Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1884-10-11
GOV. Crittendcn, Mt the Cours.
house, saturday. October -. r1a
and .n.halI O'Clock, u. Ia.
A DEFENSIVE UANPEIGN
IFrom Harper,s Wcclkly.l

tilted the republican, opposition TO ,hc
nomination OF NJ" Blaine. Ii was
plainly stated that it would inevitably
divide the party, and compel Il pro-
longcd explanation and defense. The
same reasons had been urged against
his nomination i'll 1876. The Cimcjn-
natl Commercial asked in jane Of dat
year, "Cau the party afford t. 20 iuto
the canvass with n candidate for whom
apology or explanation Will couiiuuaHv
be required p The Cincinnati Gazette
said at the same timc, "Thcsc letters
will form Mr.. Blaiuc's platform il he is
nominated;' and again, "No man can
successfully stand before the people of
the country as Il republican, candidate
for the presidency covered all over IL
Blaine is with his own letters" The
Chicago Tribune said, "Mr. BIaine's
nominations under these circumstances,
would be Il virtual confession on the
part of The republican party either that
it has 10 available candidate who has
not been engaged in similar tran -:lc-
tons, or that il approves of snch con-
duct on the part OF The men IL sends 10
congress" These things were said be-
fore the later Muliigan letters were
known in which Mr.. Blaine asks M'.
Fisher To testify to fnlsehootis in re-
gard to Eir. Blaine transactions.
The same considerations were pressed
against the Blaine nomination this
year. But they were answered by thc
declaration that il would not he "a can-
paign of defense aud explanation, bat
of general aggression ana universal en-
thusiasm.
Has it been such a campaign !? II
began with an emphatic and significant
republican protest and bolt, aud the
.'st4. aggression has been against re-
pnbicans who T;-for-,-&.,..ll.r q ca,l-
didatc whose own letters show him 10
be unworthy of great official trust.
The Blaine orators began by avoiding
the real issue. The Blaine piess ig-
norcd it. Even the chief Blaine papers
cut out from speeches and letters all
illusions to the main question. They
all denounced boiling republicans rs
traitors and descrters and contemplate
turmcoais. They raised the cry TO
''stand by the party" They courted
the dynamite and the Butler vote.
They misrepresented the executive
acts OF Governor Cleveland. They
cherished and disseminated the Buffalo
scandal. They tried to make the tariff
the issue. But the real question re-
manned imlnovable, although they
avoided it as II burnt child the fire.
Gradually the orators were compelled
to attempt explanations. The papers
began to defend the candidate. The
candidate himself made one desperate
effort to force protection into the de-
bate. But he was answered by Il fresh
and fatal publication of Mulligan let
ters, and after shivcring Tor moment
astounded, the organs broke into an
angry chorus of defense and explana-
ton, and 4 frantic cry that a letter
entreating a man TO tell falsehood
vindicatcd the honor of the suppliant,
and that the man whom Mr. Blaine
besOught to give him certificate of
character was an unspeakable scoun-
drel. To-day there is one issue, and
but one, before the country-an issue
fully recognized by every intelligent
voter--and that is whether the author
of the Mulligam letters shall be elected
president OF The United States.
The latest device of the defensive
campaign is TO print The letters, and de-
clare them to be Il private business
correspondence. This attempt has the
fatuity of all the rest. The abuse of
public place to promote private advan-
taye is not private business. Ii is Il
public concern of the most important
character. Ii is Il question of honest
and dishonest government, of national
honor or national disgrace. Some of
the Blaine orators allude con.cmptous-
lyto the conduct which the corresponds
encc reveals as. little thing" But
ii the author of the letters were not "A
anydoubt what every right minded man
would think of the transactions which
they reveal? lfa similar correspond
ence of Jefferson, or Madison, or old
John Adams, or OF his son John Quin-
cy Adams, should be discovered to-day,
would it be dismissed Us .'a little
thing 2" Would not every honorable
American feel ashamed that such q
man had been president, and rejoice to
think that had the truth been known
he could not have been elected ? One
orator asks whether Germany would
lose the services of Bisnarcl, or Eng
land of Gladstone because OF the dis
closure of such correspondence. The
government of Germany is not one of
public opinion. But Gladstone could
never re-appear Ill public life should
such evidence of his abuse of official
trust be made public. The pervcr-
sions, evasions, subtcriugcs, and shall
low sOphistries OF the attempted de-
fense by reputable men of these inde-
fensible transactions of a candidate for
the presidency are illustrations Of the
alarming toeiWtion OF such practices
among public men which made the
nomination possible. Eight years ago
the Cincinnati Commercial said: esThc
Troublesome fact is t.iat there is low
tone of public morality in the cslima-
ton of the uses Of public position for
private gain The speeches of some
conspicuous republicans i'll this cam
paign are painful illustrations of that
tone. Mr.. William Walter Phelps
suggested AS an excuse for Mr.. Blaine
that if he were guilty, Mr.. Edmunds
had done the same thing an assertion
of which Mr.. Edmumds very summari-
ly disposed. AT Chicago the snppor-
tcrs of Mr.. Blaine repeated that Just as
bad things could be shown Of Mr. Ed
munds as of MIR. Blainc-as il every
public man had his Mulligan letters to
cXplain-and therefore that il was
hypercritical to object to traiiicking in
Office as reason against the Blaine
nomination. The central question Of
the campaign, whether such abuse of
official trust and such unvcraciiy rs are
exposed by the Mulligan letters shall
disqualiiy Il man for the presidency,
is one Of the most significant that can
be presented to the country. But it is
81 ~ M. IN nj il,. a
most personal and rcpulsive canvass.
Such canvass, however, was precipi-
tated upon the country by the nomina-
ton of Mr.. B!aiEc, which postponed
every consideration to thal of the OFF,
.cial integrity of the candidate.