Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-05-21
A "FR,ENDLY" COMPACT.
The Clique That Engineers the Affairs o
the Nation.

the NaItOns
The sealskin scandal recalls public
attention to the fact that the men who
are closest to Mr.. Blaine politically
constitute a clique which embraces
some of the most daring spectators IN
America. Its existence first became
notorious during the period of the star
route scandal. Prior to that time Mr..
Blaine. as is well known, had taken
very considerable financial interest in
the affairs of Arkansas in connection
with Little Rock railroad securities
and with casting anchors to windward
in the formation of national banks. In
this connection he made close friends
of some of the most notorious carpet
bag politicians of Arkansas. and from
Arkansas operations were extended to
New Mexico, where his friends raided
the public lands in much the same
style as one of their number-DiStrict
Attorney Clayton-made his debut in
Oklahoma under this administration.
This clique, bound together by COM
mon utilization with Mr.. Blaine and
having headquarters both in Wall
street and Washington, has operated
through resident members in West Vir-
ginia, in New Mexico, in Arkansas. in
Montana, in Oklahoma, and wherever
else there was an opportunity to turn a
penny through politics, as is now being
done through Mr.. Blaine's sealskin di-
plomacy.
In its personnel the connection is
made between those engaged in Mr..
Blaine's deals with Fisher, in his guano
diplomacy, and in the star route con-
20 ln Of Of
BENJAMIN Harrison, his son, Mr.. Rus
sell B. Harrison, was taken into full
fellowship and into open partnership
with Ell1ins in the Montana operations
of the syndicate which in Montana was
| active in land schemes and in politics.
Young Harrison, who went to Montana
to hold minor federal office, had no
capital of his own, and when he was
taken into the clique there is little or
no doubt that the deal for the nomina-
| ton of his father had already been
made. In pursuance of this deal Mr..
| Morton, the American representative
of the French syndicate engaged in the
guano deal, was made vice president
| through the same influence which made
| Mr.. Harrison president--the influence
| of Stephen B. Ell1ins as the political
| familiar of Mr.. Blaine
The history of the Harrison admins
| tration shows how the deal has been
| carried out. We need not go beyond
| Arkansas and Missouri to find suffi-
| cient illustration of how all-powerful
| has been the influence of these specu-
| lators over Mr.. Harrison. They have
been the power behind the throne of
| the second of the Harrison dynasty.
| They have dictated appointments; he
| has merely assented. The patronage
of the administration has been under
their control, and they have used it to
| promote their private ends, regardless
| of party as of public welfare.
| Such notorious facts make it a very
serious question how far Messrs. Blaine
and Harrison are free agents in connec-
| ton with the extensive political and
speculative operations of these men.
The weight of the evidence tends to
| show that Mr. Blaine acts under COM
pulsion. He seems to be literally lin
the hands of his friends;'' of the men
whom in the past he has used for his
own purposes; whom now, when the
end of his career is in sight, when he
has opportunities to make an honorable
record in closing it, he might gladly
shake off if he could But it is inevita
BILE that when public man of national
reputation makes such alliances he be-
comes the slave of those he expected to
| use only as tools. Desperate men, with
no regard for public opinion, caring
| nothing for what is said of them, ben,
on getting the largest possible amount
of unearned money in the shortest pos
sible time, they are not to be trifled
with, as Mr.. Blaine well knows after
his experience with Fisher. Having
once "got cinch" on him they use it
| either to control him or ruin him-to
control him regardless of whether it
ruins him or not. His humiliatious
under such circumstances must be ex-
| IRENE. He is the victim of these men
and of the deal they made in his name
in nominating Mr.. Harrison.
On Mr.. Harrison the hold they have
was esta blished prior to this deal, and
it has been strengthened since through
the speculative operations in which
| Russell b. Harrison is used with what
| is clearly studied ostentation, leaving
no doubt that he is played as stool
| pigeon by experienced operators whose
| designs he is not capable of understand
ing.
Whatever the bitterness privately
| felt towards each other by members OF
such com binations. it cannot manifest
itself in open rupture. The same IN.
| fuences which nominated Mr.. Harrison
bind him and Mr.. Blaine together. No
matter how much they may distrust
and dislike each other, they cannot
separate. Mr.. Blaine will not desert
| Mr.. Harrison nor will Stew Ellzins de.
sert Mr.. Blaine.
The operations of Mr.. Elkins and his
associates in Behring's sea show how
ruthlessly Mr.. Blaine is used. The
governing idea of these spectators is
to make all they can while the Harrison
administration lasts. and they are
utilizing every opportunity, regardless
of the scandal created when it becomes
no longer possible to conceal the fact
that the machinery of the government
of great people is prostituted to the
| private ends of a band of financial
treebooters.-St. Louis Republic.
A POLICY OF GREED.
Financial Blunders of Republican Surplus