The Portland daily press., 1884-11-18
Mr.. Blaine Talks.
A Tribnfe 90 fhe Hrish and German
VOters-His Opinion of the Action of the
ProhibitiOuists-The Close Vote in New
Work.

Special Correspondence of the Boston Journal.)
AUGUSTA. Me-, Saturday, Nov. 15 1884.
Directly to the southwark of Mr. Blaine's
residence in Augusta there is considerable
wood, along the borders of which, on the
shelving hills that overlook the Kennebec, he
is in the habit of taking daily long and brisk
walk. Your correspondent intercepted him in
his walk this afternoon, and, without any in
tsntion Of securing an interview" and with
no permission to publish it, he had a running
conversation with Mr.. Blaine which. as it re-
lated TO many topics of general interest, he
ventures to give to the public.
asked Mr.. Blaine what he thought would
be the result of the count in New York, and he
replied that he had no more means of knowing
it than the unborn child. He had from the
first had no other desire than that fair count
should be made, and, so far as he was
personally concerned, he would be content
with either result. Success would not elate
him and defeat would net depress him. He
was engaged in coDgepial and profitable work
which had been interrupted by ihe Campaign,
and the deep regret that he would feel at q
Democratic triumph would be altogether for
LIS BoeAVJ shtS Otto GpNAbty y-ll3b ltt uImSolf.
81 lived too near the presidency in 1884," Mr.
Blaine added after long pause, 'and have
too keen a sense of its burdens, its embarrass-
ments and its perils, to be unduly anxious for
the office"
To the inquiry how he accounted for the
closeness Of the result In New York, Mr.
Blaine said: swell, considering the loss ty
the bolt of the Independent Republicans and
the far larger loss from the action of the Re-
publican Prohibilionists, the wonder at first
Sights that tie Democrats did not carry the
State By large majority, as they confidently
expected they would. This result wss pre-
vented by the great accessions to the Republi-
can ranks of Irish aud Irish-American voters
aud workingmen OF all classes, who sustained
me because OF my advocacy Of protective
| tariff. They believe and believe wisely that
free trade would reduce their ages"
"You really think, then," queried your re-
porter, that you go5 considerable Irish vote
In New York;
"Oh, | had thousands upon thousandsip re-
piled Mr.. Blaine, "and should have had
| many more but for the iutoleraut and utterly
inpropeTs emark OF DIR. Burcbard, which was
quoted everywhere to my prejudice and in
many places attrb buted to myself though it
was IN the highest degree distasteful and of
feDsive to me. But a lie, SOU know, travels
very fast, and there was not time before elec-
ton TO overtake and correct that one, and so
Suffered for it."
asked Mr.. Blaine if he thought the Irish
American vote was organized at all or had
competent leaders. Eyes, said he HI was
deeply impressed by the ability, the earnest-
nest and the sincerity OF those whom met.
There, for instance, is Patrick Ford of the
Irish World. He is man Of the most unsel-
| fish devotion to any Cause be espoases-pos-
| ssssing great faculty for organization, with
marked ability and untiripg energy. Gsneral
Kerwin OF the Tablet has III large degree ths
aroQ hnr md 10 far sss,I,4
able man, with fine record as a Union soldier
| The Irish Nation, edited by John Dsv0y, also
| gave us strong and valuable support. Alexau-
| der Sullivan and John Finnerty were very
| powerful On the stump, and did royal service.
