democratic caucus, now 
 steps forward and says : ' We offer to the Executive this bill, and if he 
 does not sign it we are going to starve the judiciary.' That is carrying 
 the thing a little farther than I have ever known. We do not merely 
 purpose to starve the Executive if he will not sign the bill, but we pro- 
 pose to starve the judiciary, that has had nothing whatever to do with 
 the question. That has been boldly avowed on this floor ; that has 
 been boldly avowed in the other House ; that has been boldly avowed 
 in Democratic papers throughout the country. . . . 
 
 "You say those lights shall all go out and not a dollar shall be appro- 
 priated for the board if the President does not sign these bills. There 
 are the mints of the United States at Philadelphia, New Orleans, Den- 
 ver, San Francisco, coining silver and coining gold — not a dollar shall be 
 appropriated for them unless the President signs these bills. There is the 
 Patent Office, the patents issued which embody the inventions of the
 
 66 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 country — not a dollar for them. The Pension Bureau shall cease its op- 
 erations unless these bills are signed, and patriotic soldiers may starve. 
 The Agricultural Bureau, the Post-office Department — every one of the 
 great executive functions of the Government is threatened — taken by 
 the throat, highwayman style, collared on the highway, commanded to 
 stand and deliver in the name of the Democratic Congressional caucus. 
 That is what it is ; simply that no committee of this Congress in either 
 branch has ever recommended that legislation — not one. Simply a 
 Democratic caucus has done it. . . . 
 
 *' Some gentleman may rise and say : ' Do you call it a revolution to 
 put an amendment on an appropriation bill ? ' Of course not. There 
 have been a great many amendments put on appropriation bills, some 
 mischievous and some harmless ; but I call it the audacity of revolution 
 for any Senator or Representative, or any caucus of Senators or Repre- 
 sentatives, to get together and say : ' We will have this legislation or 
 we will stop the great departments of the Government.' That is revo- 
 lutionary. I do not think it will amount to revolution ; my opinion is 
 it will not I think that is a revolution that will not go around ; I think 
 that is a revolution which will not revolve ; I think that is a revolution 
 whose wheel vidll not turn ; but it is a revolution if persisted in, and if 
 not persisted in it must be backed out from with ignominy. The Demo- 
 cratic party in Congress have put themselves exactly in this position 
 to-day, that if they go forward in the announced programme they march 
 to revolution. I think they will in the end go back in an ignominious 
 retreat. That is my judgment. 
 
 "The extent to which they control the legislation of the countiy is 
 worth pointing out. In round numbers, the Southern people are about 
 one-third of the population of the Union. I am not permitted to speak 
 of the organization of the House of Representatives, but I can refer to 
 that of the last House. In the last House of Representatives, of forty- 
 two standing committees the South had twenty-five. I am not blaming 
 the honorable Speaker for it. He was hedged in by partisan forces and 
 could not avoid it. In this very Senate, out of thirty-four standing 
 committees the South has twenty-two. I am not calling these things up 
 just now in reproach. I am only showing what an admirable prophet 
 the late Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy was, and how en- 
 tirely true all his words have been, and how he has lived to see them 
 realized. 
 
 *' I do not profess to know, Mr. President — least of all Senators on this 
 floor, certainly as little as any Senator on this floor, do I profess to
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. 67 
 
 know what the President of the United States will do when these bills 
 are presented to him, as I suppose in due course of time they will be. 
 I certainly should never speak a solitary word of disrespect of the gen- 
 tleman holding that exalted position, and I hope I should not speak a 
 single word unbefitting the dignity of the office of a Senator of the United 
 States. But as there has been speculation here and there on both sides 
 as to what he would do, it seems to me that the dead heroes of the 
 Union would rise from their graves if he should consent to be intimidated 
 and outraged in his proper constitutional powers by threats like these. 
 
 The crisis which inspired this indictment of the Op- 
 position was perhaps more serious than we are likely 
 to remember, since it has safely passed. But that it is 
 not put too strongly by Mr. Blaine is shown by the tone 
 of newspaper comment, of public opinion, and of other 
 speeches made at the time in Congress. Garfield, in the 
 Lower House, said : " I have no hope of being able to 
 convey to the members of this House my own conviction 
 of the very great gravity and solemnity of the crisis 
 which this decision of the Chair and of the Committee 
 of the Whole has brought upon this country. I wish I 
 could be proved a false prophet in reference to the re- 
 sult of this action. I wish that I could be overwhelmed 
 with the proof that I am utterly mistaken in my views. 
 But no view I have ever taken has entered more deeply 
 and more seriously into my convictions than this : that 
 this House has to-day resolved to enter upon a revolu- 
 tion against the Constitution and Government of the 
 United States. ... I mean to say that the conse- 
 quence of the programme just adopted, if persisted in, 
 is nothing less than the total subversion of this Govern- 
 ment."
 
 6S JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 To this peril Mr. Blaine addressed himself. He felt 
 its magnitude as deeply as Garfield did, and steadily- 
 built up, with the loyal co-operation of other Senators, 
 a bulwark which the Democracy could not pass. When 
 the danger through their labors was overcome, those 
 who watched the momentous debate with patriotic un- 
 derstanding, must have felt that they owed an especial 
 debt to the men who had faithfully upheld the Constitu- 
 tion through these weeks of trial. 
 
 But Mr. Blaine's services to his country and party, 
 during this year, did not end here. The organized ef- 
 forts of the Democrats of Maine to defraud the Repub- 
 licans of their justly won victory in that State in 1879 is 
 fresh in all minds, and its details need not be entered 
 into here. The defeat of the Democrats was so unques- 
 tioned that their opponents had held meetings in cele- 
 bration of it, at one of which Mr. Blaine had been pres- 
 ent and had made a congratulatory speech. The 
 intelligence of the design of Governor Garcelon and 
 his supporters to hold the State government at all haz- 
 ards fell among the Republicans, wlio had elected their 
 officers fairly and in due form, with an effect of startling 
 surprise. In their amaze the monstrous attempt might 
 have been carried out under their eyes if Mr. Blaine, 
 with characteristic decision, had not placed himself at 
 their head and set on foot active measures for the re- 
 buke and discomfiture of the authors of this daring at- 
 tempt to reverse the popular will. He made at once at 
 his home in Augusta an indignant speech, in which he
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND SENATOR. 69 
 
 denounced an undertaking which he justly said '* in* 
 vited the reign of anarchy." To a meeting held in Gar- 
 diner he wrote : 
 
 '■'■ . . . . Town government is the bulwark of New 
 England's strength, and it is the sanctity of town gov- 
 ernment that has been outraged, the rights of town gov- 
 ernments that have been destroyed. Thirty-seven mem- 
 bers of the Legislature fairly and indisputably elected 
 have been counted out, and in no one single instance 
 did the governor and Council offer a hearing to the 
 people's elect whom they had determined to sacrifice. 
 The dark deed was appropriately done in secrecy and 
 stealth. Four or five who were threatened with dis- 
 franchisement did, by urgent solicitation, secure the 
 privilege of appearing before the star chamber council, 
 but they felt and knew that they were talking to men 
 who had prejudged their cause, men who had no ear for 
 reason and no eye for light. Never before in the his- 
 tory of Maine was a party in interest refused a full 
 hearing before the governor and Council, and a full 
 opportunity to examine the election returns. An accu- 
 rate search into the records shows that in fifty-nine 
 years there have been just sixteen cases in which the 
 governor and Council found the official returns so 
 fatally defective in form as to deprive a candidate ap- 
 parently elected of his certificate, averaging one case in 
 a little less than four years. Governor Garcelon and 
 his Council find thirty-seven fatally defective returns in 
 a single year, and by one of those providential dispen- 
 sations or happy accidents, which only come to bless
 
 ^0 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 the just and encourage the righteous, every one of those 
 thirty-seven fatally defective reforms was declared by 
 a Democratic Council to exist in districts that had 
 chosen Republican Senators or Representatives. 
 
 " They only claim that certain returns are defective on 
 technical points, narrow and immaterial- in themselves, 
 and easily corrected under the laws of the State, and 
 then they claim the right to set aside and disobey those 
 laws. They hold towns accountable for not complying 
 with the strictest letter and last exaction of one statute, 
 and then defiantly proclaim their right to nullify other 
 statutes in the same book on the same subject. In other 
 words, they claim that the statutes regulating the duty of 
 town officers shall be fulfilled to the uttermost and minu- 
 test point, while the statute prescribing the duty of the 
 governor and Council may be set aside by a sort of plen- 
 ary power of dispensation extended to them alone. . . . 
 
 "For the first time in history the party defeated at the 
 polls refuses to obey the popular decree, soils the rec- 
 ord of the State with fraud, and invites the reign of an- 
 archy. It is for the people whose will is defied to find 
 their remedy and vindicate their sovereignty." 
 
 The measures w^hich followed were directed by Mr. 
 Blaine, and were decided but pacific. By his efforts an 
 open conflict was averted, and in the end the Democrats 
 were forced to yield their untenable position and to sur- 
 render the State government to the rightfully elected 
 officers. The result was due almost entirely to Mr. 
 Blaine's sagacious endeavors, and the people of Maine 
 have not forgotten to be grateful to him for them.
 
 VII. 
 THE CURRENCY. 
 
 Mr. Blaine was opposed to the Bland Silver Bill as it 
 passed both Houses and finally passed over the veto 
 of the President. His position upon it was essentially 
 that made known by President Hayes in his annual 
 message to Congress preceding the passage of the bill, 
 and afterward in vetoing it. Mr. Blaine was not in 
 favor of the bill, but as he saw it must pass, endeavored 
 to better it by offering an amendment making the dol- 
 lar 425 grains, and was earnest in his opposition to the 
 dollar of 41 2| grains. 
 
 His arguments took the general ground of the injus- 
 tice of coining a dollar of such weight — a weight, as 
 is well known, worth at the time but ninety to ninety- 
 two cents, as compared with the standard gold dollar 
 — and making it a legal tender for debts contracted 
 to be paid in dollars of one hundred cents. His re- 
 marks upon the question were scattered through the 
 debate, and were often made in question or reply to 
 other Senators. Certain of them are reproduced here 
 without attempt to give them continuity : —
 
 72 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 " What I meant and what I answered the Senator from 
 Michigan was this : That Senator was maintaining 
 that, regardless of the weight of this dollar, the moral 
 weight of this Government beneath it could float it. 
 The Senator, when he comes to argue, refers to the ap- 
 plication of money. If you owe a debt you have got to 
 pay it ; but does the Senator say that, however great the 
 moral worth of this Senate or the moral worth of the 
 nation that the Senate represents, it can throw that 
 moral worth into the scales to throw up or weigh down 
 an indifferent or short dollar ? At what particular per- 
 cent, in the dollar does the Senator put moral worth ? 
 Is it eight or ten ? What is the component part, when 
 you come to the one hundred cents that make up a 
 dollar, that the moral worth of any nation gives 
 it? .... 
 
 **I should like to ask the honorable Senator a ques- 
 tion before he sits down, because I would certainly take 
 his judgment on a question of honor as quick as that of 
 any man in the country. If the Senator had borrowed, 
 at a very low rate of interest, $10,000, and he asked the 
 lender of the money to give it to him in gold coin, for 
 he must have gold coin, and he got it because of his 
 undoubted credit at a low rate of interest, and he only 
 paid four or four and one-half per cent, interest on it, 
 would he consider himself, as an honorable man, if by 
 any action of any other body, governmental or corpo- 
 rate, he was absolved from paying in as good as he 
 got? ...
 
 rilE CURRENCY. 73 
 
 " Now, I say that the Senator (Thurman) has sat here 
 for eight years and seen that go forward, and the Sena- 
 tor from Ohio would put his right hand in the fire and 
 follow it with his left, and have them both burned off, be- 
 fore he would start an agent in the field for himself to 
 take from the farmers in Ohio gold coin, his agent rep- 
 resenting all the time that they should be repaid in gold 
 coin, and then turn around and say : ' Why, my friend, 
 there is not a word in my note about gold coin ; to be 
 sure my authorized agent said so to you, to be sure I 
 got it, and got its full value ; but when you come to read 
 my note ' — like the small print in an insurance polic} 
 that always covers the rascality under which the com- 
 pany escapes its liabilities — 'when you come to read my 
 note, or when you come to read the Government note, 
 there is not a word about paying you back in as good as 
 you gave, and I am going to take advantage of it now to 
 pay you back in a great deal less than you gave.' The 
 Senator from Ohio might stand here and protest, until 
 to-morrow's sun shone forth and set again, that he would 
 not do it, and I would believe him ; I know he would not 
 do it ; he never would dishonor a name that stands as high 
 as his own, and I only ask him to apply to the faith and 
 honor and credit of the Government the same measure 
 that he applies to himself. Sir, all this discounting and 
 dishonoring what the agents say, and endeavoring to 
 show that they had no authority, is unworthy of being 
 presented here, because if you give that argument its 
 utmost scope and verge it only says that the Govern-
 
 74 JAMES G. BLAIA'E. 
 
 ment was not the buyer but simply the receiver of 
 stolen goods. . . . 
 
 ''Just now the Senator said he would not vex his soul 
 about what should be done thirty years hence. Here 
 are §280,000,000 that will be at your door three years 
 hence. What are you going to do with it ? . . . 
 He [Mr. Howe] does not come square up and say that 
 he, as a man holding in his hand a loan of $10,000 which 
 he exacted in coin, and because of his great credit got 
 at four per cent, interest, will, if he from any cause has 
 the power, evade under the law its full payment, and 
 that he has no power to declare differently for himself, 
 that the Government would feel justified in that great 
 court w^hich is above laws and above nations and above 
 individuals, the Court of Honor." 
 
 In December, 1867, he made a striking speech on the 
 finances, in which he said of Mr. Pendleton's greenback 
 theory : " The remedy for our financial troubles will 
 not be found in a superabundance of depreciated paper 
 currency. It lies in the opposite direction, and the 
 sooner the Nation finds itself on a specie basis the sooner 
 will the public treasury be freed from embarrassment 
 and private business be relieved from discouragement. 
 Instead, therefore, of entering upon a reckless and 
 boundless issue of legal-tenders, with their constant de- 
 preciation, if not destruction, of value, let us set res- 
 olutely to work and make those already in circulation 
 equal to so many gold dollars." 
 
 But Mr. Blaine's most solid and brilliant utterance on
 
 THE CURREiVCY. 75 
 
 the Currency was made in an elaborate speech in the 
 House, February ii, 1876. This is too long for repro- 
 duction here, but it is given in its main points in the 
 Appendix, where it will be found extremely well worth 
 perusal.
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE TARIFF. 
 
 The biographer of Mr. Blaine has a brief story to tell 
 of his course upon the tariff. He has not to follow him 
 through windings of any sort, nor to record retreats or 
 hesitations. His course from the beginning upon this 
 important question has been consistent and straightfor- 
 ward. He has not faltered from his entrance upon 
 public life in the earnest belief that the collection of 
 revenue from imports should be made to serve the 
 double purpose of furnishing the national purse and of 
 bringing into life national industries, while, once born, 
 he would strengthen their hands. 
 
 His sense of the need of protection as protection has 
 been positive, and has not skulked in disguises of any 
 sort. This is not to say that he is blind to the inequal- 
 ities of the tariff, or is insensible of the need of a gradual 
 reduction of imports laid under the necessities of war. 
 But it is not to be denied that he is opposed to the 
 headlong zeal which expresses itself in ill-judged efforts 
 to hastily overturn the slow-built safeguards of business 
 and to shake commercial values.
 
 THE TARIFF, 77 
 
 If the history of Mr. Blaine's course upon the tariff is 
 brief, it is because it has felt but a single impulse behind 
 it ; not because that impulse has failed to make itself 
 abundantly known in his utterances. He has announced 
 his belief and urged the argument for the fostering of 
 home industries by the tariff with unfailing energy 
 and in no uncertain voice. The ambiguous attitude of 
 the Democracy upon this issue in former Presidential 
 campaigns has offered him a fruitful point of attack. 
 Unconditionally Mr. Blaine is for American labor, and 
 opposed to bringing into competition with it the ill- 
 paid labor of Europe. His has come to be the name 
 which most surely stands for the theories bound up in 
 the long and prosperous practice of the country, theo- 
 ries which are summed up in the word "protection." 
 
 His position upon the tariff is not a mere following 
 of party dictates. The doctrine which he maintains is a 
 doctrine based upon knowledge and experience, and is 
 dear to him as a personal conviction. His speeches on 
 the floor of Congress, at political meetings, and wherever 
 his voice has been heard, have been distinguished even 
 above his other speeches by their earnestness and sincer- 
 itv, qualities which have not been a more conspicuous 
 trait of any American public speaker. 
 
 The chapter in his recently published volume dealing 
 with this subject is strikingly impartial and weighs the 
 opposingargumentswith an even-handed scrupulousness, 
 not to be expected of a man whose life-work has been of 
 necessity rati er that of an advocate than a judge. He
 
 78 JAMES G. BLAIN-E. 
 
 compares the two systems currently known as free-trade 
 and protection historically, going back to the founda- 
 tions of the Government. The free-trade argument is 
 stated no less amply than the theory of the protection- 
 ists. The acts of both parties are balanced, and their 
 results calmly stated. When the protectionists went too 
 far, exaggerated their function, Mr. Blaine sets it fairly 
 down, and without prejudice makes the like record on 
 the other side. Within its space the reader is not likely 
 to find a more trustworthy account of this long contest 
 between two honestly held principles. 
 
 When he has completed the summary, in which he 
 properly keeps the judicial attitude, he makes a brief 
 statement of his conclusions, which is touched, as the 
 best historical evidence is, with the writer's individual- 
 ity. As is becoming, it does not make unmistakable an- 
 nouncement of personal opinion ; but it is a setting forth 
 of the case which will commend itself to the reasonable 
 mind, and as such may be set down here : 
 
 ** Strictly speaking," he says,* " there has never been a 
 proposition by any party in the United States for the 
 adoption of free trade. To be entirely free, trade must 
 encounter no obstruction in the way of tax, either upon 
 export or import. In that sense no nation has ever en- 
 joyed free trade as contradistinguished from the theory 
 of protection. England has realized freedom of trade by 
 taxing only that class of imports which meet no compe- 
 
 * Twenty Years of Congress, p. 20S.
 
 THE TARIFF. yg 
 
 tition in home production, thus excluding all pretence 
 of favor or advantage to any of her domestic industries. 
 England came to this policy after having clogged and 
 embarrassed trade for a long time by the most unrea- 
 sonable and tyrannical restrictions, ruthlessly enforced, 
 without regard to the interests or even the rights of 
 others. She had more than four hundred acts of Par- 
 liament regulating the tax on imports, under the old 
 designations of 'tonnage and poundage,' adjusted, as 
 the phrase imports, to heavy and light commodities. 
 Beyond these she had a cumbersome system of laws 
 regulating, and in many cases prohibiting, the exporta- 
 tion of articles which might teach to other nations the 
 skill by which she had herself so marvellously prospered. 
 When by long experiment and persistent effort England 
 had carried her fabrics to perfection ; when by the large 
 accumulation of wealth and the force of reserved capi- 
 tal she could command facilities which poorer nations 
 could not rival ; when by the talent of her inventors, 
 developed under the stimulus of large reward, she had 
 surpassed all other countries in the magnitude and effec- 
 tiveness of her machinery she proclaimed free-trade, and 
 persuasively urged it upon all lands with which she 
 had commercial intercourse. Maintaining the most 
 arbitrary and most complicated system of protection as 
 long as her statesmen considered that policy advanta- 
 geous, she resorted to free trade only when she felt able 
 to invade the domestic markets of other countries and 
 undersell the fabrics produced by struggling artisans
 
 So JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 who were sustained by weaker capital and less advanced 
 skill. So long as there was danger that her own marts 
 might be invaded, and the products of her looms and 
 forges undersold at home, she rigidly excluded the com- 
 peting fabric and held her own market for her own 
 wares. 
 
 ** England was, however, neither consistent nor candid 
 in her advocacy and establishment of free trade. She 
 did not apply it to all departments of her enterprise, 
 but only to those in which she felt confident that she 
 could defy competition. Long after the triumph of 
 free trade in manufactures as proclaimed in 1846, Eng- 
 land continued to violate every principle of her own 
 creed in the protection she extended to her navigation 
 interests. She had nothing to fear from the United 
 States in the domain of manufactures, and she therefore 
 asked us to give her the unrestricted benefit of our 
 markets in exchange for a similar privilege which she 
 offered us in her market. But on the sea we were 
 steadily gaining upon her, and in 1850-55 were nearly- 
 equal to her in aggregate tonnage. We could build 
 wooden ships at less cost than England, and our ships 
 excelled hers in speed. When steam began to compete 
 with sail she saw her advantage. She could build en- 
 gines at less cost than we, and when, soon afterward, her 
 ship-builders began to construct the entire steamer of 
 iron her advantages became evident to the whole world. 
 
 " England was not content, however, with the superior- 
 ity which these circumstances gave to her. She did not
 
 THE TARIFF. 8 1 
 
 wait for her whole theory of free trade to work out its 
 legitimate results, but forthwith stimulated the growth 
 of her steam marine by the most enormous bounties ever 
 paid by any nation to any enterprise. To a single line 
 of steamers running alternate weeks from Liverpool to 
 Boston and New York, she paid $900,000 annually, and 
 continued to pay at this extravagant rate for at least 
 twenty years. In all channels of trade where steam 
 could be employed she paid lavish subsidies, and liter- 
 ally destroyed fair competition, and created for herself a 
 practical monopoly in the building of iron steamers. Her 
 course, in effect, is an exact repetition of that in regard 
 to protection of manufactures, but as it is exhibited be- 
 fore a new generation, the inconsistency is not so read- 
 ily apprehended nor so keenly appreciated as it should be 
 on this side of the Atlantic. Even now there is good 
 reason for believing that many lines of English steamers, 
 in their efforts to seize the trade to the exclusion of rivals, 
 are paid such extravagant rates for the carrying of let- 
 ters as practically to amount to a bounty, thus confirm- 
 ing to the present day (1884) the fact that no nation has 
 ever been so persistently and jealously protective in her 
 policy as England, so long as the stimulus of protection 
 is needed to give her the command of trade. What is 
 true of England is true in a greater or less degree of all 
 other European nations. They have, each in turn, regu- 
 lated the adoption of free trade by the ratio of their 
 progress toward the point where they could overcome 
 competition. In all those departments of trade where
 
 82 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 competition could overcome them, they have been quick 
 to interpose protective measures for the benefit of their 
 own people. 
 
 '^ The trade policy of the United States at the founda^ 
 tion of the Government had features of enlightened 
 liberality which were unknown in any other country of 
 the world. The new government was indeed as far in 
 advance of European nations in the proper conception 
 of liberal commerce as it was on questions relating to 
 the character of African slave- trade. The colonists had 
 experienced the oppression of the English laws which 
 prohibited exports from the mother country of the very 
 articles which might advance their material interest and 
 improve their social condition. They now had the op- 
 portunity, as citizens of a free Republic, to show the 
 generous breadth of their statesmanship, and they did 
 so by providing in their Constitution, that Congress 
 should never possess the power to levy ' a tax or duty 
 on articles exported from any State.' At the same time 
 trade was left absolutely free between all the States of 
 the Union, no one of them being permitted to levy any 
 tax on exports or imports beyond what might be neces- 
 sary for its inspection laws. Still further to enforce this 
 needful provision, the power to regulate commerce be- 
 tween the States was given to the General Government. 
 The effect of these provisions was to insure to the United 
 States a freedom of trade beyond that enjoyed by any 
 other nation. Fifty-five millions of American people 
 (in 1884), over an area nearly as large as the entire con-
 
 THE TARIFF. 83 
 
 tinent of Europe, carry on their exchanges by ocean, by 
 lake, by river, by rail, without the exactions of the tax- 
 gatherer, without the detention of the custom-house, 
 without the recognition of the State lines. In these great 
 channels the domestic exchanges represent an annual 
 value perhaps twenty-five times as great as the total of 
 exports and imports. It is the enjoyment of free trade 
 and protection at the same time which has contributed 
 to the unexampled development and marvellous pros- 
 perity of the United States. 
 
 ** The essential question which has grown up between 
 political parties in the United States respecting our 
 foreign trade, is whether a duty should be laid upon 
 any import for the direct object of protecting and en- 
 couraging the manufacture of the same article at home. 
 The party opposed to this theory does not advocate 
 the admission of the article free, but insists upon such 
 rate of duty as will produce the largest revenue and at 
 the same time afford what is termed ' incidental protec- 
 tion.' The advocates of actual free-trade according to 
 the policy in England — taxing only those articles which 
 are not produced at home — are few in number and are 
 principally confined to doctrinaires. The instincts of 
 the masses of both parties are against them. But the 
 nominal free-trader finds it very difficult to unite the 
 largest revenue from any article with ' incidental protec- 
 tion' to the competing product at home. If the duty be 
 so arranged as to produce the greatest amount of reve- 
 nue, it must be placed at that point where the foreign
 
 84 JAMES g\ BLAINE. 
 
 article is able to undersell the domestic article, and thus 
 command the market to the exclusion of competition. 
 This result goes beyond what the so-called American 
 free-trader intends in practice, but not beyond what he 
 implies in theory. 
 
 " The American protectionist does not seek to evade 
 the legitimate results of his theory. He starts with the 
 proposition that whatever is manufactured at home 
 gives work and wages to our own people, and that if 
 the duty is even put so high as to prohibit the import 
 of the foreign article, the competition of home pro- 
 ducers will, according to the doctrine of Mr. Hamilton, 
 rapidly reduce the price to the consumer. He gives 
 numerous illustrations of articles which under the in- 
 fluence of home competition have fallen in price below 
 the point at which the foreign article was furnished 
 when there was no protection. The free-trader replies 
 that the fall in price has been still greater in the foreign 
 market, and the protectionist rejoins that the reduc- 
 tion was made to compete with the American product, 
 and that the former price would probably have been 
 maintained so long as the importer had the monopoly 
 of our market. Thus our protective tariff reduced 
 the price in both countries. This has notably been 
 the result with respect to steel rails, the production of 
 which in America has reached a magnitude surpassing 
 that of England. Meanwhile rails have largely fallen 
 in price to the consumer, the home manufacturer has 
 disbursed countless millions of money among American
 
 THE TARIFF. 85 
 
 laborers, and has added largely to our industrial inde- 
 pendence and to the wealth of the country. 
 
 ''While many fabrics have fallen to as low a price in 
 the United States as elsewhere, it is not to be denied 
 that articles of clothing and household use, metals and 
 machinery, are on an average higher than in Europe. 
 The difference is due in a large degree to the wages paid 
 to labor, and thus the question of reducing the tariff 
 carries with it the very serious problem of a reduction 
 in the pay of the artisan and the operative. This in- 
 volves so many grave considerations that no party is pre- 
 pared to advocate it openly. Free-traders do not, and 
 apparently dare not, face the plain truth — which is that 
 the lowest-priced fabric means the lowest-priced labor. 
 On this point protectionists are more frank than their 
 opponents ; they realize that it constitutes indeed the 
 most impregnable defence of their school. Free-traders 
 have at times attempted to deny the truth of the state- 
 ment, but every impartial investigation thus far has 
 conclusively proved that labor is better paid, and the 
 average condition of the working man more comfort- 
 able in the United States than in any European coun- 
 try. 
 
 "An adjustment of the protective duty to the point 
 which represents the average difference between wages 
 of labor in Europe and in America, will, in the judg- 
 ment of the protectionists, always prove impracticable. 
 The difference cannot be regulated by a scale of aver- 
 ages because it is constantly subject to arbitrary changes.
 
 86 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 If the duty be adjusted on that basis for any given date, 
 a reduction of wages would at once be enforced abroad, 
 and the American manufacturer would in consequence 
 be driven to the desperate choice of surrendering the 
 home market or reducing the pay of workmen. The 
 theory of protection is not answered, nor can its realiza- 
 tion be attained by any such device. Protection, in the 
 perfection of its design as described by Mr. Hamilton, 
 does not invite competition from abroad, but is based 
 on the controlling principle that competition at home 
 will always prevent monopoly on the part of the capi- 
 talist, assure good wages to the laborer, and defend the 
 consumer against the evils of extortion." 
 
 This is a comprehensive statement of the facts, and 
 must impress the reader as conceived in a spirit far re- 
 moved from the narrow disposition which supports par- 
 tisan dogma at any cost— not partisan. Mr. Blaine's 
 adherence is to a system of protection broad enough to 
 embrace something more than is meant by its opponents 
 when they speak of manufacturers clamoring for assist- 
 ance from the National Government. It includes, as 
 Garfield's wide-reaching idea did, nothing less than the 
 highest well-being of every citizen, whatever his occu- 
 pation. If Mr. Blaine's thought of the system which 
 he has so vigorously defended was of a scheme for the 
 aid of a class, however large or influential, his fair mind 
 would have no room for it. Protection to him, if we 
 have not misunderstood him, means an encouragement 
 to every form of labor to which the hand of man can
 
 THE TARIFF. 8/ 
 
 turn — not less to agriculture than to manufacturing, 
 not more vigorous to the making of steel rails than the 
 making of crops. A free, large, and stable inter-state 
 commerce, independent of foreign markets, yet not pre- 
 judicial to the development of the merchant marine, is, 
 perhaps, the protectionist's ideal, and possibly that may 
 be left with the reader as a fair summary of Mr. Blaine's 
 theory of the most desirable form of national prosperity. 
 In 1880, just before the election of Garfield, Mr. Blaine 
 wrote to an inquiring Irishman : 
 
 •• Augusta, Me., October 27, 1880. 
 " Mv Dear Sir : I received your friendly letter with 
 much pleasure. Let me say in reply that the course of 
 yourself and other Irish voters is one of the most extra- 
 ordinary anomalies in our political history. Never, 
 probably, since the execution of Robert Emmet has the 
 feeling of Irishmen the world over been so bitter against 
 England and Englishmen as it is at this hour. And yet 
 the great mass of the Irish voters will, on Tuesday next, 
 vote precisely as Englishmen would have them vote, 
 for the interests of England. Having seen Ireland re- 
 duced to misery, and driven to despair by what they re- 
 gard as the unjust policy of England, the Irishmen of 
 America use their suffrages as though they were the 
 agents and serv^ants of the English Tories. The free- 
 traders of England desire nothing so much as the defeat 
 of Garfield and the election of Hancock. They wish to 
 break down the protective tariff and cripple our manu-
 
 88 JAMES C. BLAINE. 
 
 factures, and nine-tenths of the Irish voters of this 
 country respond with alacrity, '* Yes, we will do your 
 bidding and vote to please you, even though it reduce 
 our own wages and take the bread from the mouths of 
 our children." There are many able men and many 
 clever writers among the Irish in America, but I have 
 never met any one of them able enough and clever 
 enough to explain this anomaly on any basis of logic 
 and good sense. I am glad to see from your esteemed 
 favor that the subject is beginning to trouble you. The 
 more you think of it the more you will be troubled, I 
 am sure. And you will be driven finally to the conclu- 
 sion that the prosperity of the Irish in this country de- 
 pends as largely as that of any other class upon the 
 maintenance of the financial and industrial policy rep- 
 resented by the Republican party. 
 
 " Very truly yours, J. G. Blaine." 
 
 The following is extracted from a speech of Mr. 
 Blaine upon protection at the opening of the perma- 
 nent Exhibition at Philadelphia, May lo, 1878. 
 
 *' Let us look at our actual condition and draw thence 
 some instruction, which may silence partisan strife over 
 questions of domestic economy. To those who doubt 
 the development of home industries under the stim- 
 ulus of protection to the American inventor and the 
 American mechanic, I say, stand on this platform and 
 look around you. Argument may well cease in the face 
 of a positive demonstration. Clamorous contradiction
 
 THE TARIFF. 89 
 
 may well be silenced in the presence of an irrefutable 
 conclusion. To those who think we need the vigor and 
 independence which free trade can impart, I say, Look 
 abroad over the domain of the United States of America 
 inhabited by a population that will soon be fifty millions, 
 with fifteen thousand miles of ocean fronton the Atlantic, 
 the Gulf, the Pacific, and the Arctic ; with five great inte- 
 rior seas, each more valuable than those waters for whose 
 mastery European empires wage bloody and wasteful 
 wars ; with rivers meeting our States in a network of 
 inland navigation greater in extent than all the rivers 
 of Europe combined ; with our railways joining lake to 
 gulf and ocean to ocean ; and then remember and re- 
 flect that on all our ocean coast, on all our interior seas, 
 on all our rivers, over all our railroads, between all our 
 States and with all our Territories, trade is absolutely 
 free for all American products without fetter, or duty, or 
 charge, or fee, or any governmental tax whatever, na- 
 tional, State or municipal ; and remember too that the 
 great organic law of the land declares that it shall al- 
 ways remain so. And I here assert that, enjoying as 
 we have enjoyed, and as I hope we shall enjoy, the full 
 benefit of protection to American industry against in- 
 jurious competition from abroad, we have also enjoyed 
 and do enjoy among ourselves the blessings of absolute 
 free trade beyond that ever realized in the world else- 
 where by so large a population, over so vast an extent 
 of country. The aggregate of our domestic commerce 
 is astounding in its figures. The vast importance of
 
 90 JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 
 our foreign commerce is now exciting general interest 
 and enlisting the attention of the whole country. It 
 has grown so large that its total for a single year 
 amounts to nearly $1,200,000,000, and its importance 
 cannot be over-estimated. But compared with our 
 domestic commerce, it is absolutely insignificant in 
 amount. The traffic by railroad alone in this country 
 is estimated to be sixteen times as large as the whole of 
 our foreign commerce, and when you add to that the 
 commerce of lake and river and canal, you have an ag- 
 gregate of domestic exchanges that amounts to twenty- 
 five times as much as the foreign commerce, including 
 the exports and imports. 
 
 *' And thus it is, Mr. President, that the system of ab- 
 solute free trade among ourselves, and of production 
 with respect to foreign nations, has created and developed 
 those great industries, whose richest and ripest fruits 
 we see around us here to-day. I congratulate you on 
 the auspicious results of your energy and your enter- 
 prise, and I predict with confidence that your labors 
 will be amply repaid by the increased trade of your 
 great and growing and patriotic city, and repaid again 
 by the intelligent gratitude of that great mass of the 
 American people who know and who feel that the coun- 
 try is always happiest and most prosperous when labor 
 is honorably employed and amply compensated at 
 home." 
 
 During 1878 he was also present at a demonstration 
 made at Chester, Pa., against a bill then before Con-
 
 THE TARIFF. 9 1 
 
 gress which proposed the reduction of duties. He said 
 — and this may fitly close our chapter ; 
 
 GOVERNMENT AID TO FOREIGN SHIPS. 
 
 "When we contemplate this condition of affairs the 
 doctrinaire of free trade steps forward with his ready 
 suggestion and says : * Give us free ships and we will at 
 once establish steamship lines between our ports and 
 Europe.' The genuine free-trader never believes that 
 anything can be produced in this country as cheap or 
 as good as it can be found abroad, and if you offer him 
 for %(iZ currency per ton a steamship built on the Dela- 
 ware he will try to persuade you that one built on the 
 Clyde for ^£"14 per ton is a vast deal cheaper, though the 
 American iron used in our steamships is admitted to be 
 of better quality than that employed in the English 
 yards. But if you gratify the whim of the free-trader 
 and permit American registers to underlie and the 
 American flag to float over any ship, wherever built, 
 what have you gained ? Can you run these lines on the 
 basis of free trade against the English and French lines 
 that are aided and upheld by their governments ? 
 
 AMERICA'S POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 ** If our country were for a few persistent years of like 
 mind with Great Britain and France on this great com- 
 mercial question, you would find all over the land great 
 shipyards springing up to supply the demand for the
 
 92 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 Steam marine of America. When we had a fair chance 
 and equal terms our sailing vessels gained on Great 
 Britain until, for the last ten years before the outbreak 
 of the Rebellion, we were abreast if not ahead of her in 
 aggregate tonnage ; and on equal footing we should 
 soon do the same in our steam marine. But with Eng- 
 land and France aiding their lines with mail contracts 
 to drive other lines from the sea it is idle to enter the 
 race. A very small amount comparatively would enable 
 us to become the victors in the struggle for ocean 
 supremacy. What it costs us to support two regiments 
 of cavalry or maintain five large men-of-war could give 
 us lines of first-class American steamships to foreign 
 ports, from at least six of our principal commercial ports. 
 We stand in the position to be the first commercial na- 
 tion in the world. Alone of all the great Powers we 
 have a vast frontage on the two oceans whose waters 
 bound all the continent and float the commerce that 
 civilizes and enriches the world. Our coast line is 
 longer than that which borders Europe ; our harbors 
 are more numerous and capacious than those of all our 
 maritime rivals combined. Nature has given us the po- 
 sition and the power to lead the commercial world. 
 Shall we use our opportunity or abandon the field to 
 those who have not a tittle of our advantage ? If we 
 can only regain the proportion of our commerce which 
 we held in 1856, the profit to our people will be more 
 than $100,000,000 per annum. Shall we go forward or 
 shall we continue to retreat ? "
 
 IX. 
 
 AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 The attitude of Mr. Blaine upon foreign commerce 
 is not a doubtful one. It has frequently been made 
 known ; but it is perhaps most fully expressed in the 
 admirable speech in response to a toast at the annual 
 dinner of the New York Chamber of Commerce, May 13, 
 1879. It is a concise statement, backed by an array of 
 figures and a solidity of argument that takes it out of 
 the amiably light class of after-dinner speeches and 
 makes it worth reproduction here. 
 
 Mr. Blaine said : 
 
 You will permit me to say, speaking as an outsider, to the Chamber 
 of Commerce, and coming as I do from a commercial State, that com- 
 merce as well as religion needs a revival in this country. Every other 
 interest in this country for the last fifteen years, even including the year 
 1866-67, a year of doubt and depression, has been gathering strength and 
 is ready to march forward to victory, save only the commerce of the 
 country. Now I suppose that figures are familiar to you, gentlemen, 
 but the figures of American commerce, in its decline, are startling. 
 Twenty years ago, of the tonnage engaged in the foreign trade of the 
 United States fully three-fourths was American tonnage. Of the 
 tonnage engaged in the foreign trade of the United States to-day not 
 one-fourth is American. In 1856-57 Great Britain, the leading com-
 
 94 JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 
 mercial nation of the world, had only 950, coo tons engaged in trade be- 
 tween the United States and that kingdom. She has 5,200,000 tons 
 now. Germany then had but 160,000 tons. She has 950,000 tons 
 now. Norway and Sweden twenty years ago had in trade between this 
 country and their own but 20,000 tons. Last year's reports show that 
 she had 850,000 tons. Even Austria, penned up with a limited sea- 
 board as she is, had in commerce with us, twenty years ago, not a ves- 
 sel of her own ; but last year she had no less than 220,000 tons. And I 
 might go on thus through the whole list. 
 
