The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-06-22
BLASTED BLAINE.
BaffIed Ambition of the Ex-Sec.
retary-What He Would Have
HOne, II He Had Been Left
Alone.

Zone, II He HAD Been Lett
Alone.
A Washington correspondent of
the Chicago Times, June 9, says:
Mr.. Blaine has returned to the
city from his Cincinnati visit. He
is supposed to be giving his entire
attention to private business, and
for the time being is ignoring poll
tics. A gentleman, not at all friendly
to Mr.. Blaine, in speaking of him to-
day, said:
"There is a bit of unwritten his
tory connected with Blaine's ad-
ministration in the state depart
ment which, l think, the public ought
to know"
"What is that ?" was asked.
lie replied: at was great blow
for Blaine to have to give up the
state department. When Garfield
died he played every imaginable
card to make a hold upon the ad-
ministration and to commit in such
a way that his presence at the head of
the state department would have
been necessary. Blaine cared nothing
for the Landreau claim, Mr.. Ship
herd, ,or the Cochet people. They
were all used as mere pawns in his
game. What he wanted was a South
American diversion-a war, if you
please, and consequent acquisition
of territory. 1t was a great scheme
of his. Mr.. Blaine has a vivid i'm
agination. He is an intensely active
man. He often sketched in his back
parlOr the vision of a new departure
i'll American diplomacy. The United
States was to rule upon this conti-
nent with hand of iron, end all of
the great railroad interests with
which Mr.. Blaine has been connected
for years were backing him in this
move. Had he had unchecked con-
troll of the state department for a
little while longer You would have
heard of railroads through Mexico
to the isthmus, subsidized steamers
to all South American ports and the
development Of South American
trade through highly artificial sthnu-
lants in South American countries.
A small war would have made flush
times and plenty of contracts for
his friends, while the American
eagle would have scared aloft and
screamed to the country new
phases of glory. 1t was to
be brilliant administration-bril-
liant in the way of contracts, glitter
ing i'll the way of jobs and abso-
Iuteiy dazzling in the way of per-
sonal aggrandisement. All this
beautiful picture for the future
glory of the country was to be ac-
complished with the aid of brass
band style of diplomacy from the
state department, backed up by the
speculative capitalists who have
| been for long time seeking new
fields of enterprise south of the
United States. Mr.. Landreau con-
stituted a mere pretext. He is an
humble consul at Santiago de
Cuba. His claim is one that has no
real standing, but it had a certain
line of precedents established in its
favor in the state department, and
sc it afforded the most plausible pre-
text for the first move to be made"
This gentleman says that after
Garfield died, and Mr.. Blaine saw
tl.at the South American bubble
could last but little while longer
without new plans, he made bold
play to still make this scheme success
full. William Henry Trescott, a vet
eran diplomatist from South Car
oliDa, cold in speech, diplo-
matte in language, but at heart
political gambler, conspired (accOr-
ding to this story with Mr.. Blaine,
and sympathized heartily with him
in his attempt to fly the American
flag from the Rio Grande to Patago-
MIA. Mr.. Arthur, when he came in
to the office of president, was not
disposed TO assert himself at first,
and really leaned upon Mr.. Blaine.
Mr.. Arthur is sociable man. In
private life Mr.. Blaine is one of the
most fascinating of mortals. Mr..
Arthur really liked Blaine, and
would have got along with him very
well had not all the stalwarts run to
him and said: "You cannot afford
to keep that man there; he will ruin
you," and thus taught Mr.. Arthur
the necessity of getting rid of the
brilliant politician, But meanwhile
Mr.. Blaine was told that the presi-
dent desired him to remain for the
time being in the state department.
During that brief period Mr.. Blaine
was very busy.
From the tone of the dispatches
prepared by him and Mr.. Trescott
the public will remember that the
| Arthur administration was at first
committed to most vigorous line
of policy III South America. a line
of policy that, if persisted in, would
have led to a war with Chill. The
insignificance of Chill as a nation,
in comparison with the United
States, would have been in a meas
ure counterbalanced by the fact that
she had a very good navy and would
have been furnished with supplies
in any war she would have made
upon the American ports by the
secret aid of England. After Mr..
Blaine had arranged the belligerent
and dictatoriaI instructions, it was
part of his plan to get Mr.. Trescott
and his son, Walker Blaine, out of
the country secretly.
They were to be picked up at
Fortress Monroe by a revenue cut
ter, which was then to go out to sea
and lie in wait for the Pacific mail
| elCdlucTs AL 1A0Cl O5tlHS o4Ol
was to have been concocted to
explain the appearance of Trescott
and Blame in this irregular way as
passengers on the Pacific mail
steamer. Possibly they would not
have entered themselves as passen-
gers on that line in their proper
characters. A change of names
would have been possible, because
neither of them Is generally known
to the public. After these two con-
spirators were safely placed upon
the Pacific, mail steamer, o United
States war steamer would have re-
ceived instructions to report to them
upon the Pacific side of the isthmus,
and the two mysterious ENJOYS of
the slap-dash American eagle diplo-
matte departure would have skulked
across the lsthmus in long cloaks
and slouch hats, and smuggled them