Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-08-02
~ PersOnal Politics.
Nashville Annarican-

ga PersOnal Politics. 81
. 4' i ~ Nashville American. ~ %
4 The Cincinnati Commercial Ga
+eNc says '4.ajol I'D RI href feyaf-y !,
lsagr Mr. Blaine has been censurpd by
Democratic aud independent Iourr.
ais for not turning aside 10 discus
4 the PERSONAL charges made against
ElllInr in his letter, OF acceplahce.
There are very ugly charges of iln-
morality made itgainst Gov. CIeve-
land, which have come to light
through democratic and Jndepcnd-
keut sources. VIII lao, venturel To
! discuss, or even allndo, to them, IN
his letter of acceptinco." '.''i ' =
The editor, we fear deSlgnedly,
Fails 10 Observe the wide distinclEon
between charges against Il mans
i PERSONAL character and "a charges
against his official conduct,
a dirty little sheet in Buffalo has
constructed a scandalous story direc-
ted against Gov. Cleveland too in
table journal. This story bearing on
its face its own reputation Is of a
purely personal kind lit relates to
no official act. Had there been any
truth in it, il would have been out
before but ii Is evidently manu-
| factured for mere campaign pur-
poses. There are stories affecting
onl ly1R Rr9 Blaines personal character
to which the barest reference has
been made. No Democratic paper
has so far lost Its self-respect as to
give currency to these malignant
rumors, and is to the credit of our
party that this is So; bat IL it il, the
purpose of the Republican press to
force the fighting on this line, no
doubt ample material can be found
to make IL interesting ifnot pfOflta-
Die. tui oid d.s.lhHsJ ih ,si 500 tl4Ad
b. The charges made openly and for
mally against James q. Blaine, the
charges which the Cincinnati Com
mercial in 1876 used to prevent
Blaine's nomination, which again, I
in 1880, shut him out, and which In
1884 have caused q revolt against
him in his own party, are of a char
acter altogethr different, and it Is
these charges which the CONNER
,cial Gazette now thinks are Offset by
the irresponsible, charges trumped
up in Buffalo against the private
character OF Mr.. Cleveland. H s 1
The charges to which we refer are
supported by ample specifications.
They have not been answered they
can not be answered, for they rest
on letters written by Mr.. Blaine
himSelf.lEfH. ~ ssguaneuI I.asJs - p
!, The first charge is, that Mt the
sping session OF COngress, 1869,
bill 10 renue the land-grant OF the
Little Rock and Fort Smith road,
of Arkansas, was before the House
its defeat was imminent. Speaker
Blaine sent "A message to Gen. Lo-
gan to make n certain point of or
der, which would save the bill the |
point was made and sustained by
tho Speaker, and the bill saved.
Blaine wrote at once to the promo
ters OF the enterprise, reciting his
services, demanding compensation
after some negotiations no received
rs his reward some of the bonds OF
the road and a percentage on the
sale OF others.
The second charge is that Mr..
Blaine asserted afterward on the !
floor of Congress, in order to cover
up these transactions, that the road |
derived 'sits life franchise and value |
wholly from the State and not from
Congress, but an investigation |
showed the road derived the value
on which, these bonds were based on
the act which, as recited, Mr., |
Blaine saved by his official action.
He. asserted that f'the bonds We're /
bought by him at precisely the
same rate paid by Others" whereas
the evidence clearly showed they
came TO him at his commission and 4
as his rewardsfOr services rendered /
as Speaker OF the House. ist.i .,l..si7a
The third charge is that Mr.,
Blaine, in 1870, made an offer, as
his own letters show, TO Mr.. Warren
Fisher, q railroad officer, to sell him
one half of onetwenty-fourth inter-
est in the Northern Pacific road inn
after Jay Cooke had per-
fected his contract. Blaine said he
came into possession Of this interest !
by 'a strange revolution of circum-
stances" The interest would rep
resent, 80 said Mr.. Blaine, $425, 900,
and nearly $4,000 acres of land.
1.-THE chance was very rare one"
wrote Mr.. Blaine; he could not
touch it, and he offered it TO Mr..
Fisher for $25, 900. Fisher agreed to
take il, paid the money, but the
stock was never delivered, and the
money was returned TO Fisher. 1t
was clearly shown that the value OF
this Interest was altered by legisla-
tion and dependent entirely on it.
Mr.. Blaine first denied he had had
any transactions with the road, and
then shifted his defense to another
ground, claiming that he derived
no pecuniary interest in a transfer
which had not been completed. r7s
The fourth charge, Is that under
false promises, under promises
which he did not intend to fulfill, I
and which ne did not fulfill, he OBJ
tanned letters from Mr.. Mulligan
duplicating him in many question
able transactions. OF these letters
Mr.. Mulligan was the legal custO-
dian, and all threats and pleading
had been used with him in vain.
Now these charges cannot be
lightly put aside these letters are
not open to two constructions. The
charge is that Blaine sold his official
influence for bonds and money, for
considerations I; that he
betrayed his constituents and VIOLA
ted his public trust that he voted,
and in other ways aided, to bhild
up the wealth of corporations at the
expense OF the people. These are
not personal charges they are oillcial
charges charges involving his OIL
cial conduct, as serious rs any ever
brought against a public officer. a a 4
Ii they can be answered now, and
we submit that the people will not
be diverted from them by anony-
nous ISLANDERS against the personal
character OF the Democratic nOnIi-
nee. -.....l. .,..... ....fl s..