The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1876-06-05


transaction" simply q "stock specula-
"tion," something that reputable business
men are engaged in every day. II may be
possible to conceive that the whole transac-
ton was innocent on Mr.. Blane's part, so
far as it actually affected his conduct as q
representative in congress, but we appre-
bend that the people of the United States
will desire little light upon come points.
They will wish to know how 1t happened
that James G. Blame, then, or soon after,
speaker of the national house Of represen-
tatvoo, should receive for one hundred
and thirty thousand dollars, securities
worth over two hundred and eleven thous-
and sollsrs7 They will ask il this specula-
| ton would have been within his reach but
for his official position and presumed poll
tical influence Whether James @. Blaine
was, and is, 90 child-like and simple mind
| ed as not to understand that men having no
political axes TO grind are not in the habit
OF dlsposing of valuable property in this
way Or, conceding that the stock and
bonds received, were only of tho value of
one hundred and thirty thousand dollars,
they will be extremely anxious to know
what manner of man James G. Blaine is,
TO place portion of ii among his friends,
receiving therefor the actual price paid for
the whole, while he retains more than
eghty.one thousand dollars worth of il in
| his own hands ?
Is such a man M this worthy to receive
the euffragcs of tho American people for
the highest Office in their gift His name
may be platform Of itself, hut, unfortu-
nately, 1t is not of the kind that the people
are particularly 'hankerins" after just
now. 1t is true that the speculation was
disastrous one; thst Mr.. Blaine was COM
PEELED to refund the money received from
his particular friends, and that portion OF
bis one hundred and thirty thousand dol
lars was sunk out OF sght-that is, IL he
did not, az he and Tom Scott swear, re-
ceive back sixty-four thousand dollars from
the Union Pacific railroad company-but
VIC fail to see how this changes the moral
quality of the transaction. He, being
speaker or q member of the national house
of representatives, either received, for one
hundred and thirty thousand dollars, secu-
ritiee which he honestly believed to be
worth two hundred and eleven thousand
dollars; or he deliberately undertook to
cheat his Maine friends out Of eighty thou.
sand dollars and, in either event, honestly
or dishonesty, he sought to make eighty
thousand dollars by questionable "stock
Speculation, which came in his way solely
on account of his official political position.
This was the Cuisines transaction" this
the 'stock speculation" as claimed by Mr..
Blaine. Granting everything claimed by
him in reference thereto giving him the
benefit of every reasonable doubt; conced.
ing that its result was pecuniarily disast
rous =; we ask If it ought not 10 be fatal tc
his candidacy, if it would not, this year Of
all others, be worse than suicidal to make
him the republican candidate for president
| of the United States When to this We
come to add the manner Of his obtaining
the letters, written by him, from the hands
of Mulligan-and this aside from the
question of their relevancy to the partlcu
lar subject under investigation by the com
mittee-his endeavor TO conciliate Mulligar
a witness summoned to testify against him
and his evident attempt to 80 shape hi
testimony that it should not be unfavorable
we have a picture of James G. Blaine
drawn by James G. Blaine himself, which
even his worst enemies would never hav
dared paint with any idea that the Ameri
eau people would accept it as true TO life
And yet this man was seriously proposet
as the centennial president of the United
States, and some there may be, even now
who will still urge his candidacy.