Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-09-26
Mr.. c.nkling and Mr.. Blaine.

A representative Of this paper called on
Dir. Blaine at MS residence on yesterda,
to ask n be desired to say anything in an
swer to the recently published letter OF
ne late Senator Conkling. Mr.. Blaine
eply was as follows: Nothing could in
luce me to enter into controversy ov' r
dr. Conkling's grave. During our joint
service in Congress. some sixteen years in
all. we had some exasperating controyer
sizes, but | never spoke or wrote a word
concerning him, except publicly and now
hat lie Il dead my lips are sealed again
very form Of criticism or unkind expre-
ion, no matter what may be the impru
lence or the injustice of any Of hi
surviving friends"
Our reporter asked Mr.. Blaine If he haf
ioticed that doubt had been expressed IL
-everal papers as to Mr.. Conkling bein,
the author of the published letter. Mr.
Blaine replied that of course he knew
nothing about that point but it was
great surprise to him that such letteI
should have been written by Mr.. Conb-
ling. The date shows that the lette
WAS written just six days after
the close of an exasperating personal de-
bate with Conkling, and if Mr.. Conklint
had intended to say anything of the kind
he would have been apt to say it then and
not Immediately afterward in a private
Lot ortx-a 70. ha ,nEli,.
for twenty-five years, and not until Mr..
Conkling had been dead several months.
The whole affair was not in accordance
with Mr.. Conkling's habitual courage in
debate.
When asked if he knew anything of
Crandall or Haddock Mr.. Blaine replied
that he had never seen either of them
and never heard the name of either
except upon the occasion of his
personal debate with Mr.. Conkling III
April, 1866. Though he had not charged
his mind with the fact so as to remember
accurately, his strong impression was that
they were both officers in New York I'M
der the Enrolment Act during the war
and that both had been dismissed from
the service for misconduct in office.
Mr.. Blaine was then asked by our rep
resentative if he had any thing to sd.
about the charge that he had made money
out of the Recruiting funds in the
war. He replied that it might with equal
truth be charged that he had made mon
ey by robbing the mails or by piracy ON the
high-seas. The reporter asked if the
whole business of the recruiting scan
dial had not been fully investigated in
Maine. Never, said Mr.. Blaine, was "a
subject more thoroughly or more
persistently investigated than the
recruiting scandals which grew up
in this State the last year of the
war III connection with the filling of town
quotas by what were known as paper
credits" 1t was investigated by special
committees of two Legislatures and finally
and most searchingly by a public Commits
sion composed of three prominent gentle
men. two of whom were eminent lawyers
and the third distinguished officer in the
late war. One OF the lawyers was DEM
ocrat of the most pronounced type. There
is not a word of evidence, or even a sug-
gestion or hint in any one of the three re-
ports, said Mr. Blaine, that he had any
more connection with the matter
than had Mr.. Conkling or his
unwise friend who publishes this
letter and attributes it to the dead states
man.
Our representative then asked Mr..
Blaine if he has not assisted the Public
Commission ntheir investigation. Mr.,
Blaine said that in "A certain
way he had done so. The Commission
needing voluminous information from
the War and Navy Departments in
respect to recruiting frauds found great
difficulty in obtaining what was essential
to their investigation. They then applied
to him for aid. In their final report
to the Legislature the Commission
ers made the following acknowledgement
of his assistance:
'Our inquiries had been so long baifed
"by formal references to inconsequential
"facts and ingenious overlooking of the
"material matter, about which there was
uncertainty, that it seemed probable
"that no evidence of any value to our
purpose could be obtained from Wash
'ington within the period to which our
"labors were confined In this dilemma
"memher of Congress from the Sd Dis
"trict of Maine and to his effective interven-
"tion by personal appeals at the Depart
''ments, where our acquisitions for docu-
''meuts were waiting compliance, we con
slider ourselves largely indebted for what
ever information from these sources we
have "been able to obtain"
Mr.. Blaine was further asked if he had
not tried in Congress to stop all fraudu-
lent recruiting. He replied that he had.
During the last year of the war, said Mr..
Blaine, recruiting frauds were running riot
throughout many of the loyal States.
4 system of fraudulent credits had been
invented by which quotas were filled
without soldiers being added to the army
II was in this field of operation that the
bounty spectators made their money.
When the last Enrolment Bill was under
discussion during the session of Congress
which began in December, 1864, he had
offered an amendment in these words ::
"rhat in any call for troops no County,
clown, Township, Ward, Precinct or
ELECTION District shall have credit except
"for men actually furnished on said
"call or preceding call by said County,
"rown, Township. Ward, Precinct and
ELECTION District, and mustered into the
military and Naval service on the quota
thereof
- In advocating the amendment Mr.. Blaine
said he had explained the frauds that were