The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-09-22
THE BLAINE LIBEL BEFORE THE PEOPLE

packed Dy the Oehocfdtlc parry, aSeAno0 WIG
good name of Mr.. and Mrs. Blaine is now be-
fore the grand jury of the country for adjudi-
cation. The Sentinel's infamous allegations
have been answered without equivocation,
and its interrogatories ruled against by the
court have voluntarily been answered seri-
atm. What more remainsf It remains
for the American people to say to the
world whether such dastardly assaults shall
be made the rule of action as an Offset to the
publication of admitted immoralities on the
part Of man called freshly from undenied
iaisons to become the candidate for the high
est post of honor in the land. The shame
that has been allowed to rest undenied upon
the Democratic candidate is a-shame that
rests upon all the people, for none can escape
it. Good men, Of whatever political bias,
have hoped that the charge against Mr..
Cleveland might be proved unfounded-
the outcome of partisan bitterness Of feeling
within the Democratic party, for there it orig
lHdU0Q-Dul W udfS 1GCOu1OSoO0 c4O
is a humiliation to which the American pub
lie has never before been subjected The Of
tense of the Rochester Union (Democratic) in
publishing the story about the immoralities
Of the then prospective Democratic nominee,
was in publishing truths 50 reprehensible that
the Nation was disgraced by the revelation
that such things could be truthfully affirmed
Of a man chosen by great political party to
represent american manhood and honor.
The Sentiners offense is very different from
that of the Union. Both are Democratic
papers, and both anxious to aid in the cleo
ton of a Democrat to the presidency. The
Union, three weeks before the as
sembling of the Democratic conven-
ton, exposed Cleveland's record, hop
ing thereby to defeat his nomination and
save the party from assuming the burden of
such candidate The Sentinel gave publica-
ton to the libel on Mr.. Blaine and his wife as
desperate attempt to counterfeit the inevita-
BILE effect Of the revelations made against
Cleveland, and which have since been repeat
eddy admitted to be true Mr.. Cleveland
maintained absolute silence as to the truth or
untruth Of the charges made against him; Mr..
Blaine at once pronounced the SentineIs hor-
rible libel utterly and abominably false.
His sworn answer to the impu-
dent interrogatories made by the SEN
tinel sustains his unqualified denial,
and the respectable world is glad to accept his
declarations as true. Every honorable man
and every virtuous woman in the Nation is
personally interested in this question. 1t
does not, cannot, stop at the domestic Preside
Of the Republican candidate, but threatens in
like manner the wives and mothers in every
house in the land. If this infamy goes un-
punished, what assurance have the people
that the next Republican candidate will not
be assaulted and his home outraged by the
same papers and party that are to-day waging
warfare on one of the noblest wives and
mothers in the land9 A better appreciation
Of this outrageous onslaught on the good
name Of Mr. Blaine and his wife could be had
were we able to view it from the outside
What would Americans think of the papers
opposed to Mr.. Gladstone of Mr.. Grevy, if
they should so far debase themselves as to
falsely accuse either of having had criminal
relations with his wife prior to marriage, and
consented to make PREPARATION only when
threatened with personal violencei What,
then, must be the estimate placed upon
American civilization and American decency
by those people that are to-day watching the
outcome Of the present political STRUGGLED
The fair fame Of the country is at stake in this
issue, raised by the Democratic party for no
other purpose than to divert attention
from the personal record of Grover Cleveland,
as revealed by Democratic paper, confirmed
by Democratic evidence, and confessed by
every Democrat in the Nation. This viper Of
calumny and Islander must be killed at once,
which can best be done by placing the heel Of
this great Nation on its treacherous head with
such force as to forever crush the life out Of
1t. If for no other reason--and there are
Others, good and sufficient Mr.. Blaine should
be given an Unprecedented majority. The
right kind of start has been made in his own
State, and everything indicates that the tide
Of righteous indignation will rise higher
and still higher as time passes, and
the malignancy of Democratic slanderers
becomes more apparent. Let the supreme
court Of the people pass upon this crime
against the American home and American
wifehood and motherhood The processes Of