Western Kansas world., 1888-04-14
BLAINE AND THE PEOPLE.

ri A
Els Unquestaoned Popularity-If He w.ro
. Candidate Ho Would BE Nomin.f..s
Some Things That Should He Consad-
cred.
Careful inquiry made in most Of the
Eastern States demonstrates the fact that
the most popular Republican candidate for
President this year would be James q.
Blaine. His hold upon the affections of the
people appears to be entirely mistaken
Whenever a Presidential candidate IN
brought into prominence, he is. indorsed
with an " if" the "lf" being, that Blaine
will not be a candidate.
This universally Of public sentiment
for such it may fairly be claimed to be-
puts the Republican party face to face with
this question, namely, if the country de-
mands the nomination of Blaine has the
party or have its leaders any right to set
themselves upin opposition to the popular
will? Is it not the privilege of the people
to name their candidate, and is it not dis
loyalty to the people to seek to force another
nomination upon them?
Regarding the question in this light, SAYS
the San Francisco Chronicle, Blaines will
ingness to become candidate cuts no fig
ure. It is conceded that he is not a candi-
not make the slightest effort to secure the
nomination; that he VIII throw no stone in
the way of any one who may be candi-
date; that his personal feelings are most
strong against the acceptance of nomina-
ton, and that he IS, so far as his own
wishes and actions can affect the matter,
wholly out of the field. But in spite Of this,
suppose that the Republican National con-
%rf fl,o will Of hc
pie who create it, should nominate Mr..
Blaine by reclamation, what would be the
result!
Would the mugwumps have any reason
for declining to support him, except that
they are, one and all, free traders, and that
Blaine is an avowed protectionist? Would
those ultra conservative Republicans, who
objected to Blaine in 1884 because he was
too much of a politician and too persistent
a seeker of the nomination, make the same
objection if nomination by acclamation
came to him, not only wholly unsought for,
but against his express wish7 If the people
should demand that he be their standard
bearer, would he have any right to decline,
or would an unwilling consent obtained
from him warrant any Republican in sulk-
ing in his tent while the battle was raging?
time to consider these things. At the time
of the meeting of the convention Mr.. Blaine
will be on the Atlantic ocean. At that con-
vention there will be no one authorized to
speak for him Or to present his name to that
body, but if that convention shall choose to
exercise its undoubted right and nominate
Blaine by acclamation, what Republican will
protest against its action.
AS to the prospects of success with Blaine
at the head of the ticket, there can be but
one honest and thoughtful opinion. He
would be elected by majority which would
recall the day of Abraham Lincoln and
Ulysses S. Grant, a majority so decisive that
his taking Office would not depend upon a
few hundred votes in a single State, and
with margin so wide that he could not
again be counted out by skillful Democratic
manipulators of the ballot-box.
It is not asserted that any such thing will
take place; it is only suggested that it is
within the bounds of possibility, and that,
if il does so happen, Republicans must
think soberly and seriously before they de-
sert their party and leave the Nation to four
years more of Democratic misrule.