Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-11-27
uar,sinn 81 AZ anisode: ..I hardly need

version of the episode; II hardly need
introduce you, gentlemen" exclaimed Mr..
MeMichael when Senator Edmunds and
Mr.. Blaine confronted one another. The
Senator frankly replied Certainly not, )"
and with courteous bow extended his
right hand. Mr.. Blaine uttered no reply
whatever. He simply bowed low, very
low indeed, and passed on without SEEM
inc to even notice the outstretched hand.
81 presume that wasproper, "hesaid, soto
voice, to Mr.. McMichael when he was be-
yond the Yermonter's hearing. 1T you
ask me for my opinion" replied MIR. Nc
Michael, very deliberately, and weighing
every word, 81 shall say no." The
answer was received in silence. Blaine
nimble instincts told him that something
had occurred which never ought to have
happened. 49,.
The Chicago Herald has this able COM
ment on the occurrence:
For a certain length of time James u.
blaine can conduct himself with as much
diplomacy as any other public man that
ever lived, but for sustained clrcumspee-
ton it is not worth while to look In ms
direction. The character of the man Is
well shown by his proneness to weaken at
critical moments. This might argue insin-
eerity on his part; that he is passing HIM
self off for something which he is not, and
that, at times forgetting the part which he
is playing, he plainly reveals his real dis
position, but his admirers it will be held to
be nothing more serious than the unfortu-
nate weakness of an impulsiye man.
Attending the funeral of Mr. Arthur,
gentleman who in life MIR. Blaine took
mains TO antagonize, and who represented
an element in New York politics which
was and is inimical to Blaine, it was the
first duty of the gentleman from Maine to
forget himself and stand ready to meet
friends and foes as gentleman should.
The house OF mourning was neutral
ground. In the presence of death the
chickering's OF rival politicians and OF fac
tiops should have been hushed. BY the
bier of the dead President nothing person.
al to the self-invited mOurners could
be brought forward without shocking all
the proprieties and violating every dictate
of good breeding He who could not par
ticipate in that solemn ceremony without
bringing to it . lively recollection OF his
own uuarrels might much better have re-
manned away. 1t is certain that for the
dead man Mr.. Blaine cherishes no great re-
gard. In life they were not friends.
With Arthur dead it was possible for the
aspiring politician from Maine to make a
point for himself by attending the funeral.
That he went there for any other reason
will be difficult for persons acquainted
with the facts to believe. As it turned
out it would have been votes in his pocket
if he had stayed away. His meeting with
Senator EdmundS, and his refusal of that
gentleman's Outstrctched hand, have pre-
cipitated 4 discussion which will more
than offset any advantages which Mr..
Blaine may have gained for himself by
months of active and, in the main, skillful
campaigning.
Nobody ever made brisker dash for the
Presidency than that of Mr.. Blaine in
1894. Appealing to Ignorance rather than
to intelligence, and uttering for the most
part the most absurd SOphismS, he never
theless carried himself and so shaped his
canvass ~ TO even make dubious cause
look decidedly hopeful. But then, rs
now, he could not sustain the role that he
was PLAYING. lie broke down on the
home stretch, when it seemed almost rs
though he had victory within his grasp.
His nature asserted itself The friend and
representative of monopoly and mOnOpo
lists. he could not maintain to the end
the guiSe of wOrkingmen's friend, and ut
the Belshazzar feast in New York, where
sat two OF three score of money sharks, all
profoundly Interested in his success, the
lie was given to everything that he had
said on the stumpS OF dozen States. 1t
was that brazen demonstration which de-
feated James G.. Blai nc, and not anything
that may have been said by poor old
Burchard 1t WAS simply characteristic
Blaine breakdown, an mintentiOnal but
inevitable display OF the VOLTS langs be-
meath the sleeps clothing.
In whatever light Mr. Blaine may he
viewed or in whatever position he may be
found it will be seen that this fate hangs
over him. In three Presidential cam
paigns he has started out with abuOyanCy
and dash which have inspired much
confidence in his followers, but sooner or
later the catastrophe has come. For 4
short race he probably would be unrivaled.
A long contest must bring out the inner
ent weaknesses of the mans character.
He is now engaged in the most trying
struggle of his life. Grander figures than
his and men with better balanced minds
have gone down before the trying ordeal
to which he is subiecting himself. The
Presidency is yet two years away, and
time is James G.. Blaine's worst enemy,