Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-04-24


the pen or brain Of 10 one individual. There
Is IL. Ore saw him in one Light, and an
otises in the opposite. This man appreeiz-
ted and compsehended his n,aachless pasiia-
mentsry power. the neIt was speiibouni BY
bis social Vaccinations. For two Hnd t~en-
~ years Mr.. BIz1ne was before she gaze Of
ali men. placed upon pedestal. standing
upon which ise might be viewed from all
sides. Many Of HE critics have
drifted aiDnlessis and csreIsssly in
To shpsisod raefiroi Of saying
that he 10 Identified with no especial oct Of
national legislation Save the mark From
June Is, 1856, when he made bis first I'M
portznt speeeis 70 a Maine assembly At
Litchfielf in tina; State. ard orphaned the
meaning and foreshaao~esi work of the in
FAINT Reps siiean parry. from ti'en until the
autarn of isfZ, there il no great enact
menf o. American policies that he did not
affect po,eDtly. For sixteen years il Was To
him iaore than To any one else. throughout
the length aud BREATH Of the United states,
that both the great political parties looked
for the issues. and the methods of their
Discussion, that we're TO b. presented to
The ps-opis. II vas Ar. Blaine who
worked thorough, anil complete revolution
IN public oraiory - applied To campaign pir-
poses. He discarded with Irresistible IN
phsss the oi.s-,iale and wearisome two aai
three hour speeches shat served only to con-
fuse and burden mems minds By Introducing
short and pointed setting forth of some few
great issues. sach As the dnllest might grasp
with alscrIfy. H.. could. when il vas neces-
sary, take mp and elughtate a great ami COM
pi.eated lGesiion and for an unprecedented
span dwell upon and uurayei its history,
neaninz AMI existiag bearings. and tina: in A
fashion all hls own one that hth wise like
grip upon attention, and v herein the logic was
rrefutable. such were in 1875 his speeches
on the great ISSUES of our currency AMI IA
tional financial honor In the autumn of that
year he spoke to multitude large as
fanenl II Ill conld seronino late. while for
hours he held them with marvellous power,
and when he sat down Senator Ge0rg. y.
ioar said to his neighbor, That was per
feet speech. Upon these great questions he
spoke even as far as Western Iowa, and the
crowds who came to hear him were some
thing beyond reckoning. 1t was Mr.. Blaine
that checked, stayed and crushed that wild
greenbaek hcresy. A. it was he who brought
forward the tariff issues in the two cam
paigns that resulted in the elections of Presi-
dents Hayes and Garfield.
Mr.. Blaine never encountered any prob
lem or situation in life wherein he fell short
OF true greatness. On the floor of the House
of Representatives his industry and debat-
ing powers stimulated associates and called
them from frivolity to industry. In
the speaker chair he exercised power and
influence that will not be eclipsed. In the
Senate he leaped over traditions and prece-
dents that had grown into laws more bind
ing than those of Medes and fersians, and
which had hampered the progress of busi-
ness 10 merciless extent. TN the floor of
the Senate he made some speeches that
called forth animadversions at the time they
were uttered, but under which there lay, as
time has demonstrated, a far-seeing states
manshIp.
IL is necessary, in this connection, to cite.
only his attitude on the Chinese question
and the distribution of the Alabama award.
When lie went to the head of President
Garhalds cabinet 1t did not take many
weeks to convince his fellow citizens that
new era had dawucd in the management of
our foreign relations, one too, which meant
progress and not apathy. The timd treH-
BLEED little, but the boiler drew breath
Of encouragement feeling that our growing
interests would not be abandoned TO a harm
full Indifference When Mr. Blaine was nom
mated for the presidency in 1884, and took
the field himself he made a series of speeches
that were unparalleled for briliancy, accu-
racy and driving home force of argument
that made stump orators wonder at the fertil-
ity of resources possessed by this marvellous
man. The browning acts of his public life,
Pan ta erican Congress, reciprocity. and the
firm and comprehensive style of his diplc-
macy, enlisted new admiration and created
respect where before eumity had he'll IA para
mount sway. Sorrows came, sorrows that
struck to the very core of life and PRIDE, and
he bent his heal in meekness tn the blow
but only those who were closest to MIN can
realize how braveIy this heroic man bore up
against adversely. He reared his crest with
the Old holiness in public, but the grief
that kill. hal taken him prisoner.
Neither Mr.. Ingalls, nor any other critic
who chooses to weigh in nice scales Mr.
Blaine'S life and character ought, either in
Justice to him or in fairness TO themselves,
to undertake TO cloud and obscure any Wis
ions they may seek to influence by snch
shallow statements AZ that his overwhelm-
ing popularity defies analysis or that there
is subtle something that eludes compre
hension when one sits down to reason upon
the matter in calmness. The popularity
was based upon the strongest of
all possible foundations upon great
worth, holiness of aim. unselfisli-
ness of character. purity of habit,
accurate knowlc ledge, tremendous industry,
courage of conviction, in short all that en-
tiers into and becomes the exponent Of bu-
man supremacy. No ordinary person could
rise from the humble surroundings of an
obscure village of Western PENNSYLVANIA 10
Il position where his influence was felt
throughout his native land, and in all the
nations of the world. Mr. Blaine dill this
AMI Mr.. Blaine was very great man.
PRESS conn