Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1884-09-18

cumstances; that Mr.. Blaine was then
a candidate for the Presidency that
the inquiry was instituted by his Dem
ocratic opponents, etc. Do you mean
to suggest that public man in high
station, whose official integrity is seri-
ously questioned, should accept and
facilitate investigation only by his
party friends2 You will certainly not
deny that Mr.. Blaine had strong
friends upon that committee. Bnt
public man of high sense Of honor,
rather than submit to continued sus-
picion, will invite investigation by
his opponents, not try to baffls it.
Feeling himselfinnocent he will throw
wide open the doors of knowledge,
the wider the better. He will not
fear the appearance Of suspicious cir
cumstances, for he will be ready and
eager to explain them. He will not
increase and justify suspicion by con-
cealment. Only the guilty will rest
under suspicion, because he fears ex-
posure and conviction. The charac-
ter Of the things Mr.. Blaine succeeded
in covering up we are left to infer
from the character of those which came
ont against his remonstrance, You
think George Washington would have
raved with anger il his private cor
respondence" had been inquired into
by committee of Tories? Neither
you nor know how that would have
been. But of one thing | am very
sure-in Washingtons "private cor
respondence" nothing would have been
found in the remotest degree resem-
bling the Mulligan letters.
6. You say that Mr.. Blaine's Of
fences have not been "condonsd," but
that he has been "triumphantly acquit-
ted !" that this has been done by the
Governor and Legislature of Maine
sending him to the Senate, by his APP
pointment to the Cabinet, and by his
nomination for the Presidency. Let
MS see. Did these events in the least
change the facts in Nj. Blanes re-
cord-2 Can it be said after these events
that Mr.. Blaine did not write the
Mulligan letters; that be did not make
the false statement before the-Eouse !;
that he did not protest and s;ruggie.
against inquiry into what he called
his "private business p OF course not.
Did they changel in any sense the
character Of those facts2 Certainly
not. What, then, did they effect ?
They showed only that some people
when they bestowed public honors
upon Mr. Blaine, either did notknow
those facts, or chose to overlook them
for party reasons, or regarded them
as compatible with the standard ac-
cording to which, in their opinion,
public honors should be bestowed.
But does this relieve other people of
their duty rs citizens to form q con-
scientious judgment upon these same
things, and to vote accordingly |
wonder whether you would apply your
triumphant acquittal rule with equal
readiness to other cases. | am in
formed that your opinion of Gen. Butler
has long been quite unfavorable. Gen..
Butler was elected to the governor
ship Of Massachusetts, two years ago.
He has been nominated for the Pres
idency by the Greenbackers and Anti
Monopolists. Did that change in any
way the facts constituting his record?
Did it change your opinion Of those
facts2 We're that election and these
nominations, in your opinion, a "tri-
ulnphant acquittal2' The mere state
ment Of the proposition is sufficient to
show the absurdity Of it.
AS TO Mr. Blaine's case, the gener-
atty of American citizens are now for
the first time called upon to declare
whether his public record is regarded
by them as compatible with the stan
dard according to which the Ameri-
can people are willing to bestow the
highest honor and trust in this repub-
lie. IfLhe American people declare
that it is, then our public men, great
and small, will have learned that they
may work in their various channels
OF usefulness" to make themselves
rich, with the same spirit of enter
prise and the same brilliant audacity
in the handling of facts which they
will have been taught to admire in
the model set up for them, without
fear Of endangering their preferment
to the highest places. What the con-
sequent effects Of this upon the future
of the republic are likely to be | have
endeavored to set forth in my Brook
lyn speech. OF the effect which Mr..
Blaine's mere nomination has already
produced, your way of defending him
furnishes, | regret to say, an instruc-
tive example.
7. You are greatly mistaken when
you take it for granted that what
Mr.. Schurz has not said in this speech
against the personal honesty Of Mr..
Blaine is not worth saying" There
are many more facts in Mr.. Blaines
record which just begin to form the
subject Of popular discussion and
which may in a most urgent manner
call for your attention before the end
Of this campaign. | confined myself
carefully to a few representative
points which rested upon Mr.. Blaine's
own letters, speeches and oral testi-
mony alone. Neither can | accept
the compliment that my Brooklyn
speech is an unusual exhibition Of
"cIear and skillful statement What
ever strength that speech possesses