The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1884-08-28
The War Record Of Three Can.
didates.

When the war for the preservation
of the Union began, Mr.. Cleveland
was twenty-five years old. At the
time OF the second draft in Buffalo
he was among the conscripts. Mr..
Cleveland did not enter the army.
He procured = substitute, and that
fact is not in the leass degree dis.
creditable to him.
A correspondent OF the Ne,c York
Tribune has been investigating Mr..
Cleveland's early career, with a view
apparently, to the effect of his dis
coveries upon the soldiers vote. He
reports that Mr.. Cleveland's was not
hired in the usual manner that is to
say, ut the cost Of the person thus
relieved Of his obligation to do mill :
tary duty. The story told by the
Trtbatae's correspondent is, in effect.
that Mr.. Cleveland was then Assist
ant District Attorney for Erie coun-
ty, and that he used his official in
fiuence over the fortunes OF crimi-
nails to get substitute from among
the prisoners in the Workhouse with
little or no expense to himself. To
sustain this charge, or rather insin-
uation, no evidence Is offered
There is no proof that Mr.. Cleveland
did not pay the full price OF a SUBJ
stitute. and out of his own pocket
yet in commenting upon the subject
in in editorial article, the Tribune
remarks that the Democratic candi-
date never did Il thing to show his
sympathy with the Union cause, I'M
less it be that of sending u criminal
as a substitute when he was drafted y
II strikes us that it is not judic-
ieus thing for the organs OF Mr..
Blaine TO make Grover Cleveland's
substitute prominent figure in the
canvass, or to scrutinize very close
~ either the moral character OF the
substitute or the means by which he
was procured.
/ At the beginning Of the war Mr.
Blaine was thirty-onc years old. He
belonged to an association in Au-
gnsta known as the Loyal Mutual
Alliance, which had raised by sub
scription fund to pr ocurc substitu.
ties for such members as might be
drafted. Mr.. Blaine and the other
subscribers afterward obtained q
vote OF the City Government for the
repayment to them OF the amounts
subscribed, and this was done in the
shape OF city bonds bearing five per,
cent interest, with twenty years .C
run. That is to say, the members oil
the Alliance formed a pool for mu.
tual protection against the draft,
and then got back the money thus
invested. dollar for dollar,
in city bonds. They lent to the city
money to pay for their substitutes.
I; The draft caught Mr.. Blaine. II
spite OF the enthusiastic patriotism
which, as he tells the soldiers, in
famed his blood during the days o.
1861 and lS62-days so clark ant
dubious" that he cannot now recall
them without a chill OF horror
the pressure a business engage
ments at the North made it incon
venient for him to go to the front
He fell back easily upon the Loya
Mutual Alliance. The name OF hi
substitute was Bradford, il we re
member correctly. Bradford be
came Mr.. Blaines proxy in the strict
ly military branch of operation!
against the seceeding States. Their,
Is on page 9 OF the financial report o
the city OF Augusta for the year 1881
this item among the contingent ex
penses:
JAMES O. BLAINE, for substitute, ......... saOo
Who paid for Mr.. Blaine's substi
tute? How much did he cost Mr.
Blaine, and how much did he COS
the taxpayers OF Augusta? TIL
: question as to the exact amount O
. money invested In this proxy warri
!, or is more complicated than his mil
itary record, which is simple an
easily told. Bradford like Blain.
never went to the front. He Wa
5 provided with pos, in the Proves
Marshall's office at Augusta, wa
soon detected i'm the enterprise G
forging draft exemption papers an
: selling them ut $50 apiece, and wa
Y locked up in the county Jail. NJ
:. Blaine's substitute watched the ri
gantic struggle from behind iro
y bars. He never even got SO near tn
4 scene OF actual hostiiities as Wash
S ington, u point to which Mr.. Blaine
), business frequently took him dnrin
the dark and dubious days Of 1862.
When the war broke out, Gener;
e Benjamin i. Butler was forty-thre
L years old. He never hired Il 5ubst
y tute, either with his own money {
other peoples. because lie nevt
was drafted. He was never drafte
because he did not wait for the pre-
cess vi CONSUMPTION. When Nj