The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-06-07
THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEES.
Points About the Candidates for Presi-
dent and Vice-President.
Incidents in the Lives of Two Men Who Have
Won Their Way to the Highest Point
Of Political Preferment.
JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE.
Sketch of the Career of the Nominee for the
Presidency.

Presidency.
| Compiled from Various Sources.
On the 31st of january, 1880, at West Browns
vile, Pa, James Gillespie Blaine born. The old
farmhouse where he first opened his eyes is still
standing. Local history asserts that the Gillespie
farm house the first stone house built on the west
side of the Monongahea river The great-grand-
father of Mr.. Blaine commissarygeneral of the
northern department of Washington's army, and the
heroic exertons of Colonel Blaine with the sacrifice
of his fortune and his persistent supplicatons
for contributions from his friends alone hept the
tinental army from starvation during the terrible
winter at Valley Forge In 1918 Mr.. Blaine's father
the possssor of the largest landed estate in west
ern Pennslyavania estate comprising not only
| goodly portion of the land which stands the
city of Pttsburg, but which included endless timber
tracts and coal tracts of incaculable value Vicssi
tudes compelled the family to dispose of the buk of
these possessions, pecemea; but the remnant owned
by Mr. Blaine though but the merest fraction in the
matter of area, compared to that which his father
held fifty years ago. is nevertheless of value immeas
urably greater than was the whole estate half
| fury SINCE
AT the age of eleven young Blaine sent, for the
advantages of better tuition to Lancaster o. where
he lived in the family of his knsman Thomas Ewing,
at that time Secretary of the Treasury His cousin,
| tom" Ewing his cassmate and both were under
the tuition of Mr.. William Lyons, brother of the
elder Lord Lyons and uncle of the present minister
to France. AT the age of eighteen Mr.. Blaine gfadu-
ated at Washington College. Pennsylvania and imme-
diately after went West again into Ohio, and began
to instruct others. Cupid minglng his arts with the
| teaching and Mr.. Blaine becoming the husband of
young lady teacher in the educational establish
ment with himself the pair resolved to return to the
home State of the young wife, Maine Here he be-
came editor of newspapers-frst of the Kennebec
Journal next of the Portland Advertiser Elected to
| the State Legislature of MAINE in 1858, since that
date Mr.. Blaine has been increasingly engaged in the
political of his country Whether State egs-
ator, national representative Speaker of the House.
senator, or Secretary of State Mr.. Blaine has ever
shown himself to be a man of marvellous powers and
one of the finest types of American statesmen
IN CONGRESS AND THE CABINET.
| In 1862 Mr. Blaine elected to Congress. Dur
ing his first term he gave himself up to study and
observation, but in the next Congress- the Thirty
ninth, he gained prominence, and from that time
to the end of his congressional he occupied
| foremost place among the Republican leaders Mr.
Blaine made many speeches during the period of
struction which attracted great deal of attention and
spread his fame orator In the Forty first Forty
second and Forty third Congresses he was elected
Speaker of the House by the Republicans. 1t has been
said that no man since Clay's speakership presided
with such absolute familiarity with the rules of the
House. His knowledge of parliamentary law was in
stinctve and complete and his administration of it
fair that both sides of the House applauded his i'm
! partially He managed that most turbulent of all
| legislative bodies with an iron hand.
| The prominence which his course in Congress and
his three terms as Speaker had given him seemed to
make Mr.. Blaine very formidable candidate for the
presidential nomination His friends legion, and
he would have been blind, indeed if he had not seen
the drift of public opinion in his party That this was
| pleasing to him cannot be doubted.
| In June, 1876 Mr. Blaine appointed by the
Governor of Maine to fill the vacancy in the Senate
caused by the resignation of Lot NJ Morrill, who had
been made Secretary of the Treasury. On the meet
| ing of the Maine Legislature in January, 1877, Mr..
Blaine promptly elected for the full term ending
March A. 1888. In the Senate he took part in many
debates, but he appeared to be out of his element.
The dignity and decorum which characterize the Senate
seemed to Cypress him. He lost most of his old time
sensatonalism, and in time got he could discuss
political topics with his old-time antagonist,
Ben Hill then also senator, without much acrimony.
Between Garfield and Blaine there had long existed
a warm friendship, and the election of the former
to the presidency he rendered Blaine position in his
Cabinet Secretary of State Blaine had grown
weary of service in the Senate and this gave him an
opportunity to retire from that body and take
congenial place in the public service. Some idea of
the motives of Mr. Blaine in doing this may be gained
from the following extract from letter written by
him to General Garfield, accepting the appontmentsas
Secretary of State:
I'm our new relation shall give all that am and
all that hope to be freely and joyfully to your
service You need pledge of my loyalty in heart
and in act should be false to myself did not prove
true both to the great trust you conhde to me and to
your personal and political fortunes in the pres
emit and in the future. Your administration must be
made brilliantly successful and strong in the conf
dence and pride of the peope-not at all directing its
energies for reelection, but yet compelling that result
by the logic OF events, and by the mperq9ns neeess'
nation feel that next to yourself, can possibly con
tribute much influence as any other one man.
say this not from egotism or vaingory bat merely as
deduction from plain analysis of the political forces
which have been at work in the country for five years
past and which have been significantly shown in two
| great national conventions.
In thus allying himself with Garfield and merging
his political fortunes with those of the President
elect it will be that Mr.. Blaine abandoned for
the time his presidential aspirations On the inau-
| guration of Mr.. Garfield, Mr.. Blaine, who had
signed his position in the Senate launched out,
Secretary of State on vigorous foreign policy in
which, the newspaper correspondents declared, evil
IDENTIFY by authority the eagle to take the place of
| the owl During the few months between Garfelds
Inauguration and assassination the Secretary OF State
had embroiled the country with England by enthu-
siastc reasseron of the Monroe doctrine regards
the Panama canal and demand for the abrogation of
the Clayton Buwer treaty. 1t Mr.. Blaines idea
that the country demanded vigor in the conduct of its
foreign affairs. One of his dreams of glory the
practical confederation of all the republics of North
Central and South America under the protection of
the United States With this object in view, he is
sued call for congress of nations to be held in
Washington sending invitations to each of the petty
publcs of the Western hemisphere but the idea proved
unpopular with many of these governments and the
| scheme fell to the ground.
| Mr. Blaine was with President Garfield on that
beautiful July morning in 1881, whom the assassins
bullet brought to painful end so full of
promise and during the Presidents eighty days of