 In this mighty increase of commerce, from 4,400,000 to over 10,000,- 
 000 tons in a single year, the United States has gone backward, and all 
 the vast profit of this trade has gone into the coffers of other nations. 
 Let me ask of you here what other interests have gone backward in 
 that period. Have manufactures ? They have outstripped imagina- 
 tion. Has agriculture? It has gone ahead of every calculation. 
 Has internal commerce ? Why, we have increased from 30,000 to 
 68,000 miles of railroads, and the Government of the United States, 
 besides giving sixty millions in money, has given to internal commerce 
 over 200,000,000 acres of the public domain — more than New York, New 
 Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland combined. And meantime 
 she has protected by tariff every article that the American artisan and 
 the American capitalist would invest in the manufacture of. But for the 
 foreign commerce of this country what has she done ? Left it to the 
 alien and the stranger, and in the last ten years the value of the prod- 
 ucts carried between this country and foreign countries has exceeded 
 $11,000,000,000 a year, out of the carrying of which somebody has 
 made $110,000,000 per annum — a sum far larger than the public debt. 
 And who has made this money ? France, England, Germany— every- 
 body excepting the United States. Think of it ! $110,000,000, in gold 
 coin, has gone out of the commerce of this country into the commerce 
 of other countries. Can New York stand this ? Can this great port 
 sustain such loss as this, with all her unbounded advantages of position 
 and resources, and vnth the magnificent continental commerce that 
 stands behind her ? I say, gentlemen, that if the carrying trade of this 
 country, aggregating $110,000,000, is permanently turned from us, then 
 the question of specie payments becomes one of far more complicated 
 difficulty than it is to-day, and the only way to make that question easier 
 of solution is to turn that current of gold from those coffers into our 
 owiu I said just now that I have come from a commercial State ; but 
 our State is a State that flourishes with fleets of sailing ships, and the day
 
 AMERICAN SHIPPING. 95 
 
 of sailing vessels in commerce is over. The North Atlantic commerce 
 is in the hands of the steamships to-day, and of this your own commerce, 
 from your own port of New York, represents at least 2,000 vessels 
 of 1,000 tons each, and it is all in the hands of Europeans. An old 
 ship captain was once telling me of the value of commerce. He was 
 one of those wise, thrifty captains of the old time, who owned. a share 
 of his vessel himself, and some of you, doubtless, have met a few of his 
 class. He said, "People don't understand this commercial question. 
 I once took a load of coal from Cardiff to Valparaiso, and I got consid- 
 erable more for carrying it than the coal was worth. Then I took back 
 a cargo of guano from the Chinchas, and I was paid more for carrying 
 that than the cargo was worth ; and so I made more out of the wind 
 and waves than these merchants did with all their risk and shrewd- 
 ness." And this is what commerce does. 
 
 But since that time great changes have taken place in the methods of 
 commerce, and great changes are going on to-day. Lord Beaconsfield 
 has said that in the last ten years the loss to the landed estates of 
 Great Britain has amounted to £%,cxyQ,Qoo sterling. Now this great 
 loss is easily accounted for, if we look for it. It is a result of the prog- 
 ress made in the means and facilities of cheap transportation. To-day 
 you can put a barrel of flour or a bushel of wheat from Chicago into 
 Liverpool at a cheaper rate than you could bring it ten years ago from 
 Buffalo to New York. With this cheap rate for freights, therefore, the 
 great landed estates of England, that are rented at £2 to £2 los. per 
 acre, cannot pretend to compete with products that are raised on lands 
 the fee-simple of which is not half so much as the annual rental of 
 the English lands. In view of these facts, I say we are destined to 
 feed the world, because we can do it cheaper than anybody else can do 
 it. We are, in fact, doing that to-day, and yet we are weekly losing 
 the opportunity to reap those vast profits that come from the carrying 
 trade of our own products. There is no reason why this should be so. 
 There are persons here, I dare say, that can remember when Clinton's 
 Ditch (the Erie Canal) had the water let into it. Nobody appears will- 
 ing, I see, to acknowledge such antiquity ! [A voice — ' ' Yes, yes, 
 here ! "] Well, you all probably have heard of it. Why, the tonnage 
 from New York to Buffalo was $85 a ton the year before that "ditch " 
 was opened, but it fell to $9 a ton a year afterward. That was con- 
 sidered a marvel. And yet that is more than it is to-day from the far 
 Northwest, from Minneapolis to the principal ports of Europe. 
 
 There is nothing that we have not done in this country to encourage
 
 96 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 railroad building. We have gone wild on that. We have built them 
 where they were needed, and we have built them where they were not 
 needed. We have built those that paid well with much doubt and 
 blind distrust ; and we have rushed with blind confidence into the 
 building of roads that, after they were built, didn't pay a penny. In 
 this multiplication of lines of transportation we have brought all our 
 vast national products to the seaboard, and think that that is the end of 
 the line. We have reaped the products of it so far, and then are will- 
 ing to let foreigners have the rest of it. WTiy, it is one continuous route 
 from Chicago to Liverpool ; but we take i,ock> miles and give 3,000 
 miles to the foreigner, and that is the way we are dividing our carrying 
 trade. Why should we not carry it across the sea if they can make a 
 profit in doing it ? 
 
 As I said at the outset of my somewhat rambling remarks, if you ad- 
 dressed this toast to me, it is to remind me that all my adjurations and 
 declarations up to this time have been futile. If you intend it as a 
 declaration of the Chamber of Commerce, that its influence and re- 
 sources, and the influence of the vast forces of our country, are to be 
 used in the effort for a revival of American commerce, you may consider 
 the thing is accomplished. " If it is possible, it is done already. If it 
 is impossible, you will see that it is done." You can apply the Talley- 
 rand motto to this question. You can do it, and no other power in this 
 country can do it I am not here, of course, to invoke any controversy 
 on this matter, but I am here to say that thus far, so far as our legisla- 
 tion is concerned, the influence of New York has not been felt in that 
 direction. When you get ready to exert it let us hear from you by tele- 
 graph. When the old lady was training her son for the trapeze, the 
 boy made three or four rather ineffectual efforts to get over the bar. 
 Then she was heard to suggest, "John Henry Hobbs, if you'll just 
 throw your heart over them bars your body will follow." And so it is 
 with you. If New York will throw her heart into this matter the rest 
 will follow, and then we shall have the commercial, manufacturing, and 
 agricultural interests of our country going forward hand in hand, as they 
 should go, mutually supporting each other. I know that there is a dif- 
 ference of opinion as to the means by which this is to be accomplished. 
 One man says, ' ' Tear down your navigation laws, and let us have free 
 ships." Now I am opposed to that, because that does not tend to 
 build up American commerce. I don't believe in false trade-marks. 
 I don't believe that buying a British ship, and calling her an American 
 ship, makes her an American ship. I believe that this very day and
 
 AMERICAN SHIPPING. 97 
 
 hour every single article that goes into the manufacture of a ship can 
 be produced and made as well here as in any spot on this earth. Now, 
 you make a $500,000 ship, representing a tonnage of say 3,500 tons. 
 Five thousand dollars represent the cost of the original raw material, 
 and f 495,000 represents the value of the labor and skill to be put on 
 those materials by American hands. I say that I am opposed to pay- 
 ing that $495,000 outside of this country. Just so long as this country 
 fails to become, or delays its arrival at the position of a great and tri- 
 umphant commercial nation, just so long it is defeating the ends of 
 Providence. We have 17,000 miles of coast line, looking toward 
 Europe, Asia, and Africa, giving us a larger sea frontage than all Europe, 
 beginning at Archangel and running to the pillars of Hercules, and be- 
 yond them to the gates of Trebizond. Ralph Waldo Emerson has 
 said that England was great, because she had the best business stand 
 on the globe. That was perhaps once true. But it is true no longer. 
 To-day the best business stand is changed, and it is to be found in the 
 United States, and your great imperial city, with its matchless com- 
 mercial connections and position, and its magnificent harbor, is destined 
 to be, under the guidance of its merchants, what London has dreamed 
 of, but never yet has realized. 
 
 At another time,in answer to a question in the House, 
 he made clear the ground upon which protectionists 
 stand in regard to American shipping. 
 
 Mr. Allison said : " I want my friend from Maine to 
 tell us why they ask for free trade in ship-building, and 
 insist upon protection for every other branch of manu- 
 facturing industry ? " 
 
 Mr. Blaine : " I will answer the gentleman in a word, 
 that the shipping interest is differently situated. When 
 you built a ship for the commerce of the world, you 
 send it abroad to compete with every other ship in 
 every other country. You are unable by your laws to 
 give her any protection or to prevent the greatest com- 
 petition from every other nation in the world. When 
 7
 
 98 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 you protect your manufactures at home by laying a 
 duty upon the same manufactures of other countries, 
 why, sir, you shut out the entire competition of the 
 world. If you levy an internal revenue tax on our 
 manufactures here, you at the same time raise the tariff 
 duty in order that the internal tax may not depress the 
 home manufactures or give an advantage to the foreign 
 article. You raise the tariff in order that you may shut 
 out foreign competition. If the gentleman from Iowa 
 cannot see the difference between a vessel launched 
 and that departs for foreign ports not deriving any ben- 
 efit from our laws, and which has to compete with all 
 the other nations of the world — if he cannot see the dif- 
 ference between that and the manufactures which are 
 protected by a high class of duties, he must then con- 
 clude that his logic is false. 
 
 ** I say further, Mr. Speaker, that I object entirely to 
 this being considered a bounty to the ship-builder. I 
 object utterly to it. I deny it. I deny that it is a 
 bounty. I say that all the ship-builders ask is to be re- 
 lieved from their burdens. There is a wide distinction 
 in the logic and the statement of the case. You find 
 no protection to these ships. If I build a ship on the 
 banks of the Kennebec, send her to Liverpool, and she 
 meets a ship from the banks of the St. John, or from 
 any other part of the world, now what protection do 
 your laws give her over the foreign ship ? What protec- 
 tion do you give her ? Not the slightest in the world." 
 
 Speaking again in the House (February ii, 1876)
 
 AMERICAN SHIPPING. 99 
 
 upon the currency and the relation of paper money to 
 the shipping interest he said : " One great and leading 
 interest of my own and other States has suffered, still 
 suffers, and will continue to suffer as long as the cur- 
 rency is of irredeemable paper. I mean the ship-build- 
 ing and navigation interest — one that does more for the 
 country and asks less of it than any other except the 
 agricultural ; an interest that represents our distinctive 
 nationality upon all seas and in all climes ; an interest 
 more intensely and essentially American than any others 
 that fall under the legislative power of the Government, 
 and which asks only to-day to be left where the found- 
 ers of the Republic placed it one hundred years ago. 
 Give us the same basis of currency that our great com- 
 petitors of the British empire enjoy, and we will, within 
 the lifetime of those living, float a larger tonnage under 
 the American flag than was ever enrolled by one nation- 
 ality since the science of navigation has been known 
 among men. Ay ! more. Sir : give as the specie basis 
 and the merchant marine of America, sailing into all 
 zones and gathering gain in all continents, will bring 
 back to our shores its golden profits and supply to us 
 that coin which will steady our system and offset the 
 drains that weaken us in other directions. But ships 
 built on the paper basis cannot compete with the lower- 
 priced ones of the gold basis, and whoever advocates a 
 perpetuity of paper money in this country confesses his 
 readiness and willingness to sacrifice the navigation 
 and commercial interests for all time.
 
 100 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 " It would be an unpardonable weakness in our people 
 — always heroic when heroism is demanded — to doubt 
 their own capacity to maintain specie payment. I am 
 not willing myself to acknowledge that as a people we 
 are less honorable, less courageous, or less competent 
 than were our ancestors in 1790 ; still less am I ready 
 to own that the people of the entire Union have not the 
 pluck and the capacity of our friends and kinsmen in 
 California ; and last of all, would I confess that the 
 United States of America, with 44,000,000 of inhabitants, 
 with a territory surpassing all Europe in area, and, I 
 might almost say, all the world in fertility of resources, 
 are not able to do what a handful of British subjects, 
 scattered from Cape Race to Vancouver's Island, can do 
 so easily, so steadily, and so successfully."
 
 X. 
 
 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 
 
 There has been some rather foolish talk about Mr. 
 Blaine's position on the question of Civil Service Re- 
 form. It is founded in part upon an ignorance or for- 
 getfulness of certain facts, the most important of vvrhich 
 is that he was not a member of Congress when the 
 Civil Service rules which are now operating so admira- 
 bly were adopted, and was not in a position to publicly 
 make known his ideas upon the subject. But they were 
 already sufficiently announced, and, to those who con- 
 cerned themselves about the matter, were well under- 
 stood. 
 
 When the discussion arose in its earlier forms he 
 was in Congress, and recorded himself unmistakably 
 upon the issue, going so far as to himself propose an 
 amendment to a civil service bill. The House having 
 under consideration a law prohibiting contributions to 
 election funds by persons employed in the Government 
 service, Mr. Blaine offered an amendment making the 
 provisions of the bill more rigorous, by including in its
 
 102 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 scope Senators, Representatives, and Delegates in Con- 
 gress. The amendment was carried. In speaking for 
 it he said incidentally : 
 
 ** I desire to congratulate the House upon the formal 
 surrender, if I may use that word, of that extreme doc- 
 trine of State rights which the other side of the chamber 
 have for many years held, in regard to the power of the 
 General Government in any way to regulate elections in 
 the States. It has been the function and, as they con- 
 sidered it, the duty of the Republican party in Congress 
 to pass certain enactments, designed to enforce purity 
 and fairness in elections. They have usually been very 
 strenuously resisted by our friends on the other side, on 
 the ground that the National Government had no power 
 whatever to interfere with or to control elections in the 
 States. 
 
 "This bill proposes to go down into the States and to 
 the counties, and to make it a penal offence, punishable 
 in the courts of the United States, for any officers to con- 
 tribute any money toward even a county election. I 
 think it a very suggestive, and to me it is a very grati- 
 fying, circumstance, that the Committee on the Judiciary 
 of this House, composed of very able gentlemen, a large 
 majority of them Democrats, and the chairman a States- 
 rights Democrat, have reported — and, as I understand it, 
 unanimously — a bill proposing to regulate elections in 
 States and counties. Now this, Mr. Speaker, I regard 
 as a very significant circumstance in the political history 
 of the times ; and it is a very gratifying circumstance,
 
 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. IO3 
 
 because from it we may feel assured that the Democratic 
 party will unite with the Republican party in all meas- 
 ures necessary to secure purity and fairness and equality 
 of elections throughout the United States. It was very 
 well remarked yesterday by the gentleman from Massa- 
 chusetts (Mr. Hoar), who offered an amendment to this 
 bill, that the worst form of government in the world to 
 live under is a government of the people, when the 
 majority is bribed ; and he stated very well that there 
 was only one thing worse than the bribing of voters, and 
 that was the fraudulent count of the votes after they 
 were deposited in the ballot-box." 
 
 No one, it may parenthetically be said, has been more 
 strenuous and constant in endeavors for the purity of 
 the ballot — the first need of a republic and a thing 
 without which reform in the civil service would be an 
 idle after-thought — than Mr. Blaine. His constant 
 watchfulness for the sacred rights of the voter is a mat- 
 ter as to which no reader of the political history of the 
 last twenty years can well be doubtful. Every phase 
 of the subject has at some time been touched by him, 
 and the pages of the Congressional Record are filled with 
 his vigorous words upon it. 
 
 The question of tenure of office, as well as that of polit- 
 ical contributions by office-holders, has been considered 
 by Mr. Blaine, and the following statement of the 
 ground taken by him on this point, made by Harper's 
 Weekly^ September 23, 1882, is as fair a presentation of 
 it as could be asked :
 
 104 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 "■ The speeches of Mr. Blaine in Maine and of Senator 
 Harrison in Indiana, with the brief and unmistakable 
 order of Mayor Low in Brooklyn, relieving every em- 
 ploye of all fear of the local Hubbell, and the signifi- 
 cant declaration of more than a thousand leading citi- 
 zens of Massachusetts of all parties that they will vote 
 for no Representative in Congress whose character and 
 record do not promise an earnest and aggressive action 
 for reform, are all unmistakable signs of a public con- 
 viction and purpose which will certainly have their way. 
 . . . Mr. Blaine pronounced plainly for some kind 
 of reform, and Mr. Blaine said in detail that he should 
 be glad to see every Federal officer, however honorable 
 his position, appointed for a specific term, during which 
 he could not be removed, except for cause, to be speci- 
 fied, proved, and recorded, and for subordinate officers 
 he thought that seven years would be a proper term of 
 office." 
 
 He spoke from an administrative experience then, as 
 he did a short time before, when, in eulogizing the dead 
 President, he said : 
 
 ''In the beginning of his Presidential life Garfield's 
 experience did not yield him pleasure or satisfaction. 
 The duties that engross so large a portion of the Presi- 
 dent's time were distasteful to him, and were unfavor- 
 ably contrasted with his legislative work. * I have 
 been dealing all these years with ideas,' he impatiently 
 exclaimed one day, 'and here I am dealing only with 
 persons. I have been heretofore treating of the funda-
 
 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. IO5 
 
 mental principles of government, and here I am consid- 
 ering all day whether A or B shall be appointed to this 
 or that office.' He was earnestly seeking some practi- 
 cal way of correcting the evils arising from the distribu- 
 tion of overgrown and unwieldy patronage — evils al- 
 ways appreciated and often discussed by him, but whose 
 magnitude had been deeply impressed upon his mind 
 since his accession to the Presidency. Had he lived, a 
 comprehensive improvement in the mode of appoint- 
 ment and in the tenure of office would have been pro- 
 posed by him, and with the aid of Congress no doubt 
 perfected." 
 
 As Secretary of State he, as well as General Garfield, 
 had been beset by office-seekers. The impatient excla- 
 mation of the President may fairly be believed to have 
 been not less that of the head of his Cabinet, and surely 
 that officer, intimate in his councils, had a share in form- 
 ing the plan which the President intended submitting 
 to Congress.
 
 XI. 
 
 THE AMNESTY BILL. 
 
 One of the matters as to which Mr. Blaine was most 
 zealous during his last year in the House, was in his 
 opposition to granting amnesty to Jefferson Davis, 
 Mr. Randall introduced in the House, December 15, 
 1875, what is known as the Amnesty Bill, removing the 
 political disabilities imposed by the third section of 
 the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. On 
 January 6, 1876, Mr. Blaine obtained consent to have 
 printed the following amendment, and gave notice that 
 he would offer it as an amendment to this bill the suc- 
 ceeding Monday : 
 
 " Be it enacted, etc.. That all persons now under the 
 disabilities imposed by the fourteenth amendment to 
 the Constitution of the United States, with the excep- 
 tion of Jefferson Davis, late president of the so-called 
 Confederate States, shall be relieved of such disabilities 
 on their appearing before any judge of a United States 
 court, and taking and subscribing in open court the 
 following oath, to be duly attested and recorded, namely :
 
 THE AMNESTY BILL. 10/ 
 
 I, A. B., do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will support 
 and defend the Constitution of the United States against 
 all enemies, foreign and domestic ; and that I will bear 
 true faith and allegiance to the same ; that I take this 
 obligation freely, without any mental reservation or pur- 
 pose of evasion ; and that, to the best of my knowl- 
 edge and ability, I will well and faithfully discharge 
 the duties of a citizen of the United States." 
 
 It is not possible to print here all that Mr. Blaine 
 said in support of his amendment, but it will be as well 
 to make the reader acquainted with some parts of it. 
 
 ''Every time," declared he, "that the question of am- 
 nesty has been brought before the House by a gentleman 
 on that side (the Democratic) for the last two Congresses, 
 it has been done with a certain flourish of magnanimity 
 which is an imputation on this side of the House, as 
 though the Republican party, which has been in charge 
 of the Government for the last twelve or fourteen years, 
 had been bigoted, narrow, and illiberal — as though cer- 
 tain very worthy and deserving gentlemen in the South- 
 ern States were ground down to-day under a great 
 tyranny and oppression from which the hard-heartedness 
 of this side of the House cannot possibly be prevailed 
 upon to relieve them. 
 
 " If I may anticipate as much wisdom as ought to char- 
 acterize that side of the House, this may be the last 
 time that amnesty will be discussed in the American 
 Congress. I therefore desire, and under the rules of 
 the House, with no thanks to that side for the privilege,
 
 I08 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 to place on record just what the Republican party has 
 done in this matter. I wish to place it there as an im- 
 perishable record of liberality and large-mindedness 
 and magnanimity and mercy far beyond any that has 
 ever been shown before in the world's history by con- 
 queror to conquered. 
 
 " With the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Randall) 
 I entered this Congress in the midst of the hot flame of 
 war, when the Union was rocking to its foundations, 
 and no man knew whether we were to have a country or 
 not. I think the gentleman from Pennsylvania would 
 have been surprised when he and I were novices in the 
 XXXVIIIth Congress, if he could have foreseen, before 
 our joint service ended, we should have seen sixty-one 
 gentlemen, then in arms against us, admitted to equal 
 privileges with ourselves, and all by the grace and mag- 
 nanimity of the Republican party. When the Avar 
 ended, according to the universal usage of nations, the 
 Government, then under the exclusive control of the 
 Republican party, had the right to determine what 
 should be the political status of the people who had been 
 defeated in war. Did we inaugurate any measures of 
 persecution ? Did we set forth on a career of blood- 
 shed and vengeance ? Did we take property ? Did we 
 prohibit any man all his civil rights ? Did we take 
 from him the right he enjoys to-day, to vote ? 
 
 " Not at all. But instead of a general and sweeping 
 condemnation the Republican party placed in the four- 
 teenth amendment to the Constitution only this exclu-
 
 THE AMNESTY BILL. IO9 
 
 sion ; after considering tlie whole subject, it ended in 
 simply coming down to this : 
 
 " ' That no person shall be a Senator or Representative 
 in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, 
 or hold any office, civil or military, under the United 
 States, or under any State, who, having previously taken 
 an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of 
 the United States, or as a member of any State Legisla- 
 ture, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State 
 to support the Constitution of the United States, shall 
 have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the 
 same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. 
 But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House 
 remove such disability.' 
 
 *' It has been variously estimated that this section at 
 the time of its original insertion in the Constitution in- 
 cluded somewhere from fourteen to thirty thousand 
 persons ; as nearly as I can gather together the facts of 
 the case, it included about eighteen thousand men in 
 the South. It let go every man of the hundreds of 
 thousands — or millions, if you please — who had been 
 engaged in the attempt to destroy this Government, 
 and only held those under disability who, in addition to 
 revolting, had violated a special and peculiar and per- 
 sonal oath to support the Constitution of the United 
 States. It was limited to that. 
 
 "Well, that disability was hardly placed upon the 
 South until we began in this Hall, and in the other wing 
 of the Capitol, Congress then being more than two-
 
 no JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 thirds Republican in both branches, to remit it, and the 
 very first bill took that disability off from 1,578 citizens 
 of the South ; and the next bill took it off from 3,526 
 gentlemen — by wholesale. Many of the gentlemen on 
 this floor came in for grace and amnesty in those two 
 bills. After these bills specifying individuals had passed, 
 and others, of smaller numbers, which I will not recount, 
 the Congress of the United States in 1872, by two-thirds 
 of both branches, still being two-thirds Republican, 
 passed this general law : 
 
 "' That all political disabilities imposed by the third section of the 
 fourteenth article of amendments of the Constitution of the United 
 States, are hereby removed from all persons whomsoever, except Sen- 
 ators and Representatives of the XXXVIth and XXXVIIth Congresses, 
 officers in the judicial, military, and naval services of the United States, 
 heads of Departments, and foreign ministers of the United States.' 
 
 "Since that act passed a very considerable number of 
 the gentlemen which it left under disability have been 
 relieved specially, byname, in separate acts. But I be- 
 lieve, Mr. Speaker, in no single instance since the act 
 of May 22, 1872, have the disabilities been taken from 
 any man except upon his respectful petition to the 
 Congress of the United States that they should be re- 
 moved. And I believe in no instance, except one, have 
 they been refused upon the petition being presented. 
 I believe in no instance, except one, has there been any 
 other than a unanimous vote. . . . 
 
 "There is no proposition here to punish Jefferson 
 Davis. Nobody is seeking to do it. That time has
 
 THE AMNESTY BILL. 112 
 
 gone by. The statute of limitations, common feelings 
 of humanity, will supervene for his benefit. But what 
 you wish us to do is to declare, by a vote of two-thirds 
 of both branches of Congress, that we consider Mr. Davis 
 worthy to fill the highest offices in the United States if 
 he can get a constituency to endorse him. He is a 
 voter ; he can buy and he can sell ; he can go and he 
 can come. He is as free as any man in the United 
 States. There is a long list of subordinate offices to 
 which he is eligible. This bill proposes, in view of that 
 record, that Mr. Davis, by a two-thirds vote of the Sen- 
 ate and a two-thirds vote of the House, be declared 
 eligible and worthy to fill any office up to the Presi- 
 dency of the United States,"
 
 XII. 
 
 AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 
 
 Mr. Blaine has always been distinguished for his virile 
 Americanism ; but he has never taken a firmer or more 
 creditable stand than that which he assumed in regard 
 to English arrests of naturalized Americans in 1867-8-9. 
 The principles for which he in common with other Con- 
 gressmen contested was a highly important one, and 
 England, after several years of hesitation and resistance, 
 granted the position fully. It consisted in the affirma- 
 tion that a na'turalized citizen of the United States was 
 entitled to the same treatment abroad which w^ould be 
 accorded a native American. England urged the an- 
 cient principle of the common law. This held that it 
 was impossible for one born under the sovereignty of 
 England to disclaim allegiance to her. Once an Eng- 
 lishman one was ahvays an Englishman. The occasion 
 of the protest made by Mr. Blaine and others w^as the 
 arrest in England of Burke, Warren, Costello, and other 
 naturalized Irish-Americans, for concern in Fenian plots.
 
 AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 1 13 
 
 This, says a writer in Lalor's Political Encyclopaedia, in 
 the course of an impartial discussion of these cases, "was 
 the signal for a loud outcry against Mr. Adams, our 
 minister at London, for his alleged failure to exert him- 
 self actively in behalf of men who were engaged in un- 
 questionably seditious proceedings, and who sought to 
 use their certificates of naturalization to protect them 
 against the law of the land whose provisions they were 
 openly violating. The course pursued by Mr. Adams, 
 like that recently followed by Mr. Lowell, was wholly in 
 accordance with the usual practice of our Government, 
 and received the unqualified endorsement of the State 
 Department. He was firm to insist upon the thoroughly 
 American principle, that a naturalized American should 
 be treated upon the same footing as a native-born sub- 
 ject of the United States ; at the same time he was too 
 much of a statesman not to know that one who violates 
 the law of the land, whether he be a subject or an alien, 
 cannot claim exemption from the penalty ; and he was 
 too much of a diplomate not to foresee that an attempt to 
 oppose the principle of territorial sovereignty, without 
 being able to show that the law whose enforcement was 
 protested against was abhorrent to the customs of civil- 
 ized nations, would only involve the mortifying result of 
 placing his government in a position which ultimately 
 they would be forced to abandon. So far from display- 
 ing an un-American weakness in yielding to foreign ag- 
 gression, his attitude was a model of loyal firmness and 
 diplomatic tact. His representations to the British For-
 
 114 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 eign Secretary, backed by the sanction of judicial prece- 
 dent and international practice, showed clearly enough 
 that he would be firm in resisting any encroachments 
 upon the rights of American citizens, as such, while at 
 the same time he avoided even the appearance of an un- 
 generous and irritating insistence upon purely abstract 
 principles." 
 
 It was in Costello's case that Mr. Blaine was espe- 
 cially active. This man had been arrested while in Ire- 
 land in 1867, and tried for a speech made in 1865, as an 
 American citizen, in New York. The speech was 
 deemed treasonable by the British Government, and 
 Costello was tried upon this charge. He was convicted 
 under the act of 1848, which made especial declaration 
 of England's right to punish British-born subjects for 
 words or acts of treason spoken or done in a foreign 
 land. The prisoner was sentenced to sixteen years 
 penal servitude. His plea of American citizenship was 
 disregarded upon the ground that no treaty obligation 
 could be alleged against the Act, claiming as a British 
 subject a man native to British soil. 
 
 When Costello was removed to Millbank prison, Mr. 
 Blaine urged the question upon the attention of Con- 
 gress, and mainly by his efforts Costello and other like 
 prisoners who were naturalized Americans were set at 
 liberty. The agitation resulted in the treaty of 1870, in 
 which Great Britain yielded the point, and entirely 
 abandoned the doctrine of a perpetual allegiance. It 
 w^as a signal victory won upon a point of the most vital
 
 AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 1 1 5 
 
 moment to all Americans by adoption. It is to Mr. 
 Blaine's advocacy that naturalized citizens owe the 
 precious immunity guaranteed as to England by the 
 treaty, and maintained in relation to other countries as a 
 principle growing out of it.
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 In the record of Mr. Blaine's term of service as Sen- 
 ator his position upon the Chinese question must have 
 separate attention. His speech when a bill was first 
 proposed in Congress limiting Chinese immigration 
 was the subject of much discussion at the time ; it won 
 him a wide popularity on the Pacific coast, and among 
 those who think with him it has always been held one of 
 the most complete and admirable statements of their 
 view which has been made public. 
 
 The opposition to the Chinese in California first took 
 vigorous form in 1877. Some violence accompanied 
 the expression of the sentiment against them, in which 
 Dennis Kearny, an Irish agitator, was the leader. The 
 people of San Francisco elected a clergyman named 
 Kalloch mayor when the question was submitted to the 
 ballot. Mayor Kalloch was adverse to the immigration 
 of the Chinese, and an effort was made to prevent it 
 through a constitutional amendment which readily pass- 
 ed the legislature, and at the polls received the approval 
 of voters of all classes. The higher courts, however, did
 
 THE CHINESE QUESTION: 11/ 
 
 not uphold the amendment, and the people of the Pacific 
 coast at length sought relief in Congress. The bill 
 which was introduced restricted the number of Chinese 
 passengers on incoming vessels to fifteen. Said Mr. 
 Blaine, in the Senate, February 14, 1879 : 
 
 ** It seems to me that if we adopt as a permanent poli- 
 cy the free immigration of those who by overwhelming 
 votes in both branches of Congress we say shall forever 
 remain political and social pariahs in a great free 
 government, we have introduced an element that we 
 cannot handle. You cannot stop where we are ; you are 
 compelled to do one of two things, either exclude the 
 immigration of Chinese or include them in the great 
 family of citizens. 
 
 " The argument is often put forward that there is no 
 particular danger of numbers coming here ; that it is 
 not a practical question, and I would ask the honorable 
 Senator from Ohio, if the number should mount up in- 
 to the millions what would be his view then ? Did it 
 ever occur to my honorable friend that the vast myriads 
 of millions almost as you might call them, the incalcu- 
 lable hordes in China, are much nearer to the Pacific 
 coast of the United States in point of money and pas- 
 sage, in point of expense of reaching it, than the people 
 of Kansas. A man in Shanghai or Hong-Kong can be 
 delivered in San Francisco more cheaply than a man in 
 Omaha now. I do not speak of the Atlantic coast, where 
 the population is still more dense ; but you may take the 
 Mississippi Valley, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas
 
 Il8 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 Missouri, all the great commonwealths of that valley, 
 and they are, in point of expense, further off from the 
 Pacific slope than the vast hordes in China and Japan. 
 
 " I am told by those who are familiar with the com- 
 mercial affairs of the Pacific side that a person can be 
 sent from any of the great Chinese ports to San Fran- 
 cisco for something over $30. I suppose in an emi- 
 grant train over the Pacific Railroad from Omaha, not 
 to speak of the expense of reaching Omaha, but from 
 that point alone, it will cost $50 a head, and that would 
 be cheap railroad fare as things go in this country. So 
 that in point of practicability — in point of getting there — 
 the Chinaman of to-day has an advantage over an Amer- 
 ican laborer in any part of the country, except in the 
 case of those who are already on the Pacific coast. 
 
 '' Ought we to exclude them ? The question lies in my 
 mind thus : Either the Anglo-Saxon race will possess the 
 Pacific coast, or the Mongolians will possess it. You 
 give them the start to-day, with the keen thrust of ne- 
 cessity behind them, and w4th the ease of transpor- 
 tation before them, with the inducements to come 
 while we are filling up the other portions of the conti- 
 nent, and it is entirely inevitable, if not demonstrable, 
 that they will occupy that great space of country be- 
 tween the Sierras and the Pacific coast. They are them- 
 selves to-day establishing steamship lines, they are them- 
 selves to day providing the means of transportation ; 
 and when gentlemen say that we admit from all other 
 countries, where do you find the slightest parallel ?
 
 THE CHINESE QUESTION. Up 
 
 And in a republic especially, in any government that 
 maintains itself, the unit of order and of administra- 
 tion is in the family. The immigrants that come to us 
 from all portions of the British isles, from Germany, 
 from Sweden, from Norway, from Denmark, from 
 France, from Spain, from Italy, come here with the 
 idea of the family as such engraven on their minds and 
 in their customs and in their habits as we have it. The 
 Asiatic cannot go on with our population and make a 
 homogeneous element. The idea of comparing Euro- 
 pean immigration with an immigration that has no re- 
 gard to family, that does not recognize the relation of 
 husband and wife, that does not observe the tie of par- 
 ent and child, that does not have in the slightest degree 
 the ennobling and civilizing influences of the hearth- 
 stone and the fireside ! Why, when gentlemen talk 
 loosely about immigration from European states as con- 
 trasted with that, they certainly are forgetting history 
 and forgetting themselves. 
 
 *' We must contemplate the fact that with the ordinary 
 immigration that is going on now, if the statistics given 
 by the honorable Senator from California are correct, 
 you are going to have very soon a large majority of the 
 male adults of California non-voters ; and with the Re- 
 public organized as it is to-day, I make bold to de- 
 clare that you cannot maintain a non-voting class in 
 this country. It was a necessity to give the negro suf- 
 frage. Abused as it has been in the South, curtailed 
 unfairly, it is still the shield and defence of that race •,
 
 120 JAMES G, BLAINE. 
 
 and with all its imperfections, and all its abuses, and all 
 its shortcomings, either by reason of his own ignorance 
 or by the tyranny of others, the suffrage of the negro 
 has wrought out, or has pointed the way by which shall 
 be wrought out, his political and personal salvation. 
 
 ''.The Senator from Ohio made light of race troubles. 
 I supposed if there was any part of the world where a 
 man would not make light of race troubles, it was here. 
 I supposed if there was any people in the world that 
 had a race trouble on hand, it was ourselves. I sup- 
 posed that if the admonitions of our own history were 
 anything to us, we should regard the race trouble as the 
 one thing to be dreaded, and the one thing to be avoided. 
 We are not through with it yet. It cost us a great many 
 lives ; it cost us a great many million of treasure. Does 
 any man feel that we are safely through with it now ? 
 Does any man here to-day assume that we have so en- 
 tirely solved and so satisfactorily settled on a perma- 
 nent basis all the troubles growing out of the negro 
 race trouble that w^e are prepared to invite another 
 one ? If so, he views history different from myself. If 
 any gentleman, looking into the future of his country 
 sees, for certain sections of it at least, peace and good 
 order and absolute freedom from any trouble growing 
 out of race, he sees with more sanguine eyes than mine. 
 With this trouble upon us here, not by our fault, to de- 
 liberately sit down and invite another and far more seri- 
 ous trouble seems to be the very recklessness of states- 
 manship.
 
 THE CHINESE QUESTION: 121 
 
 "Treat them like Christians, my friend says ; and yet 
 I believe that the Christian testimony from the Pacific 
 coast is that the conversion of the Chinese on that basis 
 is a fearful failure ; that the demoralization of the white 
 by reason of the contact is much more rapid than the sal- 
 vation of the Chinese race, and that up to this time there 
 has been no progress whatever made. I think I heard 
 the honorable Senator from California, who sits on this 
 side of the chamber (Mr. Booth), say that there was not, 
 as we understand it, in all the one hundred and twenty 
 thousand Chinese, more or less (whether I state the 
 number aright or not does not matter), there did not ex- 
 ist among the whole of them the relation of family. 
 There is not a peasant's cottage inhabited by a China- 
 man ; there is not a hearth-stone, in the sense we under- 
 stand it, of an American home, or an English home, or 
 a German home, or a French home. There is not a do- 
 mestic fireside in that sense ; and yet you say that it is en- 
 tirely safe to sit down here and permit that to grow up 
 in our country. If it were a question of fifty years ago, 
 I admit with my colleague that it would not be practica- 
 ble. Means of communication, ease of access, cheap- 
 ness of transportation, have changed the issue and forced 
 upon our attention a crisis in it. I am always disposed 
 to take each Senator's statement about his own State. 
 If I should make a statement about my State, or my col- 
 league, who knows more about it, should make a state- 
 ment about Maine, I should not feel very well to have 
 it doubted by other Senators. I undertake to believe
 
 122 JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 
 at least that if the Congress of the United States should 
 decide adversely, in effect confirming the treaty and 
 the status of immigration as it now is, you cannot main- 
 tain law and order in California without the interposi- 
 tion of the military five years hence. 
 
 " I do not justify the brutality of the treatment of the 
 Chinese who are here. It is greatly to be regretted ; it 
 is greatly to be condemned ; but you must deal with 
 things as you find them. If you foresee a conflict, I think 
 it is a good deal cheaper and more direct way to avoid 
 the trouble by preventing the immigration. 
 
