St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-08-15
BLAINE'S FORTUNE.
How One Millionaire Made His Little
Pile.

How One Millionaire Made His Little
Pile.
The Smart Maine Politician as His Neighbors
Know Him.
Augusta, Me-, Correspondence of the Spring
field, Mass, Republican.
When man cuts a great figure in the
world it is always interesting to know what
his intimate acquaintances and neighbors-
the persons who know him in obscurity and
have watched his rise in the world-think
and say about him; whethersthey respect or
distrust him; whether they speak well or I'LL
OF him. This is the home of James q. Blaine,
the favorite Presidential candidate of vast
body OF American citizens, and there are few
men of whom SO much that is of interest
might be written from his own neighbor-
hood. Many facts in his remarkable career
are still unknown except to those who reside
here. MIR. Blaine has lived here for twenty
five years. Born in Pennsylvania in 1880.
his first occupation in life after he graduated
from college WAS that of a school eacher.
lie found employment in Frankfort, KY,
and 1t was perhaps the hand of fate which
directed the smart Augusta school-mistress,
Harriet Stanwood, to the same locality, and
made her the wife of a brilliant young peda-
gogue from Pennsylvania. They came here
to be married, and once here, he stayed.
But he did not continued school teacher.
Other opportunities soon opened to him. He
was roor, but he knew how to make friends.
| He joined the orthodox Congregational
| church. The brothers of his wife were strong
| and successful men. There was political
revolution in the state contemporaneous
with his arrival The old Democratic party,
which had held the state so long, was dispos-
sessed, and the friends of freedom and tenn
perance obtained control. Mr.. Blaine natur-
ally drifted into politics and journalism.
The possession of the state printing made
the Kennebec Journal valuable property,
and John L. Stevens, now United States
minister to Sweden, made Blaine his editorial
assistant and partner. They lost the state
printing in 1856, but gained it again in
1857, and prospered in a modest way. The
Journal was an ''organ' and Blaine soon had
political acquaintance that extended all
over the state But the field was narrow
one, and Mr.. Blaine being in needy circum-
stances, he secured an engagement as an
editorial writer on the Portland Duly Aduer
tSer. His salary was $1,000 year, which
barely enabled him to support his family. AT
the end of the year he asked for 81, 200. The
proprietor could not or would not make the
increase, and Mr.. Blaine came back to Au-
gusta He sought office. His ambition and
his talent carried him into the lower branch
of the state legislature in 1859. He began
to assume prominence in the party councils.
He developed skill as a party manager. His
first opportunities for leadership were found
in the exciting period that preceded the out
break OF the war. He was from the first a
| spirited and efficient party man, but when
the question of declaring the purposes of the
Republican party toward the already rebel
| lious south arose in 1851, Mr.. Blaine went
! with those who thought it unwise to say to
| the south that if war wasl commenced
stoutly opposed any threats toward the south
| or any proclamation that slavery must be ex-
| tinguished. He was not then a stalwart.
| The course Of the south soon took. from the
minds of the northern people all questions
Of political policy. Mr.. Blaine was three
times reelected to the legislature, his talents
were recognized, and he easily won the office
of Speaker, which he held in 1861 and 1862.
| But Mr.. Blaine was no mere politician.
| He was man with the keenest possible ap-
| probation of the power of wealth, and few
| men have possessed q shrewder perception
Of how money is to be made. 1t has often
| been said here that if Mr.. Blaine had devoted
himself wholly to business, instead of to
| politics. he would have been one of the rich
est men in the country. AS it Is, he is q
| millionaire. 1t has sometimes been charged
| against Mr.. Blaine that he made himself rich
| in congress 1t is not true. His friends
| here testify that he was rich long before he
| went to congress, for he did not enter the
| house of representatives until 1868. When
the war period opened with its revolution in
prices and its vast opportunities for specula-
| ton, there was probably no man in the State
of Maine who more clearly perceived the
avenues to wealth, then opening, than James
| g. Blaine. Possessing remarkable natural
power for organization and combination,
| great business sagacity and love for adven-
ture, Mr.. Blaine not only seized upon the OPP
| portunities that came; he created opportuni-
| ties. Mr.. Lincoln had put Simon Cameron
at the head Of the war department and Mr.
Cameron had made Thomas A. Scott his
trusty assistant Mr. Blaine was Pennsyl
no Arcf hat he
could obtain favors at the war department.
department, nobody needs to be told, where
all things went by favors. Mr.. Blaine was
speaker in the house of representatives in
Maine, and as captivating then as now He
instantly turned to valuable account the in
formation and the favors which he was able
to obtain in Washington. One of his first
operations was the collection from the wal
department of a large sum Of money for the
Maine Central Railroad Com pany. 1t will be
remembered that at the outbreak of the war
and the grand uprising OF the patriotic North,
1t was felt to be almost wrong to ask COM
pensation from the government for the SER
vices that were so freely preferred. Men felt
like giving all they had to save it. The states
fitted out their own troops, and the railroad
companies offered to transport them to the
capital free OF charge. But this sort of thing
didn't last after the war actually opened.
The railroad companies were glad to be paid
for all the service rendered, even though they
had given 1t gratuitously in the first instance.
Mr.. Blaine discovered claim for $50, 900 for
the Maine Central, and he offered to collect
it. He was told that he could have 25 per
cent for the job, and he was speedily success
full. He pocketed S., 900 and purchased the
house and grounds, now enlarged and
adorned, where he has for nineteen years re-
sided. a similar claim for the Boston and
Maine Railroad Company was collected BY
him about the same time, and If the railroad
companies did not shine in the transaction,
Mr.. Blaine was at least made s10,0 richer