The Irish standard., 1904-08-06

be sure. Blaine had shouldered legacy
of sorry discord from the Garfield
term. 1t was true that the independ.
ent Mugwumps had lifted their hands
palms outward. before their averted
faces. and the Prohibitionists, too, had
halked and gone off at tangent
Years before Mr.. Blaine had referred
to Roscoe COnkling as n strutting tur.
key cock" and now Conkling and his
Stalwarts We're sitting on top Of the
fence to see the Blaine procession sc
by. OF course there We're some dainty
people who protested against the use
Of dredgcs with which to dump sean
dali over the head of Mr.. Cleveland.
Outside the question of dcency, they
held it to be Il dangerous thing to make
Il martyr of an enemy.
Oh. yes. these elements We're all
operating against the Republican can
didatc: but every man must meet hos
tility. and these forces could be over
come ut the polls. Which was true of
the schedule just named. Despite their
influence Mr.. Blaine could have won.
But here within five days of election
another ;lnta%GniSm was added to the
schedule. and Fate. standing lust
around the corner" rubbed her hands
with SardOnic JUNCTION.
.Ald it may he said here. as it will
later lie said in history. that. minus
amy one of the obstacles Just named,
Mr.. Blaine would have been president
OF the United States. New York was
vital. and it gave Mr. Cleveland Il plu-
rnlity Of 1.047. Any one of the sched-
uled forces carried that many votes
against Blaine. Could he have won
or escaped any one of them he would
have succeeded. Could he have been
delivered from the ministers welcome
another story would have been writ
ten. The combination was just strong
enough to defeat the dearest ambition
of Blaine's life, and did so.
On Thursday morning the World
printed the brief address of Dr. Bur-
chard. including The Three RS" and
the country first heard of Rurchard
through the roll and rumble of his al
liberation. The Times and the Herald,
though bitterly opposing Mr.. Blaine,
did not print the Burcharu utterancc.
Why, l have never understood. Each
had received from the local bureau of
the Associated Press a copy of Null
vey's transcribed notes. Possibly $,
hurrying copy reader had squeezed a
mere meeting of dOminies into the
political news notes" or had reduced
it to Il meager paragraph with a
single-line head. The weekly Union
and Catholic Times did not miss it.
On Thursday its weekly issue referred
to the incident with brevity more po-
tent than exact. thus:
AT the meeting of the ministers
with Blaine at this city Wednesday
the Rev. DIR. Burclaru said in his ad-
dress to Blaine. You represent all the
virtues: MIR. Cleveland represents rum,
RomaniSm and rebellion The Her
aid reprinted this. and the Democratic
press on Friday got into full swing
elitcrially. DR.. McGlynn wrote and
published Il letter of vehement protest
and The Three RS" became to the
closing canvass what the Morey letter
had been to the Garfield campaign four
years before.
The Democrats were to close their
campaign Oh Saturday night with IL
great parade through the streets of
New York, and meanwhile the sign
painters in Ann street were busy night
and day preparing Rum, Romanism
and Rebellion" transparencies.
GIN Saturday morning, two days be-
fore election. DIR. Burcllard, over his
own signature. published Il card to the
public. He declared the purpose of
his words had been wholly misunder-
stood: that he did not intend to cast
any reflection OH the Roman Catholic
Church. and was speaking only of the
doings of the Democratic party; that
he believed in religious freedom, and
that lie alone was responsible for the
language and sentiment of his address.
This contribution from Dr. Bur-
cllnrd did more harm than good. 1t
evoked jeerng laughter from the enc
mics of Blaine and groans of disgust
from his friends. To some minds it's
last sentence confirmed the shifty ru-
NOR that DR.. Burchard was at heart
Il Cleveland man, and that he had
poisoned the Blaine address to help his
favorite. This rumor was as wicked
as it was ridiculous, and it is men,
toned here only to indicate the fevercd
condition twenty years ago.
Saturday came. and despite the
iangling clamor of the friends and
foes there was no syllable from Mr..
Blaine to balance or destroy the old
preachers deadly jingle. The friends
were frantic and impotent. The foes
We're glceful and very active.
Does he not dare to touch it," cried
one side.
Does he underratc it?" wondered
the other. Every well-he shall see. -
My belief is that until the end of
the week. Mr.. Blaine thought the
thing would plow under and be lost