Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1884-10-17
Buccaneers Brought to Bay.


present canvass. The country was promised,
after Baine's nomination, that his would be |
an aggressive campaign. All the splendid |
abilities Of the magnetic man from Maine
were TO be put forth, the dazZled Democrats
were to be swept away, while the poor,
terr0r-stricken Independents were TO be COM
PEELED TO "hide their diminished heads" If
aggressiveness consist in vile SANDER, if ag
gressiveness be brutal abuse, then, indeed,
the boastful promises of our opponents have
been in part redeemed For the mud bat
teries have been served with untiring energy,
day and night the smut mills have ground
out their loathsome portion, the voice OF the
liar has been heard in our land, nor have
the hands of the forger been idle. Fiendish
malignity has done its worst. But the gross
calumnies have recoiled upon their base
authors. Panoplied IN integrity, Grover
Cleveland has stood unscathed amid a
shower of poisoned arrows.
While the Republican bosses were thus
working like galley-slaves to blacken the
character and blast the hopes Of an upright
man who had been granite piller against
the surging waves Of political corruption,
the foul record Of their own chosen leader
was unearthed and spread out before an alb
horrent people. Proof positive was brought
to convict him of heinous offenses. Not
with the words of scurrilous parsons, not
with the filthy charges of scandal-mongers
was he assailed, but by the letters he him
self had penned by the speeches he him
self had made, his guilt was shown. Friends
pleaded for him, partisans tried to excuse
him, but their labored explanations did not
explain. The country began to turn in dis
gust from so dangerous candidate. Wise
and conscientious men Of his own party de-
nounced him and flocked to the standard of
the Democracy. Dismay seized upon the
Republican party. Defeat stared it in the
face. Something must be done What?
The fertile brain Of the tattooed politician
teemed with willy tricks. An Indiana paper
had foolishly published some slanderous
stories about Mr.. Blaine'e marriage This
gave him the coveted opportunity Of posing
before the people as an injured innocent
He thoroughly understands scenic effect
In his usual dramatic style, he sent blus-
tering telegram ordering suit TO be immedi-
atey instituted against the offending jour
nal. After while came the second batch
of Mulligan letters, and Mr. Blaine, fearing
the terrible effects of these dread witnesses,
wrote a pathetic letter to certain puppet-
sh friend, recitng the history of the mar
riage. This was totally unnecessy, since no
Democrat ever doubted the honor of Mrs
Blaine. 1t was simply an attempt to hood
wink the people and gain sympathy. The
following comment of the C0rrier Journal,
though severe, is just: "The whole sensation
is gotten up for political effect, primarily to
break the force Of the Fisher correspondence,
and is despicabe trading upon a subject
which a man of real integrity and feeling
would shrink from with horror"
The next great piece of campaign strategy
| tho plaunptininp tnnr fhrouUh nhin
Well supplied with cash from the plethoric
pockets Of Gould, Sage, Huntington, and
other tried friends of the workingman, the
crafty caravan, with hippodrome attached,
took up its march for the West. Blaine
sometimes acted the part Of Jumbo, some
times he RECALLED his hearers with praises of
the scenery surrounding them. AT each
place he sang his little song,
''Oh if there be an elysium on earth
II is this, it is thisp
When Ohio was reached, the patriots began
TO employ the same good old methods so
effectually used In the Ho0ser State in 1880.
No machination has been too base Among
ether abuses, the Pension Bureau has been
converted into means of bribing and
coercing voters and some of its employees,
lead by their chief, Commissioner Dudley, are
drawing large salaries, not for transacting
the business of the people, but for partisan
work, | am writing now some days before
the election, but if the Republicans do not
succeed 1t will not be because every device,
honest or dishonest, beneath the sun has not
been tried.
The most colossal piece of insolence de-
veloped by this contest was, however, still
to come. When the Republican National
Committee established headquarters at Nash
| villa npt 1 thav iaanad ., tabd louu ., m
for the votes of Southern men, Mr.. Blaines
friends, with unblushing effrontery, had al
ready made bid for the support Of Irish
Americans by protesting deep affection for
all things Irish, and announcing his will
ingness TO assume the lofty office Of tail
twster to the British lion. They hoped, no
doubt, that Irish Americans no longer re-
member the misery endured by their coun-
trymen who, though guiltess, languished
for months in British dungeons, because of
the criminal neglect of Mr. Secretary Blaine.
But the men who have themselves felt the
mailed hand of England's tyranny had not
forgotten that the dearest rights of Ameri-
can citizenship were violated, that our flag
was trampled in the dust, and that the proud
and earnest appeal Of an American citizen
to his government was treated with indif-
ference and contempt. Some idea of the
torture suffered by the imprisoned "sus-
poets" may be obtained from reading this
extract from letter 10 his daughter, dated
December ~, 1881, written by Daniel Nc
Sweeney, while in Dundalk fail;
"MY DEAR MAMIE: You must excuse me
for not answering your last two letters
sooner. Since winter set In | was unable,
owing to severe cold in this dungeon, to sit
still long enough TO write even few lines.
| I hav Ia IN n n mi naIl ui In,
my narrow space 10 keep from freezing You
must know how dreadful il is TO be locked
up eighteen hours a day in this cold, damp
climate, without any fire, and, worse still,
we are compelled To stand or walk about
daily for five hours in the open air, in u
damp muddy yard, ankle deep in water
and then retire 10 our cold cells, trembling
with cold. II requires strong constitution
to stand it long | fear many of our brave
fellows will succumb before the winter is
over AS was only sentenced for sixteen
months, thought at first | might live il
out; but you know was in delicate health
when was arrested, being barely able 10
move about after severe attack of sick
ness"
Irishmen may well cry "God save Ire
land" from such friends as Jas. c. Blaine
The versatile candidate wooed the sturdy
Germans too. But unfortunately for him
the Germans are distinguished for their love
of honesty and integrity. They could not
therefore, support the man that went down
on his knees to Mulligan, and begged him
with tears, even threatening suicide, fol
mercy
Then the brilliant Blaine took off his hal
10 the Prohibitionists, asking them tor casI
their ballots this time for the G. 0. p. Hi.
henchmen recounted the mighty blows that
he had struck for prohibition. Yet when d
chance was presented for him TO show his
coors, he dared not oote for either side
Surely he rivals the "Artful Dodger." MOI
are the Republican managers any better
They are for free water in Maine, and fol
free beer in Ohio
Bafiled in his ther attempts 10 inyeigle
voters, the great American ballot beggar now
appeals 10 the South. He, forsooth, who in
the halls of Congress was wont to fiaunt
the "bloody shirt in the faces of brave sol.
ders that had fought and bled for their con
victions, now makes obeisance low, and in
humble tones implores favors at their hands.
While this LIblf1H 1ip1nf ig hainp arto1 Tho