The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1891-01-01
WASHINGTON LETTER.

PRESIDENT HarrisOn's Smallness-
The HOOsier is Jealous Of the
only Statesman in His Cabi-
net-Blaine's Sole Ambition
is to Promote American In
terests-NOCh Change i'm Ex-
listing Tariff Schedules.
Union Special Correspondence.
WASHINGTON, Dec. ~, 1890.
!, 4 building costing $75, 900, if
buht by a private individual, would
be sreckoned very expensive, but
when erected by the government,
and for government purposes, it is
considered a very small sum. This
was the amount called for in the
bill that recently passed congress
TOR g public building at Bar Har-
Dor, Maine. Bar Harbor is a
pretty little town on the Atlantic
coast, and the summer residence of
James g.. Blaine, Secretary of
State: Mr.. Blaine is regarded as
Harrison's prime minister, and vet
the president saw fit to veto the
bill for a public building at Mr..
Blaine's summer home, while it is
an undisputed, fact that he has al
lowed bills providing for public
buildings at towns Of less impor-
lance to become laws, and each Of
those buildings has cost a great
deal more money. 49,.
The calibre of the administration
can be sized up pretty accurately
from this point of view. It is ap-
parent to the present administra-
ton and all it's friends that Blaine
is the most popular part of it. It
is further apparent that the election
Gid not rebound to the credit of
Harrison, while Immediately that
the defeat was known the Re-
pnbheans with one accord called
for James G.. Blaine for leader in
1892: 1t is almost certain that
Blaine is the only man that the Re-
publicans can win with in the next
election, Of course Harrison is
not expected to see. this. Those
who. know him best have no idea
that he will realize his own unpop-
.ulsrity as compared with the man
ffrom Maine. It would seem that
he is trying to make Blaine an in
significant man in his adnlinistra-
ton, but he is now giving a good
example of the foolish little ostrich
that stuck bis head in the sand and
thought that he was hiding from
all danger.
In spite of all that has been said,
and all the preaching that has been
done about the amicable relations
between the president and
the Secretary of State it
cannot be denied that the
president is struggling INCREASINGLY
to prevent the Maine statesman
from completely overshadowing
himself in his own admins
tration. He has taken little
picayunish Harrison ways to pre-
vent Blaine's importance from be-
coming apparent, and has con-
stantly made himself smaller, and
the people generally recognize the
greatness of Blaine in comparison.
All appointments in which Blaine
has been interested have been
made in some form or other, but
not in the form which Mr.. Blaine
desired. It has been a struggle
for the president to even maintain
his supremacy as president, while
his Secretary of State is known to
be far greater and brainier.
It may be asked why Blaine has
endured this sort of treatment, and
has continued to be a part of the
administration which is Jealous of
him and which has tried in every
way to belittle and overshadow
him. It can be stated in nut
shell. Blaine's devotion to the
country is greater than his own
personal pride. He has fixed
purpose in bringing about such re-
lations with South American coun-
tries as will open those southern
markets to the products of the
United States, and at the same
time build up. the shipping inter
ests of the country in the carrying
trade to and from the South Ameri-
can nations. He has adopted line
of policy which he believes will
bring greater prosperity to his own
country and make it more Ameri-
can than ever, and greatly enlarge
the Importance Of the American
market as a whole. He has never
lswerved from the line of duty in
| this regard, but has continued to
work with all the v1gor that he
possessed. As Secretary of State
he has had greater opportunities
1 for forwarding this work than he
! mould or, - oS4i1o,, opl fo,,