Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-02-16

nor the fear of the re, HszA3MgTVp'
suit, or the worry and /z7WN'T'"
| strain OF another cam B. II. Jones'
paign which impelled Mr.. Blaine to write
| that letter.
''Will you tell me what Mr.. Blaine's rea-
| sons arei"
'As given to me at the time at which
Mr.. Blaine refers the reasons were these /:
Before the nomination by the Repub-
licans in 1876, Mr.. Blaine was very anx-
ious to obtain the Presidency, and worked
for it with the aid of his friends. He was
| disappointed when it went to another man
in the manner it did. In 1880 he was still
! anxious, although in lesser degree, and
his disappointment was less marked. In
1884 he had, to great extent lost the de-
sire for the Office, and now he withdraws
from the contest because he has no wish to
become President. He takes a keen inter
est in literary work, and wants rest and
quiet. / assure you these are the only red
sons for Mr.. Blaine's letter that are known
to me- Every body sooner or later loses de-
sire for something which they were once
| anxious to obtain, and this is entirely true
in the case of Mr.. Blaine"
'Tsn't Blaine's letter inconsistent with
the action of his friends, presumably with
his consent, working for the control of the
State conventions and delegations2n
mo. sir; it is not inconsistent. No
such work has been done for US. OF
course, we have received countless letters
on this subject from people North, South,
East and West. Mr.. Blaine's friends have
not sought to set up or secure single dele
cation anywhere. They have made no con-
cer,ed action. There has been no meeting
to map out a course favorable to Mr..
Blaine, and / assure you that whatever
has been done by admirers of Mr.. Blaine
has been done on their own account and
not at the instance of his close friends.
We have done nothing to secure the nom
nation for Mr.. Blaine. When people
write to me on the subject I send them a
call for the National convention as issued
| by the committee and some extracts as TO
the history of the convention of 1884 I
have written no letters in Mr.. Blaine's in
| terest."
"Was this letter laid before any sort of
meeting of his friends or of the National
Committee2"
sit was not. The letter was received by
me on Tuesday last, it having come directly
from Florence to me. It was entirely in
Mr. Blaine's handwriting. AS you see by
its opening sentence, it was Intended for
the party. l didn't tell any body of it's
existence until Friday. Then 1 told one
man, who assisted me in preparing copies
of the letter for the press. 1t was not given
out on Saturday because many papers do
not print Sunday editions, and 1 was
anxious to give it the widest publicity.
arranged to have it go out by the Associated
Press. Even a man as close to Mr.. Blaine
as Mr.. s. b. Elkins knew nothing of the ex
istence of this letter until this morning."
THE LETTER IN WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON. Feb 14.-Mr. Blaine's let
ter was the leading topic of political Cos
sip yesterday. Mr. Blaine's avowed friends
in Congress show desire not to express
their opinions, but intimate that the letter
only emphasizes the disinclination which
he has shown to press his claims for NOM
lnation. The prominent men known as CD
ponents to Mr.. Blaine, hail the letter as an
actual withdrawal from the Presidential
race Senator Allison and others, who
may be classed as Presidential candidates
content themselves with saying that Mr.
Blalne's expressions are unquestionably
sincere, but that he would have to accede
to the demand of the party that he should
become its candidate-if it should SO ex-
press itself in the convention.
Among prominent Democrats in both
Houses the expression seems to prevail
that the letter is far from establishing the
fact that Mr.. Blaine will not be Presi-
dental candidate
Mr.. Dalzell Republican Representative
from the Pitts burgh district an intimate
friend Of long standing of Chairman Jones,
OF the National Republican Committee.
says that he is not surprised to read Mr.
Blaine's letter; that ne had an intimation
several months ago that Mr.. Blaine had
suffered severely from nervous prostration
since the campaign of 1884, and would not
likely be physically able to withstand the
rigorous demands of another campaign;
that he went abroad with the hope of re-
covering his health, and that the letter in
dicates that he is disappointed in the OBJ
1ect OF his trip. Mr.. Dalzell believes that
MI Blaine is sincere III his determination
not to have his name used in the conveu-
tion, and also that he intends to assist in
the election of the nominee to the extent
his physical condition may permit
THE LETTER IN NEW YORK
NEW DIRK, Feb. 1.-THE Blaine letter is
the only topic of conversation in Wall
street and all public resorts. An evening
paper quotes ex-senator Warner Miller as
saying:
I'm my opinion Mr.. Blaine has concluded
that MS nomination would not harmonize
all the factions of the party. He MAY not
have desired to enter another contest and
to have to fight over again the battle of
1884 He is evidently sincere in his letter.
do not know what are his personal rea-
sons for Withdrawing from the candidacy
Tor the nomination L am only sJaIing my
opinion of his public reasons
President s. b. French, of the Police
Board, said: 81 regard the letter as a very
able document and entirely characteristic
OF MIR. Blaine. / think 1t withdraws HIM
absolutely from the field, and in my opinion
makes John Sherman a favoritc of the Re-
publican party"
Senator Hawley was asked if he consid-
cred the letter as final. He said: 81 do;
most assuredly i do. 1 think he means
every word that he has written There
can be no doubt IS to the sincerity of Mr..