The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1884-11-15

one was ever in political lie as long as
he without being accused of offenses as
serious as those that are laid at his
dovr. This, we say, is rash, because it is
an insult to the American people which
thew will not patiently endure, and which
MANY of them will incline to avenge
directly on Mr.. Blaine. The public
men who have been chosen to the high
post to which Mr.. Blaine aspires, or
who have from time to time been prom
inent as candidates for that place, have
been men whom the Republic could re-
ga.d without modification. and against
very few Of the leaders OF the Repub-
liean. party since il first organized in
defense OF human freedom have any
charges been brought that, if proved.
could have placed them on the level OF
Mr.. Blaine.
OF those who have passed away. and
who in their day incurred the most Bit
ter hostility aud invited from desperate
foes the most reckless opposition, the
thoughts OF all men will turn to Mr..
Lin DIN when these foolish apologists
for stained reputation Invite COMPARE
son. Certainly he was heartily abused.
but In the lercest heat Of civil war his
most INSCRIPTIONS assailants never
dared 10 say that he was dishonest
man. or that he used, or wanted to use,
the power intrusted to him by his coun-
trymen to fill his purse. And linked
with him In the memory of the Nation
as the man who would have taken his
place had the assassin done his work
earlier is Hannibal Hamlin. Will any
of Mr.. Blaine's supporters in Maine
venture to assert that there exists in
Mr.. Hamlin's record of long and con-
spicuous public service any snch evil
dence OF personal impurity rs has accu-
mulated against their candidate? And,
since we are speaking of Maine. what
will these loose-tongued apologists say
of parallel between the career of Mr..
Blaine and that of the blameless Will
lam Pitt Fessenden, or the less dis
tinguished but not less honest Lot NJ.
Morrill,? 1881
These are men of the old time Repub-
licans from the very dawn of the Re-
publican day. and there are others like
them. Two men singularly unlike in
gifts and temperament and methods of
action, but sharing through many years
the burdens and the honors of the
struggle for the Republican cause, were
Seward and Summer. They faced from
the beginning the most envenomed
abuse, but what tongue ever wagged
against their personal integrity We're
they ever accused of seeking pecuniary
reward forlacts done in official service?
Did they ever write letters on their per-
sonal business of which they had to
possess themselves by falsehood for
fear they would find their way TO an in
vestigating COMMITTEE, or can any one
conceive of them hushing inquiry into
their dealings with Government cor
poration from anxiety for an election to
the Senate. Salmon p. Chase was .
Senator of the United States and was
afterward Secretary of the Treasury
when money in almost uncounted
millions was collected and expended
under his direction, and when fortunes
were made in day from the transac-
tions he controlled. Is any man living
who would have dared to suggest of
Mr.. Chase that he made one dollar
from the abuse of his position. Can
any one conceive of him as begging q
share in the speculative schemes OF that
day on the ground of a decision made
in his official capacity, and the assur-
ance that he would mot be dead
head?" And ..Bluff Ben Wade and
Thaddeus Stevens and John p. Hale
and Senator Grimes and all the old
guard of the party-can we conceive If
them as open 10 the charges under
which Mr. Blaine now suffers?
But we may be told that the standard
of political morality was higher then
than it is now, and that Mr.. Blaine is
entitled to be judged by the existing
one. There is some force in the claim.
The standard is lower, for in that time
no man could have been nominated for
President by the Republican party who
was justly suspected of the sins of the
Chicago candidate: But il the stand
ard of those who control the party be
lower, it remains to be seen what YER
dict the American people will pass
upon it in the trial to which they are
challenged. And there are still men
living, in both parties, honored and
honorable, who furnish the means of
comparison. The man who was re-
JCSV1A AAVk xsAks A,iainS ny tuC OniCu2O
Convention is one of these. When the
charges long since formulated against
Mr.. Blaine were again brought to the
attention of the public his ardent, if
amateur, attorney, Mr.. Phelps. hast
ened to try to prove that he had done
no worse than Mr.. Edmunds, instinct
lively perceiving that If they could
be shown to be guided by the same
standard Mr.. Blaine was safe. But the
attempt drew out q simple and savage
explanation from Mr.. Edmunds that
settled that question forever, and
showed Mr.. Phelps and his client that,
however desirable it was to establish .
likeness to that gentleman, it was as
impossible as to prove that black is
white. If we turn to the next most con-
spicuous figure in recent politics, and
compare Mr.. Blaine with the man who
was for years the object of his most am
bilious rivalry, the result will not be
more favorable to Mr.. Blaine. Roscoe
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