Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-02-17
naiIu 5itnneber Gourmet
AGG T. II a.
ruuRspAY MORNING. Feb H. 1875
From the New York Tribune.
uP. BLALYE'S luck.


Tao Hon. James G. Blaine has been
wonderfuly favored of fortune this year
He went into the House of Representatives
at the beginning of the session, not undis-
,ipguished by any means, yet certainly not
the mos. eminent man in the crowd. He
was only one, and many good Judges
,bouoht not the foremost one, among a
tolerably compact and apparently well
matched group of candidates for the White
House. end it seemed 20 De quite as much
a matter of luck as of skin who should
grasp the prize. Luck from the start has
been steadily in Mr. Blaine's favor. The
democratic leaders in Congress, by eX-
bibi,ing their inability to lead, placed
him almost without any effort of his own.
in commanding position on the floor OF
the House. The President OF the United
States started little religious excitement,
and the lucky accident of the discovery OF
the celebrated Foster letter by some dem
ocratic miscreant in Maine just in the nick
of time, took away from Gen. Grant most
of the profits Of his own invention and
transferred the N to the ex-Speaker Then
came the Amnesty debate, a useless and
discreditable performance which was COM
monty supposed to have done Mr.. Blaine
incalculable injury, but Mr.. Hill jumped
up and appropriated TO the democratic
party pretty nearly all the odum OF the
discussion, and Mr.. Blaine went home
smiling and satisfied.
Now another and supreme piece Of luck
befalls the fortunate gentleman from
Maine. Jefferson Davis has replied to his
speeches. The perverse ingenuity Of the
ex.President of the Southern Confederacy
was never more enthusiastically exer-
cised than in this angry letter. When Mr.
Blaine proposed to Distinguish Jefferson
Davis by refusing to include him in gen.
eral amnesty. a majority of the republi-
cans Of the North believed that he made
a great mistake. More than half of Da-
Wis letter however, is taken up in show
ing that Mr. Blaine was right. Whatever
may be the feeling OF the rest of The South,
it Is plain that Davis at least is unchanged.
In bis mind still the reconstructed States
are conquered and outraged provinces;
the Northern hcrdes are INVADERS" it is
the privilege Of the South to forgive, not
ours. He does not wish for amnesty. He
has no "view of the future" which makes
it desirable for him to be included in an
amnesty bill He does not look upon ii
rs an infringement of law. To remove
them by act of Congress is usurpation He
only asks us now. rs he did Of old, to be
let alone And the comment of the null
,itude at The North will be. "Well, Blaine
knew jeff. Davis best, after all"
On the question Of the treatment OF
Union prisoners at the South. Mr. Davis
takes position which can only be defined
as aggressive. He is not content with de-
nying that he had any personal response
bility for their sufferings, but be asserts
that the familiar story OF Andersonville is
in part fiction, in part gross exaggera-
ton. He repeats the tale which Mr.. Hill
used in his speech and suppressed in the
official report, that Confederate prisoners
in our hands were worse treated than the
Federal prisoners in his. He charges Adj
yocate General Holt with attempting, by
-. trained band of suborned witnesses"
to convict him of crimes he has not COM
mitted. He alleges that the Government
resorted to the awful baseness of trying
to suborn Wirz, by promise Of his lie.
to crimnate the President of the Confcd-
eracv "in regard to Andersonvile pris-
oners." And finally he lays the whole
blame of the horrors of the prison pen
upon Gen. Grants refusal to exchange.
Thus Mr.. Davis throws down a gauge
which the North can hardly avoid taking
up. The living witnesses to whom he ap
peals will be called upon for their test-
mony. We shall have the official reports
on both sides, if bo.h sides can be OBJ
tanned Probably even such evidence will
not settle controversy which has pro-
voked more deep seated and enduring bit
lerness than any other incident of the war;
but it will revive many sleeping hatred,
and break many new bond Of friend
ship. What good can possibly come out
of the resurrection Of the skeletons of An
Jacksonville? Why, more luck for Mr.
Blaine. He will be marching through
the country in a little while as the special
champion Of disabled Union prisoners,
just as he did month ago in the character
of champion of the public schools. That,
Mr. Davis, will be the fruit of your letter.
IYHLCH Is 10 PILE 1T RHLL4LEL: