Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-09
RLAINEs nAsRING sTYLE.
The Way 1t was shown as Secretary o.
State

state.
Mr.. Blaine. says the New York Sun,
entered upon the performance Of his
duties as Secretary Of state in his usual
dashing style. and during the brief time
he occupied the Office he shook up the dry
bones Of that musty department in very
lively fashion. he did not hesitate to
have it known that he proposed to make
the post Of Secretary Of state one that
should attract attention. He 81 once
tried his hand upon foreign affairs, and
less than a month before be left ONCE he
issued a manifesto for a Peace Congress
Of American nations. The invitation was
withdrawn after Mr.. Blaine had been sue
ceeded by Mr.. Frelinghuysen.
Mr.. Blaine was charged with using his
official influence as Secretary OF State 10
promote the interests Of the Credit In
dustriel OF France by extending an
American prOtectOrate over a portion Of
Peru for the benefit Of the subjects OF four
European nations. He Indignantly de-
MED this. He was also charged with at
tempting to intimidate Peru by signit-
cant inquiries as TO the strength OF the
United States in the South Pacific. He
denied this and said his only object was
to ascertain whether United States ships
We're available 10 transport Mr.. HurIbut
lEOAl duuLlid 10 NdlttU anu III 11EoSNLN
from Panama TO Valparaiso.
But the most serious charges against Mr..
Blaine, growing out Of his brief career as
Secretary OF State, were those made by
J. II. Shipherd. the chief promoter Of the
Peruvian Company and the proprietor OF
the COchet claim. The company claimed
to have bought from the heirs of Cochet
the right to One-third OF the guanO de-
pOsits Of Peru, and Shipherd alleged that
Blaine has used his official position as
Secretary of State TO advance the inter-
ests Of the Peruvian Company, and had
gone 50 far as to be prlYy to an offer Of
brIbe to Minister Hurlbut. Shipherd pro-
duced a dispatch, which he said was the
product Of an agreement between him and
Blaine, which instructed Minister Hurl-
but that ssNO treaty Of peace between
Chilli and Peru shall be made unless there
is recognition Of the Landreau claim
as a prior lien upon any territory that
Peru may be required to cede to Chilli"
When the Senate Committee on Foreign
Affairs was investigating the transaction,
Shipherd presented mass Of testimony,
alleging interviews with Blaine and
promises of help in getting the COchet
claim recognized. In one Of these inter-
views Shipherd ayerred that Blaine said
to him. referring TO the men who were
pushing the claim of the Credit indus
triel, ''Shipherd. you can treat with those
fellows i'm twenty-fOur hours. You have
got exactly what they have not got and
what they absolutely need-an American
basis. on which you have the right to ask
for interference by the American Govern
ment." Shipherd also exposed the con-
nectiOn of Senator Blair with the affair as
his counsel and gO-between in the negO
tiations between himself and Blaine.
Mr.. Blaine denied emphatically the as
pensions upon his character and the IN
timation that he had proposed to risk
war with Peru in order to uphold a pri-
vate claim Of a speculative company.
He characterized Shipherd as Ga man
with whom lying is an employment, and
perjury a pastime. He addressed the
committee for one hour and a half and got
into a personal contest with Hon. Perry
Belmont, who cross-questiOned him
sharply about the transactions. The
scene between the youthful legislator and
the gray haired, but vigorous eX-Secre-
taTy was very dramatic. Mr.. Blaine had
made the boast that he could metaphor
cally spank the young Democrat and
teach him lesson. But at the close of
the examination Mr.. Belmont appeared
TO have not only held his
own, but to have seriously ruffled
the feathers of the Piumed Knight. Mr..
Blaine tried to bully Mr.. Belmont, but
could not escape the merciless question
ing of his young antagonist, which con-
stantly excited his irritation and bad tenn
per when he was pressed on sensitive
points. Mr.. Belmont compelled him to
admit that the Peruvian courts could not
or would not adjudic ate the claims in
question, and that the only chance for
their success was such outside pressure
as his diplomatic plan proposed. Mr..
Belmont also drew from him the admis-
sion that the Landreau claim which he
pushed was owned partly by a French
man, for whose benefit his diplomatic
pyTOtechnics had been displayed
In the course of his testimony Shipherd
told a story to show why it was that
Blaine was able to concoct a defensive
theory on the basis of his own letters.
The point of the story which Shipherd
said Blaine told him was that in the reign
of George ". the Duke of York wrote
some mastery dispatches apparently di-
recting an English Admiral not to fight,
but added in pencil on the margin of the
dispatch: "This is all right, but give
them HI" and the result was that the
Admiral fought winning battle without
a formal declaration of war. Shipherd
said Blaine wrote on the margin of one of
the letters to Minister Hurlbut: $50 it,
Stevev
In his instructions to Minister Comfy
at the Hawaiian Islands, Mr.. Blaine
wrote:
''Within thirty years the United States
has acquired a legitimate dominant in
fluence in the North Pacific which it can
never consent TO see diminished by an in
trusiOn thereon of any element Of in
fluence hostile to its own"
He did not hesitate to suggest that these
views were held regardless of any posi-
BILE complications with the British Gov
eminent.