 " I have heard a great deal about their cheap labor. 
 I do not myself believe in cheap labor. I do not be- 
 lieve that cheap labor should be an object of legislation, 
 and it will not be in a republic. You cannot have the 
 wealthy classes in a republic where the suffrage is uni- 
 versal legislate for cheap labor. I undertake to repeat 
 that. I say that you cannot have the wealthy classes 
 in a republic w^here suffrage is universal legislate in the 
 interest of cheap labor. Labor should not be cheap, 
 and it should not be dear ; it should have its share, and 
 it will have its share. There is not a laborer on the 
 Pacific coast to-day, I say that to my honorable col- 
 leagues — whose whole life has been consistent and uni- 
 form in defence and advocacy of the interests of the 
 laboring classes — there is not a laboring man on the 
 Pacific coast to day, who does not feel wounded and 
 grieved and crushed by the competition that comes from 
 this source. Then the answer is, * Well, are not Ameri-
 
 THE CHINESE QUESTION; 1 23 
 
 can laborers equal to Chinese laborers?* I answer 
 that question by asking another : Were not free white 
 laborers equal to African slaves in the South ? When 
 you tell me that the Chinaman driving out the free 
 American laborer only proves the superiority of the 
 Chinaman, I ask you did the African slave labor driv- 
 ing out the free white labor from the South prove the 
 superiority of slave labor ? The conditions are not un- 
 like, the parallel is not complete and yet it is a parallel. 
 It is servile labor ; it is not free labor such as we intend 
 to develop and encourage and build up in this country. 
 It is labor that comes here under a mortgage. It is 
 labor that comes here to subsist on what the American 
 laborer cannot subsist on. You cannot work a man 
 who must have beef and bread, and would prefer beer, 
 alongside of a man who can live on rice. It cannot be 
 done. In all such conflicts and in all such struggles the 
 result is not to bring up the man who lives on rice to 
 the beef-and-bread standard, but it is to bring down the 
 beef-and-bread man to the rice standard. Slave labor 
 degraded free labor ; it took out its respectability ; it 
 put an odious caste on it. It throttled the prosperity of 
 a fine and fair portion of the United States ; and a 
 worse than slave labor will throttle and impair the pros- 
 perity of a still finer and fairer section of the United 
 States. We can choose here to-day whether our legis- 
 lation shall be in the interest of the American free la- 
 borer or for the servile laborer from China." 
 
 Mr. Blaine's powerful speech has not been given
 
 124 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 entire, but enough is reproduced to exhibit the tenor 
 of his argument. 
 
 The bill whose passage he urged secured the ap- 
 proval of both Houses of Congress but was vetoed by 
 President Hayes, it being to his sense a violation of 
 treaty obligations. The effort against the Chinese was 
 renewed at the session of 1881-2, and the bill this time 
 introduced was much more rigorous in its provisions, 
 absolutely prohibiting all immigration of Chinese and 
 coolie laborers for twenty years. The author of the 
 bill. Senator John F. Miller, made a strong speech in 
 favor of it and it passed both houses. Mr. Blaine was 
 not then in the Senate.
 
 XIV. 
 
 SLANDER. 
 
 These pages need not be burdened with a defence of 
 Mr. Blaine against the accusations of political enemies. 
 They were disposed of long ago, and if a renewal of the 
 complete answers which have been made to them should 
 be desired it will doubtless be readily furnished from 
 other sources. But without some statement of the 
 charges and Mr. Blaine's refutation of them this could 
 not offer itself as a full history of his life. They must 
 therefore be glanced at briefly. 
 
 The story of them is set forth in the Congressional 
 Record from Mr. Blaine's mouth, and nothing better can 
 be done than to reproduce it here. On April 24, 1876, 
 he said in the House of Representatives : 
 
 *' Mr. Speaker, with the leave of the House so kindly 
 granted, I shall proceed to submit certain facts and cor- 
 rect certain errors personal to myself. The dates of 
 the correspondence embraced in my statement will show 
 that it was impossible for me to make it earlier. I shall 
 be as brief as the circumstances will permit. For some
 
 126 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 months past a charge against me has been circulating 
 in private — and was recently made public — designing 
 to show that I had in some indirect manner received the 
 large sum of $64,000 from the Union Pacific Railroad 
 Company in 187 1 — for what services or for what purpose 
 has never been stated. The alleged proofs of the seri- 
 ous accusation was based, according to the original 
 story, upon the authorship of E. H. Rollins, treasurer 
 of the Union Pacific company, who, it was averred, had 
 full knowledge that I got the money, and also upon the 
 authority of Morton, Bliss & Company, bankers of New 
 York, through whom the draft for $64,000 was said to 
 have been negotiated for my benefit, as they confidently 
 knew. Hearing of this charge some weeks in advance 
 of its publication, I procured the following statement 
 from the two principal witnesses, who were quoted as 
 having such definite knowledge against me : 
 
 " ' Union Pacific Railroad Company, 
 
 " ' Boston, March 31, 1876. 
 *' 'Dear Sir : In response to your inquiry, I beg leave 
 to state that I have been treasurer of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad Company since April 8, 187 1, and have neces- 
 sarily known of all disbursements made since that date. 
 During the entire period up to the present time I am 
 sure that no money has been paid in any way or to any 
 person by the company in which you were interested in 
 any manner whatever. I make the statement in justice 
 to the company, to you, and to myself. 
 " 'Very respectfully yours, 
 
 " ' E. H. Rollins. 
 " * Hon. James G. Blaine.'
 
 SLANDER. 127 
 
 '' ' New York, April 6, 1876. 
 
 ** * Dear Sir : In answer to your inquiry we beg to say 
 that no draft, note, or check, or other evidence of value 
 has passed through our books in which you were known 
 or supposed to have any interest of any kind, direct or 
 indirect. 
 
 ***VVe remain, very respectfully, your obedient ser- 
 vants, Morton, Bliss & Co. 
 
 " ' Hon. James G. Blaine, 
 
 '' ' Washington, D. C 
 
 '' Some persons on reading the letter of Morton, Bliss 
 & Co. said that its denial seemed to be confined to any 
 payment that had passed through their books, whereas 
 they might have paid a draft in which I was interested 
 and yet no entry made of it on their books. On the 
 criticism being made known to the firm, they at once 
 addressed me the following letter : 
 
 *' ' New York, April 13, 1876. 
 
 " ' Dear Sir : It has been suggested to us that our 
 letter of the 6th instant was not sufficiently inclusive or 
 exclusive. In that letter we stated '* that no draft, note^ 
 or check, or other evidence of value has ever passed 
 through our books in which you were known or sup- 
 posed to have any interest, direct or indirect." It may 
 be proper for us to add that nothing has been paid to 
 us in any form or at any time, to any person or any cor- 
 poration in which you were known, believed, or supposed 
 to have any interest whatever. 
 
 "'We remain, very respectfully, your obedient ser- 
 vants, Morton, Bliss & Co. 
 
 " * Hon. James G. Blaine, 
 "'Washington, D. C
 
 128 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 " The two witnesses quoted for the original charge 
 having thus effectually disposed of it, the charge itself 
 reappeared in another form to this effect, namely : That 
 a certain draft was negotiated at the house of Morton, 
 Bliss & Company, in 187 1, through Thomas A. Scott, 
 then president of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, 
 for the sum of $64,000, and that $75,000 of the bonds of 
 the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad Company were 
 pledged as collateral ; that the Union Pacific company 
 paid the draft and took up the collateral ; that the cash 
 proceeds of it went to me, and that I had furnished, or 
 sold, or in some way conveyed or transferred to Thomas 
 A. Scott, these Little Rock & Fort Smith bonds which 
 had been used as collateral ; that the bonds in reality 
 had belonged to me or some friend or constituent of 
 mine for whom I was acting. I endeavor to state the 
 charge in its boldest form and in all its phases. 
 
 " I desire here and now to declare that all and every 
 part of this story that connects my name with it is ab- 
 solutely untrue, without a particle of foundation in fact, 
 and without a tittle of evidence to substantiate it. I 
 never had any transaction of any kind with Thomas A. 
 Scott concerning bonds of the Little Rock & Fort 
 Smith road, or the bonds of any other railroad, or any 
 business in any way connected with railroads, directly 
 or indirectly, immediately or remotely. I never had any 
 business transactions whatever with the Union Paci- 
 fic Railroad Company, or any of its officers or agents 
 or representatives, and never in any manner received
 
 SLANDER. 129 
 
 from that company, directly or indirectly, a single dollar 
 in money, or stocks, or bonds, or any other form of 
 value. And as to the particular transaction referred to, 
 I never so much as heard of it until nearly two years 
 after its alleged occurrence, when it was talked of at the 
 time of the Credit Mobilier investigation in 1873. ^^it 
 while my denial ought to be conclusive, I should greatly 
 regret to be compelled to leave the matter there. I am 
 fortunately able to sustain my own declaration by the 
 most conclusive evidence that the case admits of or that 
 human testimony can supply. If any person or persons 
 know the truth or falsity of these charges, it must be 
 the officers of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. I 
 accordingly addressed a note to the president of that 
 company, a gentleman who has been a director of the 
 company from its organization, I believe, who has a 
 more thorough acquaintance with its business transac- 
 tions, probably, than any other man. The correspond- 
 ence which I here submit will explain itself and leave 
 nothing to be said. I will read these letters in their 
 proper order. They need no comment. 
 
 " 'Washington, D. C, April 13, 1876. 
 
 ** ' Dear Sir : You have doubtless observed the scandal 
 now in circulation in regard to my having been in- 
 terested in certain bonds of the Little Rock & Fort 
 Smith road, alleged to have been purchased by your 
 company in 187 1. It is due to me, I think, that some 
 statement in regard to the subject should be made by 
 9
 
 130 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 yourself as the official head of the Union Pacific Rail- 
 road Company. 
 
 " ' Very respectfully, J. G. Blaine. 
 
 *■'■ 'Sidney Dillon, Esq., 
 
 '''President Union Pacific Railroad Company.' 
 
 " ' Office Union Pacific Railroad Company, ) 
 " ' New York, April 15, 1876. \ 
 
 " ' Dear Sir : I have your favor of the 13th instant, and 
 in reply desire to say that I have this day written 
 Colonel Thomas A. Scott, who was president of the 
 Union Pacific company at the time of the transaction 
 referred to, a letter of which I send a copy herewith. 
 On receipt of this reply I will enclose it to you. 
 " ' Very respectfully, 
 
 " ' Sidney Dillon, President. 
 " ' Hon. James G. Blaine, 
 " ' Washington, D. C 
 
 Office of the Union Pacific Railroad Co., ) 
 New York, April 15, 1876. ) 
 
 u < 
 
 " ' Dear Sir : The press of the country are making al- 
 legations that certain bonds of the Little Rock & Fort 
 Smith Railroad Company in 187 1 were obtained from 
 Hon. James G. Blaine, of Maine, or that the avails in 
 some form w^ent to his benefit, and that the knowledge 
 of those facts rests w4th the officers of the company and 
 with yourself. These statements are injurious both 
 to Mr. Blaine and to the Union Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany. There were never any facts to w^arrant them, 
 and I think that a statement to the public is due both 
 from you and myself. I desire, as president of the com- 
 pany, to repel any such inference in the most emphatic
 
 SLANDER. 131 
 
 manner, and would be glad to hear from you on the 
 subject Very respectfully, 
 
 "'Sidney Dillon, President. 
 " * Col. Thomas A. Scott, Philadelphia, Pa.' 
 
 ** * Office Union Pacific Railroad Company, ) 
 *' * New York, April 22, 1876. \ 
 
 " * Dear Sir : As I advised you some days ago, I wrote 
 Col. Thomas A. Scott and begged leave to enclose you 
 his reply. I desire further to say that I was a director 
 of the company and a member of the executive commit- 
 tee in 1871, and to add my testimony to that of Col. 
 Scott in verification of all that he has stated in the en- 
 closed letter. Truly yours, 
 
 " ' Sidney Dillon, President. 
 
 " * Hon. James G. Blaine, 
 
 " 'Washington, D. C 
 
 ** * Philadelphia, April 21, 1876. 
 
 *' ^ My Dear Sir : I have your letter under date New 
 York April 15, 1876, stating that the press of the coun- 
 try are making allegations that certain bonds of the 
 Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad, purchased by the 
 Union Pacific Railroad Company in 187 1, were obtained 
 from Hon. J. G. Blaine, of Maine, or that the avails in 
 some form went to his benefit ; that there never were 
 any facts to warrant them ; that it is your desire as 
 president of the company to repel any such influence 
 in the most emphatic manner, and asking me to make a 
 statement in regard to the matter. 
 
 " * In reply, I beg leave to say that much as I dislike 
 the idea of entering into any of the controversies that 
 are before the public in these days of scandal from
 
 132 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 which but a few men in public life seem to be exempt, 
 I feel it my duty to state : 
 
 "'That the Little Rock & Fort Smith bonds pur- 
 chased by the Union Pacific Railroad Company in 187 1, 
 were not purchased or received from Mr. Blaine, di- 
 rectly or indirectly, and that of the money paid by the 
 Union Pacific Railroad Company, or of the avails of 
 said bonds, not one dollar went to Mr. Blaine or to any 
 person for him, or for his benefit in any form. 
 
 '' ' All statements to the effect that Mr. Blaine ever had 
 any transactions with me, directly or indirectly, involv- 
 ing money or valuables of any kind, are absolutely 
 without foundation in fact. 
 
 *'*I take pleasure in making this statement to you, 
 and you may use it in any manner you deem best for the 
 interest of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. 
 « < Very truly yours, 
 
 " * Thomas A. Scott. 
 ** * Sidney Dillon, Esq., President, 
 
 " * Union Pacific Railroad Company, New York.' 
 
 " Let me now, Mr. Speaker, briefly summarize what I 
 presented : First, that the story of my receiving $64,000 
 or any other sum of money, or anything of value, from 
 the Union Pacific Railroad Company, directly or indi- 
 rectly, or in any form, is absolutely disproved by 
 the most conclusive testimony. Second, that no bond 
 of mine was ever sold to the Atlantic & Pacific, or 
 the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Company, and 
 that not a single dollar of money from either of these 
 companies ever went to my profit or benefit. Third,
 
 SLANDER. 133 
 
 that instead of receiving bonds of the Little Rock & 
 Fort Smith road as a gratuity, I never had one except 
 at the regular market price ; and instead of making a 
 large fortune oif that company, I have incurred a severe 
 pecuniary loss from my investment in its securities, 
 which I still retain ; and out of such affairs as these 
 grows the popular gossip of large fortunes amassed in 
 Congress. I can hardly expect, Mr. Speaker, that any 
 statement from me will stop the work of those who 
 have so industriously circulated these calumnies. For 
 months past the effort has been energetic and contin- 
 uous to spread these stories in private circles. Emis- 
 saries of slander have visited editorial rooms of leading 
 Republican papers from Boston to Omaha, and whis- 
 pered of revelations to come that were too terrible even 
 to be spoken in loud tones, and at last, the revelations 
 have been made. I am now, Mr. Speaker, in the four- 
 teenth year of a not inactive service in this hall ; I 
 have taken and have given blows ; I have no doubt said 
 many things in the heat of debate that I would gladly 
 recall ; I have no doubt given votes which in fuller light 
 I would gladly change ; but I have never done anything 
 in my public career for which I could be put to the 
 faintest blush in any presence, or for which I cannot 
 answer to my constituents, my conscience, and the Great 
 Searcher of Hearts." 
 
 Comment upon this need not be made ; but it is worth 
 while to add, as an indication of public sentiment at the 
 time, this fair and ample statement from Mr. George
 
 134 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 William Curtis. It appeared in Harper's Weekly^ May 13, 
 1876. Mr. Curtis wrote : 
 
 '' In speaking of the railroad-bond scandal about Mr. 
 Blaine we said that at least it would be admitted that he 
 had always shown himself acute enough to escape the 
 traps into which the honest but dull will often fall. If 
 high principle should be denied to him, and if, as is 
 sometimes asserted, he is merely a politician, yet surely 
 he is a politician of sagacity enough to know that, in 
 public life, honesty, if nothing more, is certainly good 
 policy. The substance of the charge against Mr. Blaine 
 \vas that when he was Speaker of the House, and when 
 Mr. Thomas Scott was president of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad Company, he caused the company to buy bonds 
 to the amount of $75,000, which were almost worthless, 
 for $64, 000, and the insinuation was that this was a bribe 
 to secure the favor of Mr. Blaine for Mr. Scott's railway 
 projects before Congress. Plainly stated, this was the 
 charge. Of course, if believed it w^as fatal to Mr. Blaine ; 
 and at this time, when the public mind is very suspi- 
 cious, the mere accusation was not unlikely to be of 
 great injury to him. The story had been privately 
 whispered, and there had been a conference of Republi- 
 can editors at Cincinnati, which ended by acquainting 
 him of the rumor. Suddenly it was made public in a 
 Democratic paper at Indianapolis, and in other journals 
 in other parts of the country. Then, of course, it was 
 echoed and re-echoed through the whole press. Mr. 
 Blaine instantly published an absolute and complete
 
 SLANDER. 135 
 
 denial, and having collected evidence that is apparently 
 conclusive, he made a brief, clear, simple statement in 
 the House, which was as thorough a refutation as was 
 ever made, and, in the absence of other evidence, leaves 
 him unspotted. 
 
 "He showed by the testimony of the officers and bank- 
 ers who had been cited as agents that he had never re- 
 ceived from them, directly or indirectly, any money, as 
 charged. Mr. Scott, in the most explicit manner, de- 
 clared that Mr. Blaine had never had any transaction 
 whatever with him, directly or indirectly, involving 
 money or valuables of any kind. The treasurer of the 
 road, Mr. E. H. Rollins, was equally precise and unquali- 
 fied in his declaration, and Messrs. Morton, Bliss & Co., 
 who were said to have been paid the money, said : ' Noth- 
 ing has been paid by us, in any form or at any time, to 
 any person or any corporation in which you were known, 
 believed, or supposed to have any interest whatever.' 
 Mr. Blaine states that he bought in 1869 some bonds of 
 the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad, which derives 
 its franchise and rights entirely from the State of Ar- 
 kansas. He paid for his bonds the price that all buyers 
 paid, and, with other buyers, he lost by them. His loss 
 was more than $20,000. All the bonds that he ever 
 bought he held until the company was reorganized in 
 1874, when he exchanged them for stocks and bonds in 
 the new concern, which he still holds. When the At- 
 lantic & Pacific, and Missouri, Kansas & Texas roads 
 bought some of the securities of the Little Rock road,
 
 136 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 Mr. Blaine knew of the negotiation, but none of the 
 bonds sold to those roads belonged to him, nor did he 
 have a single dollar's pecuniary interest in the transac- 
 tion. 
 
 " This is the statement of Mr. Blaine, supported by un- 
 questionable testimony. He has not sought investiga- 
 tion because he knew by experience how long he would 
 have to wait for a report ; and while awaiting the slow 
 action of a committee, with the charges still pending, 
 he could not have published the evidence which he has 
 now submitted. He knew, moreover, although he does 
 not say, and everybody knows, that the Democratic in- 
 vestigating committee would have delayed any report 
 until after the Cincinnati convention, as a fatal blow to 
 Mr. Blaine's possible candidacy. But if the House now 
 wishes to open an inquiry he will gladly give all the as- 
 sistance he can to make it rigorous and thorough. In 
 justice to Mr. Blaine we present the concluding sum- 
 mary of his speech : 
 
 [The summary quoted above was here inserted] 
 
 *' If nobody now appears to justify this accusation, it 
 must be considered merely one of the reckless slanders 
 to which every prominent public man is exposed, and 
 no charge that may be hereafter made against Mr. Blaine, 
 unaccompanied by weighty testimony, will deserve any 
 attention whatever." 
 
 The story of the events which intervened between 
 the date of this clear and convincing statement and 
 June 5th, when he made a personal explanation in the
 
 SLANDER. 137 
 
 House, is told by Mr. Blaine in the course of that ex- 
 planation, and here, as elsewhere, it is preferred to allow 
 him to speak for himself : 
 
 Mr. Blaine. '* If the morning hour has expired, I will 
 rise to a question of privilege." 
 
 The Speaker pro tempore. ''The morning hour has 
 expired." 
 
 Mr. Blaine. " Mr. Speaker, on the second day of May 
 this resolution was passed by the House : 
 
 " * Whereas^ it is publicly alleged, and is not denied by 
 the officers of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, 
 that that corporation did, in the year 187 1 or 1872, be- 
 come the owner of certain bonds of the Little Rock & 
 Fort Smith Railroad Company, for which bonds the 
 said Union Pacific Railroad Company paid a considera- 
 tion largely in excess of their market or actual value, 
 and that the board of directors of said Union Pacific 
 Railroad Company, though urged, have neglected to 
 investigate said transaction ; therefore, 
 
 " ''Be it resolved^ That the Committee on the Judiciary 
 be instructed to inquire if any such transaction took 
 place, and, if so, what were the circumstances or induce- 
 ments thereto, from what person or persons said bonds 
 were obtained and upon what consideration, and 
 whether the transaction was from corrupt design or in 
 furtherance of any corrupt object ; and that the com- 
 mittee have power to send for persons and papers.' 
 
 " That resolution on its face and in its fair intent was 
 obviously designed to find out whether any improper
 
 138 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 thing had been done by the Union Pacific Railroad 
 Company ; and of course, incidentally thereto, to find 
 out with whom the transaction was made. 
 
 "No sooner was the sub-committee designated than it 
 became entirely obvious that the resolution was solely 
 and only aimed at me. I think there had not been 
 three questions asked until it was evident that the in- 
 vestigation was to be a personal one upon me, and that 
 the Union Pacific Railroad, or any other incident of the 
 transaction, was secondary, insignificant, and unimpor- 
 tant. J do not complain of that ; I do not say that I had 
 any reason to complain of it. If the investigation was 
 to be made in that personal sense, I was ready to 
 meet it. 
 
 " The gentleman on whose statement the accusation 
 rested was first called. He stated what he knew from 
 rumor. Then there were called Mr. Rollins, Mr. Mor- 
 ton, and Mr. Millard, from Omaha, a Government di- 
 rector of the Union Pacific road, and finally Thomas A. 
 Scott. The testimony was completely and conclusively 
 in disproof of the charge that there was any possibility 
 that I could have had anything to do with the transac- 
 tion. When the famous witness Mulligan came here 
 loaded with information in regard to the Fort Smith 
 road, the gentleman from Virginia drew out what he 
 knew had no reference whatever to the question of in- 
 vestigation. He then and there insisted on all of my 
 private memoranda being allowed to be exhibited by 
 that man in reference to business that had no more
 
 SLANDER. 139 
 
 connection, no more relation, no more to do with that 
 investigation than with the North Pole. 
 
 "And the gentleman tried his best, also, though I be- 
 lieve that has been abandoned, to capture and use and 
 control my private correspondence. This man has se- 
 lected, out of correspondence running over a great 
 many years, letters which he thought would be pecu- 
 liarly damaging to me. He came here loaded with 
 them. He came here for a sensation. He came here 
 primed. He came here on that particular errand. I 
 was advised of it, and I obtained those letters under cir- 
 cumstances which have been notoriously scattered over 
 the United States, and are known to everybody. I have 
 them. I claim that I have the entire right to those 
 letters, not only by natural right, but by all the princi- 
 ples and precedents of law, as the man who held those 
 letters in possession held them wrongfully. The com- 
 mittee that attempted to take those letters from that 
 man for use against me proceeded wrongfully. It 
 proceeded in all boldness to a most defiant violation of 
 the ordinary private and personal rights which belong 
 to every American citizen. I wanted the gentleman 
 from Kentucky and the gentleman from Virginia to 
 introduce that question upon this floor, but they did 
 not do it. 
 
 " I stood up and declined, not only on the conclu- 
 sions of my own mind, but by eminent legal advice. I 
 was standing behind the rights which belong to every 
 American citizen, and if they wanted to treat the ques-
 
 140 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 tion in my person anywhere in the legislative halls or 
 judicial halls, I was ready. Then there went forth 
 everywhere the idea and impression that because I 
 would not permit that man, or any man whom I could 
 prevent from holding as a menace over my head my 
 private correspondence, there must be in it something 
 deadly and destructive to my reputation. I would like 
 any gentleman to stand up here and tell me that he is 
 willing and ready to have his private correspondence 
 scanned over and made public for the last eight or ten 
 years. I would like any gentleman to say that. Does it 
 imply guilt ? Does it imply wrong-doing ? Does it 
 imply any sense of weakness that a man will protect his 
 private correspondence ? No, sir ; it is the first instinct 
 to do it, and it is the last outrage upon any man to 
 violate it. 
 
 *' Now, Mr. Speaker, I say that I have defied the power 
 of the House to compel me to produce these letters. 
 I speak with all respect to this House. I know its 
 powers, and I trust I respect them. But I say that this 
 House has no more power to order what shall be done 
 or not done with my private correspondence, than it 
 has with what I shall do in the nurture and education 
 of my children, not a particle. The right is as sacred 
 in the one case as it is in the other. But, sir, having 
 vindicated that right, standing by it, ready to make any 
 sacrifice in the defence of it, here and now if any gen- 
 tleman wants to take issue with me on behalf of this 
 House I am ready for any extremity of contest or con-
 
 SLANDER, 141 
 
 flict in behalf of so sacred a right. And while I am so, 
 I am not afraid to show the letters. Thank God al- 
 mighty, I am not ashamed to show them. There they 
 are (holding up a package of letters). There is the 
 very original package. And with some sense of humili- 
 ation, with a mortification I do not attempt to conceal, 
 with a sense of the outrage which I think any man in 
 my position would feel, I invite the confidence of forty- 
 four millions of my countrymen, while I read those let> 
 ters from this desk. [Applause.] 
 
 ** The next letter to which I refer was dated Wash- 
 ington, District of Columbia, April 18, 1872. This is 
 the letter in which Mulligan says and puts down in his 
 abstract that I admitted the sixty-four thousand dollar 
 sale of bonds : 
 
 *' 'Washington, D. C, April 18, 1872. 
 
 " * My Dear Mr. Fisher : I answered you very hastily 
 last evening, as you said you wished for an immediate 
 reply, and perhaps in my hurry I did not make myself 
 fully understood. You have been for some time labor- 
 ing under a totally erroneous impression in regard to 
 my results in the Fort Smith matter. The sales of 
 bonds which you spoke of my making, and which you 
 seem to have thought were for my own benefit, were 
 entirely otherwise. I did not have the money in my 
 possession forty-eight hours, but paid it over directly to 
 the parties whom I tried by every means in my power 
 to protect from loss. I am very sure that you have 
 little idea of the labors, the losses, the efforts and the
 
 142 JAMES G. BLAl.VE. 
 
 sacrifices I have made within the past year to save those 
 innocent persons, who invested on my request, from 
 personal loss. 
 
 '' ' And I say to you to-night that I am immeasurably 
 worse off than if I had never touched the Fort Smith 
 matter. The demand you make upon me now is one 
 which I am entirely unable to comply with. I canjiot 
 do it. It is not iti my power. You say that " necessity 
 knows no law." That applies to me as well as to you, 
 and when I have reached the point I am now at I 
 simply fall back on that law. You are as well aware as 
 I am that the bonds are due me under the contract. 
 Could I have them I could adjust many matters not 
 now in my power, and as long as this and other matters 
 remain unadjusted between us I do not recognize the 
 equity or the lawfulness of your calling on me for a 
 partial settlement. I am ready at any moment to make 
 a full, fair, comprehensive settlement with you on the 
 most liberal terms. I will not be exacting or captious 
 or critical, but am ready and eager to make a broad 
 and generous adjustment with you, and if we can't 
 agree ourselves, we can select a mutual friend who can 
 easily compromise all points of difference between us. 
 
 " ' You will, I trust, see that I am disposed to meet you 
 in a spirit of friendly cordiality, and yet with a sense of 
 self-defence that impels me to be frank and expose to 
 you my pecuniary weakness. 
 
 " * With very kind regards to Mrs. Fisher, I am yours 
 truly, 
 
 '' * J. G. Blaine. 
 "'W. Fisher, Jr., Esq.' 
 
 *' I now pass to a letter dated Augusta, Me., October 
 4, 1869, but I read these letters now somewhat in their
 
 SLANDER. 143 
 
 order. Now to this letter I ask the attention of the 
 House. In the March session of 1869, the first one 
 at which I was speaker, the extra session of the Forty- 
 first Congress, a land grant in the State of Arkansas to 
 the Little Rock road was reported. I never remember 
 to have heard of the road, until at the last night of the 
 session, when it was up here for consideration. The 
 gentlemen in Boston with whom I had relations did not 
 have anything to do with that road for nearly three or 
 four months after that time. It is in the light of that 
 statement that I desire that letter read. 
 
 " In the autumn, six or eight months afterward, I was 
 looking over the Globe, probably with some curiosity, if 
 not pride, to see the decisions I had made the first five 
 weeks I was Speaker. I had not until then recalled this 
 decision of mine, and when I came across it, all the 
 facts came back to me fresh, and I wrote this letter : 
 
 (Personal.) 
 
 '"Augusta, Me., October 4, 1869. 
 
 *" My Dear Sir: I spoke to you a short time ago 
 about a point of interest to your railroad company that 
 occurred at the last session of the Congress. 
 
 " ' It was on the last night of the session, when the bill 
 renewing the land grant to the State of Arkansas for 
 the Little Rock road was reached, and Julian, of Indi- 
 ana, Chairman of the Public Lands Committee, and, by 
 right, entitled to the floor, attempted to put on the bill 
 as an amendment, the Fremont El Paso scheme — a 
 scheme probably well known to Mr. Caldwell. The 
 House was thin, and the lobby in the Fremont interest
 
 144 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 had the thing all set up, and Julian's amendment was 
 likely to prevail if brought to a vote. Roots, and the 
 other members from Arkansas, who were doing their 
 best for their own bill (to which there seemed to be no 
 objection), were in despair, for it was well known that 
 the Senate was hostile to the Fremont scheme, and if 
 the Arkansas bill had gone back to the Senate with 
 Julian's amendments, the whole thing could have gone 
 on the table and slept the sleep of death. 
 
 *' ' In this dilemma Roots came to me to know what 
 on earth he could do under the rules ; for he said it was 
 vital to his constituents that the bill should pass. I told 
 him that Julian's amendment was entirely out of order, 
 because not germane ; but he had not sufficient con- 
 fidence in his own knowledge of the rules to make the 
 point, but he said General Logan was opposed to the 
 Fremont scheme and would probably make the point. 
 I sent my page to General Logan with the suggestion, 
 and he at once made the point. I could not do other- 
 wise than sustain it, and so the bill was freed from the 
 mischievous amendment moved by Julian, and at once 
 passed without objection. 
 
 ** ' At that time I had never seen Mr. Caldwell, but 
 you can tell him that without knowing it I did him a 
 great favor. Sincerely yours, 
 
 '' ' J. G. Blaine. 
 ♦"W. Fisher, Jr., Esq., 
 
 " '24 India Street, Boston.' 
 
 "The amendment referred to in that letter will be 
 found in the Congressional Globe of the First Session of 
 the Forty-first Congress, page 702. That was before the 
 Boston persons had ever touched the road.
 
 SLANDER. 145 
 
 "There is mentioned in another letter $6,000 of land- 
 grant bonds of the Union Pacific Railroad for which I 
 stood as only part owner ; these were only in part mine. 
 As I have started to make a personal explanation, I 
 want to make a full explanation in regard to this matter. 
 Those bonds were not mine except in this sense : In 
 1869, a lady who is a member of my family and whose 
 financial affairs I have looked after for many years — 
 many gentlemen will know to whom I refer without my 
 being more explicit — bought on the recommendation of 
 Mr. Hooper $6,000 in land-grant bonds of the Union 
 Pacific Railroad as they were issued in 1869. She got 
 them on what was called the stockholder's basis ; I think 
 it was a very favorable basis on which they distributed 
 these bonds. These $6,000 of land-grant bonds were 
 obtained in that way. 
 
 *' In 187 1 the Union Pacific Railroad Company broke 
 down, and these bonds fell so that they were worth about 
 forty cents on the dollar. She was anxious to make 
 herself safe, and I had so much confidence in the Fort 
 Smith land bonds that I proposed to her to make an ex- 
 change. The six bonds were in my possession, and I 
 had previously advanced money to her for certain pur- 
 poses and held a part of these bonds as security for that 
 advance. The bonds in that sense, and in that sense 
 only, were mine — that they were security for the loan 
 which I had made. They were all literally hers ; they 
 were all sold finally for her account — not one of them for 
 me. I make this statement in order to be perfectly fair.
 
 146 JAMES G. BLA/A^E. 
 
 "I have now read these fifteen letters, the whole of 
 them, the House and the country now know all there is 
 in them. They are dated and they correspond precisely 
 with Mulligan's memorandum which I have here. 
 
 " I do not wish to detain the House, but I have one or 
 two more observations to make. The specific charge 
 that went to the committee as it affects me is whether I 
 was a party in interest to the $64,000 transaction ; and 
 I submit that up to this time there has not been one 
 particle of proof before the committee sustaining that 
 charge. Gentlemen have said that they heard some- 
 body else say, and generally, when that somebody else 
 was brought on the stand, it appeared that he did not 
 say it at all. Colonel Thomas A. Scott swore very posi- 
 tively and distinctly, under the most rigid cross-exam- 
 ination, all about it. Let me call attention to that letter 
 of mine which Mulligan says refers to that. I ask your 
 attention, gentlemen, as closely as if you were a jury, 
 while I show the absurdity of that statement. It is in 
 evidence that, with the exception of a small fraction, the 
 bonds which were sold to parties in Maine were first 
 mortgage bonds. It is in evidence over and over again 
 that the bonds which went to the Union Pacific road 
 were land-grant bonds. Therefore it is a moral impos- 
 sibility that the bonds taken up to Maine should have 
 gone to the Union Pacific Railroad. They were of dif- 
 ferent series, different kinds, different colors, everything 
 different, as different as if not issued within a thousand
 
 SLANDER. 147 
 
 miles of each other. So on its face it is shown that it 
 could not be so. 
 
 *' There has not been, I say, one positive piece of tes- 
 timony in any direction. They sent to Arkansas to get 
 some hearsay about bonds. They sent to Boston to get 
 some hearsay. Mulligan was contradicted by Fisher, 
 and Atkins and Scott swore directly against him. Mor- 
 ton, of Morton, Bliss & Co., never heard my name in the 
 matter. Carnegee, who negotiated the note, never 
 heard my name in that connection. Rollins said it was 
 one of the intangible rumors he spoke of as floating in 
 the air. Gentlemen who have lived any time in Wash- 
 ington need not be told that intangible rumors get very 
 considerable circulation here; and if a man is to be held 
 accountable before the bar of public opinion for intan- 
 gible rumors, who in the House will stand ? 
 
 " Now, gentlemen, those letters I have read were pick- 
 ed out of correspondence extending over fifteen years. 
 The man did his worst, the very worst he could, out of 
 the most intimate business correspondence of my life. 
 I ask, gentlemen, if any of you, and I ask it with some 
 feeling, can stand a severer scrutiny of, or more rigid 
 investigation into, your private correspondence ? That 
 was the worst he could do. 
 
 " There is one piece of testimony wanting. There is 
 but one thing to close the complete circle of evidence. 
 There is but one witness whom I could not have, to 
 whom the Judiciary Committee, taking into account the 
 great and intimate connection he had with the transac-
 
 148 JAMES G. BLA/N-E. 
 
 tion, was asked to send a cable despatch, and I ask the 
 gentleman from Kentucky if that cable despatch was 
 sent to him ? 
 
 Mr. Frye. Who ? 
 
 Mr. Blaine. To Josiah Caldwell. 
 
 Mr. Knott. I will reply to the gentleman that Judge 
 Hamton and myself have both endeavored to get Mr, 
 Caldwell's address, and have not yet got it. 
 
 Mr. Blaine. Has the gentleman from Kentucky re- 
 ceived a despatch from Mr. Caldw^ell ? 
 
 Mr. Knott. I will explain that directly. 
 
 Mr. Blaine. I want a categorical answer. 
 
 Mr. Knott. I have received a despatch purporting to 
 be from Mr. Caldwell. 
 
 Mr. Blaine. You did ? 
 
 Mr. Knott. How did you know I got it ? 
 
 Mr. Blaine. When did you get it ? I want the gentle- 
 man from Kentucky to answer when he got it. 
 
 Mr. Knott. Answer my question first. 
 
 Mr. Blaine. I never heard of it until yesterday. 
 
 Mr. Knott. How did you hear it ? 
 
 Mr. Blaine. I heard that you got a despatch last 
 Thursday morning, at eight o'clock, from Josiah Cald- 
 well, completely and absolutely exonerating me from 
 this charge, and you have suppressed it. [Protracted 
 applause upon the floor and in the galleries.] I want 
 the gentleman to answer. [After a pause.] Does the 
 gentleman from Kentucky decline to answer ? 
 
 " The gentleman from Kentucky in responding proba-
 
 SLANDER. 149 
 
 bly, I think, from what he said, intended to convey the 
 idea that I had some illegitimate knowledge of how 
 that despatch was obtained. I have had no communi- 
 cation with Josiah Caldwell. I have had no means of 
 knowing from the telegraph office whether the despatch 
 was received. But I tell the gentleman from Kentucky 
 that murder will out, and secrets will leak. And I tell 
 the gentleman now, and I am prepared to state to this 
 House, that at eight o'clock on last Thursday morning, 
 or thereabouts, the gentleman from Kentucky received 
 and receipted for a message addressed to him from 
 Josiah Caldwell, in London, entirely corroborating and 
 substantiating the statements of Thomas A. Scott which 
 he had just read in the New York papers, and entirely 
 exculpating me from the charge which I am bound to 
 believe, from the suppression of that report, that the 
 gentleman is anxious to fasten upon me." (Protracted 
 applause from the floor and galleries.) 
 
 The reporter's interpolations give little idea of the 
 enthusiasm with which this manly and straightforward 
 statement was received, and the sensation of sympathy 
 and approval which ran through the House when Mr. 
 Blaine, at the close, advanced to the space in front of 
 the clerk's desk and denounced Mr. Knott, is not to be 
 rendered upon paper. It was agreed among those pres- 
 ent that it was the most stirring scene which has taken 
 place on the floor of Congress. The oldest repre- 
 sentatives remembered nothing like it, and General 
 Garfield said, ** I have been a long time in Congress and
 
 I50 JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 
 never saw such a scene in the House ; when the Eman- 
 cipation amendment to the Constitution was adopted 
 there was an exciting scene, but nothing like this. It 
 seems to me that the Judiciary Committee has withheld 
 important evidence which will be ruinous to them, and 
 in any event the day has been a strong one for Blaine 
 and his friends." 
 
 Men in the House of all parties, and of all shades of 
 political opinion, agreed that Mr. Blaine's vindication 
 was final, and the further action of the committee which 
 had slandered him was work of supererogation.
 
 XV. 
 BEFORE THE CONVENTIONS OF 1876 AND 1880. 
 
 The animosity toward Mr. Blaine which, by an inter- 
 esting coincidence, show^ed its head scarcely a month 
 preceding the convention before which he was to come 
 as the most prominent candidate for the presidential 
 nomination has been duly treated elsewhere. It is now 
 the business of Mr. Blaine's biographer to give some 
 account of the three conventions of the Republican 
 party at which he has been supported by an earnest 
 following. The company of sturdy friends which has 
 three times urged his nomination is among the most 
 zealous and persistent that has sustained any public 
 man in the history of American politics : twice repulsed, 
 they clung to their candidate with the tenacity of faith, 
 and their final reward has, for the most impartial spec- 
 tator, the interest which attends every exhibition of 
 steadfastness. Mr. Blaine set his followers an excellent 
 example in his honest and self-denying labors for the 
 election of the two rivals who had defeated him ; and it 
 is a memorable tribute to his singleness of purpose, 
 his devotion to his party, untainted by selfish pangs, 
 that he could so heartily support the man who at the
 
 152 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 eleventh hour received a prize all but his, as to be chosen 
 to fill the first place in his Cabinet. 
 
