Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1888-10-04
e. ZINE INTERVIEWED.


HaE's Alleged Letter.
AUGUSTA. Me-, Sept 2s.-The Eenuc5ec
TOuadl to-day publishes the following:
"A representative Of this paper called on
Mr. Blaine yesterday to ask il he desired
10 say anything in answer to the recently
published letter attributed to the late
Senator Conking. MIR. Blaine said:
Nothing could induce me to enter into
3 controversy over Mr. Conkling's grave.
During our joint service in Congress
some sixteen years in alive had some
.xasperating controversies, bat l never
spoke or wrote a word concerning him
except publicly, and now that he is dead,
my lips are sc aled against every form OF
criticism OF unkind expression. no mat
ter what may be the impru1ence or in
justice OF any Of his surviving frie nds."
Our reporter asked Mr.. Blaine il he had
noticed that doubt had been expressed in
several papers as TO Mr.. COnkling being
the author of the published letter.
Mr.. Blaine replied that OF course lie
knew nothing about that point. but it was
a great surprise 10 him that such a letter
should have been written by Mr.. CONF
ling. The date shows that the letter was
written just six days after the close Of an
Conkling, and if Mr.. ConkIing mad in
tended 10 say any thing OF the kind ne
would have been apt 10 say it then, aad
not Immediately afterward in a private
letter, which was not given to the public
for twenty-five years; not until Mr..
Conkling had been dead several months.
The whole affair was not in accordance
with Mr.. Conkling's haDitual courage in
debate.
When asked if he knew anything os
Crandall or Hsddock, Mr.. Blaine replied
that he had never seen either OF them,
and had never heard the name Of either,
except on the occasion Of his personal de-
bate with Mr.. Conkling in April, 1866.
Though he had not charged his mind
with the fact, so as to remember acc"-
rately, bis strong impression was that
they were both officers in New York under
the enrolment act during the war, ard
that both had been dismissed from the
service for misconduct in Office.
Mr.. Blaine was then asked if he hal
any thing to say about the charge that
he had made money out of the recruiting
funds of the war. He replied that 1t
might with equal truth be charged that
he had made money by robbing the
Never" said Mr.. Blaine, twas a sub
ject more thoroughly or more persistent
ly investigated than the recruitin"
scandal which grew up in this State the
last year of the war in connection with
the filling Of town quotas by what were
known as paper Credits 1t was lnvesii-
gated by special committees Of tn, Lagi~-
lature, and finally and more searchinsIy
nv mn hlip scion cOp,ppcal ~
three prominent gentlemen, two of whom
were prominent lawyers and the third 4
distinguished officer in the lalc war
One of the lawyers was Democrat "t
the most pronounced type. There is n a
word of evidence or even a suggestion o.
hint, in any one of the three report; tIlt
had any more connection with thu mat
ter than had Mr.. Conkllng or his unwi'p
friend who publishes this letter aul at
tributes it to the dead statesman"
Our representative then asked Mr..
Blaine if he had not assisted the pub ic
commission in their investigation. Mr..
Blaine said that in a certain way he hal
done so. The commission, needing
voluminous information from the War AMI
Navy Departments in respect to recruit
ing frauds, found great difficulty in oh
tigation. They then applied TO him for
aid. In the final report to the Legislature
the commissioners m1de the FollOw'n NJ
acknowledgment of his assistance: "Our
inquiry had been so long baf1ed bv
formal references to inconsequeHt facts
and ingenious overlookiny of the material
matter, about which there was uncertain
ty, that it seemed probable that no evil
dence of any value to our purpose could
be obtained from Washington within the
period to which our labOrs were confined.
In this dilemma we applied to Hon. James
G. Blaine, member of Congress from tho
Third district of Maine, and to lis efTec;-
I've intervention by personal appeals 1T
The departments where our acquisitions
for documents were waiting compliance,
we consider ourselves largely indebted
for whatever information from these
sources we have been able to obtain"
Mr.. Blaine was further asked if he had
not tried in Congress to stop all frauiu-
lent recruiting. He replied that he had.
During the last year of the recruiting
fraud was running riot throughout many
of the loyal States. A system OF fraudu-
lent credits had been invented by which
quotas were filled without soldiers being
added to the army. twas in this field of
operation that the bounty spectators
made their money. When the last en-
rollment bill was under discussion dur
ing the session of Congress which began
in December, 1864. he had offered an
amendment in these words:
That in any call for troops no county, town,
township, ward precinct or election district shall
have credit except for men actually furnished
on said call or preceding calls by said county,
town, township, ward, precinct and election
district, and mustered into the military and
naval service on the quota thereof.
In advocating this amendment Mr..
Blaine said he had explained the frauds
that were in progress in many States,
and during his speech in the House he
mad said:
THE amendment which have offered is de-
signed TO correct this evil; to cut it up by the
roots and bring back recruiting to an honest,
meritorous and patriotic effort to fill the ranks
of our gallant army, and not the shadowy
lctions which come under the general name
of paper credits. We have witnessed with
amaZement the quotas of entire cities and
districts technically filed without adding
single man to the effective military force OF
the Nation"
Mr.. Blaine said his amendmen was
passed by a vote of ST to 36-the Repub-
licans voting in the affirmative with
few Democrats like Mr.. Holman, of In
diana The negative was unanimously
Democratic. 1t will be seen, said MIR.
Blaine, that the official record Of the
State and Nation refutes the whole
charge.
Missouri's Tobacco Industry.
WASHINGTON, Sept 25.-St. Louis keeps
far in the lead as O tobacco manufactur-