Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-09-11
GARFIELD AND BLAINE.

No man in this country has been eulo-
giZe1 bt the people To the extent thai
the late James A. Garfield has, except
Washington ard Lincoln. Garfield WAS
tru ted and loved by the people. He
had see many Years Of public srrvice5e-
fore he entered the ~ hire House. He
hadbeeR Ia Cung1 esS ma. V years. There
he became . leading member of the
house a Blaine had been before him.
The two men wer.. intimaIely acquainU-
ed. Probably Garfi knew Blaine as
1hOrOug hiy as any man IN the hsmse d.
Then the former brcame president he
selected Blaine tor the office f 5, eta
~ of state, and his chief advi er. The
two men co tinued Their personal and
political intimacy. biaine acc, 10 g.
med Garfield To the deDOt where he wa
shot by an a saSSin The last office Of
Blaine for his friend was the de livery II
| the spend d eulog, on Garfield by APP
pOintment OF -cungI ess.
If Bl tine " a. fiL TOR secretary Of state
| he is certainly fit for tae office IF presi-
dent Garfield had INN heen as
sailed during the canvass Lying let
tiers, base slahders, Iurgenes. had been
| manufactured without limit. ! he
/ country wa flooded wi The Morey for
gerry. Garfield was charged with poIit
zeal CORFU ,)tiUn and held up 10 Repre-
hensiDn as a dOuble-draling. tricky,
ambitious and al5oE ether unscTupulOus
man. \ ct he came cut OF the heat Ut
that canvass without the smell Of
scOTched garments. There l. net today
in al This land an honest man who be-
lieVe~ thai Carrie q wa corrupt or ha'
any Of The charges made against nm
wei true. He lives today III the mem
ory of the people as great and noble
m N who was wise in the councils OF the
nation and brave on The battle field.
Did Tia field make mistake in select
ing Blame for the Office of .ecreJaTy of
state? 1t has never b. en- seriously
charged hat he DID. Has il ever &c
currt 10 those who are now eng aged
In the business of mHligning Blaine hat.
incidentally, they maIgn the cha acIer
Il Garfield? The latter was not ignor
ant of his man He knew him through
and through. and knowing him, he gave
him the IN. st important trust III his ad
ministrat.On That was a national en-
dursement. Blaine is today just the
kind of man he was when Garfield
<elec' ed hun as secretary Of state-nO
better and No worse. Did Garfield Sc
leet II chnrlatan. a corrupt, mere
trickster; or did he select one of the
able>t men in the country statesman
of good character. the. equal of the pres
ideGt wherever he had been tried in
p bile?
Or all the defamerS of garfield, there
i not one to-day to repeat the mi~era-
Bile SANDERS so rife during the Canvass
not one who, if al We, belle es them
in his heart. The MOFey letter forgery
was a device If base and INSCRIPTIONS
T. of al. nf1foI
and defamation. When II had closed,
it was hoped the country would never
knowanother such campaign.
But it Is now more than probable
that the pend NJ presidential canvass
will be distinguished by equal detsma-
ton. lying and forgery. 1t may be we'll
enough t0 note that the defamation of
Blaine which has already be un, Is al
s the defamation of the dead Garfield.
It is an Impeachment Uf his judgment
and his honesty. Because all the
o ounds for the accusations now made
against Blaine existed when Garfield
made him secretary Of state. The mar
tyred president decided that there was
nothing in The charges which affec ed
the Standing OF Blaine. The To- mer
had been through The fire and knew
lust what was at the bottom OF the base
pose u OFcGi OJ pc oN'AAtAA anu ''-
litical reputation. If Garfield WAS right
in his estimation of Blaine, who Is rtght
nowP Not the glib-tOngued slanderer
who takes stale charges and IN
dertakes to rehabilitate hem and make
the public hell. We that they are true.
Cannot the spirit OF the presidential
campaign be eleYated above this low
aud vulgar TRADE against the private
and poical character of candidates? If
Washington were today a cHnd date for
the presidential Office, probably many of
those engaged in the miserable business
of detaming the character of Blaine
would turn as readily 10 OBTAINING the
character of the illustriOus Washing
ton. Now this wholesale defamation
does rot destroy q character which Is
worth preserving. Blame will emerge
from the canvass very much the same
man that be WAS " hen he went intO it,
a. did GARFIELD, his predecessor. But
canvass IL which such defamation not
only possible, but which IS considered
bN Opposing ,.Otuictians "a legitimate.
gues he fact So of illustra1 ed that poll
tics are pretty low down IN this country.
The worst l.haSe of all Is that his trade
of personal abuse, OF lying r { e mere
love it, goes great way To debauch the
public conscience. There are thOus-
ands OF Dung men who are wrongly
educated in politics by every such cam
paign. Many at them, as their ia hers
before them, viii Ell from an active
participation IN public affairs sheer dis
gust with the trickery and downright
dishOi esty which is II G IN the cam paign.