 On June 12, 1876, just before the meeting of the first 
 convention at which his name was proposed, Mr. 
 Blaine experienced a sunstroke in Washington which 
 caused alarm at Cincinnati, and, indeed, for a time 
 seemed a serious matter. He appeared to be in sound 
 health before setting out for church on the Sunday 
 morning of the occurrence, but after walking half a mile 
 to Rev. Dr. Rankin's church, at Tenth and D Streets, he 
 suddenly sank unconscious at the threshold. He was 
 carried to a passing omnibus and taken home. His 
 physician pronounced the cause cerebral depression, 
 produced primarily by a great mental strain and second- 
 arily by the action of excessive heat. Since his striking 
 answer in the House to the charges against him he had 
 appeared publicly but once, when he voted in the af- 
 firmative on the Frost amended Coin bill. His illness 
 was the inevitable culmination of the long tension to 
 which his mind had been subjected. 
 
 At Cincinnati the reports of his condition were 
 greatly exaggerated. It was telegraphed that he had 
 been stricken with apoplexy, and the statement stirred 
 such of the delegates in his interest as had arrived in 
 the city with grave fears. The hotels and telegraph 
 offices at which announcements of the state of the patient 
 were constantly posted during the afternoon and even- 
 ing of the occurrence were thronged with eager men, 
 and the midnight bulletin indicating that the danger
 
 BEFORE THE CONVENTIONS OF 1876 AND \%%-^. I 53 
 
 was passed caused great relief. The anxiety was gen- 
 eral, and his most malignant opponents showed no de- 
 sire for such a victory as for a time seemed probable. 
 Nevertheless, when he seemed on the road to recovery 
 there were not lacking ingenious supporters of other 
 candidates willing to turn the happening to account. 
 The subtle character of brain diseases was urged and 
 the tardiness of recovery from them ; and it was freely 
 predicted that if nominated he would be unable to take 
 the active part in the campaign which had been ex- 
 pected of him. Absolute quiet, the well-known need in 
 all maladies touching the brain, would make the excite- 
 ment of a campaign dangerous, and even though he 
 might temporarily regain strength, the party could have 
 no assurance that he would not suffer another attack of 
 like nature and die before the campaign was over. This 
 doctor's wisdom v^as seriously urged upon the abandoned 
 persons who stiD thought cf Mr. Blaine as a candidate 
 with little effect The party physicians added to their 
 diagnosis the suggestion of remedies which the Blaine 
 men found themselves disinclined to accept. On June 
 14th the patient was well enough to dictate to Mr. Hale, 
 at Cincinnati, the following telegram : 
 
 *' Hon. Eugene Hale, Cincinnati : I am entirely con- 
 valescent, suffering only from physical weakness. Im- 
 press upon my friends the great depth of gratitude I feel 
 for the unparalleled steadfastness with which they have 
 adhered to me in my hour of trial. J. G. Blaine." 
 
 The convention cam.e together in Cincinnati on Wed-
 
 154 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 nesday, June 14, 1876. Its organization was accomplished 
 harmoniously. Theodore M, Pomeroy, of New York, was 
 appointed temporary chairman, and Edward McPherson, 
 of Pennsylvania, president. The preliminary acts of the 
 convention and the speeches made showed no especial 
 tendency of sentiment except an inclination toward hard 
 money and civil service reform. A newspaper correspon- 
 dent wrote : ** A less attractive place for so distinguished 
 and interesting a gathering could not well be found than 
 this great barn which sprawls over four acres — its archi- 
 tecture that of an ambitious and disappointed railway 
 deput, its decorations those of a country barbecue on a 
 four-acre scale, its rafters innocent of any tint except that 
 of age, and its roof an unsightly maze of beams and rafters. 
 On the second day the platform was adopted. The 
 Blaine men met with a defeat in the acceptance of the 
 report on rules. The nominations were made in the 
 following order : Postmaster-General Jewell, Senator 
 Morton, Secretary Bristow, Mr. Blaine, Senator Conk- 
 ling, Governor Hayes, and Governor Hartranft. The 
 nomination of Mr. Bristow by George William Curtis was 
 greeted with loud applause, and other candidates had 
 their share. When Colonel IngersoU rose to name Mr. 
 Blaine a great shout went up. During his speech he 
 was constantly interrupted by applause. Colonel Inger- 
 soll's address has always been regarded by the friends of 
 Mr. Blaine as an admirable summing up of his qualities, 
 and it is certainly one of the most vigorous and brilliant 
 presentations of a candidate's claims to public attention
 
 BEFORE THE CONVENTIONS OF 1876 AND 1880. 155 
 
 that convention halls remember. It is filled with the in- 
 dividuality of the orator, but it is also filled with the in- 
 dividuality of his subject ; and it is impossible not to feel, 
 at whatever distance from the occurrence, something of 
 the thrill which affected the convention as the speaker 
 ended his magnificent peroration : 
 
 ** Massachusetts may be satisfied with the loyalty of 
 Benjamin H. Bristow ; so am I. But if any man nom- 
 inated by this convention cannot carry the State of 
 Massachusetts, I am not satisfied with the loyalty of that 
 State. If the nominee of tliis convention cannot carry 
 the grand old Commonwealth of Massachusetts by 
 seventy-five thousand majority, I would advise them to 
 sell out Faneuil Hall as a Democratic headquarters. I 
 would advise them to take from Bunker Hill that old 
 monument of glory. The Republicans of the United 
 States demand as their leader in the great contest of 1876 
 a man of intellect, a man of integrity, a man of well 
 known and approved political opinions. They demand 
 a statesman. They demand a reformer after as well a? 
 before the election. They demand a politician in the 
 highest and broadest and best sense of that word. They 
 demand a man acquainted with public affairs, with the 
 wants of the people, with not only the requirements of 
 the hour, but the demands of the future. They demand 
 a man broad enough to comprehend the relations of this 
 Government to the other nations of the earth. They 
 demand a man well versed in the powers, duties, and 
 prerogatives of each and every department of this Gov-
 
 156 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 ernment. They demand a man who will sacredly prove 
 the financial honor of the United States — one who 
 knows enough to know that the national debt must be 
 paid through the prosperity of this people. One who 
 knows enough to know that all the financial theories in 
 the world cannot redeem a single dollar. One who 
 knows enough to know that all the money must be made 
 not by hand but by labor. One who knows that the peo- 
 ple of the United States have the industry to make the 
 money and the honesty to pay it over just as fast as they 
 make it. The Republicans of the United States demand 
 a man who knows that prosperity and resumption when 
 they come must come together. When they come they 
 will come hand in hand ; hand m hand through the 
 golden harvest-fields ; hand in hai d by the whirling spin- 
 dle and the turning wheel ; har d in hand by the open 
 furnace-doors, hand in hand by the flaming forges, hand 
 in hand by the chimneys filled with eager fire by the 
 hands of the countless sons of toil. This money has got 
 to be dug out of the earth. You cannot make it by 
 passing resolutions at a political meeting. The Repub- 
 licans of the United States want a man who knows that 
 this Government should protect every citizen at home 
 and abroad ; who knows that every government that 
 will not defend its defenders and will not protect its 
 protectors is a disgrace to the mass of the world. They 
 demand a man who believes in the eternal separation 
 of church and the schools. They demand a man whose 
 political reputation is spotless as a star, but they do not
 
 BEFORE THE CONVEMTIO.yS OF iSy6A.VI) 1880. 157 
 
 demand that their candidate shall have a certificate of 
 moral character signed by a Confederate Congress. 
 The man who has in full habit and rounded measure 
 all of these splendid qualifications is the present grand 
 and gallant leader of the Republican party, James G. 
 Blaine. Our country, crowned with the vast and mar- 
 vellous achievements of its first century, asks for a man 
 worthy of its past, prophetic of its future — asks for a 
 man who has the audacity of genius — asks for a man 
 who is the grandest combination of heart, conscience, 
 and brains beneath the flag. That man is James G. 
 Blaine. For the Republican host, led by that intrepid 
 man, there can be no defeat. This is a grand year — a 
 year filled with the recollections of the Revolution ; 
 filled with proud and tender memories of the sacred 
 past ; filled with the legends of liberty ; a year in which 
 the sons of Freedom will drink from the fountains of 
 enthusiasm ; a year in which the people call for a man 
 who has preserved in Congress what our soldiers won 
 upon the field ; a year in which we call for the man 
 that has torn from the throat of treason the tongue of 
 slander ; a man that has snatched the mask of democ- 
 racy from the hideous face of rebellion ; a man who, 
 like an intellectual athlete, stood in the arena of debate, 
 challenged all comers, and who up to this moment is a 
 total stranger to defeat. Like an armed warrior, like a 
 plumed knight, James G. Blaine marched down the halls 
 of the American Congress and threw his shining lances 
 full and fair against the brazen forehead of every de-
 
 158 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 famer of his country and maligner of its honor. For 
 the Republican party to desert that gallant man now is 
 worse than if an army should desert their general on 
 the field of battle. James G. Blaine is now and has 
 been for years the bearer of the sacred standard of the 
 Republic. I call it sacred because no human being 
 can stand beneath its folds without becoming and with- 
 out remaining free. Gentlemen of the Convention, in 
 the name of the great Republic — the only Republic that 
 ever existed upon this earth — in the name of all her 
 defenders and all her supporters ; in the name of all 
 her soldiers living, in the name of all her soldiers who 
 died upon the field of battle, and in the name of those 
 that perished in the skeleton clutch of famine at Ander- 
 sonville and Libby— whose sufferings he so eloquently 
 remembers — Illinois nominates for the next President 
 of this country that prince of parliamentarians, that 
 leader of leaders, James G. Blaine." 
 
 The muddy shower of detraction that fell upon Mr. 
 Blaine in the month preceding the convention which 
 has nominated him is a weak afterburst compared with 
 the storm which assailed him before the convention of 
 1876. A week had scarcely passed since the memorable 
 day of his striking vindication of himself on the floor 
 of the House. The slanders against him were of no 
 notable importance until within a fortnight of the con- 
 vention. The shortness of the time left him with op- 
 portunity for nothing but a peremptory defence, and 
 his enemies, who had brought about this situation, took
 
 BEFORE THE CONVENTIONS OF i%i^ AND 1880. 159 
 
 the amplest advantage of it. There were doubts of the 
 expediency of his nomination among certain Republi- 
 cans and Republican newspapers then as there have re- 
 cently been — indeed among more Republicans and more 
 party journals, as the matter was so fresh. But his 
 friends kept their unswerving faith, and strengthened 
 and heartened by his splendid personal answer to his 
 defamers went into the convention the staunchest and 
 most enthusiastic body gathered to the support of any 
 of its candidates. 
 
 Some recollection of this recent event must remain in 
 all minds, but a summary of the ballots will refresh 
 memory : 
 
 Hayes 
 
 Blaine 
 
 Morton 
 
 Bristow 
 
 Conkling 
 
 Hartranft 
 
 Jewell 
 
 Wm. A. Wheeler 
 
 Elihu B. Washburne 
 
 Whole number of votes . . 
 
 Necessary to choice 
 
 61 
 
 28s 
 
 125 
 
 113 
 
 99 
 
 58 
 
 II 
 
 3 
 
 754 
 
 
 
 
 
 *: 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 2. 
 
 
 
 
 
 rt 
 
 'A 
 
 rt 
 
 rt 
 
 rt 
 
 
 
 
 
 »« 
 
 5 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 « 
 
 M 
 
 'i* 
 
 »!5 
 
 
 
 64 
 
 67 
 
 68 
 
 104 
 
 113 
 
 296 
 
 293 
 
 292 
 
 286 
 
 308 
 
 120 
 
 113 
 
 108 
 
 95 
 
 85 
 
 114 
 
 121 
 
 126 
 
 114 
 
 III 
 
 93 
 
 90 
 
 84 
 
 82 
 
 81 
 
 .^3 
 
 68 
 
 71 
 
 69 
 
 50 
 
 withdrawn. 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 754 
 
 755 
 
 754 
 
 755 
 
 755 
 378 
 
 378 
 
 378 
 
 378 
 
 378 
 
 384 
 351 
 
 756 
 
 379 
 
 Fair and conservative estimates before the Mulligan 
 affair had set down his strength on the first ballot at 286 
 votes. In spite of it he received 285, and added to it 
 immediately 11 further, making 296. From this the vote
 
 l6o JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 varied until the sixth ballot, when it reached 308. On 
 the seventh it attained 351, within 28 votes of the neces- 
 sary number, when by a union of Morton, Bristow, Conk- 
 ling, and Hartranft, Governor Hayes was named as the 
 candidate of the convention. It was the strategy of des- 
 peration, for Mr. Blaine would almost surely have been 
 nominated on the next ballot. 
 
 Mr. Blaine entered the next convention, held at Chi- 
 cago, June 2, 1880, with almost exactly the same num- 
 ber of supporters which had striven for him in the pre- 
 ceding contest. The fact is remarkable, and most 
 remarkable to those who are best acquainted with the 
 usual working of politics in this country. Four years 
 had been offered his opponents to make combinations 
 against him, four years had been allowed his friends to 
 forget him. He returned to the front after that period 
 with a force changed almost entirely as to its composi- 
 tion, but with only one of the number missing. It was 
 as if he had held them upon waiting orders during the 
 term of Mr. Hayes' administration. 
 
 Nothing could be farther from the truth. Person- 
 ally, Mr. Blaine has organized liO army of delegates, 
 and certainly has made no effort to control them dur- 
 ing epochs of inaction. He has had generals, but they 
 have not been of his appointing. The maintenance of 
 his strength in three successive conventions would 
 have been a task worthy the labor of the shrewdest 
 political manager, but it was not due to masters of the 
 art of politics. The demand for Mr. Blaine's nomina-
 
 BEFORE THE CO^VEXTIOyS OF i8-j6 AiVI) 1880. 161 
 
 tion has risen from a permanent sentiment in his favor 
 among men who were not officers in the Republican 
 organization, and whose share in elections consisted in 
 casting an unbought ballot at the preliminary caucus 
 and at the polls. This is admitted by his antagonists, 
 and surely constitutes the kind of support which its 
 object should be most glad to own, and which, as has 
 been proved, is the one species of allegiance impossi- 
 ble to defeat. Mr. Blaine has been solicited at the 
 gathering of each convention to lend his followers the 
 strength of his presence. It is a move in which other 
 candidates have found no impropriety, and which, in Mr. 
 Blaine's case, would have bad an especial influence. But 
 he has steadily refused, r^nd in the three contests in which 
 his name has been used, aloof from the strife, has borne 
 himself with singular modesty, calmness, and dignity. 
 
 " One element in his nature " says one who knows him, 
 *' impresses itself on my mind in a very emphatic manner, 
 and that is his coolness and self-possession at the most 
 exciting crises. I happened to be in his library in 
 Washington when the balloting was going on in Cin- 
 cinnati on that hot July day in 1876. A telegraph in- 
 strument was on his library table, and Mr. Sherman, his 
 private secretary, a deft operator, was manipulating its 
 key. Dispatches came from dozens of friends giving the 
 last votes, which only lacked a few of a nomination, and 
 everybody predicted the success of Blaine on the next 
 ballot. Only four persons besides Mr. Sherman were in 
 the room. It was a moment of great excitement. The
 
 1 62 JAMES G, BLAINE. 
 
 next vote was quietly ticked over the wire, and then the 
 next announced the nomination of Mr. Hayes. Mr. 
 Blaine was the only cool person in the apartment. It 
 was such a reversal of all anticipations and assurances 
 that self-possession was out of the question except with 
 Mr. Blaine. He had just left his bed after tw^o days of 
 unconsciousness with sunstroke, but he was as self-pos- 
 sessed as the portraits on the wall. He merely gave a 
 murmur of surprise, and before anybody had recovered 
 from the surprise, he had written, in a firm, fluent hand, 
 three dispatches — now in my possession — one to Mr. 
 Hayes of congratulation ; one to the Maine delegates 
 thanking them for their devotion, and another to Eu- 
 gene Hale and Mr. Frye, asking them to go personally 
 to Mr. Hayes, at Columbus, and present his good-will, 
 with promises of hearty aid in the campaign. The oc- 
 casion affected him no more than the news of a servant 
 quitting his employ would have done. Half an hour 
 afterward he was out with Secretary Fisli in an open 
 carriage, receiving the cheers of the thousands of peo- 
 ple who were gathered about the telegraph bulletins." 
 
 On June ist, at Chicago, the New Jersey and Vermont 
 delegations declared against the unit rule, and eighteen 
 New York delegates signed a protest against the nomi- 
 nation of General Grant ; twenty-nine members of the 
 National Committee also denounced the unit rule. The 
 chairman, Senator Cameron, refused to entertain the 
 motions of the opposition or to permit appeal from 
 the decision of the chair upon the question. The anti- 
 third term majority met next day and adopted a res-
 
 BEFORE THE CONVENTIONS OF i2,'j6 AND 1880. 1 63 
 
 olution unseating the chairman, Mr. Cameron. At the 
 request of Senator Conkling General Arthur made an 
 effort to conciliate the disaffected members, and a com- 
 promise followed by which the unit rule was abandoned 
 in forming the temporary organization. 
 
 On June 2d the convention organized, George F. Hoar, 
 of Massachusetts, being chosen temporary chairman, 
 and the committee voted Lo propose his name for per- 
 manent chairman. Mr. Conger, of Michigan, one of Mr. 
 Blaine's supporters, was made chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Credentials. General Garfield, as every one 
 remembers, received the appointment to the chairman- 
 ship on Rules, and on the following day reported the 
 admirable code which guided the convention. It did 
 not include the unit rule. Little business of interest 
 was transacted on Friday and Saturday. At the night 
 session, Saturday, the nominations were made. When 
 Maine was called James F. Jay, chairman of the Michi- 
 gan delegation, responded, making a speech for Mr. 
 Blaine which created an enthusiasm disproportionate 
 to its value. His manner of delivery was unfortunate 
 and did not command the attention of the convention, 
 but the Blaine delegates cheered with no less hearty 
 will at the mention of their candidate's name. Mr. 
 Pixley, of California, seconded the nomination in a 
 sound and pointed speech. At its close Mr. Frye, of 
 Maine, appeared at Mr. Hoar's side, and the chairman 
 said Mr. Frye asked unanimous consent to be allowed 
 to speak for two minutes. It was granted, and his 
 brief but admirably chosen words, filled with genuine
 
 1 64 
 
 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 feeling, were the most telling of the day. They were 
 interrupted by constant indications of approval. 
 
 The wearisome balloting that followed is familiar to 
 every reader, but that it may be seen with what stead- 
 fastness Mr. Blaine's friends clung to him a tabulated 
 statement of the thirty-six ballots is given herewith 
 
 
 1 
 
 H 
 
 
 +5 
 
 i i 
 % 1 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 A 
 
 ■*» 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 O 
 
 i 
 
 A 
 
 H 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 CO 
 
 H 
 
 1 
 A 
 
 o 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 A 
 
 ■*» 
 
 H 
 
 1 
 S 
 
 X 
 H 
 
 James A. Garfield. . . 
 
 :..! ii 1 
 
 1 
 
 305 
 281 
 95 
 31 
 S3 
 10 
 
 1 2i 2 
 
 1 2 
 
 2 
 
 305 
 282 
 92 
 32 
 31 
 10 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 305 
 281 
 93 
 32 
 31 
 10 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 304 
 
 283 
 
 92 
 
 31 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant .... 
 
 James G. Blaine 
 
 John Sherman 
 
 Elihu B. Washburne. 
 George F. Edmunds. 
 William Windom . . . 
 Rutherford B. Haves. 
 
 304 
 284 
 98 
 31 
 34 
 10 
 
 305 
 282 
 94 
 81 
 32 
 10 
 
 3('5 
 282 
 93 
 31 
 32 
 10 
 
 305 
 281 
 95 
 31 
 32 
 10 
 
 305 
 
 280 
 
 95 
 
 31 
 
 305 
 281 
 94 
 31 
 32 
 10 
 
 30H 
 284 
 91 
 32 
 31 
 10 
 
 308 
 2b2 
 90 
 32 
 31 
 10 
 
 305 
 285 
 89 
 33 
 31 
 lu 
 
 305 
 285 
 89 
 35 
 31 
 10 
 
 309 
 281 
 88 
 36 
 31 
 10 
 
 306 
 2S3 
 88 
 36 
 31 
 10 
 
 303 
 284 
 90 
 
 31 
 10 
 
 3(5 
 28? 
 91 
 3£ 
 31 
 1 
 
 George \V. McCrary . 
 Eloscoe Conkling 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 John F. Hartranft . . 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 Edmund T. Davis . . 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Philip H. Sheridan . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Benjamin Harrison . 
 Total 
 
 Necessiiry to choice . 
 
 755 
 378 
 
 755 
 378 
 
 1 
 7 5 
 378 
 
 1 
 ^8 
 
 1 
 7.55 
 378 
 
 378 
 
 755 
 
 378 
 
 755 
 
 378 
 
 755 
 
 378 
 
 755 
 
 378 
 
 755 
 
 378 
 
 755 
 
 378 
 
 755 
 
 378 
 
 755 
 
 378 
 
 755 
 
 37S 
 
 754 
 378 
 
 755 't55 
 378^378 
 
 
 ^. 
 
 ..-. 
 
 
 
 
 ■^ ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 *; 
 
 «■ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^. 
 
 
 
 
 ■^ 
 
 *3 
 
 _^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 
 
 B 
 
 2 
 
 n 
 
 -3 
 
 "^ 
 
 B B 
 
 J 
 
 B 
 
 B 
 
 B 
 
 s 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 B 
 
 B 
 
 B 
 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 ■s 
 
 
 = ^ 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 ^ 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 ■^ 
 
 n 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 T7 
 
 
 
 
 
 ns 
 
 © 
 
 H 
 
 y 
 
 M 
 
 ^ w 
 
 o 
 
 t^ 
 
 <jri 
 
 a 
 
 c 
 
 
 IV 
 
 n 
 
 "* 
 
 •fj 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 H 
 
 « 
 
 f» 
 
 « 
 
 W 
 
 « |« 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 w 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
 n 
 
 1 
 
 w 
 
 n 
 
 James A. Garfi -Id. . . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 17 250 399 
 
 Ulvs<e- S. Grant 
 
 305 
 
 308 315 
 
 305 
 
 .304 305 302 
 
 303 
 
 306 307 305 
 
 306 3118 309.309.312 313 
 
 306 
 
 James G. Blaine .... .279 
 
 276 276 
 
 275 
 
 275 279 281 
 
 280 277 279 278 
 
 279 276 -276 276 275 
 
 57 
 
 42 
 
 John Sherman 
 
 96 
 
 93 96 
 
 97 
 
 97 
 
 93 94 
 
 93 93 91 
 
 116 
 
 120 118 117 100 107 
 
 99 
 
 3 
 
 HihuB. Washburne. 
 
 32 
 
 35 t5 
 
 35' 36 
 
 35 S5 
 
 36 
 
 36 35 
 
 35 
 
 33 37 44 
 
 44 
 
 30 
 
 23 
 
 5 
 
 George F. Edmunds. 
 
 31 
 
 31 
 
 31 
 
 31 31 
 
 31 
 
 31 
 
 31 
 
 31 31 
 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 
 William Windom.... 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 10 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 
 Rutherford B. Hayes. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 George W. McCrary . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 John P. Hartranft.. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Edmund T. Davis... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Philip H. Sheridan.. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Benjamin Harrison . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 755 
 
 ^ 
 
 755 
 
 755 
 
 ^ 
 
 m 
 
 755 
 
 755 
 
 755 
 
 755 
 
 755 
 
 755 
 
 755 755 755 756 
 
 756 
 
 755 
 
 Necessary to choice . 
 
 378 
 
 378 378 
 
 378 
 
 378 
 
 378 
 
 •;78 
 
 378 
 
 378378 
 
 378 
 
 378 
 
 378 378 378 379 
 
 379 
 
 378
 
 BEFORE THE CONVENTIONS OF iSyS ANT> 1880. 1 65 
 
 Those who were engaged in the effort to nominate 
 General Grant were scarcely more faithful. On the 
 first ballot it will be seen Mr. Blaine was the choice of 
 284 delegates and from this his support did not appreci- 
 ably fail until the 19th ballot, when the number was 279. 
 His vote fell only once as low as 270 ; until the last two 
 ballots, with this exception, it was not less than 275. 
 
 The dogged perseverance which characterized the 
 third term men and forbade them to assist in the nomi- 
 nation of another candidate, however hopeless the for- 
 tunes of their own, was not emulated by those who 
 through 34 ballots cast their votes steadily for Mr. 
 Blaine. When it became evident that the man of their 
 choice could not become the nominee of the convention 
 a wise spirit of moderation prevailed, and the vote of the 
 Blaine delegation was cast almost entire for General 
 Garfield. But for this act Garfield could not have been 
 nominated. If it was a surrender, it was the kind of 
 surrender which carries with it something of the lustre 
 of victory.
 
 XVI. 
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 
 
 General Garfield's selection of Mr. Blaine for the 
 first position in his Cabinet was not the outcome of his 
 efforts in his cause during the campaign. Many others 
 might have been as properly chosen on that score. It 
 was made in recognition of his fitness for the post, and 
 as a compliment to a trusted friend. When he visited 
 Washington soon after the election he wrote Mr. Blaine 
 appointing a meeting with him in that city about No- 
 vember 24th. The ex-Senator reached Washington 
 November 26th. In the course of the colloquy which 
 followed General Garfield offered him the State Depart- 
 ment. Mr. Blaine was surprised by this honor. " I 
 was hardly prepared for it," he told the President-elect. 
 " I do not know how to make answer. I would like 
 some time for reflection and consultation." General 
 Garfield, though urging him to accept, readily granted 
 him space for thought, and Mr. Blaine asked the advice 
 of his intimate friends. They were inclined to think he 
 would do best to accept the place. But Mr. Blaine did 
 not yet decide to take the charge. He said : " If the
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 1 6/ 
 
 sentiment of the country indorses the selection General 
 Garfield has made, I will accept the office, otherwise not." 
 It began to be announced through the press that the 
 offer had been made, and the tone of newspaper com- 
 ment was so favorable that Mr. Blaine accepted the re- 
 sponsibilities of the State Department, without more 
 hesitation. His letter of acceptance best gives the rea- 
 sons which led him to make this determination : 
 
 "Washington, December 20, 1880. 
 
 *' My Dear Garfield : Your generous invitation to 
 enter your Cabinet as Secretary of State has been un- 
 der consideration for more than three weeks. The 
 thought had really never occurred to my mind until at 
 our late conference you presented it with such cogent 
 arguments in its favor and with such warmth of personal 
 friendship in aid of your kind offer. 
 
 *' I know that an early answer is desirable, and I have 
 waited only long enough to consider the subject in all 
 its bearings, and to make up my mind, definitely and 
 conclusively. I now say to you, in the same cordial 
 spirit in which you have invited me, that I accept the 
 position. 
 
 " It is no affectation for me to add that I make this 
 decision, not for the honor of the promotion it gives me 
 in the public service, but because I think I can be use- 
 ful to the country and to the party ; useful to you as 
 the responsible leader of the party and the great head 
 of the Government.
 
 1 68 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 ** I am influenced somewhat, perhaps, by the shower 
 of letters I have received urging me to accept, written to 
 me in consequence of the mere unauthorized newspaper 
 report that you had been pleased to offer me the place. 
 While I have received these letters from all sections of 
 the Union, I have been especially pleased and even sur- 
 prised at the cordial and widely extended feeling in my 
 favor throughout New England, where I had expected 
 to encounter local jealousy and perhaps rival aspiration. 
 
 " In our new relation I shall give all that I am and all 
 that I can hope to be, freely and joyfully, to your ser- 
 vice. You need no pledge of my loyalty in heart and 
 in act. I should be false to myself did I not prove true 
 both to the great trust you confide to me and to your 
 own personal and political fortunes in the present and 
 in the future. Your administration must be made brill- 
 iantly successful and strong in the confidence and pride 
 of the people, not at all directing its energies for re- 
 election, and yet compelling that result by the logic of 
 events and by the imperious necessities of the situation. 
 
 *' To that most desirable consummation I feel that, 
 next to yourself, I can possibly contribute as much in- 
 fluence as any otherone man. I say this not from egotism 
 or vainglory, but merely as a deduction from a plain 
 analysis of the political forces which have been at work 
 in the country for five years past, and which have been 
 signif ::antly shown in two great national conventions. 
 1 accept it as one of the happiest circumstances con- 
 nected with this affair that in allying my political for-
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 1 69 
 
 tunes with yours — or rather for the time merging mine 
 in yours — my heart goes with my head, and that I carry 
 to you not only political support but personal and de- 
 voted friendship. I can but regard it as somewhat re- 
 markable that two men of the same age, entering Con- 
 gress at the same time, influenced by the same aims and 
 cherishing the same ambitions, should never, for a sin- 
 gle moment in eighteen years of close intimacy, have 
 had a misunderstanding or a coolness, and that our 
 friendship has steadily grown with our growth and 
 strengthened with our strength. 
 
 '' It is this fact which has led me to the conclusion em- 
 bodied in this letter ; for however much, my dear Gar- 
 field, I might admire you as a statesman, I would not 
 enter your Cabinet if I did not believe in you as a man 
 and love you as a friend. Always faithfully yours, 
 
 ''James G. Blaine." 
 
 Mr. Blaine's season of service in his new office began 
 with the inauguration of the President, March 5, 1881, 
 and was completed when on December 19th of the same 
 year he resigned the portfolio of State. In this time it 
 was impossible to accomplish anything of importance, 
 but the chief of his large-minded plans was near fruition 
 when he relinquished his place in the Cabinet. Scarce- 
 ly four mionths passed before the President was shot 
 down. During the three months that followed he was in 
 constant attendance upon his bedside, and when he 
 died the short time during which he continued in office
 
 I/O JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 was of little value in carrying out his designs — the 
 friendly aid and countenance of him under whom they 
 had been conceived being lacliing. But the brevity of 
 the time given for maturing his policy being considered 
 it may be traced with some distinctness, and his inten- 
 tions at least may be set down with confidence. That 
 policy, in accordance with its author's character, was de- 
 cided but pacific. It contemplated the conclusion of 
 peace in South America, and looked to the prevention 
 of future wars in both of the Americas. Its subordi- 
 nate object was the cultivation of such amicable rela^ 
 tions with the South American States as would lead to 
 a large increase of trade with them. It was a broad 
 and enlightened line of conduct for the United States, 
 and the dangers which its adversaries have found lurk- 
 ing behind it are the discoveries of active and easily 
 alarmed imaginations. 
 
 It w^as in regard to the relations with England likely 
 to be brought about by pursuance of this policy that the 
 prophetic fancies of these persons were exercised. The 
 issue with that nation arose upon the proposition made 
 by the Colombian Republic to the European Powers 
 that they should join in guaranteeing the neutrality of 
 tlie Panama Canal. Acting under the advice of his 
 Secretary, President Garfield early in his term reminded 
 the governments of Europe that the United States had 
 secured exclusive rights with the country through which 
 the canal w^as to be built, and that the suggested guaran- 
 tee would be futile, and not without offence to the
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 17 1 
 
 United States. These exclusive rights made it neces- 
 sary that the guarantee of this country should be se- 
 cured before it was asked from abroad. This state- 
 ment of the position of the Government was directly in 
 the line of President Garfield's inaugural address, and 
 if it was in any degree mistaken, history will show that 
 his concern in it was quite equal to his Secretary's. 
 He said that he repeated the expressions of his prede- 
 cessor in declaring that it Was **the riglit and duty of 
 the United States to assert and maintain such super- 
 vision and authority over any interoceanic canal across 
 the isthmus that connects North and South America as 
 will protect our national interests." The United States 
 had in the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 made provis- 
 ions with Great Britain as to the Isthmus, and Mr. 
 Blaine made formal proposal that all agreements made 
 in it, not in harmony with the privileges and guarantee 
 secured by the convention entered into between the 
 United States and the Colombian Republic, be abro- 
 gated. It was Mr. Blaine's contention that the Clayton- 
 Bulwer treaty gave England for all essential purposes 
 the control of any interoceanic waterway which might 
 be cut through the Panama Isthmus ; for England's su- 
 perior naval power would render any opposition of the 
 United States upon the water fruitless. Having agreed 
 not to fight in the Isthmus nor to fortify the mouths 
 of any canal that might be built across it in the event 
 of a contest with England, this country, urged Mr. 
 Blaine, would be placed under a disadvantage so deci-
 
 1/2 JAMES C. BLAIXE. 
 
 ded that struggle would be useless. *' The treaty," he 
 wrote, " commands this Government not to use a single 
 regiment of troops to protect its interests in connection 
 with the interoceanic canal, but to surrender the transit 
 to the guardianship and control of the English navy." 
 
 "The logic of this paper," says an excellent authority, 
 ''was unanswerable from an American point of view. If 
 the Monroe doctrine be anything more than a tradition, 
 the control of the Panama Canal must not be allowed to 
 pass out of American hands ; and since the country' hav- 
 ing the most powerful navy is the real guardian of the 
 freedom of an interoceanic canal under any system of 
 international guarantees, or In the absence of treaty law, 
 the Panama Canal, as Mr. Blaine said, under the Clay- 
 ton-Bulwer treaty would be surrendered, if not in form 
 yet in effect, to the control of Great Britain." 
 
 Said Mr. Curtis in Harper s Weekly : ''The letter is a 
 temperate and dignified document, stating our position 
 with blended spirit and courtesy and decision. It is 
 capitally adapted to meet any such proposition as a 
 joint European protectorate, had it been advanced. But 
 whether the project was merely a tenative rumor or a 
 design seriously entertained, the letter has sufficed to 
 arrest it, and it is another illustration of the skill and 
 ability with which Mr. Blaine has managed the depart- 
 ment confided to him. He has what may be called the 
 American instinct, an essential quality in our foreign 
 secretary", yet restrained in its official expression by an 
 equally American tact and good sense."
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 1 73 
 
 But the act by which Mr. Blaine's administration of 
 his office will be best remembered is his invitation to 
 the republics of South America to come together at 
 Washington in a Peace Congress with the United States. 
 The letter in which he made this proposition is wxll 
 worth attention : 
 
 ''Department of State, 
 "Washington, November 29, 1881. 
 
 "Sir : The attitude of the United States with regard 
 to the question of general peace on the American con- 
 tinent is well known through its persistent eiforts for 
 years past to avert the evils of warfare, or, the efforts 
 failing, to bring positive conflicts to an end through pa- 
 cific counsels, or the advocacy of impartial arbitration. 
 This attitude has been consistently maintained, and al- 
 ways wuth such fairness as to leave no room for the im- 
 puting to our Government any motive except the hu- 
 mane and disinterested one of saving the kindred States 
 on the American continent from the burdens of war. 
 The position of the United States as the leading power 
 of the New World might well give to its Government 
 the claim to authoritative utterance for the purpose of 
 quieting discord among its neighbors, with all of whom 
 the most friendly relation exists. Nevertheless, the good 
 offices of this Government are not, and have not, at any 
 time, been tendered with a show of compulsion or dic- 
 tation, but only as exhibiting the solicitous good-will 
 of a common friend.
 
 174 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 " For some years past a growing disposition has been 
 manifested by certain States of Central and South Amer- 
 ica to refer disputes affecting grave questions of inter- 
 national relationship and boundaries to arbitration rather 
 than to the sword. It has been on several such occasions 
 a source of profound satisfaction to the Government of 
 the United States to see that this country is, in a large 
 measure, looked to by all the American powers as their 
 friend and mediator. 
 
 *' The just and impartial counsel of the President in 
 such cases has never been withheld, and his efforts have 
 been rewarded by the prevention of sanguinary strife, 
 or angry contentions between people whom we regard 
 as brethren. 
 
 " The existence of this growling tendency convinces 
 the President that the time is ripe for a proposal that 
 shall enlist the good-will and active co-operation of all 
 the States of the Western hemisphere, both North and 
 South, in the interest of humanity, and for the com- 
 mon weal of nations. He conceives that none of the 
 governments of America can be less alive than our own to 
 the dangers and horrors of a state of war, and especially 
 of war between kinsmen. He is sure that none of the 
 chiefs of governments on the continent can be less sensi- 
 tive than he is to the sacred duty of making every en- 
 deavor to do away with the chances of fratricidal strife. 
 And he looks with hopeful confidence to such active as- 
 sistance from them as will help to show the broadness of 
 our common humanity, and the strength of the ties
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 1/5 
 
 which bind us all together as a great and harmonious 
 system of American commonwealths. 
 
 *' Impressed by these views, the President extends 
 to all the independent countries of North and South 
 America an earnest invitation to participate in a gen- 
 eral congress to be held in the city of Washington on 
 the 24th day of November 1882, for the purpose of con- 
 sidering and discussing the methods of preventing war 
 between the nations of America. He desires that the 
 attention of the congress shall be strictly confined to 
 this one great object, that its sole aim shall be to seek 
 a way of permanently averting the horrors of cruel and 
 bloody combat between countries oftenest of one blood 
 and speech ; or the even worse calamity of internal 
 commotion and civil strife ; that it shall regard the 
 burdensome and far-reaching consequences of such 
 struggles, the legacies of exhausted finances, of op- 
 pressive debt, of onerous taxation, of ruined cities, of 
 paralyzed industries, of devastated fields, of ruthless 
 conscription, of the slaughter of men, of the grief of 
 the widow and orphan, of embittered resentments that 
 long survive those who provoked them, and heavily 
 afflict the innocent generations that come after. 
 
 " The President is especially desirous to have it un- 
 derstood that in putting forth this invitation the United 
 States does not assume the position of counselling, or 
 attempting through the voice of the congress to coun- 
 sel, any determinate solution of existing questions 
 which may now divide any of the countries of America.
 
 I'jG JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 Such questions cannot properly come before the con- 
 gress. Its mission is higher. It is to provide for the 
 interest of all in the future, not to settle the individual 
 differences of the present. For this reason especially 
 the President has indicated a day for the assembling of 
 the congress so far in the future as to leave good ground 
 for hope that by the time named the present situation 
 on the South Pacific coast will be happily terminated, 
 and that those engaged in the contest may take peace- 
 able part in the discussion and solution of the gen- 
 eral question affecting in an equal degree the well- 
 being of all. 
 
