The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1893-02-02

hem down As he rose toward the
/ ipeakcrship. and from the speakership
coward the presidency, he discerned with
clear eye the facts and the men with
Roscoe Conkling for one. Blaine at
tackled Conkling, and in that hour Mem
esis looked down from the gallery! He
| eyed Morton askance. He saw Garfield
| with jealousy which became acute as
Garfield pressed up to his flank. His
impetuosity knew no bounds. At times
1 it seemed that he could not curb him.
self He flung sarcasms and ironies and
invectives by the handful They struck
where they might. His was to be lead
ership by conquest and by the humila-
ton of the foe
In Blaine there was, however, strong
mingling of the calm, the judicial, the
conservative method Strange how just
| he could be! Theahouse of representa-
| tives never had better or truer speaker
His personality in the desk was immense.
| As presiding officer he not only won but
merited universal respect. His rulings
were impartial His eye had the glance
of the eagle, and his pose and self posses
sion were magnificent. He was capable
| of justice and truth. He would not
| brook such infamy as the caucus occa-
| sionally propounded. At one time he
was well nigh losing the allegiance Of his
party by a defiant counter ruling in IA
vor of the Democracy. The strange
| thing about Blaine was that though he
! in that crisis set himself against the
| first force bill with the determination of
| duty and truth we are still left doubt
full whether he was inspired with the
belief that his ruling was good politics
| for himself or whether he felt the power
of the speakers oath upon his conscience.
| If Blaine attacked his great rivals with
| all the resources of his genius, what shall
we say of the onset upon the political
| foe in both houses? The denominations
of the war were hot within. There was
one spectacular episode after another.
Did Blaine purposely devise and plan
the situation and the day of his famous
deliverances? At any rate he provoked
Benjamin FL. Hill and made him his foil.
Jefferson Davis should not be pensioned
as a Mexican veteran-not indeed because
he had been president of the Confed-
eracy, but because he had been response.
BILE for Andersonville and Libby! That
indeed was bombshell It exploded.
and the roar of it was heard to Cahfor.
MIA. Vainly did the man of Georgia raj
ly and countercharge and assail. He
was vanquished, and the plume of Blaine
was the one conspicuous sign seen above
| the field.
The age following the civil war was
corrupt. That word, in its radical sense,
means broken up and COMPOUNDED. The
times conformed exactly to this defni-
ton. The sluices of redundant cur
rency flowed bankful through every
f, channel. Victory had come and brought
power to the victors; patriotism had
great profit! Hitherto the scrutiny of
the American people had not been acute.
/ Many unseeable things had remained
unseen, and many other things were
! blinked at. They who now had full sway
felt the reins loosely thrown on the neck.
They had freedom, license and vast op-
portunity.
1t were impossible to say how many
of the prominent men of that epoch en-
riched themselves by ways which, if not
positively dark, were at least obscure.
| Men dabbled and dabbled again. Now
it was, however, that the sharp eyes of
rivalry began to penetrate the processes
of semitheft that were fourishing on
every side. Leaders began to discover
that other leaders were dishonest. Credit
Mobilier exploded with great smell.
Many were blown away. How cosy in
this wise to dispose of our rivals: Would
that Blaine himself might 10 t.irr. >
stroyed, We will try it. He rs pur
chased railway bonds. He has receiTS !
moneys from the Union Pacific. lie is
waist deep in the securities of the Little
Rock and Fort Smith railway. He shall
be investigated. Mulligan shall produce
his letters. We will have a scene. 1t is
the 9Th of June, 1875 Blaine rises
from the speakers desk and holds aloft
bundle of papers. 1t is the incrimi-
mating package. He himself will read
them through one by one. Certainly he
has humiliation and modification to do
it, but he will read them! Courage is
necessary for such a task, but the letters
must be read. 81 invite the confidence
of A 100000 of my countrymen while
read these letters from this desk" The
reading was completed. None could
have done it better. The speaker then
| turned upon the chairman of the COM
mittee and scornfully charged him with
purposely Withholding and suppressing
a communication which would have alb
solutely exonerated him from the charges
which had been circulated against his
honor. The crisis broke in another tri-
umph, perhaps the most dramatic and
sensational ever witnessed in the house
of representatives
Blaine has been held to stern account
by the American people in the matter of
the Mulligan correspondence. So be it.
He is neither wholly cleared nor wholly
condemned. The transaction was ambig-
| uous and tortuous. In the retrospect it
hath ugliness. Itshould be said, however.
that Blaine in this matter was more to
be blamed for acting and regeneration
than he was for the original business
This trait has been one of the prime
weaknesses of the great character before
us. While he possessed many kinds Of
audacity he was lacking in certain ele-
ment of moral courage. 1t was the bane
| Of his life to have weakness at certain
points where he should have been strong
Satan never uttered more sterling
truth than when he said, spirit, to be
weak is to be miserable" Blaine in
some particulars has been both weak
| and miserable. If, for example, he had
simply said, 81 made honorable purchase
of railway bonds: it is nobody's bust
ness, and what are You going to do about
| itY' the matter would have ended.
James G.. Blaine would be president of
the United States. This was the domi-
nant passion of his soul and life. What
ever interposed between him and his
fhea