The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1884-10-11


5oose the right man, while Z large I
'ody of the most upright and highly j
men were making mistake.
This might happen, | suppose, though
cannot recall a single instance of the
Kind in human history. The character
of the men who have lent support to
the nominees opposed to their parties is
a pretty safe surface Indication.
| will not discuss The specific charges
against Mr.. Blaine. TIE evidence of
the Mulligan letters is 50 conclnsiv {
that there IS danger Of their being
too much dwelt upon. The main
mountain Of objection to Mr. Blaine is
not that in this one instance he cor
ruptly offered to sell himself, but that
his whole career is off the same piece;
that his general reputation for trieki-
ness and self-seeking renders him unfit
for the highest office. am told, how
ever that he las had great experience
and is exceedingly clever With both
of these qualifications | am willing to
give him credit. Few men have bad
such large opportunities to serve their
country in high position duting a crit
.,o,.ioI o,,1 fauo, e,,,ob .b,
have failed so completely to render their
country any conspicuous service. |
cannot recall that as Congressman,
Speaker, Senator or Secretary of State,
Mr.. Blaine has lent signal assistance
in settling any grave question. One
of the most expert debaters that ever
stood on the floor Of eli her House, he
has madeno statesmanlike speech. His
audacious fuencv and ready repartee
have never been used, [ believe, for
anything higher than personal and
partisan ends. Mr.. Blaine, by this
time, knows all the ms and outs of
official life, and his career shows that
he knows better than any American
living how to turn those to his own ac-
count. To put him in charge of re
! formed civil service is like entrusting
a poultry yard to fox. 1t doesn't t
seem to make the poultry yard any
safer that the fox is a fox of large ex-
perience and unusual smartness
They have practice in China, I am
told, of putting the cleverest and most
distingpis she'd rogues on the police force.
But even the heather Chinese would
hardly carry the theory so far as to
raise venal politician to the highest
office in the land because of his ex-
pertness.
Pettifuggefs in the old West of my
bog yhood had method of securing the
escape of their clients in scandalous
cases by what they called ''blacksuar1-
| ing the cose out Of court tt consis-
ted in filing the air with so much un-
disguised indecency in counter charges
proven or unproven, that Judge and
jury were stiHed and blinded by dis
gust. This has been tried by the ad-
vocates of Mr.. Blaine, and not with
out some result I have met Il good
y many excellent men who declare theil
purpose either not to vote at all or tC
throw away their vote on Mr.. St. John
because sto.ies have been told to the
discredit of the private life Of both the
leading candidates. | could wish as
heartily as any one that the candidate:
and all our public men possessed al
those private and domestic virtues tha
go to make the model family man, o.
the saint. But combination of al
the public and all the private virtues il
one or natures difficult feats not fire.
quently attained. The arch Of the rain
bow, as Emerson puts it, is Eever com
plete Since then, we cannot have al
the good qualities, it becomes us, a
men of moderation and common sense
to choose the most important. Nov
to a woman selecting husband, th
domestic virtues ought to seem beyone
comparison to be the essential ones, bu
to an army III need of a chieftain th
military qualities only would be indis-
pen,ible. 70 a country electing a chic
magistrate, though exemplary priyat
morals ale desirable, the main question
is that of fitness for public service
It is of first Importance that MAJ
} should have those virtues that belon
to his function; that soldier shoult
he blave, that Il preacher should b
truthful, that railway engineer shou!c
be vigilant. Charles I. had all tn
family decencies" as Macaulay call
them. but he was n had kino and hat