Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-23

Iorau,s letter Of acceptance Is very lit
tie more than a weak and abbreviated
edition OF BIafne's. He gives great deal
Of attention to the tariff. Blaine said
nothing new on this subject, and what be
said wouldn't bear close investigation,
but he managed 70 mass figures and as
sertions in such a way as 10 attract at
tention. LOgan's effort falls far below
Blaine's presentation Of the subject, and
actually raises doubt whether he knows
very much about the tariff question. he
certainly was not conspicuous IN the
great tariff debate that occupied
large part Of the second session
Of the Forty-seventh Congress.
In devoting 50 much Of his letter 70 the
tariff. however, he did not take into con-
sideration probably. how much or no"
little he knew about it. His purpose
was 10 emphasize the position taken by
Blaine that the tariff is the most lmpor-
taut issue before the country, and that
the Republican party intends to devote
more attention 10 it during the campaign
than to anything else. The general i'm
preston is that the springing Of the tariff
issue on the country in the latter part Of
the campaign Of 1880 gave the Republic
cans the victory, and the Republican lead
ers propose to place their dependence on
it in the present campaign.
Logan has more to say about the South
than Blaine had. He talks as If he
thought il would be a good thing to wave
the bloody shirt to a limited extent. The
condition Of things IN the South from
political standpoint doesn't suit him at
all. He is certain that if the negroes
were allowed to vote freely several Of
the Southern States would give their
electoral votes to the Republican caDdi-
dates. OF course he is excusable
for this sort Of talk, because
he doesn't know, and doesn't want to
know, perhaps, that his statements are
based on incorrect information. He has
an idea that all the negroes are Republic
cans, and that they would all 90 70 the
polls and vote the Republican ticket if
they were not prevented. AS a matter Of
fact a great many negroes are Democrats,
and a very large proportion Of them don't
care enough about their right 10 vote TO
pay their poll taxes or even 10 go to the
polls. Ii is probable that if the Republic
cans had control OF the ballot-boxes
and the pOll-bOOks, and the Republican
returning boards were still in existence,
two or three, and perhaps more OF
the Southern States would appear to give
a majority for the Republican ticket, but
as long as the ballOt-bOxes and pOll-bOOks
are in honest hands, and the returning
boards are out Of the way, there is very
little probability that the line Of the solid
South will be broken.
The apparent earnestness and sincerity
with which Logan discusses civil service
reform is amusing. The impression his
letter conveys is that he has always been
a civil service reformeT, and that about
the only fauItthat he has ever found with
his party has been that il accepted this re-
form so tardily and with such a lack Of en-
thusiasm. AS matter Of fact, Logan has
about as little respect for civil service
reform as has the well-knOwn Flanagan,
Of Texas, who made himself famous by
the utterance Of a single sentence at the
National Republican Convention of 1880.
FIanigan's sentence was, "What are we
here fo- if not for the ofices@ Logan
ever since his advent in public life has
been a persistent seeker after places for
his relatives and henchmen, and, if cuES
rent Washington gossip does not do him
Injustice, he has never been backward in
demanding the removal of good men to
make places for his favorites and follow
ers. He would have shown wisdom by
saving less about civil service reform.
Logan touches upon other topics, but
Blaine, in his letter, having treated them
in a way so much superior, it is needless
to call attention to Logan's reference TO
Them