Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-06-19
THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 1884.
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THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS.
JAMES G.. BLAINE.
CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT.

fourth day of the Republican Convention.
He was born on January 81, 1880, at Indian
Hill Farm, Washington county, Pa. His
father was man of property, owning one
of the largest estates in the State, and gave
his son unusually, favorable opportunities of
years as pupil in school at Lancaster, o.,
and at the same time as an inmate Of the
residence of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, Sec
retary of the Treasury, Blaine was entered
student at Washington College, Washing
ton, Pa; he was graduated in 1847. His
stay with Ewing during the impressionable
years of boyhood unquestionably had much
to do with the formation of his future, es-
pecially as Mr.. Ewing was his uncle and
treated him with great confidence and af-
| fection.
After his graduation Mr.. Blaine taught
| for several years in the schools of the neigh
borhood, at the same time employing his
pen successfully in the composition of arti-
cles for publication in newspapers and mag
azines. In 1858 he went to Kennebec, Me-,
where he had been asked to assume the
management of the Kennebec Journal.
Shortly afterward he accepted the control of
the Portland advertiser. In 1858 he was
elected to the Legislature, and served there
four years. At the beginning of his last
term of two years, he was chosen Speaker,
and performed the duties Of that office to
the satisfaction of the lawmakers of the
| Pine Tree State. It was during the war be-
tween the States, in 1862, that "Blaine, of
Maine," was first sent to Congress. He at
once devoted himself to careful study OF
the rules of the House, and it was not long
before he began to be regarded as one of the
best parliamentarians in that body. lie
was repeatedly reelected from the same
district, and in 1869 was made Speaker OF
the House. isrulings were always prompt
and accurate, and it was not often that his
bitterest enemies could find flaw in his
parliamentary armor. He made what is
against the "Ohio idea" of paying the Ma
tional debt in greenbacks.
When the Republican Convention was
held in 1876, Mr.. Blaine was the most popu-
lar leader in the party. He received 35l
votes in the final vote as against 379 for the
Hayes combination engineered by Roscoe
Conkling, who had never forgiven the
"Plumed Knight" for his reference to him
on the floor of the House as the turkey gcb-
bier member from New York"
Nevertheless, Mr.. Blaine went into the
campaign with the best of feeling for the
Republican candidate and worked night and
day for his election. It is said, however,
that after the election and after the Southern
policy of the administration had been enun-
ciated, he never went to the White House,
feeling that President Hayes had not done
his duty by the party which had elected
him.
Mr.. Blaine entered upon his duties as a
Senator of the United States in 1877. He
had voted against the Electoral Commission
Bill on the ground that it was unconstltu-
tiOnal. In 1880 he was once more a candl-
date for the Presidential nomination, and
loI ;,,1 Ii s,,4,1 RI Il
feat the scheme to give Grant third term
He did as much as. any one man to elect his
friend Garfield, and his appointment as
Secretary of State was a perfectly natural
one. The history of his connection with the
President during his brief administration
and after the fatal bullet of Guiteau had
done it's work, is too fresh in the public
mind to need repetition here. He retired
from the Cabinet after the accession of Pres
ident Arthur.
Since then his time has been spent in the
composition of the historical work entitled
''TWenty Years of Congress-" of which one
words ola review of Mr.. Blaine's book pub
lished in the London Times recently are Pc
culiarly interesting in the light of it's au-
thor's nomination to the Presidency of the
United States: "Whether we may look for
a successor to this volume within reasona-
BILE period is a question which the Conven-
tion and the political fates will have their
own share in deciding. Without anticipa-
ting their decision, we may congratulate
Mr.. Blaine on the manner in which he has
accomplished the first installment Of his
work."
From sketch of Mr.. Blaine, published
in the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, we extract
the following:
Democrat. He never yet in any of the va
rious periods of his career, has shown any
pride of place. He is simple and unaffected.
He harbors few, if any, resentments. The
general public have supposed him to be
great enemy of Conkling's. This is not
true. He would as willingly shake hands
with Conkling tomorrow, if Conkling were
to meet him halfway, as he would with any
of his former associates. He has intense
pride, and most fiery temper when pro-
Voked, butwhen his rage eXplodes no slum-
not believe in the craftsmanship of revenge.
Upon this subject he said one day: "Life is
too short to lie in wait for personal retalia-
tion for injuries received. If you can strike
out a good, strong blow at the time, we'll
and good. But the world moves too fast for
one to waste his life in waiting for an op-
portunity to crafty mere personal revenge .
His magnetic power is the subject of
many sneers. The enemies of Blaine deride
the men who are fond of him by calling
them victims of his personal magnetism,
and you will find it is nothing more than
the fact of an unassuming intellectual supe-
riority, a keen trenchant common sense that
demands admiration. Very few men at
short range fulfill the popular idea. They
are apt to prove disappointing through the
exhibition of some incomplete, undeVelOped
side. It's rare enosgh that a public man of
prominence is pleasant companion.
Mr.. Blaine is so many-sided as to be claSsed
as man of genius. He is an orator, a pol
ished writer, a student of history, wide
reader of general literature, q successful
financier, thorough man of the world, a
complete master Of the art of pleasing in a
social way.
Mr.. Blaine is very happy in his family.
None of his children appear to regard him
as more than big brother. Unless called
out by dinner or some social gathering,
Mr.. Blaine is always at home. He belongs
to no club, and keeps more to himself than
man of his social instinct might be expect
ofpoker, which is 80 general an accomplish
ment with public men.
I do not think that Mr.. Blaine himself
gives the subject of religion any special
thought. He is regular attendant at the
Presbyterian Church here. His entire fam
ily are of the same belief. His mother,
was Roman Catholic. Mr.. Blaine himself
is cousin of Mrs. Gen. Sherman. 1t is his
connection with the Ewing family which
has brought up from time to time the charge
that he was himself Catholic. 1t would
not be possible to obtain from Mr.. Blaine
himself any public denial of such charge:
Ioo Lo1S f1,nfo hnc q ionf