The Republican journal., 1883-04-19
NUMBER 16.
Blaine's Preface

HOW HE WILL INTRODUCE HIS READERS TO
HIS BOOK
The following extracts from the preface of
Blaine's book, show the scope Of the work =
''The twenty years of Congress between the
inauguration of Lincoln in 1861 and the inaugu-
ration of Garfield in 1881, We're the most import
ant in our history nation. The entire peri
od was filled with momentous events Legisla-
tlon during the progress of the war, in aid of
the great armies which upheld the Government
through the period in which the Union was re-
constructed on new and enduring foundations ;
on the finances during the era of paper money
and the subsequent return to the standard of
com; on slavery, and the emancipatiOnS which
came generations before phanthroplsts had
dared TO nope; on taxation, exercised and en-
forced to degree beyond all precedent. vet
always sustained by popular maiorities: on
industrial development so wisely fostered that,
despite the waste of thousands of millions bv
the raYaSes OF war, the aggregate wealth Of the
people was doubled in a single decade, ,-lpgiSla-
tion on these great subjects forms the vital his
tory of the country, and is worthy of commem-
oraton.
During the years when these legislative de-
llberatonS were in progress, much was done in
Congress of inferior Importance and temporary
interest. 10 separate the valuable and the per-
manent from the yalueless and transient of this
historic epoch, and to give a clear and connect
edaccount of the really great events in the SEN
ate and House of Rcprest natives, is the aim Of
the work. 1t is not intended to be an abridge-
ment OF the proceedings of Congress, or a mere
compendium of debateS vet no important
transaction in either branch is omitted. and no
discussion worthy OF honorable mention is over
looked. The design necessarily includes, with
in the limits Of careful discretion the narrative
of many facts which could not appear in an Of
fetal report, as well aS fair and ltt,t estimate
of the men who have been m )St prominent and
influential in the two Houses of Congress
at would be obviously impossible to present
perSpicuous history OF the ;w0 decades from
1861 to 1881 without reviewing at some length
the important and often tangled course Of
events, which brought about the political revo-
luton of 1860, resulting in the defeat Of all the
old political organizations, anC giving the con-
troll of the country to new. radical, enthusiasts
tic and progressive party. The causes of this
revolution, properly analyzed, will be found to
be remOte-stretchlng back at least forty years,
and yet steadily and continuously tending to-
ward the elimination which was reached in the
election of Mr.. Lincoln to the Presidency. The
incidents Of the intervening struggles in Con-
gresS, the connection Of one phase of the con-
test with another-nOt seen at the time. but in
retrospect distinctly visible-present field of
interesting inquiry necessarily Introductory to
the work now in hand.
"The encouragem, lt to publish any hi>tori-
cal work Is found in the belief that it supplies
what was before inaccessible. lhc history of
the events now presented is scattered through
$50 volumes of the pondcrouS records of Con
greSs and in the scarcely less youminous re-
ports Of committees of both Senate and House.
In this vast mass OF documents, d complete Sc
ries OF which is, probably, not contained in a
single library outside the National Capitol, it is
no light labor to trace even one measure through
the various evolution> OF legislation. 10 pre-
sent the entire period within limits adapted to
the general reader and upon the plan briefly
outlined in the foregoing paragraphs, will, it is