The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1878-12-17
RLAlNE FIRES HIS GREAT
GUN AND Is INJU RED BY THE
a-gr kECOIL. ~
Senator Thurman Improves the Oc-
casion by a Little Brilliant Artii-
lery Practice.

WAsHINaroN, December IL. 1878.
THE scENEsIN TUE SENATE,
To-day have seldom been equaled, and
never excellsd. jim Blaine, of Maine,
made his bid for the Presidency, and en-,
unciated his platform on the dying en-
bers Of sectional hate. He had for an,
audience an assemblage which seldom
graces the Senate's auditorium. There
were statesmen, publicists, politicians,
fair women, carping critics and the com
mon rabble, A fair day, clear skv and
temperate winds were vuuchsated him.
The accessories were brilliant the debate
exciting. Baine's speech rose at once to
the heighth of sensation, and then fell
fat. as apiece Of rhetorical easuistrv. 1t
was clever. hut as political behemoth it
died OF suicide as fast as it was borne.
The text wastoo stale, Morton extrac
ted all the juice'o1tof it, and even Blaine
could not put life into the old cadaver.
Blaine spoke barely thirty minutes, hut
exhausted the subject in the time. He
stated frankly at the outset that the pur,
pose of his resolution was to discover
whether any citizen had been deprived of
any constitutional rights by the Demo-
cratic party at the South during the late
elections, and he devoted his whole
speech to discussing that subject. He
assumed that all the negroes atthe South
would have voted the Republican ticket
lii they could He assumed that the
entire negro vote had been distf&AchiSed;
because the Democrats elected 102 out
of 106 Representatives from the old
Slave States, On these assumptions he
based the assertion that each white citi-
zen at the South has nearly twice as
much political poweras each white citi.
zen at the North; and in proof Of this
assertion he separated the white and
black vote Of the South numerically,quo-
ted the entire representation of the
South 10 the white vote alone, and then
by cleverly comparing combination oil
those Southern States where the white
vote is in minority with a combinatior
Of the sparsely settled States at the
North west. he showed, to his own salts
faction at least, how a few white people
in two or three Southern States had as
much political power as twice as many
white people in two or three times al
many Northern states: Theonly super
structure which he builded oua .founda
tion of such logic was a dramatic war
ming to the South that the white people
Of the n nth would "never, never, never
submit to such etate Of affairs.
9a THURMAN REPLIED TO HIN.
In his own bluff, impetuous way, deny
ing in toto BIaine's assumptions, lepreca
ting in severe term 3 the attempt for party
I purposes to relight the fame of sectiona
ihste, and demalshing the entire founda
tioa Of Blaine's speech by holding up t.
the LIGHT the fact that property, education
intelligence and morality must alway
autagonizs ignorance and vice, which
antagonsm, aud not the color line, is tn
real cause OF the trouble at the, South
His amendment, instructing the Commit
tee TO inquire whether there was any in
timidation at the North, auy undue in
fuencing OF voters, any corrupt use o
money, any assessment ofFederal office
holders in contravention Of law and tn
Constitution, was dish which the Re
pubicans evidently did not like. Blain
refrained from accepting it, and Ell
munds asked to have it printed and lai
over, although Thurman assured then
that II they would accept his amend
, ment the Democrats would support th
entire resolution. Hence, it may be in
inferred that another political debate o.
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