The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1884-04-05
MR.. BLAND AS A CANDIDATE.

Halper's Weekly is recognized as one OF the
and most fearless Republican newspa-
Ders published in the United States, with marked
leaning to what is known as "Independent Re-
of which the Hon. James G. Blaine
has been the recognized leader, at least in some
States Hon. George Williams Curtis, who is the
editor of the Weekly, is also classed with the
I'm late issue of the Weekly we
find the following editorial, under the above cap
ton, and evidently written by Mr.. Curtis:
~Ex-Goyernor CIafiin of Massachusetts,, is re-
norted as saving in q recent interview in New
York that sMr. Blaine could not carry Massachu-
should be afraid the State would go Democratic
if he was nominated. His nomination would also
mean defeat in the nation Ex-Governor Claflin
is what is called regular Republican, not an
Independent But he says, IF satisfactory NOM
nations made, our Independents will stay
with us; if not, they will scatter their vote" On
the same day that the Tribune published this re-
port of Elk Governor Clafin's views, the Herald
said in its Washington correspondence: 'On the
Republican side there is among the closest politi-
cal calculators a growing disposition to leave Mr..
Blaine out of the list of possibilities, the ground
that his nomination would, for various reasons,
imperil the success of the party" In regard to
these suggestions we have received several letters
sincere
and why it is that the one possible candidate men,
toned should seem to be a seriously
Objectionable candidate to the Independent voters.
"The question is of the highest importance, be-
couse the vote of New York is usually thought to
be indispensable to Republican success, and that
vote will be undoubtedly determined by the In
dependent voters. 1t is not enough for success to
demonstrate even if that were possible--that this
or that man could be nominated at Chicago. 1t
must be shown also that he could probably carry
New York. Ex-Governor Clafin says that Mr..
Blaine could not carry Massachusetts,. We pre-
sumo that few well-informed Republicans suppose
that he could carry New York. Such hope
could be cherished only by an enthusiasm which
that SnSdas Eho saS1s q
proved by New York. The reasons for this con-
viction in regard to the unavailability of Mr..
Blaine are various, and among them, as affecting
the politicians must be included the fact that MIR.
Blaine, although himself the author of the phrase
'Stalwart is especially obnoxious to Stalwarts in
New York, as chiefly instrumental in the great
Stalwart humiliation of 1881. This feeling would
make hearty support of his candidacy very difficult
for many Republicans of that stripe. They
would not protest or bolt, but they would see with
eouanimity the failure of Mr.. Blaine to reach the
goal which Mr.. Conhling could not win. But the
eraver reasons which would ALLEVIATE the control
ling Independent vote of another kind and OF
a kind which would make the campaign pro-
lonped defense, when such a necessity would be
disastrous.
"These reasons, as we understand them, are,
first the character of the disclosures in 1876 re-
gardng the railway transactions. The whole
story be told again, and would require explana-
tions which would be no more satisfactory to In
dependent voters now than they were when first
made eight years ago. The second reason is APP
prehension of vigorous or brilliant, or dash
ing and restless foreign policy, which under ex-
listing circumstances would probably lead to un-
desirable foreign complications. The third rea-
son is an apparent want of sympathy with admin
istratiye reform, which has never received any
hearty support form Mr. Blaine, which is, indeed,
hostile to the school of politics in which he is held
to be master, and which has been contemptuous-
" assailed BY his nearsfriends These
and such as these are the considerations that ex-
plain the unavailability for New York OF the can
didacy of Mr. Blaine, and similar reasons doubt
less ALLEVIATE the feelings of Massachusetts, voters
as described by Ex-Governor Clafin. These rea-
sons ought not to be disregarded, because they
are not of a kind to be overcome by an enthuslas-
tic party hurrah We state them frankly because,
although the conviction of his extreme unavaila-
bility as a candidate is very widely felt, 1t is not
often nor plainly expressed. Those who, like our
selves, earnestly desire Republican success must
not shut their eyes and ears, nor encourage otners
to do so. nomination often determines the re-
suit of an election, and the nomination should be
made, therefore, only upon the most careful com
parison of views, and the most explicit state
ment of actual opinion and feeling. No Repub-
lican candidate can carry New York who does not
unite in his cordial support the three great sec
tions of Republican voters, the Independents, the
Half Breeds, and the Stalwarts. Any Republican
anywhere in the country who knows what those
words describe, and who recalls the Republican
result in New York in 1879 and 1882, can decide
for himself whether Mr.. Blaine would be an avail
able Republican candidate for New York, and
whether, therefore, his nomination would increase
the chances of continued Republican control OF
the national administration"