The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-05-13
Harrison and Blaine Cannot Con-
tinue in Their Strained Re-
lations Much Longer.
The Former Appropriating All of
the Latter's Thunder In
the West.
He Takes All Credit for Reciprocity,
Gives Blaine All the Blame
Plain Talk.

WASHINGTON, May 12.-Harrison and
Blaine must either "break" or burgain, and
that prettn soon. The disposition which
the president has shown during his present
tour to appropriate Blaine's reciprocity
thunder makan IL vArv s,I":- AA-.sF ssi.isao, aS
we'll as the other cabinet officers, must pre-
pare themselves to take all the blame that
attaches to the present administration
while the president takes all the credit or
else "move on.'
When Blaine was asked by friend the
other day whether he had read what the
president had been saying about recipro-
city in his little speeches, Blaine said:
Eyes, and l wondered whether l was
dreaming. my recollection of his attitude
on that question being 80 totally the
opposite of his. II he did occupy the
position he now claims. why did have
to write those letters to Frye to get recogni-
tion for reciprooity?" But the Harrisonian
answer is that the president is entitled to
all the credit and his secretaries to all the
blame of whatever is done in the several
departments, regardless of the position the
president may have taken while matters
were pending.
One of the presidents friends, who gets
as close to him as any one can, said to-day:
when the president returns he will have a
plain talk with Secretary Blaine, in which
he will tell him that he ought to publicly
avow his intentions, whatever they are, with
respect to next years nomination. The
president is prepared, I believe, to say to
Mr. Blaine: If YOU are candidate shall
not be. but if You are not shall be- and
1yv g..
the party's sake just where you stand, and
then want the country to know it,"
Evidently the Harrisons believe that
Blaine, unwilling to announce himself
candidate. although perfectly willing to
accept the nomination, will assure the
president, and subsequently, the country,
that he ia not candidate. But they may
be disappointed. Blaine may refuse to
comply with the presidents request and
may avail himself of several convenient
pretexts to leave the cabinet. now that he
has concluded his reciprocity agreements
with Brazil, Spain and Venezuela, and has
little more to hope for in that direction,
he will accent the nomination in 1892. bnt
his refusal to announce that he is not q
candidate would be bad enough for the
Harrisonians.
The Harrison mon here-chiefy office
holders-sre growing nervous over Blaine's
uoioy ia poocblAIB I1dIIlsOl openly LOT IL
second term. They are talking all the
time in the tone of the Russell Harrison
editorials about Blaines duty to be loyal
to give Harrison the credit for every thing
done by the state department as we'll as the
rest of the administration, and to forget
and try and make everybody else forget
that the chief achievement of the admins
trait ,n-reciprocity WAS stubbornly op-
posed by Harrison until his hand was
forced by Blaine's direct appeal to the peo-
Friends s say Seems to hase 15D% bqoneh %faa
to believe that he did not for nearly year
strive to smother Blaine's reciprocity
scheme, using all the influence of his Office,
together with Blaiue's personal enemy
Speaker Reed-to prevent even its consid-
Grafton in congress-; that he did not succeed
in keepingit it out of the Mckinley bill until
it had gotten out of the finance committee.