. The great American book of biography . s,and tried to shield themselves under the cloak of patriotism and loyalty to theUnion. When threatened with exposure and punishment, such men of coursesought to make the party responsible for their deeds, and to involve it in the 438 JAMES G. BLAINE. consequences. The result was the era of scandal of Grants second adminis-tration, when the Credit Mobilier, the Whiskey Ring frauds, and theBelknap episode were brought to light. A passion for investigation fol-lowed. Every prominent public man who manifested any unwillingness to havehis private affairs ma
. The great American book of biography . s,and tried to shield themselves under the cloak of patriotism and loyalty to theUnion. When threatened with exposure and punishment, such men of coursesought to make the party responsible for their deeds, and to involve it in the 438 JAMES G. BLAINE. consequences. The result was the era of scandal of Grants second adminis-tration, when the Credit Mobilier, the Whiskey Ring frauds, and theBelknap episode were brought to light. A passion for investigation fol-lowed. Every prominent public man who manifested any unwillingness to havehis private affairs made public fell under suspicion. Mr. Blaine was too shininga mark to be missed. He was accused of having been bribed with a gift of|Little Rock and Fort Smith railroad bonds, by the Union Pacific Railroad Com-pany, when Speaker of the House, to give a decision favoring that was accused of steaHnsf letters—his own letters—which would have incrim-inated him ; and for years he was pursued with charges of various sorts of cor-. \V\ JKFFEKSON COLLEGE, WASH 1 .\i. 1 ■ ..\. lA. ruption. These charges he completely disproved on the floor of the House,showing that he had bought the bonds, and had lost over $20,000 by theirpurchase. After meeting and disproving the slanders against him, he said:— Having now noticed the two charges that have been so extensively circu-lated, I shall refrain from calling the attention of the House to any others thatmay be invented. To quote the language of another, I do not propose tomake my public life a perpetual and unconifortable ilea-hunt, in the vain effortsto run down stories which have no basis in truth, which are usually anonymous,and whose total refutation brings no punishment to those who have beenguilt) of originating them. INGERSOLLS SPEECH. 439 The first charge against him, however, served its purpose. It was made ashort time before the Repubhcan convention of 1876, when Blaine was the mostprominent candidate for
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