 *'It seems also desirable to disclaim in advance any 
 purpose on the part of the United States to prejudge 
 the issues to be presented to the congress. It is far 
 from the intent of this Government to appear before the 
 congress as in any sense the protector of its neighbors, 
 or the predestined and necessary arbitrator of their 
 disputes. The United States will enter into the delib- 
 erations of the congress on the same footing with the 
 other powers represented, and with the loyal determina- 
 tion to approach any proposed solution not only in its 
 own interest, but as a single member among many co- 
 ordinate and co-equal States. So far as the influence 
 of this Government may be potential, it will be exerted 
 in the direction of conciliating whatever conflicting in. 
 terests of blood or government or historical tradition 
 may necessarily come together in response to a call 
 embracins: such vast and diverse elements.
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 17/ 
 
 "You will present these views to the Minister of 
 Foreign Relations of Mexico, enlarging, if need be, in 
 such terms as will readily occur to you, upon the great 
 mission which it is in the power of the proposed con- 
 gress to accomplish in the interest of humanity, and 
 upon the firm purpose of the United States to maintain 
 a position of the most absolute and impartial friendship 
 toward all. You will thereupon tender to his Excel- 
 lency the President of the Mexican Republic a formal 
 invitation to send two commissioners to the congress, 
 provided with such powers and instructions on behalf 
 of their government as will enable them to consider the 
 questions brought before that body within the limit of 
 submission contemplated by the invitation. 
 
 " The United States, as well as the other powers, will 
 in like manner be represented by two commissioners, 
 so that impartiality and equf lity will be amply secured 
 in the proceedings of the cc .gress. 
 
 " In delivering <his invito. tion through the Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, you will read this dispatch to him, and 
 leave with him a copy, intimating that an answer is de- 
 sired by this Government as promptly as the just consid- 
 eration of so important a proposition will permit. 
 " I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 "James G. Blaine." 
 
 The fair-minded reader of the foregoing will hardly 
 have found a menace in it to the public peace and well- 
 being ; but Mr. Frelinghuysen apparently did, for upon
 
 IjS JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 his appointment to Mr. Blaine's place in the Cabinet he 
 reversed his entire policy with all speed. 
 
 This remarkable action, opposed to diplomatic usage, 
 radically lowered the standing of the United States Gov- 
 ernment with the South American States, and under the 
 laissez-faire policy of Secretary Frelinghuysen, Chili 
 made outrageous terms with her vanquished foe and 
 took to herself so much territory as pleased her. It left 
 Mr. Blaine in the unfortunate position of having pro- 
 posed and entered upon a course of action which was so 
 suddenly abandoned as to leave it without fair trial. He 
 w^as judged by the ragged ends of his policy. 
 
 In justice to himself he addressed a letter to President 
 Arthur, January 3, 1882, vindicating his imperfected 
 work. It must be given here in full : 
 
 *' The suggestion of a congress of all the American na- 
 tions to assemble in the city of Washington was warmly 
 approved by your predecessor. The assassination of 
 July 2d prevented his issuing the invitations to the 
 American States. After your accession to the Presi- 
 dency, I acquainted you with the project and submitted 
 to you a draft for such an invitation. You received the 
 suggestion with the most appreciative consideration, 
 and after carefully considering the form of the invita- 
 tion directed it to be sent. It was accordingly dis- 
 patched in November, to the independent governments 
 of America, North and South, including all, from the 
 Empire of Brazil to the smallest republic. In a commu- 
 nication addressed by the present Secretary of State, on
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 1/9 
 
 January 9th, to Mr. Trescot, and recently sent to the Sen- 
 ate, I was greatly surprised to find a proposition look- 
 ing to the annulment of these invitations, and I was still 
 more surprised when I read the reasons assigned. If I 
 correctly apprehend the meaning of his words it is that 
 we might offend some European powers if we should 
 hold in the United States a congress of the ' selected 
 nationalities ' of America. 
 
 '' This is certainly a new position for the United States 
 to assume, and one which I earnestly beg you will not 
 permit this country to occupy. The European powers 
 assemble in congress whenever an object appears to 
 them of sufficient importance to justify it. I have 
 never heard of their consulting the Government of the 
 United States in regard to the propriety of their so as- 
 sembling, nor have I ever known of their inviting an 
 American representative to be present. Nor would 
 there, in my judgment, be any good reason for their so 
 doing. Two Presidents of the United States in the year 
 1881 adjudged it to be expedient that the American 
 powers should meet in congress, for the sole purpose of 
 agreeing upon some basis for arbitration of differences 
 that may arise between them, and for the prevention, as 
 far as possible, of war in the future. If that movement 
 is now to be arrested for fear that it may give offence 
 in Europe, the voluntary humiliation of this Govern- 
 ment could not be more complete, unless we should 
 press the European governments for the privilege of 
 holding the congress. I cannot conceive how the
 
 l80 JAMES G. BI.AINE, 
 
 United States could be placed in a less enviable position 
 than would be secured by sending in November a cor- 
 dial invitation to all the American governments to meet 
 in Washington for the sole purpose of concerting meas- 
 ures of peace, and in January recalling the invitation 
 for fear it might create 'jealousy and ill-will' on the 
 part of monarchical governments in Europe. It would 
 be difficult to devise a more effective mode for making 
 enemies of the American Government, and it would cer- 
 tainly not add to our prestige in tlie European world. 
 Nor can I see, Mr. President, how European govern- 
 ments should feel 'jealousy and ill-will' toward the 
 United States because of an effort on our own part to 
 insure lasting peace between the nations of America, 
 unless, indeed, it be to the interest of European powers 
 that American nations should at intervals fall into war, 
 and bring reproach on republican government. But 
 from that very circumstance I see an. additional and 
 powerful mo'.ive for American governments to be at 
 peace among themselves. 
 
 " The United States is indeed at peace with all the 
 world, as Mr. Frelinghuysen well says, but there are and 
 have been serious troubles between other American na- 
 tions. Peru, Chili, and Bolivia have been for more 
 than two years engaged in a desperate conflict. It was 
 the fortunate intervention of the United States last 
 spring that averted war between Chili and the Argen- 
 tine Republic. Guatemala is at this moment asking the 
 United States to interpose its good offices with Mexico
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. l8l 
 
 to keep off war. These important facts were all com- 
 municated in your last message to Congress. It is the 
 existence or the menace of these wars that influenced 
 President Garfield— and as I supposed influenced your- 
 self — to desire a friendly conference of all the nations of 
 America to devise methods of permanent peace, and 
 consequent prosperity for all. Shall the United States 
 now turn back, hold aloof, and refuse to exert its great 
 moral power for the advantage of its weaker neighbors? 
 '* If you have not formally and finally recalled the in- 
 vitation to the Peace Congress, Mr. President, I beg you 
 to consider well the effect of so doing. The invitation 
 was not mine. It was yours. I performed only the part 
 of the Secretary — to advise and to draft. You spoke 
 in the name of the United States to each of the inde- 
 pendent nations of America. To revoke that invitation 
 for any cause would be embarrassing ; to revoke it for 
 the avowed fear of 'jealousy and ill-will' on the part 
 of European powers would appeal as little to American 
 pride as to American hospitality. Those you have in- 
 vited may decline, and having now cause to doubt their 
 welcome will, perhaps, do so. This would break up the 
 Congress, but it would not touch their dignity. Beyond 
 the philanthropic and Christian ends to be obtained by 
 an American conference devoted to peace and good- 
 will among men, we might well hope for material ad- 
 vantages, as the result of a better understanding and 
 closer friendship with the nations of America. At 
 present the condition of trade between the United States
 
 l82 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 and its American neighbors is unsatisfactory to us, and 
 even deplorable. According to the official statistics of 
 our own Treasury Department, the balance against us 
 in that trade last year was $120,000,000 — a sum greater 
 than the yearly product of all the gold and silver mines 
 in the United States. This vast balance was paid by us 
 in foreign exchange, and a very large proportion of it 
 went to England, where shipments of cotton, provisions, 
 and breadstuffs supplied the money. If anything should 
 change or check the balance in our favor in European 
 trade, our commercial exchanges with Spanish America 
 would drain us of our reserve of gold at a rate exceed- 
 ing $100,000,000 per annum, and would probably pre- 
 cipitate a suspension of specie payment in this country. 
 Such a result at home might be worse than a little jeal- 
 ousy and ill-will abroad. I do not say, Mr. President, 
 that the holding of a Peace Congress will necessarily 
 change the currents of trade, but it will bring us into 
 kindly relations with all the American nations ; it will 
 promote the reign of law and peace and order ; it will 
 increase production and consumption, and will stimu- 
 late the demand for articles which American manufac- 
 turers can furnish with profit. It will at all events be a 
 friendly and auspicious beginning in the direction of 
 American influence and American trade in a large field 
 which wc have hitherto greatly neglected, and which has 
 practically been monopolized by our commercial rivals 
 in Europe. 
 
 ''James G. Blaine."
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 1 83 
 
 In pursuance of his pacific policy, Mr. Blaine en- 
 deavored to bring about peace after the Chili-Peru war, 
 on terms which should not be overbearing to the con- 
 quered States. Certain misunderstandings, however, 
 caused the United States ministers to fail in carrying 
 out the Secretary's instructions, and special envoys ac- 
 credited to the three countries were despatched upon a 
 mission of peace. Before they reached Chili, Mr. Blaine 
 resigned, and his successor, in his hasty overturning of 
 his policy, discredited the envoys. They arrived only to 
 find their mission emptied of all significance, and they 
 could only return, leaving such impressions of the con- 
 stancy and good faith of the United States Government 
 as they might. 
 
 Of Mr. Blaine's administration a manly and straight- 
 forward assertion of American rights was the distin- 
 guishing characteristic. If that is a dangerous thing 
 we must face the danger, and no honest American 
 should wish to shirk it. All new ideas are filled with 
 peril. Burke had several perilous ideas ; so did Pitt. 
 Dangerous ideas occurred to Washington and Lincoln 
 more frequently than safe ones, as the conservatives of 
 their times looked at ideas. But how many of the pre- 
 cious facts which those dangerous ideas bought are we 
 willing to lose ? Senator Harrison spoke for the truest 
 Americans when he said at a meeting gathered in Cin- 
 cinnati to ratify the nomination : 
 
 " Some timid people fear that Mr. Blaine will involve 
 the country in war. Some over-cautious business men
 
 1 84 JAMES G, BLAIXE. 
 
 affect to believe that the even current of their money- 
 getting will be disturbed by the aggressive foreign 
 policy which they suppose he w^ould inaugurate. My 
 fellow-citizens, no one has ever accused Mr. Blaine of 
 being a fool. He has some ideas upon foreign affairs 
 and I am glad of it — they are rare. He had begun to 
 organize them into a system when he laid down the 
 portfolio of State. Now, what sort of a foreign policy 
 did his despatches foreshadow ? One in which this 
 country should play the bully ? One in which we shall, 
 without cause, insult or deny just rights to any foreign 
 government ? Not at all ; do we not all desire that we 
 shall have a manly foreign policy — one that shall not 
 be characterized by such timidity as not to lift a manly 
 protest when any wrong is done in any foreign country 
 to the humblest American citizen ? [Applause.] What 
 was it Mr. Blaine proposed to do ? Briefly and chiefly, 
 he proposed to call a congress for consultation as to 
 the mutual interests of the nations of the continent ; 
 a meeting of our sister republics, not for the purpose 
 of aggression. Far from it. It was that we might ex- 
 ercise our friendly offices in the interests of peace and 
 stable government among these people, where govern- 
 ment has been so unstable, where the existing regimes 
 are so frequently overturned as to bring prostration 
 and desolation to all private enterprises. It was that 
 we might extend a kindly hand to these people, to help 
 them on to a higher civilization, and that we might in 
 return enjoy some of thatt great commerce which Great
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 185 
 
 Britain monopolizes to-day. We are living near these 
 people ; they are striving to imitate us in the experi- 
 ment of free government, and yet we are without access 
 or influence. When a distinguished citizen of this State 
 was by President James Garfield appointed Charge 
 d'Affaires at Montevideo, in Uruguay, in order to get 
 to his post of duty he had to take a British steamer 
 from New York to Liverpool, and another British 
 steamer from Liverpool to Montevideo. Notwithstand- 
 ing we are here on the same general coast, there was no 
 direct communication between this country and that. 
 It has been a standing shame that our relations to these 
 South American governments have been such that nei- 
 ther we nor they have enjoyed any of the benefits of good 
 neighborhood. 
 
 " Mr. Blaine proposes to remedy this confessed omis- 
 sion in our foreign policy. A congress of these nations 
 was the leading feature of his brief administradon of 
 the State Department. There was nothing to disturb 
 business in that policy, but much promise of a new 
 market for our surplus. Nobody wants war — it is a 
 last resort. But every self-respecting American does 
 believe in maintaining the proper dignity, honor, and 
 influence of this great nation." 
 
 The ado which was made about the Landreau claim, 
 the Credit Industriel, and the Shipherd folly, need not 
 make part of this record. Mr. Blaine's connection with 
 them was unimportant. In the case of Landreau, he 
 urged a claim of undoubted justice ; the others were in-
 
 1 86 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 cidents growing out of his administration which will 
 doubtless demand treatment when the lives of certain 
 other persons come to be written, but which are of no 
 moment to a biography of Mr. Blaine.
 
 XVII. 
 AT GARFIELD'S BEDSIDE. 
 
 Mr. Blaine's name is peculiarly associated with the 
 memorable crime of July 2, 1881. Upon him, during 
 the long, sad weeks of suspense which followed, the 
 grieved and doubtful heart of the nation reposed. 
 
 As the President and Mr. Blaine drove to the station 
 together the President was in an uncommonly joyous 
 mood, his companion has said. He was to visit his alma 
 maier, and was looking forward to an agreeable holiday, 
 removed from the oppressive summer heat of Washing- 
 ton, and the renewing of old college friendships in the 
 Berkshire Hills. "When the carriage," says Mr. Blaine, 
 in his account of the tragedy, "stopped in front of the 
 station on B Street, the President and I left it and entered 
 the ladies' waiting-room, passing through it arm in arm. 
 As we went from it into the main room I dropped the 
 President's arm and at that instant two shots were fired. 
 I saw a man running and started toward him, but turned 
 almost immediately and saw that the President had fall- 
 en. I then first understood that the shots had been
 
 1 88 JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 
 fired at the President. I sprang toward him with several 
 others and raised his head from the floor." 
 
 As the President fell he exclaimed, ''My God!" 
 The Postmaster-General, Secretary Windom, and Sec- 
 retary Lincoln, who were to accompany President Gar- 
 field, had arrived earlier and were walking within the 
 station. When they came hastily in response to a sum- 
 mons into the ladies' waiting-room they found Secre- 
 tary Blaine, who appeared to be the only calm person 
 about, bending over the President and keeping the 
 people back. Before the President was removed from 
 the station he sent a touching message to his wife at 
 Long Branch, where he had expected to join her later. 
 
 Secretary Blaine communicated to Vice-President 
 Arthur, who was in New York, the news of the calam- 
 ity in simple words, and during the day and until the 
 Vice-President returned to Washington, kept him in- 
 formed of the President's condition by constant bulle- 
 tins. The Secretary also made known the sad intelli- 
 gence to the American ministers abroad, and put them 
 into possession from time to time of the physicians* 
 opinions. In his position he was also the recipient of 
 the messages of condolence and regret sent from every 
 part of the country and by the sovereigns of Europe. 
 It fell to him to make answer as well, and he dis- 
 charged this duty with singular propriety and good 
 taste. The telegrams were models of manly simplicity, 
 and the nation, which hung in its suspense upon the 
 slightest word from the bedside of the wounded Pres-
 
 AT GARFIELD'S BEDSIDE. 1 89 
 
 ident, received his constant bulletins gratefully. Dur- 
 ing the first day and night, with the other members of 
 the Cabinet, he was not absent from the President's bed- 
 side, and only retired the next day for a time because 
 the physicians thought the presence of any one preju- 
 dicial to the patient's condition. 
 
 The Fourth of July was an anxious day for the coun- 
 try. President Garfield seemed to grow no better, and 
 the physicians, who from the first had given little en- 
 couragement, despaired of his recovery. Mr. Blaine 
 telegraphed to John Hay at 5 p.m. : " The condition of 
 the President is alarming. I think the best judgment of 
 the eminent physicians who were in consultation is he 
 will not recover. They do not, however, abandon hope, 
 and we all cling to the belief that in the good prov- 
 idence of God his life may be spared." Later he is- 
 sued the following : 
 
 "Executive Mansion, Washington, July 4th, 11 p.m. 
 " To the Press : 
 
 **On behalf of the President and Mrs. Garfield I desire 
 to make public acknowledgment of the very numerous 
 messages of condolence and affection which have been 
 received since Saturday morning. From almost every 
 State in the Union, from the South as bountifully as 
 from the North, and from countries beyond the sea, 
 have come messages of anxious inquiry and tender 
 words of sympathy in such numbers that it has been 
 found impossible to answer them in detail. I therefore 
 ask the newspapers to express for the President and
 
 I90 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 Mrs. Garfield the deep gratitude which they feel for 
 the devotion of their fellow-countrymen and friem^s 
 abroad, in their hour of heavy affliction. 
 
 ** James G. Blaine, 
 
 ''Secretary of State." 
 
 On the following day he was able to cable James 
 Russell Lowell, Minister to England, *' The President 
 continues to improve. At this hour, 4 p.m., his physi- 
 cians consider his symptoms as most encouraging." 
 
 The President after this grew slowly better, and 
 the Secretary was in constant attendance upon him. 
 Through all the fluctuations of hope and fear, he kept 
 unintermittent watch, recording the changes in the 
 President's condition in frequent bulletins. When it 
 was decided to attempt the removal to Long Branch, he 
 smoothed the way as much as possible and assisted in 
 planning and carrying out the kindly devices for the pa- 
 tient's easy and painless transit. On September 6th the 
 journey was safely made. Secretary Blaine's telegram 
 to Minister Lowell upon the arrival of the President at 
 Long Branch concluded : " His fever is in part attrib- 
 uted to the excitement he felt at the prospect of coming. 
 He earnestly desired to leave the White House, and his 
 weary eyes welcomed the sight of the sea. The devel- 
 opments of the next sixty hours are awaited with solici- 
 tude." The President did not immediately grow worse, 
 but the weather was very warm and he suffered from it. 
 On the 9th, however, Mr. Blaine was able to say that
 
 AT GARFIELD'S BEDSIDE. IQI 
 
 " his comfort had been promoted by a decided change 
 in the weather." But on the 12th he telegraphed : " His 
 symptoms are not reassuring, and his general condition 
 gives rise to anxiety." During the next day, however, 
 there was a change for the better, and Mr. Blaine was 
 so much encouraged that he felt warranted in leaving 
 the President for a day or two to attend to important 
 personal business in Augusta. '* During my absence 
 for a short time," he cabled Minister Lowell, " Dr. Ag- 
 new or Dr. Hamilton will send you a daily report." 
 It was instead sent by Secretary MacVeagh. 
 
 For several days after Mr. Blaine's departure there 
 was little change in the President's condition, and he 
 seemed to be gradually gaining ground, but on the i6th 
 anxiety was again excited. On the 17th he had a slight 
 chill, lasting half an hour. Another chill on the following 
 day increased the general concern, and September 19th, 
 at half past ten in the evening, he suddenly and unex- 
 pectedly passed away. 
 
 Secretary Blaine, being informed of the sad fact, made 
 haste toward Elberon, reaching it on the following day. 
 The Cabinet agreed upon the arrangements for the 
 funeral, which were made public in detail by the Secre- 
 tary of State, 
 
 All the members of the Cabinet went with the body 
 to Washington, where for a time it lay in state, and ac- 
 companied it to Lakewood Cemetery, Cleveland, where 
 it was finally deposited. When Congress met after the 
 President's death it cast about for a fit man to deliver
 
 192 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 a eulogy of General Garfield, and its choice naturally 
 fell to Mr. Blaine. It has been called one of the noblest 
 performances of his life, and certainly he never spoke to 
 so lofty and inspiring a theme. The orator was fortunate- 
 ly selected. He had known General Garfield for many 
 years, he was familiar with his public and private life, in 
 his administration he had been at the head, and in the 
 public acts of the President his next friend and adviser. 
 During his illness he had watched over him with an as- 
 siduity that outwent mere official duty. He was filled 
 with love and admiration for him, even above those who 
 from every corner of the country were present in spirit 
 at the solemn memorial services in which the nation ex- 
 pressed its grief. He spoke for their sorrowing hearts, 
 and in that hour was nearer to them than any save the 
 leader they had lost. It was indeed the highest moment 
 of Mr. Blaine's life ; and if he had done nothing else, if 
 he had not been the faithful supporter of the wounded 
 President during his illness — if he had come into the 
 world and gone from it leaving nothing but the record 
 of those few adequate words in praise of his friend, 
 he could never cease to be a dear and memorable figure 
 to Americans. 
 
 "At ten o'clock on Monday, February 27, 1882, the 
 doors of the House of Representatives were opened to 
 holders of tickets for the memorial services, and in less 
 than half an hour the galleries were filled. The spec- 
 tators, many of whom were ladies, were generally attired 
 in black. No mourning was displayed in the hall, even
 
 AT GARFIELD'S BEDSIDE. 193 
 
 the full-length portrait of the late President being 
 undraped. The three front rows of desks had been 
 replaced by chairs for the use of the invited guests, 
 and the Marine Band was stationed in the lobby, back 
 of the Speaker's desk. 
 
 " Among the first to arrive were George Bancroft, 
 W. W. Corcoran, Cyrus W. Field, and Admiral Worden, 
 who took seats directly in front of the Clerk's desk. 
 General Schenck, Governor Hoyt, of Pennsylvania, 
 Foster, of Ohio, Porter, of Indiana, Hamilton, of Mary- 
 land, and Bigelow, of Connecticut, and Adjutant- 
 General Hawley, of Connecticut, and many others oc- 
 cupied seats on the floor. At I r. 30 Generals Sherman, 
 Sheridan, Hancock, Howard, and Meigs, and Admirals 
 Ammen and Rodgers entered at the north door of the 
 chamber and were assigned seats to the left of the 
 Speaker's desk, and a few moments later the members 
 of the diplomatic corps, in full regalia, were ushered 
 in, headed by the Hawaiian Minister as dean of the 
 corps. The Supreme Court of the District, headed by 
 Marshal Henry, arrived next. Mrs. Blaine occupied a 
 front seat in the gallery reserved for friends of the 
 President. At twelve o'clock the House was called to 
 order by Speaker Keifer, and prayer was offered by the 
 chaplain. The Speaker then announced that the 
 House was assembled and ready to perform its part in 
 the memorial services, and the resolutions to that effect 
 were read by Clerk McPherson. At 12.10 the Senate 
 was announced, and that body, headed by its officers, 
 »3
 
 194 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 entered and took seats. The Chief Justice and As- 
 sociate Justices of the Supreme Court, in their robes 
 of office, came next, and were followed by President 
 Arthur and his Cabinet. The President took the front 
 seat on the right of the presiding officer's chair, next 
 to that occupied by Cyrus W. Field." 
 
 Senator Sherman and Representative McKinley (Ohio) 
 occupied seats at the desk on the right and left of the 
 orator of the day. Members of the Society of thfe Army 
 of the Cumberland acted as ushers at the main entrance 
 to the Rotunda and in the various corridors leading to 
 the galleries. 
 
 At 12.30 the orator of the day was announced, and 
 after a short prayer by the Chaplain of the House, F. 
 F. Power, President Davis said: '* This day is dedicated 
 by Congress for memorial services of the late President 
 of the United States, James A. Garfield. I present to 
 you the Hon. James G. Blaine, who has been fitly cho- 
 sen as the orator for this historical occasion." 
 
 Mr. Blaine then rose, and standing at the clerk's desk, 
 immediately in front of the two presiding officers, de- 
 livered his eulogy from manuscript. 
 
 He was the central figure in one of the most striking 
 scenes which has been observed in the halls of Con- 
 gress since its first session. The President and his 
 Cabinet, the judges in their robes, the distinguished 
 guests, the diplomatic corps attired in their varied dress, 
 offered a spectacle as brilliant as one is likely to see 
 in a republic. The admirable eulogy it is impossible,
 
 AT GARFIELD'S BEDSIDE. 1 95 
 
 within the brief space of this vohime, to give at length, 
 and such selections from it as follow are chosen as 
 much for their bearing upon the speaker as his 
 subject. After discussing Garfield's ancestry, his early- 
 days, his army career, and his long and loyal service 
 in Congress, he spoke of his industry ; and his words 
 upon this trait of General Garfield must engage us. 
 He said : 
 
 ** Those unfamiliar with Garfield's industry and ig- 
 norant of the details of his work may, in some degree, 
 measure them by the annals of Congress. No one of 
 the generation of public men to which he belonged has 
 contributed so much that will be valuable for future ref- 
 erence. His speeches are numerous, many of them brill- 
 iant, all of them well studied, carefully phrased and ex- 
 haustive of the subject under consideration. Collected 
 from the scattered pages of ninety royal octavo volumes 
 of the Congressional Record they would present an inval- 
 uable compendium of the political history of the most 
 important era through which the National Government 
 has ever passed. When the history of this period shall 
 be impartially written, when war legislation, measures of 
 reconstruction, protection of human rights, amendments 
 to the Constitution, maintenance of the public credit, 
 steps toward specie resumption, true theories of revenue 
 may be reviewed, unsurrounded by prejudice and dis- 
 connected from partisanism, the speeches of Garfield 
 will be estimated at their true value, and will be found 
 to comprise a vast magazine of fact and argument, of
 
 196 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 clear analysis and sound conclusion. Indeed, if no 
 other authority were accessible, his speeches in the 
 House of Representatives from December, 1863, to June, 
 1880, would give a well-connected history and complete 
 defence of the important legislation of the seventeen 
 eventful years that constitute his parliamentary life. 
 Far beyond that, his speeches would be found to forecast 
 many great measures, yet to be completed — measures 
 which he knew were beyond the public opinion of the 
 hour, but which he confidently believed would secure 
 popular approval within the period of his own lifetime, 
 and by the aid of his own efforts." 
 
 The words which follow have a touch of unconscious 
 prophecy which need not to be urged : 
 
 "As a candidate, Garfield steadily grew in popular 
 favor. He was met with a storm of detraction at the 
 very hour of his nomination, and it continued with in- 
 creasing volume and momentum until the close of his 
 victorious campaign : 
 
 No might nor greatness in mortality 
 Can censure 'scape. Back- wounding calumny 
 The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong 
 Can tie the gall up in a slanderous tongue ? 
 
 Under it all he was calm, and strong, and confident ; 
 never lost his self-possession, did no unwise act, spoke 
 no hasty or ill-considered word. Indeed nothing in his 
 whole life is more remarkable or more creditable than 
 his bearing through those five full months of vitupera-
 
 AT GARFIELD'S BEDSIDE. 1 97 
 
 tions — a prolonged agony of trial to a sensitive man, a 
 constant and cruel draft upon the powers of moral en- 
 durance. The great mass of these unjust imputations 
 passed unnoticed, and, with the general debris of the 
 campaign, fell into oblivion. But in a few instances the 
 iron entered his soul, and he died with the injury un- 
 forgotten if not unforgiven." 
 
 The eulogy occupied an hour and a half. As Mr. 
 Blaine uttered the last solemn words picturing the death 
 of the martyred President, " Let us believe that in the 
 silence of the receding world he heard the great waves 
 breaking on a further shore and felt already upon his 
 wasted brow the breath of the eternal morning," his 
 hearers broke into a storm of applause which was not 
 stilled for some moments. The address had been lis- 
 tened to with the most eager interest and in awed si- 
 lence.
 
 XVIII. 
 
 "TWENTY YEARS OF CONGRESS." 
 
 When Mr. Blaine laid down the portfolio of the Secre- 
 tary of State, some curiosity was felt as to what he would 
 do. For over twenty-three years he had been in public life, 
 and it was thought that, for a time at least, vacancy and 
 idleness must overtake him. But Mr. Blaine welcomed 
 this period of leisure as an opportunity for carrying out a 
 plan long cherished in a mild way. Continuing to live 
 in Washington, he began at once the composition of a 
 work which he has called ''Twenty Years of Congress." 
 He devoted himself assiduously to waiting, and w^as able, 
 after little more than two years' labor, to present to the 
 public in April last a thick volume as an earnest of his 
 intention. 
 
 When complete it is to be a history of the political 
 life of the American people for the years included be- 
 tween the administrations of Lincoln and Garfield — 
 the first ten of which certainly offer a richer field to 
 the American historian than any other decade save that 
 of the Revolution. But, strictly, Mr. Blaine's work, per-
 
 ''TWENTY YEARS OF CONGRESS:' 199 
 
 haps, should not be called a history ; that is an ambi- 
 tious title, and may be held to imply a little greater dis- 
 tance from the subject than the writer of "Twenty Years 
 of Congress" is at. Yet it is not a volume of mere rem- 
 iniscence. It is a large and stirring record of events 
 with which he was actively contemporary, and it is es- 
 pecially interesting to read of them in the pages of one 
 who assisted in bringing them about. The sense of this 
 the peruser of the first instalment of " Twenty Years of 
 Congress" is glad to find always present to him, and 
 this is because Mr. Blaine is clearly liimself haunted by 
 the pars fuit. This gives the book a peculiar value, if it 
 deprives it of a certain judicial tone. That is something 
 only to be cultivated successfully centuries after the fact ; 
 but on the side of vividness, of complete apprehension, 
 the book is in the highest degree satisfying, and leaves 
 the reader much obliged to it for not being history, since 
 it brings him so much nearer the event. On the other 
 hand, it is not unpleasantly partisan, and often rather 
 astonishes one, as in the matter of the presentation of 
 the tariff question, by its fairness. 
 
 The story of the war for the Union will always be a 
 difficult one to tell fairly, and no one in our time — cer- 
 tainly no one who was an actor in it — writing to those 
 who fought it, or waited at home for those who did, is 
 likely to tell it with complete justice. But curiously 
 enough one is glad of the lack of this. We are not far 
 enough from the war yet to read patiently any account 
 which does not espouse one of the sides, and no reader
 
 200 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 of Mr. Blaine's "Twenty Years of Congress" would 
 have him less of a loyalist if he could. It is the story 
 of those dark four years which is related in this first 
 volume — brought down only to the close of the con- 
 flict — and in reading the graphic pages describing them 
 it is impossible not to be freshly impressed with the tre- 
 mendous bearing of the facts touched upon. The book 
 is particularly full in its relation of the events which 
 brought about the war. Tliey are set compactly before 
 the reader, and make such a distinct and comprehensi- 
 ble record in Mr. Blaine's presentation as we can fancy 
 the children of to-day congratulating themselves upon 
 when their time comes to understand the momentous 
 forces which tore the country in the years directly pre- 
 ceding i860. The events which make up Mr. Blaine's 
 striking narrative are skilfully marshalled and arranged, 
 and the effect is one of singular directness and lucidity. 
 The style of the work is perhaps rather more terse 
 and contained than would be expected from one who 
 has been forced to cultivate the fluency of extemporane- 
 ous public speech, and though it w^ould still be no worse 
 for a little castigation, it is in the main an admirable 
 style for the purpose. Mr. Blaine is served by the val- 
 uable early training of newspaper work, which teaches 
 a writer many things, but chiefly instructs him in a wise 
 solicitude for his readers' patience. The habit of con- 
 cise and direct statement learned in that excellent school 
 gives Mr. Blaine the inestimably precious sense of what 
 may be called the time to stop, which there be eminent
 
 ''TWENTY YEARS OF CONGRESS:' 201 
 
 men who lack. He makes his point squarely and enr 
 forces it fully, but he does not enforce it too far ; the 
 finger is laid upon the spring with a firm touch, is held 
 a moment, and at the delicate instant, which is neither 
 too soon nor too late, is withdrawn. This modest quality 
 of style, which is neither brilliant nor engaging, and 
 takes no eye because the essence of its being is retire- 
 ment, makes, above all its imposing sister qualities, easy 
 reading. And this is the praise which comes most 
 readily to one's pen in writing of Mr. Blaine's book. 
 An amiable critic finds it as pleasant reading as a novel, 
 but that is a doubtful expression of the fact unless we 
 add, a good novel. The style of the volume is, however, 
 something more than easy to read. It can be stately 
 upon occasion. But the occasions are sparingly chosen, 
 and in the midst of its fluency it seldom fails of a kind 
 of dignity. 
 
 It is in Chapters I. to VIII. that the causes which led 
 to the Civil War are treated, and this is one of the most 
 valuable parts of the volume. Chapter IX. gives the his- 
 tory of the tariff in this country from the earliest years, 
 and copious quotation has been already made from it. 
 Chapter X., opening with the election of i860, gives a 
 brief summary of the events which followed. Chapters 
 XVIII. and XIX. present an admirable sketch of the 
 financial acts made necessary by the war, especially the 
 issue of paper money and the laying of taxes. The Uni- 
 ted States banks and the State banks of the time pre- 
 ceding the war are treated, and the story of the creation
 
 202 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 of the National Banking system is fully told. A chap- 
 ter is devoted to the admission of West Virginia, and 
 the final chapter contains an adequate statement of the 
 relations of foreign governments to the United States 
 during the war. 
 
 In the course of the volume, Mr. Blaine has often to 
 present pictures of men prominent in national politics 
 within comparatively recent years. From certain of 
 his estimates there must be many dissenters, but on the 
 whole, they are conceived in a fairly impartial spirit, 
 and are in the best taste. These few sentences upon 
 Lincoln will be thought just : 
 
 ** Mr. Lincoln united firmness and gentleness in a 
 singular degree. He rarely spoke a harsh word. Ready 
 to hear argument and always open to conviction, he ad- 
 hered tenaciously to the conclusions which he had 
 finally reached. Altogether modest, he had confidence 
 in himself, trusted to the reasoning of his own mind, 
 believed in the correctness of his own judgment. Many 
 of the popular conceptions concerning him are errone- 
 ous. No man was further than he from the easy, famil- 
 iar, jocose character in which he is often painted. While 
 he paid little attention to form or ceremony, he was not 
 a man with whom liberties could be taken. There was 
 but one person in Illinois outside of his own household 
 who ventured to address him by his first name. There 
 was no one in Washington who ever attempted it. Ap- 
 preciating wit and humor, he relished a good story, es- 
 pecially if it illustrated a truth or strengthened an argU'
 
 ''TWENTY YEARS OF CONGRESS:' 203 
 
 ment, and he had a vast fund of illustrative anecdote 
 which he used with the happiest eJffect. But the long 
 list of vulgar, salacious stories attributed to him were 
 retailed only by those who never enjoyed the privilege 
 of exchanging a word with him. His life was altogether 
 a serious one — inspired by the noblest spirit, devoted to 
 the highest aims. Humor was but an incident with him, 
 a partial relief to the melancholy which tinged all his 
 years. 
 
 "He presented an extraordinary combination of men- 
 tal and moral qualities. As a statesman he had the lof- 
 tiest ideal, and it fell to his lot to inaugurate measures 
 which changed the fate of millions of living men, of 
 tens of millions yet to be born. As a manager of polit- 
 ical issues, and master of the art of presenting them, he 
 has had no rival in this country unless one be found 
 in Jefferson. The complete discomfiture of his most 
 formidable assailants in 1863, especially of those who 
 sought to prejudice him before the people on account of 
 the arrest of Vallandigham, cannot easily be paralleled 
 for shrewdness of treatment and for keen appreciation 
 of the reactionary influences which are certain to con- 
 trol public opinion. Mr. Van Buren stands without 
 rival in the use of partisan tactics. He operated alto- 
 gether on men, and believed in self-interest as the main 
 spring of human action. Mr. Lincoln's ability was of a 
 far higher and broader character. There was never the 
 slightest lack of candor or fairness in his methods. He 
 sought to control men through their reason and their
 
 204 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 conscience. The only art he employed was that of pre- 
 senting his views so convincingly as to force conviction 
 on the minds of his hearer and his readers. . . ." 
 
 The volume has been extremely well received, both 
 in the United States and in England, and the publica- 
 tion of its successor, upon which Mr. Blaine is reported 
 to be now engaged, will be looked forward to with 
 interest.
 
 XIX. 
 
 THE NOMINATION. 
 
 The story of the convention of 1884 is fresh in all 
 minds ; but for the completeness of this history it is 
 proper to set it briefly down here. The calumny which 
 
 had assailed Mr. Blaine before the meeting of the con- 
 
 9 
 ventions of 1876 and 1880, was not wantmg as a pre- 
 cursor of this ; but it had become rather stale, and was 
 taken up spiritlessly by all but one or two newspapers. 
 He had twice nearly attained the nomination in spite of 
 it ; this time he was nominated in spite of it. The best 
 answer that could be given to it, save one, was given 
 when 541 Republicans, chosen as representatives of 
 their party, pronounced for him as the party standard- 
 bearer. No answer but his election could be more 
 complete. 
 
 The usual time was consumed in organizing the con- 
 vention, although there wxre no such differences to ad- 
 just as in 1880. The Mahone delegates were admitted 
 from Virginia, and Powell Clayton, the Blaine nominee 
 for temporary chairman, was defeated by the combina- 
 tion of the supporters of the President and Senator Ed-
 
 206 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 munds. A colored man from Mississippi, named Lynch, 
 was seated through their efforts. The permanent chair- 
 man reported by the committee was General John B. 
 Henderson. 
 
 The nominating speeches were made on Friday, June 
 5th. Augustus Brandagee, of Connecticut, nominated 
 General Hawley ; Senator Cullom, of Illinois, named 
 General Logan ; Martin I. Townsend, of New York, 
 Arthur ; Judge Foraker, of Ohio, Senator Sherman : and 
 ex-Governor Long, of Massachusetts, the name of Sena- 
 tor Edmunds. The speech in which Judge West, of 
 Ohio, nominated Mr. Blaine was a most fortunate and 
 brilliant presentation of the history and character of the 
 man who became the nominee of the convention. 
 
 ''When 'Maine 'was spoken by the deep-voiced secre- 
 tary," says a newspaper account, "there was a sudden 
 explosion, and in a twinkling the convention was a scene 
 of the wildest enthusiasm and excitement. Whole dele- 
 gations mounted their chairs and led the cheering, which 
 instantly spread to the stage and galleries and deepened 
 into a roar fully as deep and deafening as the voice of 
 Niagara. The scene was indescribable. The air quiv- 
 ered, the gas lights trembled, and the walls fairly shook ; 
 the flags were stripped from the gallery and stage and 
 frantically waved, while hats, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, 
 and other personal belongings were tossed to and fro 
 like bubbles over the great dancing sea of human heads. 
 For a quarter of an hour the tumult lasted, and it only 
 ceased when people had exhausted themselves."
 
