The Portland daily press., 1884-08-27
MR.. BLAINE's RECORD.
Senator Hoar Reviews Carl
Schurz's Speech
AND POINTS OUT HIS MANY MIS-
TAKEN AND WRONG CON
ILLUSIONS.

My Dear Young Friend: l have received your
kind and excellent letter. With what you say of
the right and duty of every citizen to obey the die
tate or his individual conscience and Judgment in
casting his vote. fully agree If the principles of
party be injurious to the public welfare if the
party Of its candidate be corrupt we ought to leave
it. Indeed, it can easily be shown that the atti-
tude Of the party calling itself independent SUCH
at this moment, that every honest and conscien-
tious man in it onght to bolt and come over to
u.s.
You ask me If have read Mr.. Schurz's speech,
and what l think of it. 1 have read it carefully.
Mr.. Schurz is a very able man. His ability con-
sists in his power of clear and sklful statement.
He has shown his peculiar Sail more conspic-
uously than IN this speech Mr Blaine is to be con
graduated that his ablest Antagonist has put Ogeth
or the case against him where it be met and
countered. We may take IL for granted that what
Mr.. Schurz has not said in this speech against the
personal honesty of Mr.. Blaine is not worth saying
Other stories. more or less plausible occasion
ally seen in the papers, which slight investigation
and consideration easily retutes. But what Mr..
Schurz has not thought worth indorsng, it cannot
be very important to answer.
Mr.. Blaine was speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives six years. 1t is not pretended that lie
ever made dishonest ruling or even erroneous
ruling. He was member OF the House and Senate
for 10 years. No man brings against him The
charge Of dishonest vote. In looking back over
that record crowded with great history and bril-
liant achievement, do you find ANYTHING for which
you or he need blush? was a member of the Judi
ciary commi tee before whom the famous investi-
CATION was he d in 1876. That testimony was tax.
en- by sub-com mittee, of which | was not one. But
questions were several times brought before the
tull committee on appeal. j heard Mr.. Baine's
explanation in the House, and Of couse familiar
with the whole matter. Mr.. SchurZs adroit and
skilful speech has failed to change the opinion
then formed that the case against Mr.. Blaine who'll
ly fails. have no fear of the Judgment Of any
candid man who will take Mr. Schuez's indictment
and Mr.. Blaine's defence and read them intelli-
gently, with the entire testimony. Mr. Blaine
is not charged with any corrupt, improper or
wrong act whatever. His adversaries only claim
that he offered to do something which was never
done: Mr. Schurz says, of course truly, that such
an ctfer IS as bad as the act itself. But, if you
analyze the charge it is not even that. 1t is not
pretended that Mr.. Blaine
EVER OFFERED 70 DO ANYTHING WRONG,
The real and substantial charge is that he had
bad motive in two things that he said in letters.
One is that when, on the goth of June, in seeking
to purchase interest in railroad, he said she
should not be deadhead, and saw various ways in
which he could be useful; he meant corrupt ways,
and not righteous and honest ways, and was speak
ing of his official and not his personal action The
other is that when, on the 4th of October more
than three months afterward, in two letters writ
ten on the same day, he reminded his correspondent
that he hsd without knowing it, by perfectly Just
and righteous ruling, saved his road from great
injury; he did 50 in order to suggest that if he
were admitted to a share in the enterprise he
would use his official power in similar ways in the
future. These two things were said. They were
true. Unless they were said with the motive which
Mr.. Schurz ascribes to them, they were perfectly
harmless and proper.
charitableness to attribute to Mr.. BlaIne's saying
that he should not be dea1head aud saw many
his official character whatever. He was occupied
at Washington but half the year. He was one OF
the ablest and most influential men in the country
He was largely acquainted with capitalists He
actually did aid Mr.. Fisher in selling the bonds
and stock Of the road to his friends in Maine and
received commission for the service. And it is to
in mi hat fhara ioraSff Ina olfof,
evidence that at that time any further legislation
which would affect this road was contemplated by
anybody; still less that the mere chance that Mr..
