The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-03-14

at dinner and seemed happy in full dress
or In sack coat, who Insisted always tna'
public business should be transacted In
public manner and not after the informal
fashion OF the forty thieves: Per
haps he was almost a shade pom
In one small body all the dignity that ne teIt
was due the people from the President OF
the United States Yet IL he dernanaeo
that those who dealt with him in the Whte
House should deal with the President o.
a great nation he held just as sacredly IN
Yiolable the rights OF the people 10 hahe
their laws, however bad, and left the courts
free TO interpret those laws at Whatever
variance with the presidential opinion me
Interpretation might be. In wrluhs tne
history of the United States II may DC snae
future historians Will go back 10 the uaSS
Of the kid-gloved administration OF haII
son to find an example OF a CONSTITUTIONS
President who guarded the hDerues OF She
people, even though he scorned TO pander
TO them by fattery and though Tor tnelr
frailJleS Of judgment he dld not even uy
TO conceal his amused dissent II seems
now likely that among the fTesIuenitS
elected in the great epoch following the
civil war TO the close or the century 'lae
President who has played sycopnaht 10 tnS
people least VIII be shown 10 nave res peSt 80
their rights most scrupulously NOT Is tiis
strange For since time began the slIohs
men, the kings and the mobiles. have hahue9
rights down 10 the weak-the coIutlloi' az, an
the peasants. Substitute brains LOT DHuh,
kind hearts for coronets, read ignorance
and Incidence and vice for the peasantry Oh
the days of kings and you have 9einoC ..u..,
Human nature is the same. me sIohS
man dominates. Popular suffrage Is poM
erless TO establish equality. Is IL lnereLoIe
not likely that the strong man Wno Il =
gentleman will have more respect Tor PoPu-
lar rights than will the strong man Mho
has won his place by demagosy! d LIE
gentleman has his own resources IN
panderer must fitch his power II ne "oulu
live in fame There is but one place in a
popular government from which fIeSl-
dent may steal his poWer-from the people.
The American people are richer IN rlghts
when a gentleman like Harrison lives IN
the White House, even though he does not
take the politicians to his bosom ana play
with their watch guards.
THE ANTAGONIST OF BLAINE.
Probably Harrisons reserve of manner
which came from an exalted sense OF OIL
cial dignity, was contrasted TO his appar-
ent discredit by his proximity to the suaVe'
graceful urbanity of Blaine, his secretary
Of state. The two men were antitheucal'
AS each was strong man and their am
billions converged, they were bound TO
clash. Baine's coming TO the Harrison
Cabinet was typical of the two men and
their inevitable relation toward each other;
An early announcement OF the choice would
have made Blaine the leading man In the
Harrison Cabinet and would have lett
an easy inference that Blaine had helpeu
to choose the other members OF the Capl-
net 1t was. characteristic Of Harrison
that while he had decided early in NoVem-
Der TO call Blaine to the Cabinet he did not
announce his intention until late in the
winter when he gave out the names OF the
other members of his Cabinet. 1t was a
game of craft against intrigue. Graft
won.
Blaine did not dominate the Harrison
administration and not being able TO rule,
unconscioUsly and without malicious IN
tent or design he helped TO cause the down.
fall of the administration. Blaine's very
l presence at the White House was an OBJ
! ject lesson in rebuke-so thought the Of
Tended senator's. whose treasury-lootlng
prerogatives were abridged-to the taci-
! turn. reserved. dignifed. self-contained
restrained Harrison. The politicians or
subconscious rebellion. Blaine was the
! Guy Fawkes. The gunpowder did not ex-
plode at the Minneapolis convention; but
! there was sedition in the air.
Harrison tried every subtle art known to
an honest politician TO keep friends with
! Blaine. The President deferred 10 his sec
! rotary in public, and was conslderate OF
! him i'm private But Harrison never let go
! of the reins. Blaine was respectful and
! deferentiaI to his superior. AS secretary
| of state he often wrote diplomatic notes.
/ but invariably they were revised by Har-
| rison and often the revisions were impor-
! tant. 1t was always the Harrison admin
| istration. Blaine took gentleman part
| in the matter and deferred ciVilly, prob
/ ably without personal resentment, to the
! changes made by Harrison. The President
! was scrupulously considerate of his secre-
| tary of state. Blaine was a veteran In ma
/ tional politics when Harrison entered as a
! novice Blaine's brilliant mind his wonder
! full versatility, his vigorous personality, his
| firm grasp of all of his faculties, his de-
! lightful esprit and the Infinite mesmeflc
/ charm of his manner fascinated Harrison
| Harrison. 10 the very end OF their Official
! relations struggled 10 be exactly fair. When
/ Blaine went to Bar HarDOr in the spTsng OF
! 1892. preparatory to breaking with Harrison.
/ the President. who had conducted the Behr-
/ ing-sea correspondence with Lord Paunce-
4 fote. sent TO Blaine in Maine the papers
! containing the final agreement in the mat
/ ter, that the records or the state Depart
! ment might show Blaine's signature TO so
| important a saction. Maybe Harrison s
motive had it's root in self-intereSt, the de-
sire to keep Blaine from having just cause
! to complain; maybe MS motlNe was altru,
istic to do a generous deed to a suspected
enemy Very likely the motive was mixed,
/ as most motives are in this world But In
! either event il was their last official connec-
| ton with each other. A few days after
| Blaine signed the Behring-sea agreement he
| broke with Harrison by withdrawing from
| the Cabinet Ii was a sad business, for
| the events that followed killed him; and
they crippled a strong mans usefulness
| i'm a world that needs strong men most
| And so Benjamin Harrison lived his life
| to the end in peace and-for such was the
serenity of his temperament-ln content
| ment. He gave much service 10 his country.
| 1t honored him, and will always honor him.
| for what he gave He fought CALAMITY
| and well upon his countrys battleields.
! He sat I'm his country's council room and
| made his wisdom some part OF his country S
| laws He stood in the place of honor, and
! was a Just ruler and a brave one. But most
| of all, he gave his generation and the gen
| trations that shall follow the example of a
/ wholesome, courteous, intelligent, coura-
| geous ambitious American who was never