Huntsville gazette., 1892-02-27
BLAINE DECLINES.
Republicans Have Many Good Men {,
Select From. However.

BLAINE DECLINES.
RepubIica.s Have Many Good Men to
Select From. However.
The position of Mr.. Blaine on the
presidency is nc longer matter of un-
certainty. In letter over his own
signature, addressed to Mr.. Clarkson.
he states positively that his name will
not go before the national republican
convention. He does not feel called
upon to enter into any explanation, but
his declination is unequivocal, leaving
no possible room for misunderstanding.
1t is not improbable that Mr.. Blaine
has before him many years of useful
ness. His letter of declinatioE is by
no means farewell to public life. But
it is a confirmation of the general opin-
ioE that his strength has been so far
impaired by hard work and advancing
age that he cannot stand the strain and
burden of a national campaign. The
reasons which impelled him to fling
away ambition" in 1888 apply in 1892,
only with additional force. He has
been prodigious worker for over
thirty years, and now he must husband
his strength. That he has reached
that stage of life is matter of pro-
found and poignant regret to an in
Vulnerable multitude of his fellow
citizens. No other public man has SO
large and SO ardent following. For
nanNyears he has been the leading
cham pion of republicanism, and 4he
admiration for his genius made his
name torch to kindle popular en-
thusiasm. The animosities which were
inseparable from the aggressive ambi-
ton of his earlier manhood have grad
ually died out He may be said to have
outlived those animosities. They are
inferred with the bones of his presi-
Dental ambition.
So long as Mr. Blaine's candidacy
was a matter of doubt the considera-
ton of the presidential question by the
republican party was seriously EN- bar
rassed. His final and definite with
drawal from the fight leaves the re-
publicans with no lack of good ma
terial for a ticket, and The various can
didates can now be canvassed upon
their merits and availability. The
convention at Minneapolis will have
no occasion to ask: SIS Blaine candi-
date?" That question has been an
swered, once for all, more than three
months in advance of the convention,
thus giving the people ample time to
look over the field and for the develop
ment of public opinion.
So long as Mr.. Blaine's position wa S
uncertain little progress could be made
in a popular choice between the several
aspirants. His great personality and
the devotion with which his friends
and admirers stood by him over
shadowed everything and made con-
centration anywhere impossible. 1t is
well known that President Harrison
would like the Endorsement of a second
term, and he has ,host of friends
who would have preferred him even if
Blaine became a candidate. Certainly
fair minded men will admit that he has
given the country an able and clean
administration that has stood for dis
tinctly republican ideas. Even the DEM
ocrats must concede this much. He
has been thoroughly true to the princi-
Piles of the republican party, and who
ever the candidate may be repub-
licans will necessarily fight upon the
line of battle laid down by his admin
istration. But no man has claim upon
the nomination at Minneapolis, and if
the national convention thinks it
would be polite to nominate some one
else it should not hesitate to do so.
There is no lack of good material.
Ohio has in Gov. Mckinley a great and
magnetic statesman. He is in fact the
ideas on which the campaign will be
fought Secretary Rusk would make a
remarkably available candidate He
would be great vote -getter. Illinois
has in Senator Cullom. with his strong
resem blance to Abraham Lincoln, a
candidate whose qualifications should
not be overlooked, and Gen. Alger has
Gone much to make himself popular
with the old soldiers. But these names
do not exhaust the list 1t is not too
late for men unmentioned, perhaps
unthought of. to spring up and be-
come formidable candidates. Several
famous presidential races have been
won by horses so dark as to be quite
indistinguishable at this distance from
the convention. Certainly there is no
good reason for republicans who expect
to be delegates to the Minneapolis con-
vention to go into mourning for the
want of candidates. The able and
available statesmen who are willing to
lead the campaign in 1892 are legion.
1t only remains for the convention to
choose wisely.-Chicago Inter Ocean.
A PARTY OF KiCKERS.
Democracy, Having No Ideas OF Its Own