ved or hated him. He had no
milk-and-water friends and no milk-and-water enemies.

_Question_. If Blaine had been nominated at Cincinnati in 1876
would he have made a stronger candidate than Hayes did?

_Answer_. If he had been nominated then, I believe that he would
have been triumphantly elected. Mr. Blaine's worst enemies would
not have supported Tilden, and thousands of moderate Democrats
would have given their votes to Blaine.

_Question_. Mr. Ingersoll, do you think that Mr. Blaine wanted
the nomination in 1884, when he got it?

_Answer_. In 1883, Mr. Blaine told me that he did not want the
nomination. I said to him: "Is that honest?" He replied that he
did not want it, that he was tired of the whole business. I said:
"If you do not want it; if you have really reached that conclusion,
then I think you will get it." He laughed, and again said: "I do
not want it." I believe that he spoke exactly as he then felt.

_Question_. What do you think defeated Mr. Blaine at the polls in
1884?

_Answer_. Blaine was a splendid manager for another man, a great
natural organizer, and when acting for others made no mistake; but
he did not manage his own campaign with ability. He made a succession
of mistakes. His suit against the Indianapolis editor; his letter
about the ownership of certain stocks; his reply to Burchard and
the preachers, in which he said that history showed the church
could get along without the state, but the state could not get
along without the church, and this in reply to the "Rum, Romanism and
Rebellion" nonsense; and last, but not least, his speech to the
millionaires in New York--all of these things weakened him. As a
matter of fact many Catholics were going to support Blaine, but
when they saw him fooling with the Protestant clergy, and accepting
the speech of Burchard, they instantly turned against him. If he
had never met Burchard, I think he would have been elected. His
career was something like that of Mr. Clay; he was the most popular
man of his party and yet----

_Question_. How do you account for Mr. Blaine's action in allowing
his name to go before the convention at Minneapolis in 1892?

_Answer_. In 1892, Mr. Blaine was a sick man, almost worn out; he
was not his former self, and he was influenced by others. He seemed
to have lost his intuition; he was misled, yet in spite of all
defeats, no name will create among Republicans greater enthusiasm
than that of Jam