The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1884-08-25

ing to have his recommendation subjected
to the same test more vigorously applied
The Sunday Herald calls attention to q
phase of this business which merits consid-
GRAFTON. Its claim is that these boilers of
the nomination of Mr.. Reed take the same
ground in theif reasoning with the Repub-
licans who bolt the nomination of Mr..
Blaine, and accuses them, or some of them,
with palpabe and strange Inconsistency
in boiling Mr.. Reeds nomination on the
ground that be does not satisfy them on the
issue of civil service reform, and supporting
the nomination of Mr.. Blaine. They may
settle the question of consistency with the
Herald but there are other matters wherein
the parallel between their course aud that of
some boilers of the National nominations is
very conspicuous, and it is to these that we
wish here to call the attention of the Repub-
licans of the District.
Most Maine Republicans think that the
course of Mr.. George William Curtis in re-
fusing to support the nominations of the
national convention to which he was a dele
gate, after he had full opportunity to present
his views, because his views were rejected
by the majority is questionable in houor :
and those who do not question his personal
honor have little respect for his practical
wisdom in supposing, be can advance the
reforms of which he has been distinguished
advocate by electing the nominees of the
Democratic party rather than those of the
Republican party. How in what resp ct is bis
course different from that of the Brunswick
| gentlemen who were members OF the con-
ven,ion that nominated Mr.. Reed and have
bolted the nomination. They were treated
with every courtesy by their fellow Repub-
licans in the convention. They were heard
with all patience, even when their impu-
tation of dishonorable motives, and. their
bitterness of temper were quite offensive to
many. Does it not occur to them that
possibly they may exaggerate the justice of
their hostility to Mr.. Reed when after a full
hearing, no reply being made, not one man
in that large convention was convinced of
the reasonableness of their representation,
but every one except the members of the
| Brunswick and Harpswell delegations, who
were committed before they entered the hall,
was still of the opinion that our Congress
man done nothing to forfeit the confidence Of
| his constituents?
They stayed in the convention, as Mr..
Curtis did, until the end participating in its
proceedings. Indeed, some of them have
| ap, cared in subsequent convention. Free
as they have been to question the honor and
sincerity of others they have been treated
with scrnpulous respect. They had made
| their protest against the nomination. No
body questions their right 10 differ from the
majority in opinion. Nobody would be dis
posed to seriously quarrel with such of them
| as in Difference to personal convictions or
scruples refrained from voting for Mr.. Reed
| although that action would be regretted.
But when they orgauize to oppose and defeat
the fair, free, deliberate nomination of the
convention of which they were members,
the action which excepting the IL votes of
delegates committed in advanced was unau-
imous when they engage in active support
| of the Democratic candidate and issue
public appeals in his behalf, they cannot
expect that Republicans who seek the
triumph of Republican principles more
earnestly than the qualification of personal
feeling will be able to distinguish any es-
senial difference between their attitude and
that of Mr.. Curtis. They appear to be
equally as mistaken and inconsiderate of the
real significance and effect of their course
as he is. Their success would be the worst
disaster to the causes they claim to be serv-