Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-06-20
NO LONGER A LEADER.

Mr.. Blaines friends in the north
and west overlook one thing They
fail to realize that their candidates
popularity was made, and his great
hold upon them fastened at time
when the spirit of the iti0n was
vastly different from what it now is
Mr.. Blaine made his record for mag
netism at time when bitter dcnunci-
alton of the south was popular, and
he made it by appealing To northern
preludlcrI against the Ssuth. lis
most prominent appearances were in
the role of iusnlent and vehement
assaults upon the southCra men IN
congress. He became, too, the beau
ideal of II statesman by reason OF his
openncss to propositions for Shtrlug
influence aud spoils, among
that vulgar but active and energetic
class to whom politics means power
and plumber. But happily that time
aud that spirit have gone by, There
is progressive element in the repub
lican party, which will not be con
tent with party ascendancy because
it signifies revel in the Spoils This
progressive wing has drttcd away
from the intense sectional bitterness
of ten or twelve years ago. The
south Of to day is not the south of
that time. There is new south,
better known to the north ard better
knowing the north. hundreds OF
millions of northern capital have
sought investment there, and the old
feeling las died out. a partisan speech
full Of sectional tauntS and bitter
ness, such rs made Blaine the spol;es-
man of the most mtcusc feelings of
his partizan ten years ago, would be
listened to with contempt 10y north
ern republicans to-day.
The southern men ia congress at
the present time have, moreover,
won the respect and esteem of all
classes. Their liberal ideas, th"ir
avoidance of sectional strife, their
generosity to the soldier element of
the north, have all disarmcd the hos
tility of the north, and made all sec
tons weary and disguised with the old
spirit of fighting over the war, tear
ing asapc it's wounds and poisoning
its now well called scars. Hence it
is, that Blaine's period Of active lead
ership belongs to a time and spirit
that is past, and no right-mindcd poo
pie desire its return.
Contempt for the coarse, spoils-
seeking, jobbing elements which
made the period of congress from
1866 to 1876 the most corrupt decade
in the annals of legislative corrup-
ton, has largely centered upon Mr..
Blaine During that period he was
prominent, he grew rich, he was be-
loved and pettcd by the lobby, he was
the favorite of the great msgnatcS of
monopoly. He is not known
to have ever lifted voice
against iobbery, nor to have
ever used his power or leadership 10
rebuke the corruption about him, or
TO guard the peoples treasury or lands
from the raids of the plunderers who
infested them. Certain it is, that his
fame does not reStupon any thing done
to make government purer or better.
AT the period when civil ser
vice reform was first agitatsd, tire
ceived from him only taunts and
snaers. He was a great believer in
the power OF patronage. He used il
without stint TO reward his friends.
and he plucked it out of the hands of
his personal enemies. In his own
state he was the incarnation of the ma.
chine. He drove into retirement many
of the best old workers of the repub,
licen party He made havoc of his
party there, whitfield its magnificent
republican majority down to ragged
margin; and all by reason OF his i'm
perious use of it for his personal ends
For these reasons, among many 9th
ers, he stands in the estimation of pro
gressive, far sighted republicans every
where as the typical representative oI
all that is worst in machine politice:
and in the spells system.