 THE NOMINATION. 20/ 
 
 As Judge West stepped to the front of the platform, 
 says the same record, the sensation was intense, and the 
 interest in Mr. West on account of his commanding 
 presence, and sympathy for his infirmity — he is blind — 
 brought all to silence throughout the vast hall. Judge 
 West said : 
 
 *' As a delegate in the Chicago Convention of i860, the 
 proudest service of my life was performed by voting for 
 the nomination of that inspired emancipator, the first 
 Republican President of the United States. [Applause.] 
 Four and twenty years of the grandest history of record- 
 ed times has distinguished the ascendency of the Repub- 
 lican party. The skies have lowered and reverses have 
 threatened, but our flag is still there, waving above the 
 mansion of the Presidency, not a stain on its folds, not 
 a cloud on its glory. Whether it shall maintain that 
 grand ascendency depends upon the action of this coun- 
 cil. With bated breath a nation awaits the result. On 
 it are fixed the eyes of twenty millions of Republican 
 freemen in the North. On it, or to it, rather, are 
 stretched forth the imploring hands of ten millions of 
 political bondmen of the South [applause], while above, 
 from the portals of light, is looking down the immortal 
 spirit of the immortal martyr who first bore it to victory, 
 bidding to us Hail and God-speed. [Applause.] Six 
 times in six campaigns has that banner triumphed — 
 that symbol of union, freedom, humanity, and progress 
 — some time borne by that silent man of destiny, the 
 Wellington of American arms [wild applause], last by
 
 208 JAMES G. BLAIXE. 
 
 him at whose untimely taking off a nation swelled the 
 funeral cries and wept above great Garfield's grave. 
 [Cheers and applause.] Shall that banner triumph 
 again ? 
 
 *' Commit it to the bearing of that chief [a voice, * James 
 G. Blaine, of Maine ' — cheers] — commit it to the bear- 
 ing of that chief, the inspiration of whose illustrious char- 
 acter and great name will fire the hearts of our young 
 men, stir the blood of our manhood, and rekindle the fer- 
 vor of the veterans, and the closing of the seventh cam- 
 paign will see that holy ensign spanning the sky like a 
 bow of promise. [Cheers.] Political conditions are 
 changed since the accession of the Republican party to 
 power. The mighty issues of freedom and bleeding hu- 
 manity which convulsed the continent and aroused the 
 Republic, rallied, united, and inspired the forces of pa- 
 triotism and the forces of humanity in one consolidated 
 phalanx, have ceased their contentions. The subordinate 
 issues resulting therefrom are settled and buried away 
 with the dead issues of the past. The arms of the Solid 
 South are against us. Not an electoral gain can be expect- 
 ed from that section. If triumph come, the Republican 
 States of the North must furnish the conquering bat- 
 talions from the farm, the anvil, and the loom, from the 
 mines, the workshop, and the desk, from the hut of the 
 trapper on the snowy Sierras, from the hut of the fisher- 
 man on the banks of the Hudson, The Republican 
 States must furnish these conquering battalions if tri- 
 umph come.
 
 THE NOMINATION'. 20g 
 
 " Does not sound political wisdom dictate and demand 
 that a leader shall be given to them whom our peo- 
 ple will follow, not as conscripts advancing by funereal 
 marches to certain defeat, but a grand civic hero, whom 
 the souls of the people desire, and whom they will fol- 
 low with all the enthusiasm of volunteers, as they sweep 
 on and onward to certain victory. [Cheers.] A repre- 
 sentative of American manhood [applause], a represent- 
 ative of that living Republicanism that demands the 
 amplest industrial protection and opportunity whereby 
 labor shall be enabled to earn and eat the bread of in- 
 dependent employment, relieved of mendicant compe- 
 tition with pauper Europe or pagan China ? [Loud 
 applause.] In this contention of forces, to whose can- 
 didate shall be entrusted our battle-flag? Citizens, I 
 am not here to do it, and may my tongue cleave to the 
 roof of my mouth if I do abate one tittle from the just 
 fame, integrity, and public honor of Chester A. Arthur, 
 our President. [Applause.] I abate not one tittle from 
 the just fame and public integrity of George F. Ed- 
 munds [applause], of Joseph R. Hawley [applause], of 
 John Sherman [applause], of that grand old black 
 eagle of Illinois. [Here the speaker was interrupted 
 several moments by prolonged applause.] And I am 
 proud to know that these distinguished Senators whom 
 I have named have borne like testimony to the public 
 life, the public character, and the public integrity of 
 him whose confirmation brought him to the highest 
 office — second in dignity to the office of the President 
 14
 
 210 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 only himself — the first premiership in the administra- 
 tion of James A. Garfield. [Applause.] A man for 
 whom the Senators and rivals will vote, the Secretary 
 of State of the United States is good enough for a plain 
 flesh and blood God's people to vote for for President. 
 [Loud applause.] 
 
 " Who shall be our candidate ? Not the representa- 
 tive of a particular interest of a particular class. Send 
 the great proclamation to the country labelled 'The 
 Doctor's Candidate/ 'The Lawyer's Candidate,' 'The 
 Wall Street Candidate,' and the hand of resurrection 
 would not fathom his November grave. [Applause.] 
 
 "Gentlemen, he must be a representative of that Re- 
 publicanism that demands the absolute political, as 
 well as personal, emancipation and enfranchisement of 
 mankind — a representative of that Republicanism which 
 recognizes the stamp of American citizenship as the 
 passport to every right, privilege, and consideration at 
 home or abroad, w^iether under the sky of Bismarck, 
 under the Palmetto, under the Pelican, or on the banks 
 of the Mohaw^k —that Republicanism that regards with 
 dissatisfaction a despotism which, under the ' sic semper 
 tyrannis ' of the Old Dominion, emulates, by slaughter, 
 popular majorities in the name of Democracy — a Re- 
 publicanism as embodied and stated in the platform of 
 principles this day adopted by your convention. 
 
 " Gentlemen, such a representative Republican is 
 James G. Blaine, of Maine. [Applause, continuing 
 twenty minutes.] If nominated to-night his campaign
 
 THE nomination: 211 
 
 would commence to-morrow and continue until victory- 
 is assured. [Cheers.] There would be no powder burned 
 to fire into the backs of his leaders. It would only be 
 exploded to illuminate the inauguration. The brazen 
 throats of the cannon in yonder square, waiting to 
 herald the result of the convention, would not have 
 time to cool before his name would be caught up on 
 ten thousand tongues of electric flame. It would sweep 
 down from the old Pine Tree State. It would go over 
 the hills and valleys of New England. 
 
 " Three millions of Republicans believe that that man 
 who, from the baptism of blood on the plains of Kansas 
 to the fall of the immortal Garfield, in all that struggle 
 of humanity and progress, wherever humanity desired 
 succor, wherever love for freedom called for protection, 
 wherever the country called for a defender, wherever 
 blows fell thickest and fastest, there in the forefront of 
 the battle were seen to wave the white plumes of James 
 G. Blaine, our Henry of Navarre. Nominate him, and 
 the shouts of a September victory in Maine will be re- 
 echoed back by the thunders of the October victory in 
 Ohio. Nominate him, and the camp-fires and beacon 
 lights will illuminate the continent from the Golden 
 Gate to Cleopatra's needle. Nominate him, and the 
 millions who are now in waiting will rally to swell the 
 column of victory that is sweeping on. 
 
 '' If you do so, he will give you a glorious victory in 
 November next, and when he shall have taken his posi- 
 tion as President of the great Republic, you may be
 
 212 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 sure you will have an administration in the interest of 
 commerce, in the interest of labor, in the interest of 
 finance, in the interest of peace at home and peace 
 abroad, and in the interest uf the prosperity of this 
 great people." [Long applause.] 
 
 The nomination was seconded by ex-Governor C. K. 
 Davis, Colonel W. C. Goodloe, of Kentucky, ex-Sena- 
 tor Piatt, and ex-Speaker Grow, of Pennsylvania. Their 
 speeches, which were generally extremely happy, were 
 received with vociferous applause. 
 
 The organization was controlled by the opponents of 
 Mr. Blaine, but from the time the nominations were 
 made the Blaine men carried everything before them. 
 The campaign for him in the convention was well 
 planned and brilliantly executed. An instance of the 
 sagacity with which the forces for the ex-Senator were 
 managed may be touched upon. Mr. Blaine's support- 
 ers, aware that the Arthur, Edmunds, and Sherman men 
 had agreed to compel an adjournment on the night of 
 June 5th, after taking a single ballot, thus forcing an ex- 
 hibition of strength and giving a night for opposing 
 combinations, assisted in carrying out this intention. 
 The adjournment which they secured was, however, 
 taken before, instead of after a ballot, and when the 
 convention met afresh the next morning it was more 
 difficult to gain an adjournment in the anti-Blaine in- 
 terest. The delegates were not exhausted as on the 
 previous night. They had begun the actual work of 
 the convention and had the day before them. It was
 
 THE NOMINATION. 213 
 
 attempted after the first and after the third ballot with- 
 out success. On the night before it would, doubtless, 
 have had an easy success if it had not been for the 
 coup of the Blaine men. 
 
 On the morning of June 6th the doors of the Exposi- 
 tion Hall were thrown open at lo o'clock, and, as at each 
 session of the convention a struggling crowd waited for 
 admission. When it was at length seated, and the dele- 
 gates had found their places, Chairman Henderson, 
 looking down over the portrait of Garfield, set in a 
 panel of his desk, called the convention to order. 
 ** The galleries," says an account, "groaned with the 
 weight of human beings. The delegates looked weary 
 and exhausted. The feverish fire in the eyes of the 
 Arthur, Blaine, and Edmunds leaders told the story of a 
 night of anxiety." Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. 
 Henry M. Scudder, and then the chairman ordered the 
 clerk to call the roll on the first ballot for a Presiden- 
 tial candidate. 
 
 "Alabama," shouted the clerk. The State gave 17 
 votes for Arthur, i for Blaine, and i for Logan, the 
 chairman of the delegation announcing the illness of 
 one of the delegates. Arkansas followed, giving Arthur 
 4, Blaine 8, and Edmunds 2. California, the next on 
 the list, cast her vote solidly for Blaine, and was re- 
 warded by vociferous cheers from Mr. Blaine's friends. 
 Georgia gave her entire vote to Arthur, and Illinois 
 gave most of hers to Logan. When Indiana gave 
 Blaine 18, and Iowa gave him 26, there were loud
 
 214 JAMES G, BLAINE. 
 
 cheers. Maine followed with a full response for Blaine. 
 All eyes observed George William Curtis as he arose 
 from his seat among the New York delegates and an- 
 nounced the vote of the State : Arthur, 31, Blaine, 28, 
 Edmunds, 12. Ohio gave Sherman 25, and Blaine 21, 
 and Pennsylvania added 47 to the Blaine column, with 
 II for Arthur, i for Edmunds, and i for Logan. West 
 Virginia was unanimously for Blaine. The ballot 
 stood, Blaine 334^, Arthur 278, Edmunds 93, Logan 
 (iT^\^ John Sherman 30, Hawley 13, Lincoln 4, William 
 T. Sherman 2. The result was greeted by the Blaine 
 men with enthusiasm. 
 
 The ballot showed that the Arthur and Edmunds 
 men could not control the convention without aid from 
 the minor candidates, and delegates in their interest 
 went about endeavoring to secure an adjournment. 
 They were unsuccessful, and the second ballot was 
 begun. The first ballot should be in the possession of 
 the reader in detail for a full understanding of what 
 followed. 
 
 When Alabama was called again she showed a gain 
 of one for Blaine. Arkansas made its 8 votes for 
 him II, and with this good beginning the ballot went 
 on until at the end 349 votes were recorded for Blaine. 
 It was the last vote announced and '*as it dropped, 
 from the clerk's lips," says a new^spaper report, " the 
 cheers that arose were deafening. As they cheered 
 the Blaine men got up all over the floor, yelled and 
 cheered and whistled in the galleries, and waved their
 
 THE NOMINATIOISr. 
 
 215 
 
 THE FIRST BALLOT. 
 
 States. 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 Calif >rnia 
 
 Colorado 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 Delaware 
 
 Florida 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Illinois 
 
 Indiana 
 
 Iowa 
 
 Kansas 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 Maine 
 
 Maryland 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 Michigan 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Missouri 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 Nevada 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 New York 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Oregon 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 Texas 
 
 Vermont 
 
 Virgmia 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 Tkrritories. 
 
 Arizona 
 
 Dakota 
 
 Idaho 
 
 Montana .. 
 
 New Mexico 
 
 Utah 
 
 Washington 
 
 Wyoming 
 
 District of Columbia. , 
 
 1)4 
 
 Totals 334X 278 
 
 40 
 
 93 
 
 (>zW\ 30 13 
 
 Total, 818. Necessary to a choice, 411 
 Louisiana missing. 
 
 One vote from Alabama and one from
 
 2l6 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 hats, handkerchiefs, and umbrellas. It took the crowd 
 fully ten minutes to get over their rejoicing. The 
 chairman looked through his glasses at the throng 
 before him, but did not strike a blow with his gaveh" 
 At length the crowd became silent enough to hear 
 General Henderson's *' Call the roll," and the third 
 ballot was begun as the rejoicing echoes died away. 
 Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, 
 Delaware, Florida, Georgia, and Illinois repeated their 
 vote on the second ballot. The Arthur men shouted 
 when a vote before given to Edmunds ranged itself in 
 their column, and did not shout when Arthur's vote in 
 Kansas went to Blaine entire. In Kentucky another 
 Arthur man deserted to Blaine, and until Michigan 
 was reached there was no further change. Then when 
 two Edmunds men from that State came over to Blaine 
 the Blaine men applauded as if they had never ap- 
 plauded before. Arthur gained a Minnesota vote and 
 some rejoicing followed ; then he gained another in 
 Missouri, but Blaine gained four and followed with the 
 solid vote of Nebraska. New Jersey, which had hitherto 
 cast no vote for Arthur, gave him one and at the same 
 time made Blaine's 9 votes 17. North Carolina gave 
 Blaine another vote, Ohio two, and Pennsylvania three. 
 The excitement among the Blaine delegation increased 
 and every gain was greeted with tumultuous cheers. 
 South Carolina and Texas each gave Blaine one ; so 
 did Virginia. The convention eagerly awaited the an- 
 nouncement of the ballot. The clerks made up the result
 
 THE NOMINATION. 21/ 
 
 in the midst of an anxious buzz. Blaine liad gained 26 
 votes and Artliur liad lost 2. The votes which failed 
 from Logan and Edmunds came to Blaine. It looked as 
 if Mr. Blaine were on the road to success. The delegates 
 had commonly kept a ''tally" of their own during this 
 ballot, but no one was certain of the result, and when the 
 clerk read : Blaine 375, Arthur 274, Edmunds 69, Logan 
 53, John Sherman 25, Hawley 13, Lincoln 8, W. T. 
 Sherman 2, a cheer went up that seemed to shake the 
 building. 
 
 The opponents of Blaine saw that if he was to be 
 defeated the remedy must be stringent, and Judge 
 Foraker, of Ohio, in command of the Sherman forces, 
 jumping to his feet, moved a recess until half-past seven 
 o'clock. There were loud shouts of " No ! no!" The 
 uproar became deafening. Mr. Stewart, of Pennsylvania, 
 shouted for a fourth ballot. Theodore Roosevelt, of New 
 York, was held upon the back of a chair while he cried 
 for recognition, and Judge Foraker meanwhile kept 
 the floor, demanding that his motion be put. Chairman 
 Henderson finally submitted it and declared it lost, but 
 the ayes and noes were immediately demanded. The 
 clerk notwithstanding repeatedly called Alabama, as a 
 beginning of the fourth ballot, but Alabama, though not 
 silent, did not answer. The entire convention was in an 
 uproar, and twenty members were by this time on their 
 feet calling aloud for the ayes and noes. The chairman 
 at length acceded to their vociferous request, and the 
 clerk called the roll for the vote on the motion to ad-
 
 2l8 JAMES G. B LA I ATE. 
 
 journ. It resulted : yeas 364, nays 450. No doubt 
 could remain after this of the nomination of Mr. Blaine, 
 and again the delegates in his interest set the air vi- 
 brating with their shouts. In the midst of the tumult 
 Judge Foraker moved that the rules be suspended in 
 order that the nomination of James G. Blaine might be 
 made by acclamation, but the opposition to this was 
 too strong, and he withdrew his motion. 
 
 The fourth ballot proceeded in Avild confusion. Six 
 of the iVlabama delegates went to Blaine immediately. 
 Florida helped him. When Illinois was reached it was 
 apparent that very few more votes would be needed to 
 nominate Blaine, and Senator Cullom transferred 34 
 Logan votes to him in the midst of tremendous excite- 
 ment. Louisiana gave him 9 votes. When Ohio was 
 called Judge Foraker made a brief speech, in which he 
 stated that he had supported John Sherman from the 
 first, but that Ohio now cast 46 votes for James G. 
 Blaine, This placed his nomination beyond doubt. 
 His friends could scarcely wait for the completion of 
 the ballot and announcement of the foregone conclu- 
 sion to burst in cheers, before which all that had gone 
 before was mild and decorous. The band played and 
 they drowned its music. In a moment the sound of 
 the rejoicing boom of cannon came through the open 
 windows. Flags and handkerchiefs were waved ; men 
 stood upon their seats and shouted themselves hoarse. 
 Ten thousand voices joined in a triumphant huzza. 
 In two earnest contests Mr. Blaine's friends had suffered
 
 THE NOMINATION. 
 
 219 
 
 defeat and borne it patiently. This rich and over- 
 whelming victory was a great joy and a full reward. 
 Following is a summary of the ballots : 
 
 Candidates. 
 
 I St ballot. 
 
 2d ballot. 
 
 3d ballot 
 
 4lh ballot. 
 
 James G. Blaine 
 
 334i 
 278 
 
 93 
 63i 
 30 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 349 
 276 
 
 61 
 
 28 
 13 
 
 4 
 2 
 
 375 
 
 274 
 69 
 
 53 
 25 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 541 
 207 
 
 41 
 7 
 
 Chester A. Arthur 
 
 George F. Edmunds. . . . . 
 John A. I^ogan 
 
 John vSherman 
 
 ■'oseph R. Hawley 
 
 \ Robert E. Lincoln 
 
 William T. Sherman 
 
 15 
 
 2 
 
 Total vote 
 
 818 
 410 
 
 818 
 410 
 
 819 
 410 
 
 813 
 
 407 
 
 Necessary to a choice. . . 
 
 The glad shouts had not subsided when Congress- 
 man Burleigh, in behalf of the President's supporters, 
 moved to make the nomination unamimous. Senators 
 Sabin and Plumb heartily seconded the motion, and 
 the Chair put it : 
 
 " Those who are in favor of making the nomination 
 of James G. Blaine unanimous will say 'aye.'" 
 
 "Aye !" cried the delegates and galleries in concert. 
 
 ** Those who are opposed will say ' no.* " 
 
 The hall was silent.
 
 XX. 
 
 RECEPTION OF THE NOMINATION. 
 
 It was graceful and appropriate that the first person 
 to congratulate Mr. Blaine on his success should be his 
 rival, President Arthur, who sent to him in Augusta the 
 following telegram, read in the convention : 
 
 To the Hon. James G. Blame, Aicgtcsta, Me. : 
 
 As the candidate of the Republican party, you will have my earnest 
 and cordial support. 
 
 Chester A. Arthur. 
 
 The President's supporters, not only in the conven- 
 tion, but wherever found, had no sullen grudge to satisfy 
 because of the failure of their candidate. Including the 
 members of his Cabinet, they accepted it with expres- 
 sions of disappointment indeed, but with the best good- 
 will. 
 
 The news of the nomination aroused unusual enthu- 
 siasm throughout the country. Early in the evening 
 fires were alight, bands parading, and guns firing in 
 every Republican district. The name was received with 
 especial satisfaction throughout the West, and California
 
 RECEPTION OF THE NOMTWATION. 221 
 
 rent itself to do honor to the nomination. New York's 
 voice was not uncertain, and on the morning following 
 the adjournment of the convention the general pleas- 
 ure at the convention's choice was recorded in press 
 telegrams from the remotest villages describing the 
 form which their rejoicings had taken. In New York, 
 Boston, Washington, and all the larger cities crowds 
 hung about the bulletins, and the intelligence of the 
 nomination was received with the most genuine and 
 spontaneous liking. 
 
 It was at Mr. Blaine's home, however, w^here he is 
 known not only as a great public figure, but as a man, 
 that the greatest joy was shown. " The newspaper and 
 telegraph offices," says the Kug\ist2i Herald, "were be- 
 sieged by a surging mass of humanity. But it was not 
 until Mr. Blaine's nomination was displayed that the 
 excitement reached its highest pitch ; then everybody 
 seemed almost beside himself. Men embraced each 
 other and jumped about for joy. The strongest lungs 
 were strained." 
 
 A correspondent writing from the scene says : 
 " When the news of the nomination reached Augusta 
 a perfect wave of enthusiasm rolled over the city. The 
 streets were thronged w^th excited men, who, almost 
 frenzied with delight, shouted until they were hoarse. 
 They threw up their hats, wrestled with each other, and 
 cut up all manner of capers. A flag was run up on 
 Water street, inscribed * Our Next President, James G. 
 Blaine.' The banner was received with loud shouts and
 
 222 JAMES G. B LA I ME. 
 
 cheers. Bells were rung and cannon fired. Ten min- 
 utes after the nomination a large body of school chil- 
 dren came down Oak Street, and added their voices to 
 the din. The shouts and hurrahs could be heard all 
 over the city until far into the night. 
 
 " Intense interest was manifested by the people all day 
 in the proceedings of the convention. Early in the 
 day all business was practically suspended, and Mr. 
 Blaine's chances became the chief topic of conversation. 
 The first despatch of the day, from Postmaster Manly, 
 announcing that no combinations had been formed dur- 
 ing the night opposed to Mr. Blaine, created a buoyant 
 feeling. Each bulletin thereafter attracted an increased 
 crowd of readers, and the result of the first ballot was 
 eagerly awaited, the crowd blocking the street in front 
 of the bulletin board and overrunning the telegraph 
 office. The announcement that Mr. Blaine was 54 votes 
 ahead of any of his competitors at the close of the first 
 ballot created considerable speculation, but little en- 
 thusiasm. The crowd waited with intense interest to 
 see what changes would occur in the succeeding ballot. 
 The gain for Blaine and the weakening of Arthur and 
 Edmunds were received with demonstrations of satisfac- 
 tion. When the announcement came that there was a 
 still larger gain for Blaine on the third ballot, it was 
 with difficulty that the pent-up excitement could be re- 
 strained, and preparations were begun to celebrate 
 Blaine's nomination. Ropes were thrown across the 
 streets, and flags inscribed 'Our next President, J. G.
 
 RECEPTION- OF THE NOMINATION. 22^ 
 
 Blaine,* were made ready to fling to the breeze as soon 
 as the telegraph should click what appeared to be the 
 inevitable result of the balloting. At 4.32 a cheer from 
 the telegraph office announced a victory, and then be- 
 gan an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration. Old 
 and young. Republicans and Democrats, all joined in 
 the demonstration." 
 
 Mr. Blaine arrived in Augusta from Washington on 
 Tuesday of the week of the nomination, and spent 
 the stormy days of the convention quietly in his library, 
 at work upon the second volume of *' Twenty Years in 
 Congress." His bearing during this time was not less 
 modest and uneager than on the occasion of the two 
 former conventions. A journal already quoted, speak- 
 ing of his simple carriage, adds : 
 
 " He has seemingly been as unconcerned at what was 
 going on in Chicago as he would be had he not been a 
 candidate for Presidential honor. His mind was so es- 
 tranged or diverted from politics and political conven- 
 tions, that a pair of horses which had been offered him 
 for sale seemed to give him a more congenial and inter- 
 esting topic of conversation. Perhaps, also, as a con- 
 tradiction to certain reports telegraphed from Augusta, 
 it is proper to say that there has been no private wire 
 running into his house, nor has he been in telegraphic 
 communication with his friends, as has been reported ; 
 nor has he given any interviews to newspapers, as has 
 been alleged. During the visits made him, mostly by 
 his immediate neighbors, he has studiously refrained
 
 2 24 JAMES G. BLAIXE. 
 
 from any expression of opinion concerning liis candi- 
 dacy, nor has lie commented on the proceedings of the 
 convention. He has obtained his information of the do- 
 ings of the convention from the daily newspapers." 
 
 As the bulletins were handed him he sat upon his 
 lawn in the midst of his family and read them in the 
 methodical manner usual with him. From time to time 
 he rose from his seat and paced the lawn, exhibiting 
 less anxiety than he has often shown when receiving 
 the election returns from his own State and reckoning 
 the result. When the news of the nomination was re- 
 ceived " he maintained the same composure. There 
 was only a slight dilatation of his big, lustrous eyes, 
 which showed how deeply he felt and appreciated the 
 great honor conferred upon him. A few minutes later 
 he betrayed a slight emotion as he casually remarked 
 that he owed much to the devoted men who had stood 
 by him for so many years. 
 
 " In speaking of the result, he said that he felt all the 
 more gratified, because it was an honor that had come 
 to him unsolicited. He had not lifted a finger to se- 
 cure the nomination, nor had he made any endeavor in 
 any direction to get it. He had received over seven 
 housand letters asking him to be a candidate, and had 
 not answered one of them. Now and then the conver- 
 sation turned to other topics, as if nothing had hap- 
 pened." 
 
 His friends began presently to call upon him in large 
 numbers, and congratulatory telegrams from distin-
 
 RECEPTION OF THE A'OMIXATIO.V. 22 5 
 
 guished Republicans in every State were delivered to 
 him. In the evening a large part of the people of the 
 town gathered about his dwelling. Their number was 
 shortly increased by the arrival of the train from the 
 West, bringing many from Portland and the villages 
 along the railway line. In response to the cheers of 
 this friendly company Mr. Blaine appeared at the door 
 of his house and said : 
 
 " My Friends and my Neighbors — I thank you most 
 sincerely for the honor of this call. There is no spot 
 in the world where good news comes to me so grate- 
 fully as here at my own home ; among the people with 
 whom I have been on terms of friendship and intimacy 
 for more than thirty years, people whom I know and 
 who know me. Thanking you again for the heartiness 
 of the compliment, I bid you good night." 
 
 Among the messages of congratulation received by 
 the freshly made nominee, none could have been more 
 grateful than this from the wife of one who, in life, was 
 his staunchest friend : 
 
 ''Cleveland, O., June 7. 
 " To Hon. Jafnes G. Blaine : 
 
 " Our household joins in one great thanksgiving. 
 From the quiet of our home we send our most earnest 
 wish that through the turbulent months to follow, and 
 in the day of victory, you may be guarded and kept. 
 
 *' LucRETiA R. Garfield." 
 
 The smoke of the battle had not cleared away before 
 men began to speculate as to how it happened.
 
 226 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 It happened very simply, for Mr. Blaine was the 
 choice of the majority of the convention. But it is 
 worth while to reproduce this suggestive analysis : 
 
 I. Mr. Arthur's friends on the fourth ballot gave to Mr. 
 Blaine 71 votes, and these, with the column of 349 of 
 the latter, constituted 420, or 9 more than a majority. 
 It is therefore true that Mr. Arthur's friends may claim 
 that they alone gave to the successful candidate more 
 allies than were sufficient to nominate him. 
 
 II. While Mr. Edmunds had 93 votes on the first ballot, 
 he held only 41 on the fourth roll call. This difference 
 of 52 would have been sufficient to carry Mr. Blaine's 
 column up to 401, and to insure the other 10 from other 
 sources, to make up the majority. It is true, then, that 
 Mr. Edmunds' friends alone contributed to the success- 
 ful candidates a contingent adequate to determine the 
 nomination. 
 
 III. Logan started with d^i^ votes, and ended with 7. 
 His friends led 56^ votes to Blaine. This accession 
 alone raised the leading column to 405^ ; the comple- 
 ment for a majority could not fail to follow. 
 
 IV. The strength of the two Shermans and of Lincoln 
 aggregated -^6 on the first ballot and two on the last. 
 From these quarters 34 votes went to make up the ma- 
 jority. They alone would not have controlled the event, 
 and yet they go to prove that every element in the con- 
 vention joined to make the nomination. 
 
 All rivals joined to decorate the successful candidate 
 with a majority unparalleled in political history. Such
 
 RECEPTION OF THE NO MI NATION: 22/ 
 
 unanimity and such harmony, such concentration of sen- 
 timent, in the convention, are only signs of the hearti- 
 ness of Republican preference for the foremost Ameri- 
 can, for the most popular of our statesmen, for the com- 
 moner most beloved by the people. 
 
 Ratification meetings were held in certain places 
 within a few hours of the nomination, and the days im- 
 mediately following were filled with these expressions 
 of a genuine satisfaction. 
 
 The choice of the convention was not pleasing to all 
 Republicans. The system of nomination is such that 
 some bitter feeling must always remain with the de- 
 feated ; and this year the preliminary canvass had been 
 especially acrimonious, and some things had been un- 
 wisely said in advance of the nomination which could 
 not be retracted with consistency. On the whole, how- 
 ever, the nomination was accepted in the spirit becom- 
 ing those who have fought an honest fight and have 
 been honestly defeated. There could be no pretence 
 that Mr. Blaine had not been fairly chosen, or that 
 he was not the choice of an overwhelming majority 
 of the delegates. That he was also the nominee 
 whom the greater part of the Republicans everywhere 
 desired was immediately owned by his opponents. 
 Nevertheless there was a note of dissent. While the bon- 
 fires were sending up their merry flames and the can- 
 non sounded joyfully in every village of importance 
 in the North, there was a small body of men whose in- 
 clinations were not toward bonfires or cannon. They
 
 228 JAMES G. BLAISE. 
 
 received the intelligence of Mr. Blaine's nomination in 
 sullen disappointment, and used the earliest opportu- 
 nity to make their sour prophecies and warnings. It 
 was in the main, perhaps, an honest body — though its 
 sentiment was largely inspired by free-trade grumblings 
 — but it was not so large nor did it represent a senti- 
 ment so well worth the heed of intelligent voters as the 
 companies of revolt which have resulted from other 
 presidential nominations. The choice of Lincoln and 
 Grant and Garfield roused much deeper opposition in 
 the first weeks succeeding their nomination ; and yet, 
 dear to the popular heart, grounded securely in the 
 liking of the masses, they went irresistibly on to splen- 
 did victories. The judgment of the convention which 
 named Mr. Blaine was of like firm foundation. It was 
 an answer to the unforced, earnest demand of the people, 
 and it is to the people that his friends look for the stout 
 confirmation of their choice offered to Lincoln, Grant, 
 and Garfield, and for the confuting of those who doubt 
 the wisdom of their mighty voice. 
 
 The committee to inform Mr. Blaine of his nomina- 
 tion was composed as follows : 
 
 John B. Henderson, of Missouri, chairman. 
 George Turner, of Alabama. 
 Logan H. Roots, of Arkansas. 
 Charles F. Crocker, of California. 
 S. H. Elbert, of Colorado. 
 Samuel Fessenden, of Connecticut. 
 Washington Hastings, of Delaware. 
 W. G. Stewart, of Florida. 
 C. D. Forsyth, of Georgia.
 
 RECEPTION OF THE NOMINATION, 229 
 
 George R. Davis, of Illinois. 
 
 John K. Baker, of Indiana. 
 
 N. W. Hubbard, of Iowa. 
 
 Henry E. Insley, of Kansas. 
 
 W. C. GoODLOE, of Kentucky. 
 
 W. B. Merchant, of Louisiana. 
 
 JosiAH H. Drummond, of Maine. 
 
 J. McPherson, of Maryland. 
 
 Jesse M. Gove, of Massachusetts. 
 
 Julius C. Burrows, of Michigan. 
 
 CusHMAN K. Davis, of Minnesota. 
 
 John R. Lynch, of Mississippi. 
 
 Chauncey I. Filley, of Missouri. 
 
 Church Howe, of Nebraska. 
 
 M. D. Foley, of Nevada. 
 
 E. H. Rollins, of New Hampshire. 
 
 William Walter Phelps, of New Jersey. 
 
 Andrew D. White, of New York. 
 
 Patrick H. Winston, Jr., of North Carolina. 
 
 John B. Foraker, of Ohio. 
 
 O. N. Denny, of Oregon. 
 
 Galusha a. Grow, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Daniel G. Littlefield, of Rhode Island. 
 
 Samuel W. Lee, of South Carolina. 
 
 J. C. Napier, of Tennessee. 
 
 N. W. Cuney, of Texas. 
 
 Frederick Billings, of Vermont 
 
 Samuel M. Yost, of Virginia. 
 
 Arnold C. Sherr, of Vv'est Virginia. 
 
 E. W. Keys, of Wisconsin. 
 
 S. H. Stebbins, of Arizona. 
 
 J. L. Jolly, of Dakota. 
 
 Perry H. Carson, of the District of Columbia. 
 
 William Shelling, of Idaho. 
 
 Lee Mantle, of Montana. 
 
 W. H. H. Llewellyn, of New Mexico. 
 
 Nathan Kimball, of Utah. 
 
 George D. Hill, of Washington. 
 
 W. J. Meldrum, of W'yoming. 
 
 Charles M. Chisbee, of Miciiigan, secretary.
 
 230 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 This committee arrived in Augusta on June 20th, and 
 the next morning proceeded in a body to Mr. Blaine's 
 house, where they were received by Mrs. Blaine. When 
 all was in readiness, Mr. Blaine was escorted to the 
 lawn, where he stood while General Henderson stepped 
 forward and read the address of the committee, which 
 was as follows : 
 
 *' Mr. Blaine — Your nomination for the office of the 
 President of the United States by the National Repub- 
 lican Convention, recently assembled at Chicago, is 
 already known to you. The gentlemen before you, 
 constituting the committee composed of one member 
 from each State and Territory of the country, and one 
 from the District of Columbia, now come as the ac- 
 credited organ of that convention to give you formal 
 notice of your nomination and to request your accept- 
 ance thereof. It is of course known to you that, besides 
 your own, several other names, among the most honored 
 in the councils of the Republican party, were presented 
 by their friends as candidates for this nomination. Be- 
 tween your friends and the friends of the other gentle- 
 men so justly entitled to the respect and confidence of 
 their political associates, the contest was one of gener- 
 ous rivalry, free from any taint of bitterness, and equally 
 free from the reproach of injustice. 
 
 ** At an early stage of the proceedings of the conven- 
 tion it became manifest that the Republican States 
 whose aid must be invoked at last to insure success to 
 the ticket earnestly desired your nomination. It was
 
 RECEPTION OF THE NOMINATION: 23 1 
 
 equally manifest that the desire so earnestly expressed 
 by delegates from those States was but a truthful reflec- 
 tion of an irresistible popular demand. It was not 
 thought nor pretended that this demand had its origin 
 in any ambitious desires of your own or in organized 
 work of your friends, but it was recognized to be what 
 it truthfully is — a spontaneous expression by the free 
 people of love and admiration of a chosen leader. No 
 nomination would have given satisfaction to every mem- 
 ber of the party. This is not to be expected in a coun- 
 try so extended in area and so varied in interests. The 
 nomination of Mr. Lincoln in i860 disappointed so 
 many hopes and overthrew so many cherished ambi- 
 tions, that for a short time disaffection threatened to 
 ripen into open revolt. In 1872 the discontent was so 
 pronounced as to impel large masses of the party to an 
 organized opposition to its nominees. For many weeks 
 after the nomination of General Garfield, in 1880, defeat 
 seemed almost inevitable. In each case the shock of dis- 
 appointment was followed by "sober second thought.'* 
 Individual preferences gradually yielded to convictions 
 of public duty. The prompting of patriotism finally 
 rose superior to the irritations and animosities of the 
 hour. The party in ev^ery trial has grown stronger in 
 the face of threatened danger. 
 
 *' In tendering you the nomination it gives us pleasure 
 to remember that those great measures which furnished 
 the cause for party congratulations by the late conven- 
 tion at Chicago, and which are now crystallized into
 
 232 JAMES G. B LA IKE. 
 
 the legislation o£ the country — measures which have 
 strengthened and dignified the Nation while they have 
 elevated and advanced the people — have at all times and 
 on all proper occasions received your earnest and valu- 
 able support. It was your good fortune to aid in protect- 
 ing the Nation against the assaults of armed treason. 
 You were present and helped to unloose the shackles of 
 slavery, you assisted in placing anew guarantees of free- 
 dom in the Federal Constitution. Your voice was po- 
 tent in preserving national faith, when false theories of 
 finance would have blasted national and individual pros- 
 perity. We kindly remember you as the fast friend of 
 honest money and commiercial integrity. In all that 
 pertains to the security and repose of capital, the dig- 
 nity of labor, manhood, the elevation and freedom of 
 the people, the right of the oppressed to demand, and 
 the duty of the government to afford protection, your 
 public acts have received the unqualified endorsement 
 of popular approval. 
 
 "But we are not unmindful of the fact that parties, 
 like individuals, cannot live entirely on the past, how- 
 ever splendid the record. The present is ever charged 
 with its immediate cares, and the future presses on with 
 its new duties, its perplexing responsibilities ; parties, 
 like individuals, however, that are free from the stain of 
 violated faith in the past are fairly entitled to the pre- 
 sumption of sincerity in their promises for the future. 
 Among the promises made by the party in its late con-, 
 vention at Chicago, are : economy and purity of ad-
 
 RECEPTION OF THE NOMINATION. 233 
 
 ministration ; protection of the citizen, native and 
 naturalized, at home and abroad ; the prompt restora- 
 tion of the Navy ; the wise reduction of surplus reve- 
 nues, relieving the taxpayer without injuring the 
 laborer ; the preservation of public lands for actual 
 settlers , import duties when necessary at all to be 
 levied, not for revenue only, but for the double purpose 
 of revenue and protection ; the regulation of internal 
 commerce ; the settlement of international differences 
 by peaceful arbitration, but coupled with the reasser- 
 tion and maintenance of the Monroe doctrine as inter- 
 preted by the fathers of the Republic ; perseverance 
 in the good work of the civil service reform, to the 
 end that dangers to free institutions which lurk in the 
 power of official patronage may be wisely and effectively 
 avoided, honest currency based on coin of intrinsic value, 
 adding strength to the public credit, and giving renewed 
 vitality to every branch of American industry. 
 
 ** Mr. Blaine — During the last twenty-three years 
 the Republican party has builded a new Republic — a 
 Republic far more splendid than originally designed by 
 our fathers. As its proportions are already grand they 
 may yet be enlarged ; its foundations may yet be 
 strengthened, and its columns may be adorned with a 
 beauty more resplendent still. To you as its architect- 
 in-chief will soon be assigned this grateful work." 
 
