St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-08-14
ARRAIGNMENT OF Mr.. BLAINE.
Al the Bar Of Public Opinion
by Carl SchurZ.
AT BROOKLYN, n. Y, TUESDAY, AUG. 5.

invitation with which | have been
honored. stand here in behalf of re-
publcans opposing the presidential can
didates of the republican party. You
may well believe me when say that it
is no pleasure tO me to enter upon a
| campaign like this. But candid state
ment of our reasons for the step we
have taken is due to those whose COM
panionship in the pending contest we
have left. 1t is therefore to republi-
cans that address myself. shall, of
course, not waste any words upon poll
ticians who follow the name of the
party, right or wrong; but to the men
of reason and conscience will appeal,
who loved their party for the good
ends il was serving, and who were
faithful to it in the same measures as it
was faithful to the honor and the true
interests of the republic. Let them
hear me, and then decide whether the
same fidelity will not irresistihly lead
them where we stand now.
At the threshold | have to meet IL
misapprehcnsiOn of our motives. 1t
has been said, and, | suppose, believed
by some, that we were dissatisfied
with the republican party because its
present candidates were protectioniSts
| This is easily answered. Is Senator
| Edmunds of Vermont Il free trader ?
On the contrary, he is well known to
he us strong il protectiOnist as any
member of the senate. And who
among the candidates before the re-
publican national convention was the
! {: vorite of the same "independent re
publicans'' now opposing the republi-
can nominations ? The same Senator
Edmunds. Why was he their favorite?
Because he was thoroughly trusted as
an honest man who could be depended
upon to be faithful to those moral
principals and political methods the
observance of which would make and
keep the government honest. There
was the decisive point. We should
have supported other republican can
didates even of less prominence and of
less ability than Mr.. Edmunds pos
Sesses, no matter whether they were
us strong protectionists as he, provided
they satisfied that one fundamental
requirement of unimpeachable, posi-
tive and active integrity. This is Il
fact universally known which no can
did man will question. What, then,
motives of our opposition Nothing
at all. And if any of those to whom
these presents may come still assert
that the tariff is the moving cause of
our action, they convict themselves of
being afraid of the real reason which
govern us, and of seeking artfully to
deceive the people about them. So
far, 1t may have been Il mistake; now
|
tariff is an interesting and important
subject; so is the currency so is the
bank question; so is the Mormon Ques-
ton so are many others At other
times they might absorb our attention.
But this time the republican national
convention has, with brutal directness,
so that we must face it whether we
will or not, forced upon the country
another issue, which is infinitely more
important, because it touches the Vi
tality of our institutions. 1t is the
question of honesty in government.
, say the republican convention has
forced it upon the country, not by
platform declarations, but by nominal
ing for the presidency man with a
blemished public record. Understand
me fully. The question is not merely
whether Mr.. Blaine, if elected, not
withstanding his past career, would ol
would not give the country com
paratively honest administration. The
question is much larger than that. II
is whether the public record of the
republican candidate is not such as tC
make his election by the American
people equivalent to declaration OF
, their part that honesty will no Longer
he one of the requirements of the gov
ernment of the republic. 1t is whether
such declaration will not have tn,
inevitable effect of sinking the govern
ment for generations to come, perhaps
n forever, into Il depth of decentralization
Il and corruption such as we have never
dreamed of before. If this is reall,
the issue of the pending campaign
tleI you will admit it to be the mos
momentOus that has been upon u
j. since the civil war; nay, as mOmentou
: us any involved in the civil war itself
Above all, let us he sure of the facts
Is the public character and record o
the republican candidate really sucl
that his election would produce re
suits of greater consequence to tn,
future of the republic than the decision
one way or the other of any poltica
question now pending? Some of Mr.
Blaine's friends assert that he is
much abused and illuminated man
= that certain charges have been trumpe,
up against him and exploded tha
INSCRIPTIONS eI emies are persecutin;
him with accusations of Il vague an,
indefinite nature, using against hin
the insidious weapons of hint, insinua
nd ln
wrong. Mr.. Blaine has clear righ
to demand the facts. The citizen
who are asked to vote against him OF
the ground of his character and recor,
have IA right to demand the facts. Am
if, indeed. others have been vague i
their statements OIL subject so i'm
portant to the people at this time
nobody shall have any reason to com
plain of a want or raighttOrwardnes
on my part. Nothing could be NOR
distastetul to me than to discuss tn
personal conduct of public man. Bu
it has been forced upon us as publi
duty, which, however disagreeabl,
must be performed. shall certainl
not abuse Mr.. Blaine. | shall not eve
make charge against him which h
has not made against himself. YO
shall have his own words, taken fro
the official records of congress, b
which to Judge him.
shall leave aside all other accus:
tions brought by others, however we
authenticated or plausible, and confir
myself to
ONE REPRESENTATIVE AND sDfPI
Il CASE.
1t is a somewhat tedious story.
May and June, 1876, an investigate
was made by a committee of the n
tiOnal House of Representatives in