The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1880-04-01
The strong Nan Wan.ed.

When they tell us that strong man is want
ed for President, we acquiesce. That strong man
is Blaine. This strength does not lie in hold
ing men in awe by means of his reputation as a
soldier, or in the belief that desperadoes from
the length and breadth of the land would has
ten at his call to back him in any scheme he
undertook; bnt it lies in his power of will and
intellect.
When the wretch, Mulligan, found himself
possessed of private letters from Blaine, whi ch
he threatened TO use for black-mailing purposes,
and which, in the hands of an enemy, might
have been garbled and distorted SO rs TO bear
scandalous construction, while they were simply
common, unguarded business communications,
Blaine went to Mu'ligan, cOmmpelled him to
deliver them to him, and then proceeding to the
hall Of the House, in the midst of hostile ma
jority, smarting under recent easi;gatiou at his
hands, he arose to a question of privilege, and
himself read the Mulligan letters to that whole
House, completely jerking the scandal ont by
the roots, leaving not twig for his bitterest
foe to hang disbonOrable charge upon. That
was a strong man.
When the executive and other high officers Of
the State of Maine were discovered to be in q
foul conspiracy to subvert the will Of the people,
as e1prested at the ballot box, and substitute a
Leg islature other than that elected by the peo-
pie, CONSERVATION reigned everywhere, and
there seemed to be no remedy. People asked,
"Where is Blaine hiding, and what is be doing,
that he is not laboring to prevent this great
wrongp They prayed for a man like Grant,
who would oust the usurpers by force of arms.
BlOOdshed was imminent, aud :he conspiracy
seemed to be all but consummated. Blaine was
not seen nor heard; but he sat at home, compre-
hending every point at issue, planning the work,
and giving directions. The result was, that
suddenly, as if by magic, the conspiracy oollaps-
ed, the rightful Legislature assumed legal au-
thority, and the leading conspiratOrs became
refugees from the State-all without single
act of bloodshed or violence. That was the
work of strong man.
Gen. Grant, the reputed "strong man." cannot
be induced to say yes or no to the question as
to whether be is a candidate. He is absolutely
in the hands of scheming politicians, some OF
whom, like Don. Cameron, have not the intellect
that should be possessed by common Town.
ship or ward hummer. Grant doesn't know
whether he will be a candidate or not, until
they advise him. If they say so, he is a candI-
date; if not, then lie is not a candidate. Not
SO with Blaine. Nobody ever thinks of asking
anybody but Blaine what Blaine thinks or in
tends to do. He comprehends and attends to his
own business, and whatever knowledge is want
ed or opinions sought for, he is the person ap-
piled to. Is this the strong NAV; or is it the
dummy and puppet in the hands of Don Cam
eron, the capacity of whose brain does not rise
above shabby trickery to circumvent the wishes
of the peoplef
Such is the strong man the country needs-a
man whose strength is his intellect not the fear
of brute force that he excItes. Such man is
strong with the people, because he sympathizes
with the people, and is ono of them-not be-
cause of the plunder they expect to have dis
pensed to them by his hand.