The herald., 1896-05-10

At the time of his call Blaine was sick.
| irritable and pale. He was clear as \
spring and bright and hard as dia-
| mond, however, for any mental effort.
About the first word spoken irritated
| him. The trio of statesmen, Allison. Hale
and Blackburn, whom he mad called to
see, We're all present, and as Blaine
| came into the committee-room they
were in bit of a bicker over the McKin-
ley bill.
What do you think of the Mckinley
| bill, Blaine?" asked Blackburn with
/ that engaging bluegrass frankness for
which he Is celebrated.
! 1t was a torch to tow. Blackburn's
| question was. Blaine laid his new silk
hat on the table and turned and glared
i at his interlocutor, His caution and
diplomacy went by the board, naught
but his wrath remained.
IF you want my opinion" he said,
II think the bill is an infamv and an out
| rage. 1t is the most shameful measure
| ever proposed to a civilized people. Go
on with it and it will carry our party to
perdition."
Blaine paused for a moment in his In
vective. and Blackburn remarked that
he wished the secretary was in the SEN
ate to speak as publicly as he had just
done privately. 7se
II wish l were" he answered. "for
! would stamp it under my feet"
Advancing toward Allison and Hale.
he snapped his fingers in the face of each
man and with rising infection said:
Go on with your driveling idiocy and
see to what destruction it will lead the
Republican party. Pass this bill and III
1892 there will not be a man so beggared
as to accept your nomination for the
presidency.
Not content with this general critic
ism, Blaine took UP the items of the bill,
with which he seemed to be familiar,
q q
high protection beyond all necessity,
which had been given to the manufac-
turer was especially the object of his
condemnation. With the sugar sched-
ule he was severe. This gave Blackburn /
an opportunity to add fuel to the flame.
But the senate has gone further than !
the house" he remarked. In order to |
protect the great American industry of
boring hole in a maple tree and boiling |
the Juice the senate has given bounty
of . cents a pound to the maple sugar
growers of New England
Blaine turned around in surprise. 1t
was the first time he had heard of the
He appealed to Hale and
Allison to know if Blackburn had spok-
on truthfully They confirmed the state
ment.
Il suppose this was done by Morrill,
and Edmunds?' he inquired. Allison
nodded his head.
L Il
their craftsmanship, commented Mr.:
Blaine. in a sarcastic tone of voice, ana
then the climax came.
Blaine's new beaver was lying on the
table within easy reach. With bloW ne
brought his clinched hand down upon IL
with such force as to smash II natter
than a pancake and then. seizing the
battered garment he hurled it against
the wall.
1t was an exhibition of feeling that
startled those who witnessed IT, and was
forcible evidence of the secretarys
hostility.
Those present felt that the episode had
had gone far enough and fastened to
change the topic, and few moments
later the secretary and the sub-commit-
tee We're deep in the items of the appro-
priation bill
The tariff sequel came when Blaine, in
an effort to widen rather than restrict
the American market, entered heartily
into the reciprocity feature which |
proved the mainstay of the Mckinley
bill when it finally became law.
Even the reciprocity clause, however,
came up as cup of bitterness in its final !
adoption to Blaine. The draft Of the re-
ciprocity amendment came to the house !
practically in Blaines own hand writ |
ing, he had so heavily interlined and |
changed the typewriter copy. The !
draft went TO Reed, who more than Nc
kinley, more than all in truth. was su
pervising the construction of the Nc /
Kinley bill" Reed looked it over, saw its
wisdom and the party need of it's pas
sage. Rather than have it adopted how
ever, as Blaine had sent it down from
the state department, Reed redrew the
proposition in every particular and
turned it fairly about.
Reed shifted the precedence as 1t were,
from where Blaine had placed IT. When
ever Blaine's draft provided for the
United States to make the first move
toward reciprocity Reed rephrased il so
that it fell to the alien to make the first
move. Otherwise the effect was the
same.
AS roundup of result, Blaine did not
love McKinleyism and the bill % which
arEEaa's'''f'''v<