St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-05-03

ture and exhilarating exercise. The
realistic.
PRESS COMMENTS ON BLAINE.
The Public Must Decide.
Rutland Herald Rep
The public has taken both Mr.. Harris
and Mr.. Blaine at their words. Nei-
ther is candidate. If either becomes
candidate now it will be, not because
he seeks it but because the public
seeks him. The public is ga bigger
man than old Grant"
Another Letter Coming.
N z Sun, Dem.
A political rumor reaches us from a
high republican source and of so i'm
pOrtant a character that we publish
it prominently. According to this
intimatiOn the last thing that Mr..
Blaine will do as he embarks on board
the steamship which is to bring him
home to the United States will be to
renew, in the most positive language
his refusal to be the republican candi
date for the presidency.
An Absolute Statement Wanted.
Boston Record, Rep.
Mr.. Blaine is only few hours dis
tant from this country by telegraph.
He is less than a fortnight's distance
by mail. Is there no one in this coun-
try near enough to him to get from
him an absolute statement as to wheth-
er he will accept the nomination or
not9 The way things are today puts
very bad face on matters. Mr.. Blaine
"should place himself and his partey
above unpleasant complications"
No Need of Another Letter.
Rutland Herald. Rep.
He has said his say. He does not
desire to be a candidate. The feel d is
open. Others are trying without p reju-
dice or handicap to win the prize.
The republicans of the country know
something themselves. They usually
know their own minds and are not
afraid to express them. If they nomi-
nate Mr.. Blaine, it will be because, on
the whole they prefer him. If they
do it they will unite upon him. If
they do that, he may and may not
refuse. Unless such case is presented,
why should he be heard from any more
than Senator Edmunds, who is not a
candidate, or Senator Sherman, who is
Another Letter Needed.
Boston Journal Rep.
In what a sad plight the republican
party would be placed if during his
passage to this country a nomination
should be secured which he should re-
ject on his arrival. That he would be
urged to accept the nomination is as
sured in advance, but there is danger
that it is unwise for party to incur,
when it is possible to know in advance
the exact wishes of Mr.. Blaine. Again
we say, Mr.. Blaine has right to
change his mind-but his loyalty to
the republican party should, we be-
lieve, induce him to place himself and
his party above unpleasant compiled
tiOns.
Not a Definite Withdrawal.
Hdrper'S Weekly, Ind.
When Mr.. Blaine's Florence letter
was published we pointed out that he
spoke positively of what he could not
control, but that he was silent upon
the essential point which was wholly
within his power. He said that his
name would not be presented to the
convention, which he could not pre-
vent. But he did not say that if he
were nominated he would not accept,
which is completely within his discre-
ton. We said, therefore, that he did
not seem to us to have withdrawn def
nitely from the contest. That was ev-
iden tly the opinion of those who es-
pecially represent him, and who must
be assumed to know his feelings and
purposes.
He Can be Spared.
Fail RiUer NeaoS, Rep.
The republican party is bound to ac-
cept the declarations of Mr.. Blaine as
final. 1t would not compact with his
manly Observation-Disclosures nor with
the dignity of the party to assume that
he would accept nomination, if prof
| fered by the national convention in
spite of his refusal to be considered
candidate. The fortunes of the party
are not dependent on one man, how
ever popular and magnetic he may be !;
and the complete retirement of Mr..
Blaine from active political life would
not lessen the Astounding vitality and
power of the great organization that is
now proud to recognize him as its
ablest leader.
| Is 1t to BE Blaine VS. Cleveland
| Springfield Republican, Ind.
Very naturally the question is being
asked all over the United States, does
| IulS d DctWccH SlcNO-
land and Blaine in 1888 Z Some of the
shrewdest judges of political signs and
tendencies answer in the affirmative.
They argue that since loyalty to Mr..
Blaine has been for so long made the
test of membership in the republican
party that organization has been trim
med so as to fit him and no one else.
His letter of withdrawal, reinforced as
it has since been with an interview in
which his purpose to retire was reiter-
ated, has not sufficed to persuade his
friends that he is actually an impOssi-
bility. Week by week the New York
Tribune has labored to show that
Blaine's denomination is necessary to
the party, and organs edited by the
next friends of the man in Florence
have labOred along the same line. All
this so nearly bears the appearance of
a settled policy, that those party news
papers which argue that Mr.. Blaine's
repeated statements ought to be ac-
copied at their face value, have rebuk-
ed the Tribune for trifling with the
man and the peOple-but without eff
| feet.
Bismarck has declined the proffered
! dukedom.