Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-06-17
"WHAT ABOUT ARTHUR"

hhL AoOoI
| During his speech as temporary
chairman of the Maine Republican
convention Tuesday, some one asked
Senator Eugene Hale, "What about
Arthur?" to which the Senator re-
piled:
"My friend inquiries, What about
Arthur Well, let me say this, any
man who saw President Arthur dur
ing those long weary days when Gen.
Garfield lowered on that thin margin
which lies next to both life and death
and saw the tender solicitude that
yet did not break his calm spirit,
will appreciate in some degree the
nature that is his. He has been all
his life an active, earnest Republican.
| He has seen the active, strenuous
side of politics. He has believed in
his beliefs; and has always been
fighting for these beliefs, and has
upheld the integrity of the Republic
can party when some men who now
distrust him have not been
so engaged. He has belong
ed to that portion of the
Republican party which has been III
a minority, which is now in more of
a minority than ever, and which I
believe it will be healthful for Ameri-
can politics if it remain in that mi
nority. I do not believe that Presi-
dent Arthur is now bent On breaking
down that great majority and set
ting up that minority. If he is SO
bent he is bound to make a more
deplorable failure than any man who
was ever President But l believe
that in these long years of his ex-
perience he ought to have learned,
and has learned, wisdom. He is
now, by virtue Of his high Office,
without having sought it, the head
of the Republican party, and my be>
lief is, as the question has been asked
me, that President Arthur is trying
to bring all shades of opinion which
are essentially Republican into ac4
cord, SO that they may work together
for the good Of the country through
the Republican party. 1 have no
warrant to speak for him, and have
sought none, but 1 know that he has
hard task to perform. The tyranny
and the arrogance of men long used
to power are hard to bear. The reck
lessness and unreasonableness of
men who are seeking to gain power
is lust as hard to bear. and between
these two the President must keep
an even balance if he can. He is
blamed because here and there he
appoints postmaster or some other
official from the ranks of those with
whom he has been acting heretofore,
but we must do him the justice to
remember that he has left undis-
turbed that great Office, the filling OF
which by Garfield in the person Of
Collector Robertson, brought on him
a fire hotter than that of converging
batteries upon battlefield, that he
sympathizes with this contest, that
the leaders of the Republican party
sympathize with the contest we are
inaugurating to-day, 1 believe, ano
indeed know. The word that he ano
they would send would be: 'Make
your nomination, get good men upo1
your ticket, see that in the details o
your organization in your towns anc
: counties you do the same, give day
or week, or month each to the coun'
try if necessary, and elect you
ticket, and the cause will go forward
in every State. [Applause.]
Senator Hale was member of thu
!. last two Republican State conven'
tions. He was an ardent friend o
Hon. James G. Blaine, both a
Cincinnati in 1876, and at Chicago il
1880. The prompt action of tn
Maine delegation, of which he wa
chairman, in coming over to Garfield
made his nomination a certainty OF
the ballot when he received the nom
nation No man in the land is bet
ter prepared perhaps, to speak TO
the large number of Republican
throughout the land, who opposed
the nomination for the Presidency
of the candidate whom Presiden
Arthur supported. In what he say
above, he admirably voices the sen
timents of large majority of tn
Republicans who supported Gen
Garfield for the nomination. SucI
being true, his remarks will be rea
with interest, not only in Maine, bu
throughout the land.