Blaine might help it was anything for which any
body would sell him quantity of the stock at less
than its value. The natural meaning of this sem
tence IS the honest meaning. So of his reminding
Fisher and Caldwell that he had done them favor
In his ruling which prevented the coupling with the
grant to Arkansas another distinct proposition,
which would have killed it. Everybody agrees that
the ruling was right. Everybody agrees that when
Mr.. Blaine made it, he had not the slightest CON
necton with the road, or expectation any or the
slightest knowledge of any person con neeted with
it. The question is whether in calling tine attep-
ton OF his friend Fisher to the tact that he had
once by good fortune saved the bill from destruc-
ton, he did it for the purpose of ntimatng that if
he were received into the scheme he would do il
again. or whether he did, as most men whose publie
action has been beneficial to their friends do like
to have the person benefited know it, What mem
Der Of either house of Congress, who has aided in
the pension office, or by aiding the passage of pri-
vate BILL does not like to have the matter known or
remembered Dy tne person interested? 1t is of
the
MOST GRATIFYING THINGS IN LIFE
to man charged with legislative duties to en-
counter person to whom he has fairly and hon
estly rendered service. This would be especially
true in writing to person with whom the legis-
iator sustained intimate personal or business reIa-
tons. What man who had been on a jury would
think it improper if he met man for whom he had
decided an Important case to say: II was on the
NJ Won II "a
is upon imputing corrupt motive to this one let
ter, or these two letters, written in day. that
all there is left of The case against Mr.. Blaine
hangs. Why, Mr. Blaine had been negotiating for
the purchase of interest in this road with Fisher
and Caldwell for six months, and neither of them
ever heard OF this ruling, and il had not occurred
to Mr.. Blaine to mention it to them. Suppose he
had been chairman of the committee who reported
the BILL or had made speech in its favor and had
said in his letter, why, you know l have ALWAYS
been strong friend Of this road and spoke for it,
and reported in its favor, and voted for it," What
man. whose eyes were not blood shotten, would find
anything that was not simple, natural and honest
in such thing? Every other charge OF official dis.
honesty against Mr.. Blaine is not only not proved
but is disproved; disproved by the confession of
men who are now his earnest antagonists. 1t is
upon this one thing, the fact that he reminded a
man with whom he was negotiating for an Interest
in a railro I'd that his action speaker had once
saved its endowment that this whole charge of cor
ruption rests To elest who did this is
blood poisoning" for the republic Better" SAYS
Mr.. Schurz, violence in the South another carni-
val OF spoils in the federal Offices precpitate dis
turbanee of our tariff policy" than elect a man
President who has done this In other words bet
Ter another Copiah, another Colfax another Cou.
shatta, another Danville, better let a minority by
murder and fraud seat Grover Cleveland in the
Presidency, better let the hundred thousand
federal offices be used to bride and corrupt the
whole people, better let disaster oEertske our man
utactures and poverty and distress invade every
workman's home than elect man to be President
who said, In negotiating for an interest in rail-
way: by the way, this road which we have been
talking about for six months is the very one that
ruling of mine, long before you we're connected
with 1T and the first time heard of it, saved from
destruction" Is not this condemnation of Blaine
the very acme of uncharitableness and this talk
the very acme of fonye This is the whole thing
which Mr.. Schurz translates into 'oficial power Of
feriug itself for prostitution to make moneys
But Mr.. Schurz thinks he finds confession of
guilt in MIR. Blaine's manner OF dealing with
MULLIGAN AND THE LETTERS.
Let US see. He says that when Mr.. Blaine read
the letters to the House he dexterously mixed let
ters of different periods and about different sub
jects together that listener could on the spot
make head or tail to them.' "But he could not
prevent the letters actually sent from being sub
sequently arranged according to dates and sub
jects etc. 1t is true that Mr.. Blaine read the let
tiers, as he said quite misceaneOusly.'' But it is
not true that the order in which he read them erea
ted, or tended to create the least difficulty in un
Outstanding them. The letters on which Mr.. Schurz
rounds his Two charges are but four in number
These are all he him self reads or quotes from in his
whole speech. Two of those were written on the
same uay one referring to The Record where the
facts stated in the other ound. These were all
read by Mr. Blaine together. With all MIR. Schurzs
power OF clear statement he does not put this mat
ter any more clearly than it appears from the let
ters themselves in Mr.. Blaine's speech. But he
says Mr. Blaine refused to let the letters 20 into
the hands of the officers OF the House that they
might Do verified. never heard that such thing
was ever done by anybody who reads letter to the
House. LII Mr.. Schurz means to say that the letters
were NOT seen by the stenOgraphers l do not now
remember ON what he can base such statement.
But at any rate they were shown to Judge Black a
huential member of the portion of the Republican
party most opposed to his candidacy and to other
gentlemen in high standing.
But Mr. Schu says he is amazed at Mr.. Blaine's
energetic protest at the pryng his private af
fairs. Here was speaker charged with corruption
Should he not have said: ''Take everything search
sift question, let in the sunlight" [ think he for
gets the circumstances The American people do
not forget them. The House had ordered the judic
iary committee to inquire whether the Pacific rail
road companies had complied with the law and
properly applied the moneys, land and bonds grant
ca tnem by the government. Some months after
tnrther resolve was introduced induirng whether
tne Unlon Pacific railroad haO received certain
bonds OF the Little Rock q Fort Smith road at a
price far beyond their value This grew out of a
rumor that MIR. Blaine was connected with a tran
saction OF this kind. He, as the country we'll re-
members, had just made the coniederates in the
House extremely angry by his charge that Jefferson
Davis was responsible for the horrors of Anderson
vile. The Democratic chairman of the judiciary
committee referred this investigation to sub com
mittee OF three, of whom the chairman was rebel