Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-17
BLAINE's FORTUNE.
How One Millionaire Made His Little
PiIe-The Smart Maine Politician as
His NeighbOrs Know HIM.

I
field (AISs.l Republican.
When man cuts a great figure In the
world 1t is always interesting to know
what his intimate acquaintance and
neighbors-the persons who knew him in
Obscurity and have watched his rise in
the world-think and say about him;
whether they respect or distrust him;
whether they speak well or i'll Of him.
Ibls IS the home of James g. Blaine, the
fayorite Presidential candidate of vast
body of American citizens, and there are
lew men of whom so much that is of in
terest might be written from his own
neighbOrhOOd. Many facts in his remark
able career are still unknown except to
those who reside here. Mr.. Blaine has
lived here for % years. Born in Penn
sylvania in 1880, his first occu-
patton in life, after he graduated
from college, was that of a schoOl-teacher.
de found employment in Kentucky, and
1t was perhaps the hand of fate which di-
rected the smart Augusta school-mistress,
Harriet StanwOod, to the same locality,
and made her the wife of brilliant young
pedag0gue from Pennsylvania. They
came here to be married, and, once here,
he stayed. But he did not continue a
schOol-teacher. Other opportunities soon
opened to him. He was poor, but he
knew how to make friends. He joined
the orthodox Congregational Church.
The brothers Of his wife were strong and
successful men. There was a political
revolution in the State contemporaneous
with his arrival.
Mr.. Blaine naturally drifted into poll
tics and journalism. The possession Of the
State printing made the Kennebec Journal
valuable property, and John L. Stevens,
now United States Minister to Sweden,
made Blaine his editorial assistant and
partner. They lost the State printing
in 1856, but gained it again in 1857, and
prOspered in a modest way. The journal
was an ''organ," and Blaine soon had a
political acquaintance that extended all
over the State. But the field was narrow
one, and Mr.. Blaine being in needy cir
cumstances, he secured an engagement
as an editorial writer on the Portland
Daily AdUertiSer. His salary was 81, 900
a year, which barely enabled him to sup
port his family. At the end ofthe year he
asked for $1,000. The proprietor could
not or would not make the increase, and
Mr.. Blaine came back to Augusta. He
sought office.
But Mr.. Blaine was no mere politician.
He was man with the keenest possible
appreciation of the power of wealth, and
few men have possessed a shrewder per-
ceptiOn of how money is to be made. 1t
has often been said here that if MIR. Blaine
had devoted himself wholly to business,
instead Of to politics. he would have been
one of the richest men in the country.
AS it is, he is millionaire. 1t has some
times been charged against Mr.. Blaine
that he made himself rich in Congress.
1t is not true. His friends here testify
that he was rich long before he went to
Congress, for he did not enter the House
OF Representatives until 1868. When the
war period opened, with its revolution in
prices and its vast opportunities for
speculation, there was probably no man
in the State OF Maine who more clearly
perceived the avenues to wealth then
opening than James G. Blaine. Pos
sessing a remarkable natural power
| tor organization and combination
| great business sagacity and love for adj
venture, MIR. Blaine not only seized upon
the opportunities that came-he created
| opportunities. Mr.. Lincoln had put ST.
mon Cameron at the head of the War De-
partment, and Mr.. Cameron had made
Thomas A. Scott his trusty assistant. Mr..
Blaine was a Pennsylvania, and from
the first found that he could obtain faYors
at the War Departmental department,
nobody needs to be told, where all things
went by favOrs. Mr.. Blaine was Speaker
in the House of Representatives in Maine,
| and as captivating then as now. He in
stantly turned to valuable account the in
! formation and the favors which he was
/ able to obtain in Washington. One of his
| first operations was the collection from
| the War Department of a large
! sum of money for the Maine Cen
/ trail Railroad Company. 1t Will be re-
membered that at the outbreak of the
/ war and the grand uprising of the pat
/ riotic North, it was felt almost wrong to
/ ask compensation from the government
4 for the services that were so freely prof
! fered. Men felt like giving all they had
/ to save it. The States fitted out their
I and the railroad UInG
i offered to transport them to the capital
/ free of charge. But this sort of thing
/ didn't last after the war had actually
/ opened. The railroad companies were
! glad to be paid for all services rendered,
| even though they had given it gratuitous-
1 ly in the first instance. Mr.. Blaine dIscoV-
/ cred a claim of $50, 900 for the Maine Cen
! trail, and he offered to collect it. He was
| told that he could have % per cent. for
/ the Job, and he was speedily successful.
/ He pocketed $1,000 and purchased the
| house and grounds, now enlarged and
! adorned, where he has for nineteen years
resided. A similar claim for the
! Boston and Maine Railroad Com
/ panv was collected by him about the
] same time, and if the railroad companies
4 did not shine in the transaction, Mr..
/ Blaine was at least made$10,000 richer by
/ it. For a man who started with nothing,
! this was prosperous beginning in bust
ness. The equipping of the State troops
required large purchases Of material in
! Boston. and Mr.. Blaine speedily found
/ that an acquaintance with the Adjutant
! Generals way OF doing business, and the
/ men with whom he did business, was
valuable. He was a member of the Leg
/ islature, but he was also a private citi-
/ zen. and as such he had right to engage
/ in business operations that were profit
/ able. There was no law in the State of
I Maine against a member of the Legisla-
I ture being interested in government con-
/ tracts, and when the war was fairly be-
gun Mr.. Blaine found that he could make
/ all the money he wanted. He had the en-
| tree at the War Office and the favor of
/ Cameron and Scott, who thought him one
/ of the smartest young men they had ever
met. He speedily transferred his base of
! operations to Washington. He did not
need much money, for it was not so much
! capital as information and political favor
/ that were valuable in those days. When
| there was a fat contract TO be had at the
! War Department, Mr.. Blaine was one of
/ the first to have the information, and he
/ boldly ayailed himself of all that he OBJ
! tanned. Still he was little green at first,
/ and early in his speculative career he
! heedlessly put in bid for certain army
/ contract in his own name. When the bid
reached che eyes of Thomas A. Scott
. ~
/ Blaine at once. "Don't you know better,'
/ he said. "Mr. Blaine, than to put in bid
here in your own name? | advise you to
! 90 and withdraw that at once, and not
| let your name appear" Mr.. Blaine was
not slow in taking the advice, and he
never forgot it afterward. He sometimes
reiterates it as a good joke on himself. He
| made money at a wonderful rate. l Will
not attempt to give any list of his opera
tions. His large commissions on the con-
| tract for Spencer rifles and other war
material are already a matter of history.
The downfall of Cameron did not hurt
him, for Mr.. Blaine did not confine his
| operations to the War Department. He
| was equally ssfiXed" al the Navy Depart
| ment. There had drifted down to Augusta
from one of the interior towns of the State
a fellow of fine address and a talent for
success, who, like Mr.. Blaine himself, had
been at one time a school teacher. His
/ name was Alanson b. Farweu. He had
studied law and become a partner with
| Lot NJ. Morrill,, afterward our United
1 States Senator. Mr.. Farwell was taken
/ to Washington, and by the help of Maine
/ political influence early in 1861 was made
/ Chief Clerk of the Bureau of Construction
and Repair. 1t was place which gave
[ hS,,, IF oil hide of