The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-05-30
MR.. BLAINE's ULrIMATUM,

The absolute sincerity Of purpose and the
incorporating honesty and Republicanism
of Hon. James G.. Blaine are demonstrated
again by the manly, the dignifed and the re-
markably strong ultimatum sent by him to
Mr.. Whitelaw Reid, editor of the New York
Tribune, dated from Paris. Mr.. Blaine
states, in unmistakable words, that under no
circumstances could he or would he accept
the presidential nomination, even were it
rendered him by the Chicago convention.
1t is almost a humiliation that Mr.. Blaine
has been compelled to write this second letter,
experimenting his Florence withdrawal,
backed, as that was, by an interview with Mr..
Crawford. The best friends of Mr.. Blaine
accepted his first letter as conclusive. It was
unfair to him to presume that he was un-
candid, while it was an insult to insinuate
that the letter in reality was a shrewd bid for
the nomination. The Journal, from the first,
regarded Mr.. Blaine's course as open,
candid, honorable, dignif.t,. He knew
perfectly well, just as he knows
now, that he could have the nomination
from the Chicago convention by saying
that he would accept it, or that he
would be a candidate for it, submitting his
name to the consideration of the delegates.
If ne had not meant an absolute withdrawal
from the contest, his Florence letter was a
fo11xx o-1 &c <1o< 80 -h~ 1o~-.
Mr.. Blaine would accuse him. To put him in
The attitude of scheming for a nomination;
of endeavoring to be coy, in the hope that the
Republican party would become more ardent,
was to misjudge his character, and to belittle
a man who has been singularly frank and d.
rect in all his political relations. Up to and
including 1884 he FAD been an open and
avowed candidate, making his canvasses for the
nomination in a manly. direct method.
When defeated in 1876 and in 1880 he accept
ed the verdicts of the conventions without q
murmur or sulk, aiding them to reach the
wisest conclusions, and d~evoting himself with
energy to the campaigns that followed. In
1884 he received the nomination fairly and
honorably. The undoubted choice Of the
great majority of the Republican party,
the Chicago convention merely record
ed TIE party verdict. Defeated by treachery,
mugwumpery, indifference, blunders, Incl
dents, accidents, fraud, crime and murder,
the canvass he made and the vote he received
will ever remain a monument to his
matchless ability and spirit, and to the devo-
ton of the Republican constituency to their
chief. When the combination against him,
seemingly aided by fate, worked defeat, Mr..
Blaine accepted the conclusion in a spirit that
has added to the respect of the people, and
reflected additional luster upon his man
hood. The political history of the country
furnishes no parallel to the act of Mr.. Blaine
in voluntarily refusing q nomination, with
drawing his name from consideration, in the
desire to contribute to party harmony and
solidity, sacrificing his very proper personal
ambitions, and the hopes and desires of the
army ~ Lio Ak4OaoS oAtPSAe CAS- aPon tno
altar of the party welfare and the country's
| good. 1t is . spectacle of unselish and dis
interested patriotism that will shrivel into
| abiectness the contemplate spirit of prudery,
and treachery, and pharisaism that compassed
his defeat in 1884, and which has been insist
ing that the Republican party in 1888 should
make a nomination to please and placate the
little squad of deserters and false friends who
actively or passively contributed to that dis
astsr. Mr.. Blaine will DO more than
ever a leader among Repub-
lican leaders. More than ever will
! he be honored by the Republican party, and
his personal and political character be in their
friendly keeping. This latest letter will bring
confusion to the camp of those who have
been trading upon a supposed hostility to Mr..
Blaine, and it will absolutely settle the char
acter of the action of the Chicago convention.
The man who will receive the nomination
! next month viii be = Rspublican without