The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-10-13
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director.
washington, D. G.
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS.

Washington, D. c., Oct. 1o.-Dis-
graceful because of the scandal
mongering and mud-slinging, exciting
because of the intense partisanship
displayed, and because it was so close,
the campaign of 1884 stands as one
of the most interesting of our history
1t resulted in the elevation of Grover
Cleveland to the presidential office.
the first Democrat to be elected after
the Civil war, whose two terms OF Of
flee were the only interruptions in
fifty-twe( years of Republican ascen-
dancy.
Long before the campaign was over
it was realized that the candidate who
carried New York would be elected.
Cleveland carried the state by only
1,149 pluralit over Blaine. A change
of 600 voters in New York would have
made Blaine president. The narrow
margin resulted in thousand ifs
and it is by some of these Ifs" that
the campaign will be remembered
longest.
The aggressive action on the part
of the Democrats began with the cleo
ton of 1882. Garfield had alienated
Conkling by making Blaine secretary
of state. Then followed the appoint
ment of Robertson to be collector of
the port of New York. Conkling was
so furious that he resigned his seat in
the senate, being initiated by Thomas
C. Plat, his junior colleague, VINO
thereby gained for himself the sobri-
ouet of ME Tool" Conkling and Platt
were soreiy disappointed in that they
were not triumphantly reelected.
The assassination of Garfield did
not end the factionai disputes in the
party President Arthur was Conk-
lings friend, but he soon broke with
the imperious New Yorker. Blaine was
the popular leader and the idol of the
masses of the Republican voters Yet
his enemies were many and powerful
both within and without the party.
The Democrats looked upon him as
the next nominee for President and
trimmed their sails accordingly. In
and elected a majority of the house OF
representatives.
CleveIand's Nomination.
More than that, they carried the
| piyotal stage of New York by major
| ity of almost 100000 with Grover
Cleveland as the nominee fer governor.
| C1eveland's career as Mayor OF Bur
falo and his veto of extravagant ap-
| propriations had brought him into
I netiea in New York. His great victory,
contributed to by Republican faction
| ism, caused the whole country to look
| to him. When the Democratic ma
| tienaI convention met in 1884 he was
easily nominated on the second ballot,
receiving the necessary two-thirds vote
despite the violent and even disorderly
protests of Tammany Hall, then led by
| John Kelly.
The administration opposed Blaine
with all it's force, and attempted to
win the nomination for President Ar
| thur. But Blaine was the leader from
| the beginning and received the nom
J nation on the fourth ballot The
powerful influence which had defeated
him in the conventions of 1876 and
I 1880 were still at work, but their
| force was expended and Blaine was
/ nominated-for slaughter.
Again there was a third party fac
tor in the problem. The Greenback-
ers reappeared as the anti-Monopoly
party and nominated for president no
less a parsonage than Gen. Benjamin
F. Butler of Massachusetts,, the pre-
mier acrobatic clown of the political
circus. Six weeks after taking the
anti Monopoly nomination, Butler APP
peared as q delegate in the Democratic
convention actually trying to get the
Democratic nomination, and bidding
| for southern support by offering a
plank ravoring federal pensions for
Confederate soldiers!
| Scandals affecting Blafnes integrity
had been afloat for years. and had
been used against him in two national
conventions. The Democratic press
hailed his nomination with the Credit
Mobilier scandal and the Mulligan let
| tiers. The charge was reiterated that
Blaine, as speaker of the house of rep
resentatives, had been influenced in his
! rulings by financial considerations.
The Usual Mud Battle.
When the campaign was fairly
started, a scandal about Mr.. Gleve-
lands earlier lite was unearthed-the
Halpin affair. The Blaine forces made
a fatal mistake in lending Official
l n -
scandal. When the Democratic com.
mittee considered publishing the
Blaine scandal broadcast, Mr.. Cleve-
lapd vetoed the proposition. That die
not prevent, of course, the individual
| Democrats from taking up and repeat
ing the cid charges against Blaine
which had been current for eight
years. The result was a bitter, nasty
d-slinging campaign.
Everybody looked upon New York
as the pivotal state. There Mr.. Cleve.
land and Mr.. Blaine both Iabored un-
der great difficulties. Mr.. Blaine had
the implacable hatred of Roscoe Conk.
ing. That alone cost him the presi-
dency, for there were a Thousand
Conkling men in Oneida county who
voted for Cleveland. On the Other
hand, Cleveland had the ennity oil
Tammany Hall and the intense hatred
of Charles A. Dana, editor of the New
y
the land. The SUN was then &
straightout Tammany organ. Mr.
Dana had a personal grieveanc,
against Mr.. Cleveland. He inspired
the Tammany opposition to Cleveland
and after the nomination he beltec
the ticket.
Dana and the Sun supported Gen
eral Butler, the third party candidate
and always had a good word for tn,
Prohibitionist candidate. Gov. John P
st. John of Kansas. Buffers candi
dacy was a miserable fiasco, and tn,
Suns following voted straight fol
Blaine when election day cam'
around.
How Blaine Blundered.
| Blaine made a stumping tour of tn,
| middle west and was welcomed as few
men have ever been. There was n,
doubt, in the minds of either Repub
/ licans or Democrats that he had mad
, many votes for himself, and that h
had swung the tide in his favor, OF