The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-05-22
A Decided Original.

He is a queer creature.is Blaine, of
Maine. He is decided original, and
as full of tricks as any monkey that
ever appeared in the only greatest show
on earth-or in any other show on any
other earth. Neither politicians or peo-
pie know where to have him or Whist to
do with him. 1t begins to now look
very much as if one of the places to
have him is to be the place of Repub-
ican candidate for the Presidency; but
appearances may be deceptive, as they
often are in Blaine's case. Even If he
should be candidate the question what
to do with him will be as difficult as ever.
Starting out with the most pro-
nounsed determination not to be a cam
didate, Mr.. Blaine apparently betoek
himself to his book and hammered
away at it as diligently as if he were a
space writer dependent for his daily
bread Saan the performance of a stated
amount of daily labor. The bocns af
the boomers went laundering through
the land. but he kept his ears closed
and heard them not. His own boom
was laid up in lavender. He knew ap-
parently he had no record upon
which to run for even a nomina-
ton, much less for an election. Most
of his party papers told him so and
many of them told him why with a
fullness, not to say coarsuess, of de-
tail which left nothing either to the i'm
agination or to the ingenuity of oppos-
ing partisanship. He made no defense;
his friends made none. His unavail-
ability seemed to be an accepted fact,
and his withdrawal from the race a
! foregcne conclusion. Suddenly it ap-
pears that he has an admitted strength
of 1873 votes in the Chicago Convention
and claimed strength of $50; his
friend Phelps, of New Jersey, comes to
his defense with an elaborate spong1ne
out of Ill the wicked stories his party
has been telling about him, and the pre-.
tense that he is not candidate, but 8
poor struggling author is thrust into
the dim background.
Was ever party in this humor wooedf 2
Never that we recall. But this wooine
has been wonderfully successful; and
the winning of the party is among the
most prominent of political probable
! tiles. If the nomination is secured the
party-in the main-will accept it.
1t will cost good deal of swal
lowing. There are brave word
innumerable about tainted candi
dates and '.rotteu records and ''tat
tooed men, to be eaten before Blain,
can be shouted for with anything lik,
unanimity. But the swallow Of tn,
party of moral ideas is capacious, ant
practice has made it very expert. Like
the savages who eat only tainted meat
the proud old party" rather likes can
didates that have been left too long out
7 side the refrigerator. They will taxi
Mr.. Blaine with Phelps very fiimsy Ger
tifcate of character and the assuranc,
Of the New York Tribune, ''the part,
will have to rob the cradle and th'
grave to find candidate of whom n,
evil can be said" And they will leav
the task of defeating him, and of pro
tecting the Republic from the dishono
his election would entail, to the Dem
ocracy.
Such, at least, is one of the presen
probabilities. Allowance must be made
however, for sunstrokes. The Chicag
Convention convenes about the time th
first crop of sun-strokes ripens; and no
body can guaranty Mr.. Blaine's absti
nence.-Detroit Free Press.