St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-22
His Magnetic Person Is Be-
Smeared All Over With the
Mulligan Letters
And Surrounded by a Set Of
Men RavenouS for Power
and Plumber.
A Tip to a Few of the Republic
cans Who Want to Be the
Nations Head.
George c. Gorham in Chicago Times.

Blaine'S unVarying inSincerity that his
friends, as well as his foes, are eagerly
seeking for the trick which they seem
to take for granted must be hidden
away in or behind his letter to Chairman
Jones. BY the general mob of his
ShouterS and StumperS it is treated as a
smart Godge-a sort of going down to
avoid punishment" as they say in the
prize ring. and which in no way affects
his candidacy. But the innermOSt circle
of his friends-thOSe who have vainly
struggled to keep him on the track
Eugene Hale, Stephen Il. ElkinS, Will
lam Walter Phelps and Whitelaw Reid
have shown by their utteranceS that the
plumed knight has indeed fled inglori
ouSly from The field.
The brevet candidates are greatly
elated. Each one is sure that he is sin
cere. and that, noble man as he is, he
has inundated himself on the altar of
the party he loves so we'll. 1t is now
discovered that he was the idol of each
of his half-breed SubalternS, and they
stand penSively over the political grave
of their dear, dead brother, with hand
kerchief in hand, willing TO bear the
burden IF candidacy which he has laid
down.
The Democrats, of course, with deS-
perate energy and rather poorly Simu-
lated confidence, declare that this flight
of Blaine is in reality an advance.
They have stood by him through thick
and thin. Every Democrat in the Uni
ted States is in favor of his nomination.
They are as eager for him as they would
be in battle TO wet the powder of their
enemy.
Mr.. Blaine'S declaration is very SIM
pie; it is in these words: my name
will not be presented to the national
convention" That is to say, he will
not cause it to be nor consent that it
shall be so presented. OF course, he
could not prevent an avOwed enemy or
q false friend from presenting it for the
express purpose of causing him NORTH
cation: He says: 81 am constrained
to this decision by
CONSIDERATIONS ENTIRELY PERSONAL
to myself, of which you were advised
more than year ago" In furnishing
the letter to the Pittsburg Commercial
Gazette for publication, MIR. Jones also
furnished. by way of supplement to if.
the following:
As near as [ can recolIet. the con-
YerSatiOn to which Mr.. Blaine refers
was as follows: lin 1876 said he, II
was intensely deSiriOuS of the nOmina-
ton and ambitious to become president
OF the United State. In 1880 that feel
ing had about worn off. In 1884 | had
no desire for the nomination. and. as
you know, did not in any way seek it. |
have been very close to presidents, and
know OF their responsibilities and dis
comforts, and | do not think it would be
to my personal interests or to the in
fPFaStS nS IN FL hat / oh l.
PRESIDENT
This supplement was undoubtedly
also written by Mr.. BlOine, who thought
1T would be more readily believed if
given as private conversation with
friend than as a public declaration.
This makes up the case. The re-
mainder of the letter is a rather tame
party hOmily,with the usual perfunctory
assurance of undying devotion to the
party he has so often betrayed.
There is nothing very difficult to un-
derStand in all this if people would only
comprehend the fact that even Mr..
Blaine must sometimes be taken at his
word. He was not deceived by the fool
lSh clamor of the hungry crowd around
him. They measured his strength by
their OWN desire to see him in possession
of the plums which presidents can give
their friends. But he had a better
for success. He has at last learned to
read the signs of the times, and, as they
could not be changed by mere windy as
SertiOhS,he knew better than to contend
against them. South Carolina and Miss
lSSippi would not have been more GER
tainly against him than New York and
Indiana. These states have fifty-one
electoral votes. The solid South, which
includes New Jersey, has 1872 total 213
-l2 more than a majority of the whole
40l. The united shouts of the Blaine
men and the Democrats might cause the
former TO lose sight of the stone wall
erected between him and the White
house: but the burned child breads the
fire, and while memory holds seat i'm
the distracted globe which surmounts
the shoulders of James q. Blaine he will
never forget 1884. He saws that i'm 1916
he was
INTENSELY AMBITIOUS"
in 1850 that feeling had about worn
Oh" and in 1884 he had no desire for
the nomination. OF course. he does
not expect any but the most guIible TO
believe all OF this. He might truthfully
have said that in 1880 and 1884 he had no
hope OF success. This was especially
the case in 1884. True, he contended
each time for the undeSired prize with
all his wonderful resources, but in 1854
he Shivered long at the brink, and, after
the nomination, he was for time ter
rliied and despairing. He had been twice
defeated for the nomination, and now,
being nominated by a broken party, he
glOOmily compared his career with that
OF Clay. and his mind was filed with
Superstitious forebodingS that his fate
was TO be The Same-that 1884 would be
a repetition of 1914 The realization of
this prophetic presentiment naturally
confirmed him in the belief that his
cause was hopeless. Every near friend
of his will recognize the correctness of
the above statement. He has been a
hard man to fight for during all these
years, because he was wholly wanting
In pluck. The least disappointment
depressed him: the least obstacle
frightened him from his propriety.
He ran away from his fight at the con-
yentiOn in 1880 before he was whipped,
or else he was betrayed by his state
delegation. He has any amount of au-
dacity, quality easily mistaken for
courage, ami he makes a great display
of it when pushed by his enterprising
friends into positions from which re-
treat is impossible. Like Rip Van
Wrinkle. he will only die game when he
cannot run away. This he has lust
proved. He long since determined for
himself, against the wishes of his I'M
mediate friends, never again to suffer
the tOrments of fear and the pains of
chaStisement which in 1884 made him
an object of pity to all who were be-
hind the scenes with him during the
performance of the play.
Ii is naturally asked why he has so
long seemed a candidate. The answer
is that he has been surrounded by a
set of men ravenOus for power and
plumber, who realized how desperate
was his chance, but who themselves
had nothing TO lose by his defeat and