 To which Mr. Blaine replied : 
 
 '' Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the National 
 Committee : — I receive, not without deep sensibility,
 
 234 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 your ofRcial notice of the action of the National Con- 
 vention already brought to my knowledge through the 
 public press. I appreciate, more profoundly than I can 
 express, the honor which is implied in the nomination 
 for the Presidency by the Republican party of the na- 
 tion, speaking through the authoritative voice of duly 
 accredited delegates. To be selected as a candidate by 
 such an assemblage from the list of eminent statesmen 
 whose names were presented fills me with embarras- 
 ment. I can only express my gratitude for so signal an 
 honor and my desire to prove worthy of the great trust 
 imposed in me. In accepting the nomination as I now 
 do, I am impressed — I am also oppressed — with a sense 
 of the labor and responsibility which attach to my posi- 
 tion. The burden is lightened, however, by the host of 
 earnest men who support my candidacy, many of whom 
 add, as does your honorable committee, the cheer of per- 
 sonal friendship to the pledge of political fealty. 
 
 ''A more formal acceptance will naturally be expected, 
 and will in due season be communicated. It may, how- 
 ever, not be inappropriate at this time to say that I have 
 already made a careful study of the principles announced 
 by the National Convention, and that, in whole and in 
 detail, they have my heartiest sympathy and meet my 
 unqualified approval. 
 
 " Apart from your official errand, gentlemen, I am ex- 
 tremely happy to welcome you all to my house. With 
 many of you I have already shared the duties of public 
 service and have enjoyed most cordial friendship. I
 
 RECEPTION OF THE NOMINATION. 235 
 
 trust your journey from all parts of the great Republic 
 has been agreeable, and that during your stay in Maine 
 you will feel that you are not among strangers, but with 
 friends. 
 
 " Invoking the blessings of God upon the great cause 
 which we jointly represent, let us turn to the future 
 without fear, and with manly hearts."
 
 XXL 
 
 THE MAN. 
 
 The history of the Republican candidate has been 
 traced. We have followed Mr. Blaine through college 
 to the teacher's seat and the chair of an editor. Later 
 he has been seen in the State Legislature, the House 
 of Representatives, the Senate, and in charge of the 
 first portfolio of the Cabinet. The story of the quiet 
 years of study succeeding, and the nomination which 
 has called him from the calm pleasures of literature, has 
 been duly made known to the reader. There remains 
 the mysterious and intangible quality of individuality, 
 — something of which this little history, if at all faithful, 
 must have given some hints in its progress, but which 
 it will not do to leave to its casual revelations. The 
 kind of impertinence which one feels in dealing at all 
 with so intimate a part of a living man is one which 
 must be forgiven to the biographer of the most com- 
 pletely public figure that we know — a candidate for the 
 Presidency. Since it must be part of our record, it can- 
 not be better begun than by the reproduction of some
 
 THE man; 237 
 
 honest words from one who may be presumed to know 
 him nearly. Rev. Dr. James H. Ecol, who for some 
 years was pastor of the church attended by Mr. and 
 Mrs. Blaine in Augusta, has said : 
 
 ** The satisfaction I take in his nomination is based 
 upon such knowledge of him as only a pastor can gaia 
 I believe that I am too true a Republican, and I know 
 that my conception of citizenship is too high, to permit 
 me to ratify the exaltation of any man whose character 
 has not the true ring. I have been very near to Mr. 
 Blaine, not only in the most trying political crises, but 
 in the sharper trial of great grref in the household, and 
 have never yet detected a false note. I would not be 
 understood as asserting too much for human nature. 
 I mean that as I have known him he has stood loyally 
 by his convictions ; that his word has always had back 
 of it a clear purpose, and that purpose has always been 
 worthy of the highest manhood. In his house he was 
 always the soul of geniality and good heart. It was 
 always summer in that house, whatever the Maine win- 
 ter might be without. And not only his * rich neighbors 
 and kinsmen ' w^elcomed him home, but a long line of 
 the poor hailed the return of that family as a special 
 providence. In the church he is honored and beloved. 
 The good old New England custom of church-going 
 with all the guests is enforced strictly in the Blaine 
 household. Whoever is under his roof, from the Pres- 
 ident down, is expected to be with the family at church. 
 Fair weather or foul, those pews were always well filled.
 
 238 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 Not only his presence in church, but his influence^ his 
 wise counsels, his purse are freely devoted to the inter- 
 est of the noble Old South Church of Augusta. The 
 hold which Mr. Blaine has maintained upon the hearts 
 of such great numbers of his countrymen is not suffici- 
 ently explained by brilliant gifts or magnetism ; the 
 secret lies in his generous, manly. Christian character. 
 Those who have known him best are not surprised that 
 his friends all over the country have been determined 
 that he should secure the highest honor within their 
 gift. It is because they believe in him. The office has 
 sought the man, the political papers to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. I have absolute knowledge that in 
 1880 he did not lift a finger to influence the convention. 
 He was quietly at home devoting himself to his business 
 affairs, and steadfastly refused even the entreaties of 
 his own family to interest himself in behalf of the 
 nomination. I, for one, shall put my conscience into 
 my vote next November." 
 
 That touch of genuineness — uncounterfeitable, unde- 
 niable when present, which endeared Garfield to every- 
 one who heard and even to those who merely read his 
 words, runs through the character of his friend. Gar- 
 field's own severe loyalty to truth and right was a 
 touchstone which drew its like and which sounded every 
 one who approached him. To say that a man was his 
 trusted friend seems to those who keep his memory the 
 final word. 
 
 There is nothing so well worth saying to the praise of
 
 THE MAX. 239 
 
 this sketch's subject ; but it does not complete his por- 
 trait. It ought to be added, for instance, to begin with 
 the sturdy minor virtues, that industry has been one of 
 the foremost qualities which have lifted Mr. Blaine to 
 his position. In Congress, as has been said, he w^as 
 from the first one of the most unsparingly laborious and 
 faithful of committee-men. His mastery of details w^as 
 rapid and accurate, and left him in firm possession of the 
 larger points of the questions which came before him. 
 Elsew^here in this volume are some w^ords of his upon 
 the value of the capacity for hard work to the dead 
 President whom he eulogized, and it has been the cor- 
 ner-stone of his own career. It is not a usual combina- 
 tion, this of the patient laborer and the commanding 
 genius wiiich takes the eye of the world ; but Mr. Blaine 
 did his unobserved plodding with the zeal and energy 
 which carried all before him on the wider stage of the two 
 Houses of Congress. His notable physical endowment 
 is part of the secret of his power of concentration ; but 
 it was first in the nature of the man. It was exhibited 
 so early in his life as during his college days, when it 
 enabled that solid and ample acquirement of knowledge 
 which has strengthened and enlightened his public acts 
 as well as his public discourses. 
 
 Those who like to trace the beginnings of things go 
 back to his college days also for the budding of the spirit 
 of aggressiveness which is perhaps the characteristic 
 most commonly attributed to the Republican candidate. 
 Then, as has been recorded, he was the eager champion
 
 240 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 of the weak, ready at all times to do battle whether for 
 his own rights or those of others. The quality was an 
 outcome of a positive individuality. It never at all par- 
 took of the anxious pugnacity which finds its account 
 in mere contest, and with his years it sobered into the 
 vigorous temper of opposition to mistaken, narrow, and 
 meretricious legislation, which gave him much of his 
 power in the House. He was alert, decided, and ener- 
 getic ; and if the disposition which breeds these is the 
 aggressive one, then aggression is a singularly fortunate 
 spirit for an American Congressman. He was constant 
 in his attention upon the sessions of both Houses while 
 he was a member of them, and no suspicious law was 
 passed without his challenge. In his eulogy of Gar- 
 field, Mr. Blaine says " The three most distinguished par- 
 liamentary leaders hitherto developed in this country 
 are Mr. Clay, Mr. Douglas, and Mr. Thaddeus Stevens. 
 Each was a man of consummate ability, of great earnest- 
 ness, of intense personality, differing widely each from 
 the others, and yet with a single trait in common, the 
 power to command. In the give and take of daily dis- 
 cussion, in the art of controlling and consolidating re- 
 luctant and refractory followers, in the skill to overcome 
 all forms of opposition, and to meet with competency 
 and courage the varying phases of unlooked-for assault 
 or unsuspected defection, it would be difficult to rank 
 with these a fourth name in all our Congressional his- 
 tory." Mr. Blaine's name may perhaps fairly be set down 
 as that fourth. His words are the apt description of
 
 THE MAN-. 241 
 
 his own power ; and they say that power so perfectly 
 that it is needless to add anything to them. 
 
 Such aforce is interesting, but it is not on this side that 
 he is to be most familiarly approached. It is as he is 
 known to his acquaintance, his friends, and neighbors 
 that he engages us; and few public men, after Garfield, 
 bear this intimate kind of scrutiny better. Some one 
 says that he is *'a hearty, cordial, unaffected, agreeable 
 man." The phrase is inadequate only because the charm 
 of manner is elusive of expression. "He is vivid and 
 genial," it is added, but the whole is not said. It is a 
 thing which can be at all rendered only by its result ; 
 but if we say that no one converses with him who is 
 not charmed and impressed, it is still very weakly told. 
 
 *'Mr. Blaine with those who know him is the most 
 popular of men. The charm of his manner is beyond 
 expression, and nobody comes within the circle of his 
 presence who is not overcome with his fascinations. 
 With his great brilliancy he has that exquisite show of 
 deference to his companions, a sort of appeal to them 
 to verify or deny his words, that is very taking. He is 
 also a very good listener, and he has an agreeable way 
 of speaking one's name and placing his hand on one's 
 knee, that is an agreeable salve to one's vanity. There 
 is no acting in the heartiness of his manner. He is an 
 impulsive man, with a very warm heart, kindly instincts, 
 and a generous nature. He is open, frank, and manly." 
 
 One has not, however, the more perfect form of an 
 
 agreeable bearing, lacking a real substructure of gentle- 
 i5
 
 242 JAMES G. BLAIh^E. 
 
 ness and good-will, sustained in their turn b}^ the deeper 
 qualities from which they spring. Mr. Blaine has not 
 only these ; he is equipped in addition with that best 
 grace in a public man, a sound memory. It is stored 
 not alone with the facts and arguments which are his 
 weapons, or the wide knowledge with which he points 
 them. It is a happily personal memory, and never 
 loses from it a face or voice. The anecdotes which 
 illustrate this would make an abundant literature, and 
 that of his recalling an old farmer whom he had met 
 once four years before, and captivating him by using 
 his name and bringing to his own lapsed memory a 
 trivial incident of their first meeting is an instance of 
 them. A journalist produces a more remarkable story. 
 ** In 1863," says he, " I wrote for The New York Her- 
 ald 2Ci\ account, some twelve columns long, of the battle 
 of Chickamauga. About twenty lines of the entire ac- 
 count were devoted to the narration of a trifling inci- 
 dent. A white pigeon, or dove, confused by the smoke 
 of the last desperate combat at the close of the battle, 
 in which George H. Thomas repulsed Longstreet's at- 
 tack on his right, fluttered awhile over the heads of 
 Thomas, Garfield, Wood, and others, grouped in a little 
 hollow in the field for protection from the Rebel sharp- 
 shooters, and then perched on the limb of a dead tree 
 just above them. Here it sat until the firing ceased, 
 and then flew northward unhurt. It was a pretty inci- 
 dent, and, of course, I took all the license of a writer 
 and made it as striking a passage of the narrative as I
 
 THE MAN. 243 
 
 could. In 1874, eleven )^ears later, while in the Capital 
 one day I was introduced to Mr. Blaine, who was at the 
 time Speaker of the House. If I remember rightly, I 
 had never before seen him, and I supposed he had never 
 heard of me. Imagine my astonishment, then, when he 
 said abruptly on hearing my name, 'You're the man 
 I've been wanting to see for ten years.' 
 
 *' He took my arm and drew me half away to one side 
 of the corridor. * Did you write for The Herald an ac- 
 count of Chickamauga in which a white dove figured 
 rather poetically ? ' he asked, and then went on to recall 
 what I had written. ' Now,' he continued, ' tell me, was 
 that a true incident or only done to make the story read- 
 able.' I assured him it was true, and mentioned that 
 General Garfield, who was in the House, would proba- 
 bly recall it, as he was present. Nothing more of inter- 
 est passed between us ; but naturally I have since sworn 
 by the man who could recall my unknown name and 
 what I had written about a mere incident occurring ten 
 years before. He was so earnest in his inquiry that I 
 have never doubted that his curiosity in the matter, 
 small as the incident was, was genuine." 
 
 If to his energy his indefatigable efforts for honest 
 laws, his faithfulness to the best good of his party, his 
 aggressive determination that the right shall win, we 
 add those personal charms of manner just touched upon, 
 and that indescribable element in his addresses to the 
 people during political canvasses which takes all hearts, 
 we have a fair measure of the causes of his popularity^
 
 244 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
 though we have but a vague measure of the man. At 
 least, however, we know that the real popularity is not 
 won by any craft or art known to men ; we know that 
 Mr. Blaine's popularity is real, and that by means of all 
 his admirable qualities it would not have been possible 
 if they had not been grounded upon an honest man- 
 hood.
 
 &
 
 A BRIEF RECORD 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 Senator Logan, the Republican candidate for Vice- 
 President, has, like Mr. Blaine, been successful in many- 
 pursuits. He is a sound and able lawyer, a sagacious 
 political manager, and he was an intrepid and brilliant 
 general. But it is as a soldier that his solidest fame 
 has been won, and the story of his life is in the main a 
 military story. The record of campaigns and battles 
 when told in brief, as it must be here, bears the rela- 
 tion to biography that the catalogue of the ships does 
 to the Iliad, and as a catalogue, at the end of the ends, is 
 no more than a catalogue, it will be useless to attempt 
 to give the plain facts a new dress. The summary 
 which follows is taken from the New York Ti?nes, and 
 may be supposed to be impartial : 
 
 " General Logan was born near what is now Mur- 
 physboro', Jackson County, 111., February 9, 1824, 
 and is the eldest of eleven children. His father, Dr. 
 John Logan, had come from Ireland to Illinois three 
 years before, marrying Elizabeth Jenkins, a Tennessee 
 lady. John received his early education from his father
 
 248 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 and in such schools as the locality afforded at that time. 
 In 1840 he was for a few months one of the students of 
 an academy called Shiloh College. He was in his twen- 
 tieth vear when the Mexican war broke out, and he was 
 among the first to volunteer. He was chosen lieuten- 
 ant of one of the companies of the First Illinois Regi- 
 ment, and was subsequently made adjutant of the regi- 
 ment. He returned to Illinois in October, 1848, with 
 an excellent record. He then began the study of law 
 in the office of his uncle, Alexander M. Jenkins, for- 
 merly Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois. In November, 
 1844, he was elected Clerk of Jackson County, and held 
 the office until the following year, when he went to 
 Louisville to attend lectures in the Law School. Re- 
 ceiving his diploma in 185 1, he was admitted to the Bar, 
 and formed a partnership with his uncle. He had many 
 qualities that fitted him for the successful practice of 
 law. A practical mind, clear and keen perceptions, 
 much fertility of resource and unusual ability as a pub- 
 lic speaker, carried him at once to the front rank of the 
 legal fraternity of his immediate field, and before he 
 had been a year in practice, he was elected Prosecuting 
 Attorney of the Third Judicial District of the State. 
 He then lived in the town of Benton. 
 
 "It was at the fall election of the same year when he 
 was chosen to the State Legislature as the representa- 
 tive of Jackson and Franklin Counties that the long 
 public career of John A. Logan had its actual begin- 
 ning. Since then he has been almost constantly in the
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN-. 249 
 
 civil or military service of his country. He was re- 
 elected to the State Legislature in 1853 and 1854, and 
 in the latter year was a Presidential elector and cast his 
 vote for James Buchanan. Two years later he was 
 elected to the Thirty-sixth Congress by the Democrats 
 of the Ninth Congressional District, and served as 
 chairman of the Committee on Unfinished Business. 
 He was re-elected in i860, the year of the Presidential 
 campaign, when Abraham Lincoln was nominated by 
 the Republican Convention at Chicago, and Stephen A. 
 Douglas by the Democrats at Charleston. John A. 
 Logan was a Democrat, and warmly advocated the elec- 
 tion of Mr. Douglas, but when the events of the suc- 
 ceeding year were foreshadowed in the attitude of the 
 South, his patriotism, which could not be subordinated 
 to partisanship, asserted itself, and he openly declared 
 that although he hoped Mr. Lincoln would not be 
 elected, yet if he were, and his election should provoke 
 an outbreak of the hostile Southern sentiment, he 
 "would shoulder his musket to have him inaugurated." 
 During the session of Congress in the winter of 1860-61 
 Mr. Logan repeatedly arraigned the Southern members 
 for their disloyalty, and asked them how they reconciled 
 their open hostility to the Government with their oaths 
 to support the Constitution. 
 
 "But Mr. Logan was not destined to remain long on 
 the floor of Congress when hostilities to the Union of a 
 graver sort had appeared in the open field. He attended 
 the special session of Congress called by Mr. Lincoln in
 
 250 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 the early summer of 1861, but he left his seat in July 
 and took his place in the ranks of the Union forces, 
 then marching on to meet the enemy in Virginia. The 
 battle of Bull Run, in which he bore a brave part, 
 though he served in the ranks, proved clearly that a 
 much larger force was needed to crush the rebellion 
 than was at first supposed. Mr. Logan returned to Illi- 
 nois, and by a series of stirring and patriotic appeals 
 in the southern part of the State rallied thousands of 
 volunteers, and himself joined the Thirty-first Regiment 
 of Illinois Infantry. He was elected colonel, and the 
 regiment was mustered into service on the 13th of Sep- 
 tember. The regiment was attached to General Mc- 
 Clernand's brigade, and w^as first under fire at Belmont, 
 seven weeks later. In this engagement Colonel Logan 
 led a timely bayonet charge, which broke the enemy's 
 lines and saved a portion of the command from capture. 
 During the fight he had a horse shot under him and a 
 pistol at his side shattered by rebel bullets. He led the 
 Thirty-first at Fort Henry, and was among the foremost 
 in the gallant assault on Fort Donelson, where he was 
 severely wounded and for a time disabled from active 
 service. He reported for duty, after his recovery, to 
 General Grant at Pittsburg Landing, and not long after 
 — March 5, 1862 — was promoted to the grade of Briga- 
 dier-General of Volunteers. In the following May he 
 showed himself a brave and skilful general in the siege 
 of Corinth, and after its occupation his brigade guarded 
 the rail communications with Jackson, Tenn.
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 25 I 
 
 "During the summer of 1862 he was importuned to 
 become again a candidate for Congress, but declined 
 in a letter in which he said : ' I have entered the field 
 to die, if need be, for this Government, and never ex- 
 pect to return to peaceful pursuits until the object of 
 this war of preservation has become a fact established.' 
 He displayed such skill and bravery in Grant's cam- 
 paign of the Northern Mississippi in 1862 and 1863 that he 
 was made a major-general, the commission dating from 
 November 29, 1862. As the commander of the Third 
 Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, under General Mc- 
 Pherson, he took part in the battle of Fort Gibson, 
 fought with distinguished personal bravery at the battle 
 of Raymond on the 12th of May, helped drive the 
 rebels out of Jackson two days later, and was in the battle 
 of Champion Hill, May 11. He led the centre of Gen- 
 eral McPherson's command at the siege of Vicksburg, 
 and his column first entered the city after the sur- 
 render, July 4, 1863. He was appointed Military 
 Governor of the city, where a gold medal was pre- 
 sented to him, the boon of honor of the Seventh Army 
 Corps. He visited the North in the summer of that 
 year, and made several eloquent Union speeches. As 
 a specimen of those speeches the following extract 
 from one delivered at Duquoin, 111., may be quoted : 
 
 " * The Government is worth fighting for. It is worth 
 generations and centuries of war. It is worth the lives 
 of the best and noblest men in the land. We will fight 
 for this Government for the sake of ourselves and our
 
 252 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 children. Our little ones shall read in history of the men 
 who stood by the Government in its dark and gloomy 
 hours, and it shall be the proud boast of many that 
 their fathers died in this glorious struggle for American 
 liberty. I believe to-day — I believe it honestly — that if 
 the people of the North were united and all stood upon 
 one platform, as we do in the army, this rebellion would 
 be crushed in ninety days. I want to show you the 
 reason why more troops ought to be raised. We can 
 crush this rebellion. I know it. Why, we have marched 
 a little army clear from Cairo to Vicksburg ; below, a 
 small one has marched from New Orleans to Port 
 Hudson. We have opened the Mississippi River. We 
 have split the Confederacy in two, leaving on one side 
 Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri — more terri- 
 tory than is on the eastern side. We have made a gulf 
 that is impassable for them. We can hurl our strength 
 upon one half and whip them, then upon the other and 
 whip that.' 
 
 " He was stationed at Huntsville, Ala., the following 
 winter, having succeeded General Sherman as com- 
 mander of the Fifteenth Army Corps. Early in the 
 summer of 1864, the Division of the Mississippi was 
 making ready for * Sherman's march to the sea.* Gen- 
 eral Logan led the Army of the Tennessee upon the 
 right of the grand march, and was successively engaged 
 in the battle at Resaca, in the repulse of Hardee's 
 forces at Dallas, at Little Kenesaw Mountain, and in 
 the desperate battle of Peach Tree Creek, where Gen-
 
 JOHN^ A. LOGAN-. 253 
 
 eral McPherson fell. General Logan at once took 
 command, and infusing his troops with the emotions 
 which possessed him at the death of his chief, he led them 
 with such desperate fury that eight thousand rebel dead 
 were left on the field. He was also at the battle of Ezra 
 Chapel, July 28th. In fact, he participated in every bat- 
 tle of that historic campaign, from Missionary Ridge to 
 the fall of Atlanta on the 2d of September. After those 
 momentous events. General Logan returned to Illinois, 
 and during the fall months of the Presidential cam- 
 paign of that year made many speeches for Lincoln in 
 the Western States. He joined his command again at 
 Savannah, and marched with Sherman through the 
 Garolinas, and, after Johnston's surrender, to Washing- 
 ton. On May 23, 1865, he was appointed to succeed 
 General Howard in the command of the Army of the 
 Tennessee. 
 
 "Thus ended his brilliant army career. In the autumn 
 of 1865 President Johnson offered him the position of 
 Minister to Mexico, which he declined, and in 1866 he 
 was nominated by the Republicans of Illinois to repre- 
 sent the State at large in the Fortieth Congress, and was 
 elected by over sixty thousand majority. He was one of 
 the managers on the part of the House in the impeach- 
 ment trial of Andrew Johnson, in the spring of 1867. 
 He was returned to the House of Representatives by 
 re-elections in 1868 and 1870, but in 1871 was elected to 
 the United States Senate to succeed Senator Yates. 
 His first term as Senator expired in 1877, and he failed of
 
 254 JOHX A. LOGAN. 
 
 re-election, David Davis being chosen in his stead. The 
 Republicans in the Illinois Legislature then had only 
 two majority on joint ballot, and three of the Republi- 
 cans voted with the Democrats for Mr. Davis. Two 
 years later General Logan was more successful. He 
 then succeeded to the seat of Richard J. Oglesby. In 
 the Senate he has introduced and supported many bills 
 concerning rewards to soldiers, and army matters in 
 general. At military reunions he has always been 
 active. He was one of the founders of the Grand Army 
 of the Republic, which originated at Decatur, 111., and 
 was its first national commander. Apart from these 
 matters he has acquired in public life a special repu- 
 tation from his defence of the findings of the court which 
 tried Fitz John Porter." 
 
 The soldier's haversack of stories, unpacked before 
 every camp-fire, has in these days of peace to put its 
 treasures into type, and since General Logan's nomina- 
 tion those who remember him in the field have found 
 the public journals convenient repositories. Says a war 
 correspondent of the Neiv York Herald : 
 
 " Logan belonged to the class of popular volunteer 
 generals, and in the West was regarded somewhat as 
 Phil Kearney was in the East. He had all the daring, 
 dash, and pugnacity of Kearney and Hooker. I was 
 with him nearly all the day before the battle of Resaca, 
 Georgia, on May 14, 1864, and slept in an ambulance 
 with him the same night — that is, I slept part of the 
 night in the ambulance — but he was so thundering mad
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 255 
 
 when awake, and so restless when sleeping, that, for my 
 own comfort, I got up and lay down under the wagon 
 on the ground. I never saw a madder man than Logan 
 was that day and night. He had the advance of 
 McPherson's corps on a flank movement around the 
 left of the rebel army at Dalton, and had planted his di- 
 vision square across their only line of retreat. Just be- 
 yond a small fordable stream the rebels had built a fort 
 commanding a bridge of great importance to them, 
 and Logan was preparing to assault it when McPherson, 
 his corps commander, came up and stopped the move- 
 ment, deeming it hazardous. Logan said he could 
 carry the works with a single brigade and destroy the 
 bridge with his two other brigades, thus cutting off the 
 rebel retreat and forcing him to battle with Sherman's 
 one hundred thousand men — quite double that of the 
 rebel force. He pleaded with McPherson to let him go 
 ahead, proposing to lead the assaulting column in per- 
 son. From pleading he advanced to protestations, and 
 then to curses 'both loud and deep,' and these became 
 almost bitter personal denunciations of McPherson 
 when, deciding against an attack, he ordered Logan to 
 march back six miles to a strong defensive position and 
 fortify it. 
 
 *' It happened that I heard part of this rather stormy 
 interview, and the same evening General McPherson 
 took occasion to explain to me that he had made this 
 retrograde movement in obedience to imperative orders. 
 It turned out to be one of the grave mistakes of the
 
 256 JOHN- A. LOGAN. 
 
 war, and Sherman severely criticised McPherson af- 
 terward for not taking the risk suggested by Logan, 
 though he sustained him in command. Logan's instinct 
 for fighting proved correct on that occasion ; it was 
 subsequently discovered that the rebel fort at Resaca 
 was held by only sixteen hundred dismounted Georgia 
 militia cavalrymen. Logan's veterans could have * run 
 over them' if McPherson had let them loose with * Black 
 Jack ' at their head. 
 
 " One of the finest illustrations of the magnetic influ- 
 ence of a single man in the crisis of a battle was fur- 
 nished by Logan at Peach Tree Creek, a battle fought 
 before Atlanta. The rebels had flanked McPherson as 
 completely as he had turned their line at Resaca, and 
 had attacked him vigorously. McPherson was killed, 
 and the command of the whole corps unexpectedly de- 
 volved in a moment on Logan, and he had not only his 
 own but other divisions to look after. He left his own 
 immediate command, and in person rallied the First Di- 
 vision, which, being surprised, was in great confusion. 
 It was done by actual personal exertion in the front of 
 the line, at a great personal risk. The troops had more 
 confidence in Logan than in McPherson, for the reason 
 that Logan led, whereas McPherson directed his men ; 
 and when the retreating division saw Logan riding 
 along their confused lines, they rallied and went vigor- 
 ously into the fight with a counter-charge on the rebel 
 forces. It was a fair, square illustration of personal 
 magnetism of a fearless leader over brave men. It was
 
 JOHN- A. LOGAN. 25/ 
 
 a quality many of the generals who gained greater mil- 
 itary distinction than Logan did not possess, and did 
 not lay claim to." 
 
 Lieutenant Merriman, who for a time was General 
 Logan's secretary in the war, relates, in The Waterbiiry 
 American^ how General Logan cashiered his own brother- 
 in-law, Colonel Osborne. Orders had been issued to 
 organize negro regiments. The report came to Logan 
 that Osborne had publicly declared to his regiment that 
 he had not come there "to fight to free the niggers." 
 " Logan at once sent for his brother-in-law to come 
 to headquarters," says Lieutenant Merriman. "I was 
 present when Osborne arrived. Logan asked him if 
 the statements were true that he had been talking in 
 that way to his regiment. Osborne replied in the affirm- 
 ative, and repeated the sentiment. Logan roared with 
 rage like a lion. I cannot repeat his language, but the 
 words came hot and thick from an outraged heart. 
 Finally, pausing, he told Osborne he was not fit to com- 
 mand a Union regiment, and to write out his resigna- 
 tion at once and be cashiered. Osborne, abashed and 
 overawed, obeyed, and Logan wrote approved on the 
 back of the paper and forwarded it immediately by an 
 aide to General Grant's headquarters. Before night 
 Osborne was without a commission, out of the army, 
 and reduced to the position of a mere citizen of Illi- 
 nois." 
 
 A considerable part of the committee appointed to 
 inform Mr. Blaine of his nomination met in Washing-
 
 258 JOHN A. LOG AM. 
 
 ton June 24, 1884. These were : Turner, of Alabama; 
 Bush, California ; Hastings, Delaware ; Stewart, Flor- 
 ida ; Brown, Georgia ; Davis, Illinois ; Goodloe, Ken- 
 tucky ; Merchant, Louisiana ; Walker Blaine, Maine ; 
 Gove, Massachusetts ; Lynch, Mississippi ; Howe, Ne- 
 braska ; Young, Nevada ; Phelps, New Jersey ; Win- 
 ston, North Carolina ; Lee, South Carolina ; Houck, 
 Tennessee ; Cuney, Texas ; Yost, Virginia ; Thompson, 
 West Virginia ; Hill, Washington Territory ; Stebbins, 
 Arizona ; Pride, Idaho ; Murray, Utah ; Meldrum, 
 Wyoming ; Carson, District of Columbia. They went 
 in a body to General Logan's home, and being gathered 
 in an apartment of his residence, Chairman Henderson 
 said : 
 
 " Senator Logan : The gentlemen present constitute 
 a committee of the Republican Convention recently as- 
 sembled at Chicago, charged with the duty of commu- 
 nicating to you the formal notice of your nomina- 
 tion by that convention as a candidate for Vice-Pres- 
 ident of the United States. You are not unaware of the 
 fact that your name was presented to the convention 
 and urged by a large number of the delegates as a can- 
 didate for President. So soon, however, as it became 
 apparent that Mr. Blaine, your colleague on the ticket, 
 was the choice of the party for that high office, your 
 friends, with those of other competitors, promptly 
 yielded their individual preferences to this manifest 
 wish of the majority. In tendering you this nomina- 
 tion, we are able to assure you it was made without
 
 JOIIh^ A. LOGAN. 259 
 
 opposition, and with an enthusiasm seldom witnessed 
 in the history of nominating conventions. We are grat- 
 ified to know that in a career of great usefulness and 
 distinction you have most efficiently aided in the enact- 
 ment of those measures of legislation and of constitu- 
 tional reform in which the convention found special 
 cause for party congratulation. The principles enun- 
 ciated in the platform adopted will be recognized by 
 you as the same which have so long governed and con- 
 trolled your political conduct. 
 
 "The pledges made by the party find guarantee of per- 
 formance in the fidelity with which you have heretofore 
 discharged every trust confided to your keeping. In 
 your election, the people of this country will furnish 
 new proof of the excellence of our institutions. With- 
 out wealth, without help from others, without any re- 
 sources, except those of heart, conscience, intellect, 
 energy, and courage, you have won a high place in the 
 world's history, and secured the confidence and affec- 
 tions of your countrymen. Being one of the people, 
 your sympathies are with the people. In civil life, your 
 chief care has been to better their condition to secure 
 their rights and perpetuate their liberties. When the 
 Government w^as threatened by armed treason, you en- 
 tered its service as a private, became a commander of 
 armies, and are now the idol of the citizen-soldiers of 
 the Republic. Such, in the judgment of your party, is 
 the candidate it has selected, and in behalf of that party 
 we ask you to accept its nomination."
 
 260 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 After a brief interval General Logan replied : 
 '*Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee: 
 I receive your visit with pleasure and accept with grati- 
 tude the sentiments you have so generously expressed 
 in the discharge of the duty with which you have been 
 intrusted by the National Republican Convention. In- 
 tending to address you a formal communication shortly 
 in accordance with the recognized usage, it would be 
 out of place to detain you at this time with remarks 
 which properly belong to the official utterances of a 
 letter of acceptance. I may be permitted to say, how- 
 ever, that though I did not seek the nomination of 
 Vice-President, I accept it as a trust reposed in me by 
 the Republican party, to the advancement of whose 
 broad policy upon all questions connected with the 
 progress of our Government and our people, I have 
 dedicated my best energies, and with this acceptance I 
 may properly signify my approval of the platform of 
 principles adopted by the convention. I am deeply 
 sensible of the honor conferred upon me by my friends 
 in so unanimously tendering me this nomination, and I 
 sincerely thank them for this tribute. 
 
 " I am not unmindful of the great responsibilities at- 
 taching to the office, and, if elected, I shall enter upon 
 the performance of its duties with the firm conviction 
 that he who has such an unanimous support of his 
 party friends as the circumstances connected with the 
 nomination and your own words, Mr. Chairman, in- 
 dicate, and consequently such a wealth of counsel to
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 26 1 
 
 draw upon, cannot fail in the proper discharge of the 
 duties commended to him. 
 
 " I tender you my thanks, Mr. Chairman, for the kind 
 expressions you have made, and I offer you and your 
 fellow-committeemen my most cordial greeting." 
 
 Mrs. Logan was appropriately present at these cere- 
 monies, for more than is often given to women she has 
 been the close companion of her husband. She has ac- 
 tively shared his successes, and General Logan would 
 perhaps say that she has inspired them. 
 17
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 THE PLATFORM OF THE REPUBLICAN 
 
 PARTY— 1884. 
 
 The Republicans of the United States in National 
 Convention assembled renew their allegiance to the 
 principles upon which they have triumphed in six suc- 
 cessive Presidential elections, and congratulate the 
 American people on the attainment of so many results 
 in legislation and administration by which the Repub- 
 lican party has, after saving the Union, done so much 
 to render its institutions just, equal, and beneficent — 
 the safeguard of liberty and the embodiment of the 
 best thought and highest purposes of our citizens. 
 The Republican party has gained its strength by quick 
 and faithful response to the demands of the people for 
 the freedom and the equality of all men ; for a united 
 nation, assuring the rights of all citizens ; for the ele- 
 vation of labor ; for an honest currency ; for purity in 
 legislation, and for integrity and accountability in all 
 departments of the Government ; and it accepts anew 
 the duty of leading in the work of progress and reform. 
 
 We lament the death of President Garfield, whose
 
 264 APPENDIX. 
 
 sound statesmanship, long conspicuous in Congress, 
 gave promise of a strong and successful administration, 
 a promise fully realized during the short period of his 
 office as President of the United States. His distin- 
 guished success in war and in peace has endeared him 
 to the hearts of the American people. 
 
 In the administration of President Arthur we recog- 
 nize a wise, conservative, and patriotic policy, under 
 which the country has been blessed with remarkable 
 prosperity, and we believe his eminent services are en- 
 titled to and will receive the hearty approval of every 
 citizen. 
 
 It is the first duty of a good government to protect 
 the rights and promote the interests of its own people. 
 The largest diversity of industry is most productive of 
 general prosperity and of the comfort and independence 
 of the people. We therefore demand that the imposi- 
 tion of duties on foreign imports shall be made, not 
 for revenue only, but that in raising the requisite 
 revenues for the Government such duties shall be so 
 levied as to afford security to our diversified industries 
 and protection to the rights and wages of the laborer, 
 to the end that active and intelligent labor, as well as 
 capital, may have its just reward, and the laboring man 
 his full share in the national prosperity. 
 
 Against the so-called economic system of the Dem- 
 ocratic party which would degrade our labor to the for- 
 eign standard, we enter our earnest protest. The Dem- 
 ocratic party has failed completely to relieve the people
 
 APPEXDIX. 265 
 
 of the burden of unnecessary taxation by a wise reduc- 
 tion of the surplus. 
 
 The Republican party pledges itself to correct the 
 inequalities of the tariff, and to reduce the surplus, not 
 by the vicious and indiscriminate process of horizontal 
 reduction, but by such methods as will relieve the tax- 
 payer without injuring the laborer or the great product- 
 ive interests of the country. 
 
 We recognize the importance of sheep husbandry in 
 the United States, the serious depression which it is 
 now experiencing, and the danger threatening its future 
 prosperity ; and we therefore respect the demands of 
 the representatives of this important agricultural inter- 
 est for a readjustment of duty upon foreign wool, in 
 order that such industry shall have full and adequate 
 protection. 
 
 We have always recommended the best money known 
 to the civilized world, and we urge that an effort be 
 made to unite all commercial nations in the establish- 
 ment of an international standard, which shall fix for 
 all the relative value of gold and silver coinage. 
 
 The regulation of commerce with foreign nations and 
 between the States is one of the most important prero- 
 gatives of the General Government, and the Republican 
 party distinctly announces its purpose to support such 
 legislation as will fully and efficiently carry out the con- 
 stitutional power of Congress over interstate commerce. 
 
 The principle of the public regulation of railway cor- 
 porations is a wise and salutary one for the protection
 
 266 APPENDIX. 
 
 of all classes of the people, and we favor legislation 
 that shall prevent unjust discrimination and excessive 
 charges for transportation, and that shall secure to the 
 people and to the railways alike the fair and equal pro- 
 tection of the laws. 
 
 We favor the establishment of a national bureau of 
 labor, the enforcement of the eight-hour law, and a 
 wise and judicious system of general education by ade- 
 quate appropriation from the national revenues wher- 
 ever the same is needed. We believe that everywhere 
 the protection to a citizen of American birth must be 
 secured to citizens of American adoption, and we favor 
 the settlement of national differences by international 
 arbitration. 
 
 The Republican party, having its birth in a hatred of 
 slave labor and in a desire that all men may be free and 
 equal, is unalterably opposed to placing our working- 
 men in competition with any form of servile labor, 
 whether at home or abroad. In this spirit we denounce 
 the importation of contract labor, whether from Europe 
 or Asia, as an offence against the spirit of American in- 
 stitutions, and we pledge ourselves to sustain the pres- 
 ent law restricting Chinese immigration, and to provide 
 such further legislation as is necessary to carry out its 
 purposes. 
 
 The reform of the civil service, auspiciously begun 
 under Republican administration, should be completed 
 by the further extension of the reformed system, already 
 established by law, to all the grades of the service to
 
 APPENDIX. 267 
 
 which it is applicable. The spirit and purpose of the 
 reform should be observed in all executive appoint- 
 ments, and all laws at variance with the objects of exist- 
 ing reformed legislation should be repealed, to the end 
 that the danger to free institutions which lurks in the 
 power of official patronage may be wisely and effective- 
 ly avoided. 
 
 The public lands are a heritage of the people of the 
 United States, and should be reserved, as far as possi- 
 ble, for small holdings by actual settlers. We are op- 
 posed to the acquisition of large tracts of these lands 
 by corporations or individuals, especially where such 
 holdings are in the hands of non-resident aliens, and we 
 will endeavor to obtain such legislation as will tend to 
 correct this evil. We demand of Congress the speedy 
 forfeiture of all land grants which have lapsed by reason 
 of non-compliance with acts of incorporation, in all 
 cases where there has been no attempt in good faith to 
 perform the conditions of such grants. 
 
