The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-07-10
Mr.. Blaine Now and Then.

Journals WHICH are supporting MI.
BLAINE, have only to refer to their col
umnS of a few years back to secure ref
utatiOns of every good thing they may
say of him now. The Chicago Tribune,
an enthusiastic BLAINE supporter, en-
gagged in telling how pure and patriotic
and progressive an American he is,
scored it to him in 1878 at different
times. The Denver NerS handles the
subject after the following manner:
Nor did Mr.. Medill's abuse of the
| Plumed Knight cease when the fraudu-
lent Hayes won the prize at Cincinnati.
In 1878 when the Thurman bill to COM
pei the Pacific railway corporations to
repay their debt to the government was
before congress. Mr.. Blaine, as usual,
fought for the corporations and against
the people. In the Chicago Tribune
of April 1878. Mr.. Joseph Medil paid his
respects to Mr.. Blaine i'll the following
editorial:
Mr.. Blaine has taken the trouble to
deny from his seat III the senate the
correctness of dispatch printed i'll the
Tribune, i'll which it was asserted that
he had used i'll debate language highly
complimentary to Jay Gould. We give
Mr.. Blaine the benefit of his denial. 1t
concerns an immaterial and trivial
question. The people do not care
whether his language was compliment
tary to Jay Gould or not. The impOr-
tant point is that his vote was cOmpli
mentary to Jay Gould; that he, de-
feated aSpirant to the presidency, but
still a claimant for the republican NOM
inatiOn-vOted to continue the Pacific
railroad fraud upon the government for
twenty-five years. Mr.. Blalne'S extra
ordinary conduct i'll the senate when
this bill was pending astOnisned and
grieVed his friends. 1t seemed to show
that he was under some obligation to
the railroads; that he was mot a dead
head in their enterprises" and that his
obligation was SO binding i'll its charac-
ter as to force him to commit a serious
indiScretiOn from q political point of
view. He straddled the bill with an
amendment. as he had Straddled the
silver bill before, and attempted to
defeat the plain and equitable adjust
ment proposed by MeSsrS. Thurman and
EdmundS. His amendment agreed to
surrender the government right to
amend or repeal" Mr.. Blaine pretend
ed not to know what the full effect of
this amendment was. lie advocated it
it with child-like and bland assurance
that there could be no objection to it,
and that its adoption would insure his
support of the bill. Mr.. EdmundS at
tempted to enlighten him, showing
that the amendment would tie the
government up in bag for twenty
two years, but this information was
| wasted on Mr.. Blaine. His amend
ment being rejected aS he knew it must
he unless the senate was composed of
knaves or idiots, he voted against the
bill, making the loss of his amendment
a preteXt. We recite these circumStan
| ces with the less pleasure because they
are calculated to injure Mr.. Blaine in
public estimation and he is already sunk
low enough"
In 1878 Secretary SchllrZ undertook to
prevent the depredatiOnS of timber
| thieves OH the public domain in Mon
tana. Mr. Blaine was then member
of the United States senate, and he
naturally became the defender of the
timber thieves. He had a personal i'll
terest in the matter, because his broth
er. John Z. Blaine, who had been made
United States surveyor general Of Mon
tana, was indicted by the grand jury for
| malfeaSance of office.
The Chicago Tribune professed then
| to believe that Mr.. SchurZ was right
and that Senator Blaine was wrong.
Mr.. Joseph Medill was editor of the
Tribune at that time, and on March II,
1878, he said:
Senator Blaine's hostility to Secre-
tary SchluZ Misplaced him i'll the atti-
tude of the especial champion and de-
fender of the Montana timber thieves.
1t is charitable to presume that Mr..
Blaine course is to be accounted for
by the fact. not that lie loves the tim
Der thieves more, but the secretary of
| the interior less. At the same time it
| is a little awkward to be constrained to
apologize for larceny on a tremendous
scale i'll order to crafty a political
grudge."
And again on March 10, 1878:
Mr.. BlaineS case against Secretary
Schurz appears to be that Prussia isn't
much of country. Secretary SchurZ
| is native of Prussia; reflection on
| that country is supposed to be a refiec-
ton upon him: and it is, in Mr.. Blaine S
opinion. a great reproach upon Prussia
that she contains fewer square miles
/! ThiC IiCcrraaafYrl in,
sufficiency of area of Mr.. SchurZ' S ma
tive land is esteemed by Mr.. Blaine a
complete rejOinder to the secretary S ar
gument in the timber-land controversy
and a vindicatiOn of the thieves. We
do not agree with this opinion
And still again March %, 1878:
If Mr.. James G. Blaine ever had
any prospect of becoming the Republi-
can nominee for president in 1880, he
will most effectually destroy all such
probabilities if he persists in his present
course in making enemies among the
prominent men of his own party. His
recent assault upon Massachusetts was
in exceeding bad taste, but not more so
than his sneer at Secretary SchurZ be-
cause of his foreign birth. Mr.. Blaine
not only publicly insulted cabinet
officer, who is certainly the peer OF the
senator from Maine i'll all tie character
istics of well-bred gentleman, but Mr..
Schurz is the representative of a power
full and intelligent body of adopted citi-
zens. who have always been mighty
factor in the Republican party of the
West. When Mr. Blaine is in want of