Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-10-01
A REVIEW OF THE LETTERS.
The Correspondence Demonstrates Blaine's
Innocence of ANY Wrong Doing.


Innocence of Any Wrong Doing.
The New York Tribune, commenting on the
new batch of Mulligan letters, says:
Malice has overreached itself at last The
new letters published for the purpose OF injur-
ing Mr.. Blaine go far to vindicate him. When
Mulligan and Fisher ransacked their CORE
Bpondence eight years ago for material to black
en- Mr.. Blaines reputation, their cold and de-
HDerate malice rejected the letters now pub
llshed. Ii there were then in their hands any
which could have done him harm, we may be
sure those would have been produced. But the
letters now printed, though they contain no
new charge nor scrap of evidence that tends
TO sustain any old charge, do contain much that
is OF the greatest value to Mr. Blaine. For that
. reason his accusers when cool were shrewd
enough to suppress them. But now they see
public opinion moving forward with resistless
sweep toward Mr. Blaine's election; they are
, maddened ana desI crate, they hunt their
pigeon-hoes again for the dregs of ancient
scandal and in their fury they brand them
selves with falsehood, and for the first time
disclose the true character of the transactions
between Mr.. Blaine and Mr.. Fisher.
The new publication embraces that very let
ter OF Oct. "a 1871, which Mr.. Blaine has for
eight years been accused of suppressing. AS
the Sun showed with great clearness, the Oft
reiterated charge was reduced at last to this one
letter which was namedin Mulligans memoTan-
dun, but which Mr. Blaine declared was not in
the package received and publicly read by him.
Continually the Times, the Post, and other
papers have repeated that Mr.. Blaine lied and
had deliberately suppressed this letter Yet
the Numbering rage of his baffied accusers
produces it from their own stock and makes one
thing clear. For eight years Mulligan has seen
9ir Blaine falsely accused of suppressing this
lister and has known all the time that the
charge false, because Ire held in his possess
sion the proof. Yet he has kept back that proof
and silently allowed the lie to go on dol ng it's
dishonest work, and thus has made that lie his
own to blacken the character of Mr.. Blaine. In
the light of this fact who should now be be-
lie ed, Mr.. Blaine, who told the truth, or his
acCusers, self convicted of falsehood? And why
IA nc lpttQr cI1ToI1rpGGnHp
bow proves, Fisher and Caldwell had failed to
make good the pledges upon which Mr.. Blaine
had borrowed $4,000 for their benefit
THE great fact which the new letters eStal1-
Hsh is that Mr.. Blaine was the victim of Warren
Fisher, deceived by him from the start, induced
to involve himself and his friends in an under
taking in which they all suffered, crippled by
the refusal of Fisher to keep his word, persuaded
when disaster came to borrow money for the
ENTERPRISE upon his personal credit and finally
lett in the lurCh by his prOfeSSed friend, who
reasoned that Mr. Blaine, being a public man,
could never afford to demand what was justly
due him, for fear of scandal. The letters of
June, 1869, previously published, pCsVe that
Fisher then made a proposition to Mr.. Blaine
which he hesitated to accept, uncertain whether
i might involve larger resources than be could
command. The new letters OF Oct. and show
what has been evident all along, that he had
closed the arrangement with Fisher to take from
him certain bonds in order to raise money for
the enterprise, and that he did not prove a
'deadhead.' but performed his part to the letter.
He not only took bonds and placed them to lift
the enterprise over obstacles, but had disposed
or S125, 900 before the letter was written making
mention of his ruling in Congress. Thus he
has been UNANIMOUSLY slandered all this time by
tie charge that he referred to his ruling in
order to get into the concert. He was in it
already, as the new letters prove, and had placed
all the bonds he was expected to place.
But these new letters also prove that
privacy about that negotiation was urged, not
by him. but by Fisher, who was at that time
negotiating with Caldwell 1t may be in
ferred that Fisher did not then want Caldwell to
know that the enterprise had been in such
straits. He it was who wrote about the inn
portance OF keeping all quiet and to him Mr..
Blaine wrote, No one will ever know from me
that have disposed Of a single dollar in Maine,
30 there need be no embarrassment in talking
with Mr.. Caldwell There was not a thing in
the transaction of which Mr.. Blaine had reason
to be ashamed. He had taken at his own risk a
block OF securities, and by his personal credit
md reputation with friends had placed them,
,cceiving, as both Fisher and Mulligan admit
fed. the average rate of percentage that others
deceived. Thus, May 81, 1876, Warren Fisher,
IL, testified Misc. doc 176, pages SO and 89):
"Question-Was any other bonus besides
flock ever given in the purchase OF these bonds?
Answer-No, sir
"Q.-Were not land-grant bonds sometimes
given? 40, yes; if sold $4,000 of these first
mortgage bonds I would also give as bonus
100000 of land grant bonds, $4,000 common
stock. and $4,000 of the preferred stock.
$50 that in a sale OF $4,000 Of these bonds
there was really transfer of $4,000 mortgage
bonds, $4,000 Immigrant bonds $4,000 pre-
Ierred stock, and $4,000 common stock? A
Yes
"Q.-Making transfer of $4,000 instead Of
S100 900? A.-Yes, sir.
May 81, 1876 James Mulligan testified. Mis-
cellaneous document 176, page 94.)
"Question-Do you know of any other sale
than the one to Mr. Blaine) of the bonds of that
company? Answer-Yes.
"Question-Were the other sales made on the
same terms as this sale? Answer-No, sir. Quite
different
"Question-Was the percentage which was
realized by Mr.. Fisher on those other sales diff
ferent from that realized on this sale? Answer
1t averaged about the same
Afterward what? A long gap in the COR
respondence. Even now it is evident. Fisher
and Mulligan still hold other letters which they
dare not publish but deliberately suppress, be-
cause 1t this and other points in the history the
whole truth would Yindicate Mr.. Blaine COM
pletely. But in December, 1870 it appears that
Mr. Blaine was trying to borrow money for
FISHER and Caldwell to help them through, and
ao the same time appealing in vain for the bonds
promised by Fisher to him and by him to his
TRENDS who had purchased. AS he states, Dec.
~, Mr. Blaine did borrow on his individual
Deg IN vain for good notes for the S25, 000, and
Tor the $4,000 bonds which were made by
yourself and Mr.. Caldwell the express basis of
the 1000 loan. Thus entrapped by a de-
nberate breach of faitn he SAYS: Its personal
hardsh1ps to- me are bitter and burning, and hu-
initiating in the last degree. Yet Fisher and
Caldwell left him to bear the loss. note fell due
March land he was compelled to meetit. Another
came in April and he wrote 1t is no more
my debt than the debt of President Grant or
Queen Victoria, and / cannot believe that you