 The grateful thanks of the American people are due 
 to the Union soldiers and sailors of the late war, and 
 the Republican party stands pledged to suitable pen- 
 sions for all who were disabled and for the widows and 
 orphans of those who died in the war. The Republican 
 party also pledges itself to the repeal of the limitation 
 contained in the arrears act of 1879, so that all invalid 
 soldiers shall share alike, and their pensions shall begin 
 with the date of disability or discharge, and not with 
 the date of their application.
 
 268 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Republican party favors a policy which shall 
 keep us from entangling alliances with foreign nations, 
 and which shall give the right to expect that foreign 
 nations shall refrain from meddling in American affairs 
 — the policy which seeks peace and can trade with all 
 powers, but especially with those of the western hemi- 
 sphere. 
 
 We demand the restoration of our navy to its old- 
 time strength and efficiency, that it may, in any sea, 
 protect the rights of American citizens and the interests 
 of American commerce, and we call upon Congress to 
 remove the burdens under which American shipping 
 has been depressed, so that it may again be true that 
 we have a commerce which leaves no sea unexplored 
 and a navy which takes no law from superior force. 
 
 Resolved^ That appointments by the President to 
 offices in the Territories should be made from the bona 
 fide citizens and residents of the Territories wherein 
 they are to serve. 
 
 Resolved^ That it is the duty of Congress to enact such 
 laws as shall promptly and effectually suppress the sys- 
 tem of polygamy within our territory, and divorce the 
 political from the ecclesiastical power of the so-called 
 Mormon Church, and that the law so enacted should be 
 rigidly enforced by the civil authorities if possible, and 
 by the military if need be. 
 
 The people of the United States, in their organized 
 capacity, constitute a nation and not a mere confed- 
 eracy of States. The National Government is supreme
 
 APPENDIX. 269 
 
 within the sphere of its national duty, but the States 
 have reserved rights which should be faithfully main- 
 tained; each should be guarded with jealous care so 
 that the harmony of our system of government may be 
 preserved and the Union be kept inviolate. The per- 
 petuity of our institutions rests upon the maintenance 
 of a free ballot, an honest count, and correct returns. 
 
 We denounce the fraud and violence practised by the 
 Democracy in Southern States by which the will of the 
 voter is defeated, as dangerous to the preservation of 
 free institutions, and we solemnly arraign the Demo- 
 cratic party as being the guilty recipient of the fruits 
 of such fraud and violence. We extend to the Republi- 
 cans of the South, regardless of their former party affil- 
 iations, our cordial sympathy, and pledge to them our 
 utmost earnest efforts to promote the passage of such 
 legislation as will secure to every citizen, of whatever 
 race and color, the full and complete recognition, pos- 
 session, and exercise of all civil and political rights.
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 SPEECH OF MR. BLAINE IN THE HOUSE ON 
 NATIONAL FINANCE, FEBRUARY lo, 1876. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : The honor of the National Govern- 
 ment and the prosperity of the American people are 
 alike menaced by those who demand the perpetuation 
 of the irredeemable paper currency. For more than two 
 years the country has been suffering from prostration in 
 business ; confidence returns but slowly ; trade revives 
 only partially, and to-day, with capital unproductive and 
 labor unemployed, we find ourselves in the midst of an 
 agitation respecting the miedium with which business 
 transactions shall be carried on. Until this question is 
 definitely adjusted, it is idle to expect that full measure 
 of prosperity to which the energies of our people and 
 the resources of the land entitle us. In the way of that 
 adjustment one great section of the Democratic party — 
 possibly its controlling power — stubbornly stands to-day. 
 The Republicans, always true to the primal duty of sup- 
 porting the nation's credit, have now cast behind them 
 all minor differences and dissensions on the financial
 
 APPF.XDIX. 271 
 
 question, and have gradually consolidated their strength 
 against inflation. The currency, therefore, becomes of 
 necessity a prominent political issue, and those Demo- 
 crats who are in favor of honest dealing by the Govern- 
 ment and honest money for the people may be compelled 
 to act as they did in that still graver exigency when the 
 existence of the Government itself was at stake. 
 
 While this question should be approached in no spirit 
 of partisan bitterness, it has yet become so entangled 
 with party relations that no intelligent discussion of it 
 can be had without giving its political history, and if 
 that history bears severely on the Democratic party, its 
 defenders must answer the facts and not quarrel with 
 their presentation. Firmly attached to one political party 
 myself, firmly believing that parties in a free govern- 
 ment are as healthful as they are inevitable, I still think 
 there are questions about which parties should never 
 agree to disagree ; and of these is the essential nature 
 and value of the circulating medium. And it is a fact 
 of special weight and significance that up to the paper- 
 money era which was precipitated upon us during the 
 rebellion as one of war's inexorable necessities, there 
 never was a political party in this country that believed 
 in any other than the specie standard for our currency. 
 If there was any one principle that was rooted and 
 grounded in the minds of our earlier statesmen, it was 
 the evil of paper money ; and no candid man of any 
 party can read the Constitution of the United States and 
 not be convinced that its framers intended to defend
 
 2/2 APPENDIX. 
 
 and protect our people from the manifold perils of an 
 irredeemable currency. 
 
 The country is suffering under one of those periodi- 
 cal revulsions in trade common to all commercial na- 
 tions, and which thus far no wisdom of legislation has 
 been able to avert. The natural restlessness of a peo- 
 ple so alive and alert as ours looks for an instant remed\% 
 and the danger in such a condition of the public mind 
 is that something may be adopted that will ultimately 
 deepen the disease rather than lay the groundwork for 
 an effectual cure. Naturally enough, at such a time 
 the theories for relief are numerous, and we have mar- 
 vellous recipes offered whereby the people shall be en- 
 abled to pay the dollar they owe with less than loo 
 cents ; while those who are caught with such a delusion 
 seemingly forget that, even if this be so, they must like- 
 wise receive less than loo cents for the dollar that is 
 due them. Whether the dollar that they owe to-day 
 or the dollar that is due them to-morrow will have the 
 greater or less number of cents depends on the shifting 
 of causes which they can neither control nor foresee ; 
 and therefore all certain calculation in trade is set at 
 defiance, and those branches of business which take on 
 the form of gambling are by a financial paradox most 
 secure and most promising. 
 
 THE DEPRESSION OF TRADE. 
 
 Uncertainty as to the value of the currency from day 
 to day is injurious to all honest industry. And while
 
 APPENDIX. 273 
 
 that which is known as the debtor interest should be 
 fairly and justly considered in the shaping of the meas- 
 ure for specie resumption, there is no justice in asking 
 for inflation on its behalf. Rather there is the gravest 
 injustice ; for you must remember that there is a large 
 class of most deserving persons who would be continu- 
 ally and remorselessly robbed by such a policy. I mean 
 the labor of the country that is compelled to live from 
 and by its daily earnings. The savings banks, which rep- 
 resent the surplus owned by the laborers of the nation, 
 have deposits to-day exceeding $1,100,000,000 — more 
 than the entire capital stock and deposits of the Na- 
 tional banks. The pensioners, who represent the patriotic 
 suffering of the country, have a capitalized investment 
 of $600,000,000. Here are $1,700,000,000 incapable of 
 receiving anything but instant and lasting injury from 
 inflation. Whatever impairs the purchasing power of 
 the dollar correspondingly decreases the resources of 
 the savings-bank depositor and the pensioner. The 
 pensioner's loss would be absolute, but it would prob- 
 ably be argued that the laborer would receive compen- 
 sation by his nominally larger earnings. But this would 
 prove totally delusive, for no possible augmentation of 
 wages in a time of inflation will ever keep pace with a 
 still greater increase in the price of the commodities 
 necessary to sustain life, except — and mark the excep- 
 tion — under the condition witnessed during the war, 
 when the number of laborers was continually reduced by 
 the demand for men to serve in the army and navy.
 
 274 APPENDIX. 
 
 And those honest-minded people who recall the start- 
 ling activity of trade and the large profits during the 
 war, and attribute both to an inflated currency, commit 
 the error of leaving out the most important element of 
 the calculation. They forget that the Government was 
 a customer for nearly four years at the rate of $2,000,- 
 000 or $3,000,000 per day, buying countless quantities 
 of all the staple articles ; they forget that the number 
 of consumers was continually enlarging as our armed 
 force grew to its gigantic proportions, and that the 
 number of producers was by the same cause continually 
 growing less, and that there was presented, on a scale 
 of unprecedented magnitude, that simple problem, fa- 
 miliar alike to the political economist and the village 
 trader, of the demand being greater than the supply, 
 and a consequent rise in the price. Had the Govern- 
 ment been able to conduct the war on a gold basis and 
 provided the coin for its necessarily large and lavish ex- 
 penditure, a rise in the price of labor and a rise in the 
 value of commodities would have been inevitable. And 
 the rise of both labor and commodities in gold would 
 have been for the time as marked as in paper, adding, 
 of course, the depreciation of the latter to its scale of 
 prices. While the delusion of creating wealth by the 
 issue of irredeemable paper currency may lead to any 
 number of absurd propositions, the advocates of the 
 heresy seem to have settled down on two measures — or 
 rather one measure composed of two parts — namely : To 
 abolish the National Banks, and then have the Govern-
 
 APPENDIX. 275 
 
 ment issue legal tenders at once to the amount of the 
 bank circulation, and add to the volume thereafter, from 
 time to time, ** according to the wants of trade." The 
 two propositions are so inseparably connected that I 
 shall discuss them together. 
 
 THE NATIONAL BANK SYSTEM. 
 
 The National Bank System, Mr. Chairman, was one 
 of the results of the war, and the credit of its origin be- 
 longs to the late Salmon P. Chase, then Secretary of 
 the Treasury. And it may not be unprofitable just 
 here to recall to the House the circumstances which, at 
 that time, made the National Banks a necessity to the 
 Government. At the outbreak of the war there were 
 considerably over a thousand State Banks, of different 
 degrees of responsibility or irresponsibility, scattered 
 over the country. Their charters demanded the redemp- 
 tion o^" their bills in specie, and under the pressure of 
 this requirement their aggregate circulation was kept 
 within decent limits ; but the amount of it was left, in 
 most instances, to the discretion of the directors, and 
 not a few of these banks issued ten dollars of bills for 
 one of specie in their vaults. With the passage of the 
 legal-tender act, however, followed by an enormous is- 
 sue of Government notes, the State Banks would no 
 longer be required to redeem in specie, and would, 
 therefore, at once flood the country with their own bills, 
 and take from the Government its resource in that di-
 
 2/6 APPENDIX. 
 
 rection. To restrict and limit their circulation, and to 
 make the banks as helpful as possible in the great work . 
 of sustaining the Government's finances, the National 
 Bank act was passed. This act required, in effect, that 
 every bank should loan its entire capital stock to the 
 Government, or, in other words, invest it in Govern- 
 ment bonds ; and that, on depositing these bonds with 
 the Treasurer of the United States, the bank might re- 
 ceive not exceeding ninety per cent, of this amount in 
 circulating notes, the Government holding the bonds 
 for the protection of the bill-holder in case the bank 
 should fail. And that, in brief, is precisely what a Na- 
 tional Bank is to-day. I do not say the system is per- 
 fect, I do not feel called upon to rush to its advocacy 
 or defence. I do not doubt as we go forward we may 
 find many points in which the system maybe improved. 
 But this I am bold to maintain : That, contrasted with 
 any other system of banking that this country has ever 
 had, it is immeasurably superior ; and whoever asks, 
 as some Democrats now do, for its abolition, with a view 
 of getting back any system of State Banks, is a blind 
 leader ; and a very deep ditch of disorder and disaster 
 awaits the followers, if the people should ever be so 
 blind as to take that fatal step. It is greatly to be de- 
 plored, Mr. Chairman, that many candid men have con- 
 ceived the notion that it would be saving to the people 
 if all banks could be dispensed with and the circulating 
 medium be furnished by the Government issuing legal 
 tenders. I do not stop here to argue that this would be
 
 APPENDIX. 277 
 
 in violation of tiie Government's pledge not to issue 
 more than $400,000,000 of its own notes. I merely re- 
 mark that that pledge is binding in honor until legal 
 tenders are redeemable in coin on presentation ; and 
 when that point is reached, there will be no desire, as 
 certainly there will be no necessity, for the Government 
 issuing additional notes. The great and, to my mind, 
 unanswerable objection to this scheme is that it places 
 the currency wholly in the power and under the direc- 
 tion of Congress. Now, Congress always has been, 
 and always will be, governed by a partisan majority, 
 representing one of the political parties of the country, 
 and the proposition, therefore, reduces itself to this — 
 that the circulating medium, instead of having a fixed, 
 determinate value, shall be shifted, and changed, and 
 manipulated according to the supposed needs of " the 
 party." I profess, Mr. Chairman, to have some knowl- 
 edge of the American Congress ; its general character ; 
 its personnel, its scope, its power. I think, on the 
 whole, it is a far more patriotic, intelligent, and upright 
 body of men than it generally gets credit for in the 
 country ; but at the same time I can conceive of no as- 
 semblage of reputable gentlemen in the United States 
 more utterly unfitted to determine from time to time 
 the amount of circulation required by the *' wants of 
 trade." But indeed, no body of men could be entrusted 
 with that power. Even if it were possible to trust their 
 discretion, their integrity would be constantly under 
 suspicion. If they performed their duties with the pu-
 
 2/8 APPENDIX. 
 
 rity of an angel of light, they could not successfully 
 repel those charges which always follow where the 
 temptation to do wrong is powerful and the way easy. 
 Experience would very soon demonstrate that no more 
 corrupting device, no wilder or more visionary project, 
 ever entered the brain of the schemer or the empiric. 
 
 If the people of the United States were fully awake 
 and aroused to their interests, and could see things as 
 they are, instead of increasing the power of Congress 
 over the currency they would by the shortest practi- 
 cable process divorce the two, completely and forever. 
 And this can be done finally, effectually, irreversibly by 
 the resumption of specie payment. Why, it is hardly an 
 exaggeration to say that ever since the Government 
 was compelled to resort to irredeemable currency dur- 
 ing the war, the assembling of Congress and its con- 
 tinuance in session have been the most disturbing ele- 
 ments in the business of the country. It is literally 
 true that no man can tell what a day may bring forth. 
 One large interest looks hopefully to contraction and 
 the lowering of the gold premium ; another is ruined 
 unless there is such a movement toward expansion as 
 will send gold up. Each side, of course, endeavors to 
 influence and convince Congress. Both sides naturally 
 have their sympathizing advocates on this floor, and 
 hence the substantial interests of the country are kept 
 in a feverish, doubtful, speculative state. Men's minds 
 are turned from honest industry to schemes of financial 
 gambling, the public morals suffer, old-fashioned in-
 
 APPENDIX. 279 
 
 tegrity is forgotten, enduring prosperity with honest 
 gains and quiet contentment is rendered impossible. 
 We have suffered thus far in perhaps as light a degree 
 as could be expected under the circumstances ; but 
 once adopt the insane idea that all currency shall be 
 issued directly by the Government, and that Congress 
 shall be the judge of the amount demanded by " the 
 wants of trade," and you have this country adrift, rud- 
 derless, on a sea of troubles shoreless and soundless. 
 
 THE LEGAL-TENDER CLAUSE NECESSARY. 
 
 But whether we shall succeed or shall fail in restor- 
 ing to United States notes the funding privilege with 
 which they were originally endowed, I must here record 
 my earnest protest against the policy of repealing the 
 legal-tender clause which has given to these notes their 
 great strength as a circulating medium. I cannot see 
 how the Government can consistently deprive them of 
 their legal-tender quality until it is ready to redeem 
 them in coin on presentation ; and when it is so ready 
 to redeem them, what need or advantage will there be 
 in raising the question ? And I have never heard any 
 argument at all satisfactory to my mind that the repeal 
 of the legal-tender clause would tend to make re- 
 sumption any easier. On the contrary, it seems to me 
 that it would render resumption far more difficult than 
 it will otherwise prove ; that it would throw an undue 
 share of the burden on the banks : that it would force
 
 2 do APPENDIX. 
 
 them into the most rigid contraction, and needlessly 
 cripple their power of discount, thus plunging the whole 
 country into confusion, disturbing credits, embarrass- 
 ing payments, fatally deranging business, and creating 
 wide-spread distress among the people. It would be a 
 peculiarly severe blow to the debtor class, and would 
 make resumption to them the signal of bankruptcy 
 and ruin. All wise legislation toward resumption will 
 take care that no needless burden be thrown on those 
 who have debts to pay, and that in the transition the 
 banks shall be kept in such a condition as shall make 
 them as helpful as possible to the general community. 
 But this policy would drive the banks into a struggle 
 for self-preservation in which debtors would necessarily 
 be sacrificed. If I correctly apprehend the sound pub- 
 lic judgment on this question, there is no desire to de- 
 stroy the legal-tender character of the note, but a settled 
 determination to bring it to a par with coin, and by this 
 means to bring every bank-note to the same standard. 
 This policy will restore the coin of the country, of 
 which we are producing eighty millions per annum, to 
 active circulation in the channels of trade, and will re- 
 sult not only in making our money better, but assured- 
 ly more plentiful among the people. 
 
 It is a humiliating fact that producing as w^e do a far 
 larger amount of precious metals than all the rest of 
 the world, we drive it into export because w^e will 
 not create a demand for it at home. And the miners 
 of the Pacific slope are furnishing the circulating me^
 
 APPE.VDIX, 281 
 
 dium for every country of the civilized world except 
 their own, whose financial policy to-day outlaws and 
 expatriates the product of their labor. The act pro- 
 viding for resumption in 1879 requires, in the judg- 
 ment of the Secretary of the Treasury, some additional 
 legislation to make it practical and effective. As it 
 stands, it fixes a date but gives no adequate process, 
 and the paramount duty of Congress is to provide a 
 process. And in all legislation looking to that end it 
 must be borne in mind that, unless we move in harmony 
 with the great business interests of the country, we 
 shall assuredly fail. Specie payment can only be 
 brought about by wise and well-considered legislation, 
 based on the experience of other nations, embodying 
 the matured wisdom of the country, healthfully promot- 
 ing all legitimate business, and carefully avoiding 
 everything that may tend to create fear and mistrust 
 among the people. In other words, as the outgrowth 
 of legislation is confidence, public and private, general 
 and individual. To-day we are suffering from the tim- 
 idity of capital, and so long as the era of doubt and un- 
 certainty prevails, that timidity will continue and in- 
 crease. Steps toward inflation will make it chronic ; 
 unwise steps toward resumption will not remove it. 
 
 We will have discharged our full duty in Congress, if 
 we can mature a measure which will steadily advance 
 our currency to the specie standard, and at the same 
 time work in harmony with the reviving industries and 
 great commercial wants of the country. In any event,
 
 282 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, whatever we may do, or whatever we 
 may leave undone on this whole financial question, 
 let us not delude ourselves with the belief that we can 
 escape the specie standard. It rules us to-day, and 
 has ruled us throughout the whole legal-tender pe- 
 riod, just as absolutely as though we were paying and 
 receiving coin daily. Our work, our fabrics, our 
 commodities, are all measured by it, and so long as we 
 cling to irredeemable paper we have all the burdens 
 and disadvantages of the gold standard, with none of its 
 aids, and gains, and profits. "The thing which hath 
 been is the thing which shall be." The great law-giver 
 of antiquity records in the very opening chapters of 
 Genesis that " the gold of the land of Havilah is good." 
 And with another precious metal it has maintained its 
 rank to this day. No nation has ever succeeded in es- 
 tablishing any other standard of value ; no nation has 
 ever made this experiment except at great cost and sor- 
 row ; and the advocates of irredeemable money to-day 
 are but asking us to travel the worn and weary road 
 travelled so many times before — a road that has always 
 ended in disaster, and sometimes in disgrace.
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM WALTER PHELPS ON THE 
 CHARGES AGAINST MR. BLAINE. 
 
 To THE Editor of the Evening Post : 
 
 On April 7th you made formal charges against James 
 G. Blaine. They are the same which you made eight 
 years ago, and which were, I think, at that time satis- 
 factorily answered ; lest others, however, may like your- 
 self have forgotten everything except the misstate- 
 ments, you must permit me to remind you of the facts. 
 I think I may claim some qualifications for the task. 
 I have long had a close personal intimacy with Mr. 
 Blaine, and during many years have had that knowledge 
 and care of his moneyed interests which men absorbed 
 in public affairs are not inapt to devolve upon friends 
 who have had financial training and experience. I do not 
 see how one man can know another better than I know 
 Mr. Blaine, and he has to-day my full confidence and 
 warm regard. I am myself somewhat known in the city 
 of New York, and think I have some personal rank with 
 you and your readers. Am I claiming too much in 
 claiming that there is not one among you who would
 
 284 APPENDIX. 
 
 regard me as capable of an attempt to mislead the pub- 
 lic in any way ? With this personal allusion — pardon- 
 able, '-if not demanded, under the circumstances — I pro- 
 ceed to consider your charges. 
 
 The first charge is really the one upon which all the 
 others hinge. I give it in full and in your own language, 
 only italicizing some of your words, in order that my 
 answer may be clearer. You say : 
 
 In the spring session of Congress in 1869, a bill was 
 brought before the House of Representatives which 
 sought to renew a land grant to the Little Rock & 
 Fort Smith Railroad, of Arkansas, in which so?ne of Mr. 
 Blaine's friends were interested ; that an attempt to defeat 
 it by an amendment was made, and the promoters were 
 in despair ; that at this juncture Mr. Blaine, being then 
 Speaker of the House, sent a message to General Logan, 
 to make the point of order that the am.endment was 
 not germane to the purposes of the bill ; that this point 
 of order was accordingly raised and promptly sustained 
 by Mr. Blaine as Speaker, and the bill was in this manner 
 saved ; that Mr. Blaine wrote at once to the promoters^ calling 
 attention to the service he had rendered them^ and finally^ after 
 some negotiations, secured from them, as their reward for it, 
 his appointment as selling agent of the bonds of the 
 road on commission in Maine, and received a number 
 of such bonds as his percentage ; that the leading fea- 
 ture of this transaction appeared in two letters of his 
 afterward made public, dated, respectively, June 29 and 
 October 4, 1869.
 
 APPENDIX. 285 
 
 Your error is in the facts. Mr. Blaine's friends were 
 not connected with the Fort Smith & Little Rock Road 
 at the time of the passage of this bill. Those to whom 
 you refer as his friends are Caldwell and Fisher. The 
 bill passed in April, 1869. In April, 1869, Mr. Blaine did 
 not know that there was any such man as Caldwell ; and 
 Fisher, who was Mr. Blaine's friend, did not know that 
 there was any such enterprise as the Little Rock Rail- 
 road in the world. The evidence of these assertions 
 was before Congress, was uncontradicted, and is 
 within your reach. On the 29th of June, nearly eighty 
 days after Congress had adjourned, Mr. Blaine, from 
 his home in Maine, wrote to Fisher and spoke of 
 Fisher's "offer to admit him to a share in the new rail- 
 road enterprise." Fisher had introduced the subject to 
 Mr. Blaine for the first time a week before at the great 
 music festival at Boston. He told him there that Mr. 
 Caldwell, whom Mr. Blaine had not yet seen, had now 
 obtained control of the enterprise and had invited 
 Fisher to join him. At that time Fisher was a sugar 
 refiner of considerable wealth in Boston, had been a 
 partner of Mr. Blaine's brother-in-law, and through him 
 had made Mr. Blaine's acquaintance. The offer Mr. 
 Blaine refers to in his letter was Fisher's offer to induce 
 Caldwell, if he could, to let Mr. Blaine have a share in 
 the bed-rock of the enterprise. Mr. Fisher failed to do 
 this, and Mr. Blaine never secured any interest in the 
 building of the Fort Smith & Little Rock Railroad. What 
 interest, then, did Mr. Blaine obtain ? An interest in the
 
 286 APPEXDIX. 
 
 securities of the company. How ? By purchase, on 
 the same terms as they were sold to all applicants on 
 the Boston market ; sold to Josiah Bardwell, to Elisha 
 Atkins, and to other reputable merchants. He negotiated 
 for a block of the securities, which were divided, as is 
 usual in such enterprises, into three kinds, first mort- 
 gage bonds, second mortgage bonds, and stock. The 
 price, I think, was three for one. That is, the purchaser 
 got first mortgage bonds for his money, and an equal 
 amount of second mortgage or land-grant bonds, and of 
 stock thrown in as a basis of possible profit. I may be 
 mistaken as to the price, but I think not. I went my- 
 self at this time into several adventures of the kind at 
 that ratio, and have always understood that Senator 
 Grimes and his friends got their interests in the Burling- 
 ton & Missouri Road, a branch of the Union Pacific, 
 on the basis of three for one. It was the common ratio 
 at that era of speculation. 
 
 Mr. Blaine conceived the idea that he might retain 
 the second mortgage bonds as profit, and sell the first 
 mortgage bonds with the stock as a bonus. He believed 
 the first mortgage bonds were good, and he disposed of 
 them to his neighbors in that faith, and with the deter- 
 mination to shield them from loss in case of disaster. 
 Disaster came. The enterprise, like so many others of 
 the kind, proved a disappointment, and the bonds de- 
 preciated. Mr. Blaine redeemed them all. In one or 
 two cases only had he given a guarantee. In none 
 others was there any legal obligation, but he recognized
 
 APPENDIX. 287 
 
 a moral claim, and he obeyed it to his own pecuniary 
 loss. I cannot but feel that the purchasers of these 
 bonds would have fared worse had they been compelled 
 to look to many of those who have sought to give an 
 odious interpretation to Mr. Blaine's honorable con- 
 duct. The arrangement for the purchase of the block 
 of securities was made in June or July. The sales of 
 the first mortgage bonds out of the block were con- 
 tinued through the months of July, August, and Sep- 
 tember, 1869. The transaction was nearly closed when, 
 in the letter of October 4th, Mr. Blaine wrote to Mr. 
 Fisher and told him the parliamentary story of the 9th 
 of April. Mr. Blaine had come across it while looking 
 over the Congressional Globe, with a natural curiosity 
 to see what had been his decisions during the first six 
 weeks of his Speakership, and he wrote of it to Fisher 
 as an item in the legislative history of the enterprise 
 into which they had both subsequently entered. It con- 
 cerned a bill to renew a land grant, made long before 
 the war, to the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad. 
 The bill had passed the Senate without opposition, and 
 there was no objecting to it in the House ; but the ad- 
 vocates of the Memphis, El Paso, & Pacific Railroad 
 bill sought to attach their bill to it as an amendment. 
 This El Paso bill was known at the time as General 
 Fremont's scheme, and had been urged upon Congress 
 before. It was unpopular, and was openly opposed by 
 General Logan. Wedded to the Little Rock bill it 
 would gain strength, but the Little Rock bill would lose
 
 288 APPENDIX. 
 
 Strength, and a just measure, universally approved, 
 would be killed in the effort to pull through with it this 
 objectionable measure which was universally disap- 
 proved. Mr. Blaine's message to Fisher will tell the 
 rest of the story. He wrote : *' In this dilemma Roots, 
 the Arkansas member, came to me to know what on 
 earth he could do under the rules, for he said it was 
 vital to his constituents that the bill should pass. I 
 told him that the amendment was entirely out of order, 
 because not germain ; but he had not sufficient confi- 
 dence in his knowledge of the rules to make the point. 
 But he said General Logan was opposed to the Fre- 
 mont scheme and would probably make it. I sent my 
 page to General Logan, with the suggestion, and he at 
 once made the point. I could not do otherwise than 
 sustain it, and so the bill was freed from the mischiev- 
 ous amendment and at once passed without objection." 
 Mr. Blaine added these very significant words : ^' At that 
 time I had never seefi Mr. Caldwell^ but you can tell hi7n that 
 without knowing it I did him a great favor. ... I 
 thought the point would interest both you and Mr. 
 Caldwell, though occurring before either of you engaged in 
 the enterprise r 
 
 This seems, Mr. Editor, to dispose of your first charge. 
 The bill was a just one, and Mr. Blame's friends had 
 no interest in it when it passed the house. Eighty days 
 after the House adjourned Mr. Blaine asked his 
 friends, who had in the meantime taken hold of the 
 enterprise, and had offered him some interest, to let him
 
 APPENDIX. 289 
 
 in as a partner. They refused ; they did, however, sell 
 him a block of securities on the same terms they sold 
 them to others, and it proved an unfortunate purchase, 
 for he sold them out among his friends believing them 
 valuable, and took them all back when they depreciated 
 in value. The letter of Mr. Blaine, written long after 
 the transaction, is a complete vindication. To give it a 
 semblance of evil you assign it a date six months before 
 it was actually written. The late Judge Black, after an 
 investigation of the whole subject, declared in his char- 
 acteristic style "that Mr. Blaine's letter proved that the 
 charge (which you repeat against him) was not only 
 untrue but impossible, and would continue so to prove 
 until the Gregorian calendar could be turned around 
 and October made to precede April in the stately pro- 
 cession of the year." 
 
 Your second charge consists of two parts. The first 
 part is that " Mr. Blaine wrongfully asserted that the 
 Little Rock & Fort Smith road derives its life and 
 value and franchise wholly from the State of Arkansas, 
 whereas the evidence subsequently taken disclosed the 
 fact that the road derives the value on which these 
 bonds were based from the act of Congress of which 
 Mr. Blaine secured the passage." It will be found that 
 you have inaccurately quoted Mr. Blaine's language, 
 or rather that you put language into his mouth that he 
 never used. What Mr. Blaine did say was, "the Rail- 
 road Company derived its life, value, and franchises 
 from the State of Arkansas." And Mr. Blaine stated the 
 19
 
 290 APPEXDTX. 
 
 exact truth. What are the facts ? More than thirty years 
 ago Congress granted to the States of Missouri and Ar- 
 kansas a certain quantity of public lands to aid in the 
 construction of certain lines of railway. The franchises 
 which should be granted to the companies which should 
 build the road were expressly left by Congress to the 
 Legislatures of the States. Mr. Blaine spoke therefore 
 with absolute precision of language, as he generally 
 does, when he stated " that the Little Rock Railway 
 Company derived its life, value, and franchises." Just as 
 the Illinois Central Railroad Company derives its life, 
 value, and franchises from the State of Illinois, though 
 enriched by a land-grant from the United States, just as 
 the Little Rock road was. 
 
 The second part of your second charge is that Mr. 
 Blaine did not speak truthfully when he said that he 
 " bought the bonds at precisely the same rates as 
 others paid." There is no evidence anywhere to sus- 
 tain this accusation. I have already said that any per- 
 son could negotiate for them on the one-for-three basis, 
 just as Mr. Blaine did, and many availed themselves 
 of the opportunity. The price paid was not in the 
 least affected by the fact that Mr. Blaine had already ar- 
 ranged to sell the securities at a higher price than he 
 paid for them. He did this with the determination, 
 honestly maintained, that he would make good any loss 
 that might accrue to the purchasers. These sales did 
 not change the price paid to Fisher, and the proof that 
 they did not is the fact that Mr. Blaine paid it to him
 
 APPE.yDJx. 291 
 
 in full. You speak in this connection of Mr. Bond 
 being appointed an agent to sell the bonds of the com- 
 pany. No such appointment was ever made and no evi- 
 dence suggests it. Mr. Blaine negotiated for his secur- 
 ities at a given price, which was paid in full to Mr. 
 Fisher. 
 
 Your third formal charge relates to an alleged 
 connection of Mr. Blaine with a share in the Northern 
 Pacific enterprise. You charge this in the face of the 
 fact that in Mr. Blaine's letter, in which you find the 
 subject referred to, was his distinct asseveration that he 
 ** could not himself touch the share." Have you seen 
 any evidence that he did ? I have not. The Northern 
 Pacific Railroad Company has been organized and reor- 
 ganized, and recently reorganized a second time. Its 
 records of ownership and interest have passed under the 
 official inspection of at least a hundred men, many of 
 whom are political enemies, and some of whom are to 
 my knowledge personal enemies of Mr. Blaine, and there 
 has never been a suggestion or hint from any of these 
 that in any form whatever Mr. Blaine had the remotest 
 interest in the Northern Pacific Company. If one of 
 your associates has such evidence it is right that he 
 should produce it. 
 
 Your fifth charge is that, after Mr. Blaine got posses- 
 sion of the so-called Mulligan letters, "he subsequently 
 read such of them as he pleased to the House in aid of 
 his vindication." The answer is that Mulligan's memo- 
 randum of the letters in which he had numbered and
 
 292 APPEXDIX. 
 
 indexed each one of them was produced, and number 
 and index corresponded exactly with the letters read. 
 This was fully demonstrated on the floor of the House 
 and is a part of its records. 
 
 You repeat the charge that Mr. Blaine received a cer- 
 tain sum from the Union Pacific Railroad Company for 
 seventy-five bonds of the Little Rock road. You say 
 this without a particle of proof. You say it against 
 the sworn denial of Thomas A. Scott, who was the party 
 alleged to have made the negotiation. You say it 
 against the written denial of Mr. Sidney Dillon, presi- 
 dent of the company ; against the written denial of E. 
 H. Rollins, treasurer of the company ; against the writ- 
 ten denial of Morton, Bliss & Co., through whose bank- 
 ing-house the transaction was said to have been made. 
 Against this mountain of direct and positive testimony 
 from every one who could by any possibility have per- 
 sonal knowledge of the alleged transaction, you op- 
 pose nothing but hearsay and suspicion as the ground 
 of a serious charge against the character of a man long 
 eminent in public life. The courtesy which admits 
 me to your columns prevents my saying what I think of 
 your recklessness in this matter. 
 
 Your fifth charge against Mr. Blaine's policy as an ex- 
 ecutive officer, and your last charge, is that of his pack- 
 ing convex: tions in his ow^n favor. I do not desire to 
 dwell upon either. This is not the place to review his 
 foreign policy, to which you refer, and I am content to 
 remark that, however much some Eastern journals may
 
 APPENDIX. 293 
 
 criticise it, it is popular with a large majority of the 
 American people. It is simply an American polic}', 
 looking to the extension of our commerce among the 
 nations of this continent, and steadily refraining from 
 European complications of every character. 
 
 The charge of packing conventions needs no answer 
 This is the third presidential campaign in which Mr. 
 Blaine has been the choice of a large proportion of the 
 Republican party. In each of them he has had the act- 
 ive opposition of the National Administration, with the 
 use of its patronage against him. Whatever promi- 
 nence he has enjoyed has been conferred by the people. 
 He has no means not open to every citizen of influenc- 
 ing the public mind. No campaign in his favor origi- 
 nated elsewhere than among the people. He never 
 sought office. He never held a position to which he 
 was not nominated by the unanimous voice of his party. 
 He has not sought the Presidency. Circumstances 
 made him a candidate in 1876, almost before he was 
 aware of it. In 1880 he did not wish to enter the canvass. 
 I was one of a small party of intimate friends who, at a 
 long conference in February, 1880, persuaded him that it 
 was his duty. He has done nothing to make himself a 
 candidate this year. He has asked no man's support. 
 He has written no letters, held no conversation, taken 
 no steps looking to his candidacy. He has never said 
 to his most intimate friends that he expected or desired 
 the nomination. 
 
 If, upon a review of the whole case, you should
 
 294 APPENDIX. 
 
 charge that it would have been better and wiser for Mr. 
 Blaine to have refrained from making any investment 
 in a railroad that had directly or indirectly received aid 
 from the legislation of Congress, I should be ready to 
 agree with you, not because the thing was necessarily 
 wrong in itself, but because it is easy for such matters to 
 be so represented as to appear wrong. But why should 
 Mr. Blaine be selected for special reprobation and criti- 
 cism when so many other Senators and Representatives 
 have been similarly situated. I know of my own knowl- 
 edge that Governor Morgan, Mr. Samuel Hooper, Sen- 
 ator Grimes, and many of my friends while in Congress 
 acquired and held interests in such enterprises, and 
 neither you nor I, nor the people, suspected it to be 
 wrong, or that it gave them any advantage over the in- 
 vestors. Why entertain and publish that suspicion 
 against Mr. Blaine alone? When I sat as a Delegate at 
 Large in the last National Convention, Senator Edmunds 
 and Senator Windom were both candidates for the 
 Presidency, and I should gladly have supported either. 
 Senator Edmunds was understood to have a block of 
 Burlington & Missouri securities, and Senator Win- 
 dom had not only a block in the securities of the North- 
 ern Pacific Company, but was also one of its directors. 
 Yet you find no fault with these gentlemen. Nor would 
 you and I differ in giving the highest rank to Sen- 
 ator Grimes ; but both he and Senator Edmunds ac- 
 quired their interests in the Burlington & Missouri 
 road, when they were in the Senate. They both sup-
 
 APPEXDIX. 295 
 
 ported the bill to restore the land grant to their road. It 
 was passed on the same day with the Little Rock bill. 
 Both measures were just, and both were passed in the 
 House and Senate without a dissenting vote. Why 
 must we suspect that Mr. Blaine had a secret and cor- 
 rupt motive, and that other members and senators had 
 none ? 
 
 Let me add a circumstance which seems to me to be 
 not only significant but conclusive of Mr. Blaine's con- 
 scious innocence in this Fort Smith transaction. He 
 voluntarily made himself a party of record in a suit 
 against the Fort Smith & Little Rock Railway Com- 
 pany in the United States Circuit Court, which involved 
 the nature and sources of his ownership in the property. 
 This was before he was named for the Presidency. If 
 he had obtained this ownership dishonorably would he 
 have courted this publicity ? 
 
 I have thus ventured, Mr. Editor, to make answer to 
 the charges you have brought against Mr. Blaine. 
 There are other charges equally baseless which I have 
 read, but in other papers, so that I may not claim your 
 space to deny or answer them. I give two examples. 
 Mr. Blaine is represented as the possessor of millions, 
 while I personally know that he was never the posses- 
 sor of the half of one million. He was represented as 
 living for the past ten years in palatial grandeur in 
 Washington. He sold that palatial mansion, with all its 
 furniture, to Mr. Stevens, for $24,500, and got all that 
 it was worth. But you are responsible only for such
 
 296 APPEXDIX. 
 
 charges as you have made, and I have, therefore, made 
 answer to them authoritatively over my own name, and 
 I challenge denial of any substantial fact I have stated. 
 Your attacks are not on Mr. Blaine alone — they are on 
 his friends as well, and these are certainly a larger and 
 more devoted body of supporters than can be claimed 
 by any other man in public life. It seems to me, as I 
 recall those in every station who are proud to be num- 
 bered among them, that I recognize many of the ablest, 
 truest, and most honorable of our countrymen. 
 
 William Walter Phelps. 
 Washington, April 21, 1884.
 
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