The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-05-30
TUESDAY, MAY so, 1876.
How Mr.. Blaine has been Strengthened by
S~landerous Charges and Democratic
Investigations.

SihhutrOus thdfSts anu DemocThitc
Investigations.
The Sacramento Record Union .une
of the leading Republican papers in
California, concludes an article re-
viewing the $64, 600 SANDER against
Mr.. Blaine with the following re-
marks /:
1t Is to be hoped that Mr.. Blaine's
political opponents have now had
enough of investigating him, but If
they desire to keep up the business it
is not probable that his friends will
offer any strenuous objections, seeing
that he is being investigated toward
the White House with a rapidity alb
solutely phenomenal. 1t is not a
result of such inquiries that
the object of them should gain
strength instead OF losing it from
their developments, but there can
be no question that this is the out
come in Blaine's case. Thus far
every attack upon him has made
political capital for him, and has re-
coiled d~isastrously upon his assailants
and this last accusation has melted
away so ludicrously before the exhi-
bition of facts that the effect is almost
to give him the attitude of martyr.
Nor is this all, for there is a lesson in
this inquiry which the public will not
be slow to apply generally. 1t has
shown in the present case that an alb
solutely innocent man may by the op-
erations of mere gossip and rumors,
be made to lie for years under a dam
aging charge, and a charge which
probably nothing but an injury of
this kind, or a regular judicial pro-
cess, could clear him from. At a
time when loose accusations may al
most be said to be the fashion, it is
clear that a discovery like this has
special Significance. At least it proves
the danger and injustice of accepting
flying rumors, aud suggests a strong
doubt as 10 whether half the beliefs
that are entertained about the guilt
of public men may not be as i'll found
ed as the story about Blaine. AS to
the latter, though no doubt he is re-
lieved to be liberated from the irrita-
ting burden of a false charge, the eff
ect of the inquiry and its sequel upon
his political prospects is so fortunate
that he can hardly regret having
been exposed to the SANDER.
So much has he gained that we be-
lieve if the National Republican Con-
yention were to be held tomorrow,
there is no candidate who could con-
test with him successfully for the
nomination.. And there Is sound
philosophy in the feeling with which
the people are coming to regard him,
for while all demand a candidate of
unblemished character, it is felt that
a man who has passed through the
fire and come out unscathed, must be
really more trustworthy than one
who no matter how high his reputa-
ton, has never undergone such a cru
cial trial. 1t is beginning to DO real
ized.that Blaine's fight has been..made
far more by his enemies than by his
friends or by himself. Had he been
a weak man, or an impure man, his
reputation would have been riddled
by this time. But after malice has
expended all its venom against him
he stands out brighter and purer to
the eye than at the outset, and there
is not n crevice to be discovered in
his armor of proof.
Nor is it the least obvious that the
course of the democrats Is rendering to
render Blaine the most eligible man
the republicans can take from a tacti-
cal standpoint, for whereas with an
unknown candidate the risk must be
encountered of all kinds of charges
turning up against him afler nomina-
tion, the democrats are so ordering
matters that by the time the onven
tion meets they themselves will have
unwittingly given to Blaine the very
strongest Endorsement conceivable,
and will have effectually disposed of
every charge which could be brought
against him in the canvass. 1t may
be said that there are plenty of other
men who could make as creditable a
showing under the microscope as he,
and that may be conceded, but none
of those other men have had the adj
vantage of passing through the anneal
ing furnace, and he has ; and the i'm
portauce ofthis distinction Fan hardly
be exaggerated. 1t is certain too,
that the country now knows more of
Blaina than any other man who has