| Both are natural orators of tue fsrvid irish
| type. Sellivan's tariff speech 10 Toledo con-
| tributed very largely to the defeat of Frank
| Hurd. These men, with others whom did
not personally meet, have made break in the
Irish Democratic vote-one that I believe will
| widen and increase in ths future as the full
| significance of the attitude of the Democratic
| party on the tariff question becomes under
| stood and appreciated. Our Irish and Irish
| American citizens will in time get tired of
| voting in accordance with the wishes of the
| English free traders
| / SAID to Mr.. Blaine that tha Irish In Boston
thought he understood the character of their
| people better than any other Republican lead
| er. Mr.. Blaine replied that it would be ego
| tistic for him to assume that, but said there
| was, perhaps, strong leaning of the Irish ele-
| ment toward him, because OF the fact that on
his mothers side he was of Irish descent. In
| Pennsylyania, his native State, he had raceiv-
ed an enormous Irish vcto-some counties
hitherto strongly Democratic, having been
completely reversed Ia their popular maiorities
by the change of the Irish in his favor. This
however, was of course due in part to the fact
that he stood so dietinctiVely as the repressntR-
tive of projection to American indastries-an
idea which prevails with more force in Penn.
sylvsnia than in any other State.
"But" said ], did you not lose correspond
ipgly in the German vote?" mot at ALL" re-
piled MIR. Blaine. "A II through the West the
Germans supported me nobly. How else could
have carried Chicago by nine thousand, Gin
cinDati by five thousand, Cleveland by five
thousand? Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois and
Iowa have the largest German population in
the West, and carried them by splendid ma
| Jorities. Such aole and influential German
editors as Markbreit in Cincinnati Kaufman
in Cleveland, Praetorius in 81. Louis, aud
many others, brought great strength TO the
Republican cause. German orators were also
most effective on the stump. Bfneker, Cots
chock and men OF that stamp exerted great
influence. There was immense ffart made to
prejudice the Germans against me, but it
failed. They are wonderfully eo0l-headed
people. inhexibly honest IN their conclusions
and just in their judgments, ard I have abun-
dant resson to thank them for their generous
support. l shall not soon forget it. AT differ
ent points in the West l found German and
Irish clubs cordially uniting ia public demon
strauons."
Your correspondent brought the conversation
back to New York by asking Mr.. Blaine ii be
thought the Prohibitionists were honest in
their support of St. John.
Il have never during the campaign" re-
piled Mr. Blaine, REFLECTED upon the motives
uf any man and l shall not do so. I content
myself with saying that think the Prohibi-
tionists were mised and that they did not cor
rsctiy measure the possible result of this
course / received from many of them tAs as
surance that my candidacy made their action
difficult, because they really wanted to vote
for me, but they seemed to be under the
strange delusion that the temperance cause
could be promoted By supporting their own
Presidential ticket, and by their course they
influenced periodically the national issues
which were really al stake"
"Yon attribute the close vote in New York,
then, Mr.. Blaine, solely to tee action of the
Independents and the Prohibitionists?'
"No not solely, rep led Mr.. Blaine .Ac-
cording to numerous letters L have received
from Central and Western Nsw York it would
seem that tie rsiay day lssss ned ihe Repnbli-
can vote. The Democratic majorities lie in
the cities, where, by few minutes walk on a
good pavement, man reaches his polling
place. The Republican majorities are in the
country, where large numbers live
three, four or evensfve miles from the poll
iBg-pacs, which on election day had to be
reached over muddy roads and in q rain stof N.
Had the day been fair, the Republican major
tiles in the rural counties would have been in-
creased, one good judge writes me, by probably
ten thousand, but all agree by from three to
five thousand The actual difference between
the two parties In the final count, whichever
way it gees, will perhaps not exceed thou
sand, about the one-tweifth of one per cent of
the total vote-or one voter in every twelve
hundred for the entire State. So if the Demo-
Gratis have really carried New York by this
small margin, as latest news indicate, you see
how easily fair day might have reversed the
result. But great political battles, like mill
tary battles, are often lost or won by an appar-
emily trivial incident or accident which no
human foresight can guard against"
MIR. Blsine turned homeward at this point
He seems to be ia perfect health and. az far as
any one could judge, in the best of spirits.
His step is elastic and his gait SO rapid that it
was with difficulty Eess up with him. He
told me that his long tour of forty~two days on
the stump had not i'll the least degree fatigued