The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-14
MIR. BLA1NE,s PREsENr1MENr.
1t Is Alleged that He Never Believed He
Could Carry the State of New York.

Could Carry the State of New York.
Washington Letter in New York sun,
There is the best of authority for saying that
Mr.. Blaine, while lie believed his nomination
could be secured, was convinced that he could
not be elected, and that in spite of hope raised
during the canvass, and the sitting of that con
viction by the excitement caused by the eXtraor-
binary personal canvass that he made. the CON
vction has, in fact never left him. If the truth
were known, it would probably be found that
Mr.. Blaine was prepared for much larger plu-
rallty against him than really has been devel-
oped in New York State. Last spring Mr..
Blaine was visited, in Washington, by an emf
nent business man, who is at the head of one of
the largest corporations in the United States.
To thus man Mr.. Blaine said, in effect, that he
should not be surprised if he was nominated at
Chicago, but that he would be far from dsap
pointed if he was not When, with some sur
prise, he was asked why not, Mr., Blaine replied
that nomination would only entail a long
season of personal excitement, labor and annoy
ance, without result. In other words, he believed
that it was not possible for him to
be elected When asked again why he
so believed, he said that he was salts
fed that he could not carry New York
State. He was convinced that while the fac
tional warfare in the party in that State had
practically died out, yet his nomination would
revive it. sufficiently, at least, to lead enough
stalwarts to care more for revenge than for
party success. in other words" said Mr..
Blaine, enough stalwarts will knife me to de-
feat the party"
That conviction Mr.. Blaine carried with him
through the canvass, though until within short
time before election day his party managers did
not share it. MIR Blaine never thought that
there would be any organized opposition on the
part of the stalwarts, but he suspected that the
word would be passed along quietly among them,
or those of them who could be trusted, that
their opportunity had come. The result shows,
in part at least, how well Mr.. Blaines anticipa-
tons were realized The national committee
received a hint or suggestion some weeks ago
hot t1faf ,1n,cf tod
stawarts in some parts of the State and this,
coupled with certain decidedly unpleasant symp-
toms of apathy, unskillfully yelled by pretended
energy on the part of certain members of the
State committe, led the national committee to
attempt to take steps to counterfeit this danger.
There were men the State committe who
were never fully trusted either by Mr. Blaine or
those who were managing his canvass.
Mr. Blaine could not bring himself to put en-
tire confidence in Mr.. Plat, though he was as
sured that no was working for him with
more zeal than Mr. Platt, as no one displayed
more energy and skill in securing his nomina-
ton. Yet Mr. Blaine remembered that but for
the nomination of Mr. Robertson for collector,
Mr. Platt would have been in the United States
Senate to-day, and that the extraordinary spec
tacle that Mr. Platt gave opportunity for wit
Messing by reason of his presence in Chicago as
a most effective Blaine worker, was probably not
because he loved Blaine more but because he
had for certain well known reasons come to love
President Arthur less. Mr.. Blaine could not
wholly conquer suspicion tnaJ MT ElaUt was
subtle and able enough to contemplate game in
politics whereby when it was finished he could
say: well played have seen one man beaten
for the nomination by the man by whom of all
others he would have wished not to be beaten.
and then have seen the successful one requited
for what he caused to happen four years ago"
| Whether Mr. Platt is capable of conceiving and
executing such exquisite double revenge as this
or not it is certain that he complimented by
Mr. Blaine and some of his friends with the sus
piciOn of such ability.
1t became known. too that Mr.. Conkling.
without once, so far as could be learned, lifting
his finger to influence any one, had been asked
for advice by friends, many of whom are still
devoted to him. and had not hesitated to say
that he should not vote for Mr.. Blaine. Mr..
George G. Gorham, too, the bright stalwart who
so vigorously defended Conkling in the memora-
Bile contest that preceded his resignation from
the Senate and who never hesitated to attack
Mr. Blaine in vigorous English in his paper the
Washington Republican, was the object of sus
picion For, though Mr.. Gorham went to Chica
cago, where he astonished his friends by doing
most effective work for Blaine, yet Mr. Blaines
intimates were disposed to regard him as a
Greek bearing gifts This suspicion was not al
layed after Mr. Blaine's nomination when Mr.
Gorham made mysterious and apparently
purposeless visits to the hot bed of
stalwartism and Blainephobia in the
central part of the State Can it
be, then, Mr. Blaine's friends ask themselves,
that his suspicious were we'll grounded, and that
the stalwarts who fell out with President Arthur
have conceived and executed the subtlest of all
political double revengesl Are Mr. Conkling,
Mr.. Piatt, Mr.. Gorham and other stalwarts
quietly smiling and saying We are quits now
with both Arthur and Bainel
Mr.. Blaine, though extremely practical and
hard headed, is firm believer in destiny or
fate, and as his nearest friends know, has been
for some years firmly convinced that there were
condolences between his career and that of
Henry Clay that would be continued to the end
of the chapter. In what shape destiny would
defeat him for the presidency he was unable to
tell until it pointed out to him by the death
of Garfield, which ended the fractional fight in
New York but left scars sensitive only to
Blaine's touch. Like Clay, destiny of defeat
was hidden from him in NewYork, and was con
troed by handful of men,