Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1882 — Blaine and the State Department. [ARTICLE]

Blaine and the State Department.

Washington dispatches say that tho publication of the correspondence between Secretary Blaine and the diplomatic representatives of the United States to Chili and Peru has produced a profound sensation at the national capitol, and may be expected to excite an equal degree of interest in other parts of the world. In this publication is made known for the first time the policy of the State Department in reference to the South American republics a policy which has been completely reversed since the retirement of Secretary Blaine and the appointment of Secretary Frelinghuysen. Within the space of one month this important change has occurred, and the measures which Blaine originated and set on foot, presumably with the full assent and support of the President, give place to entirely different measures and plans, which have in their turn received the sanction of the President. It is claimed on one side that this change of attitude has averted a war with Chili, which President Arthur believed to be inevitable unless the United States abandoned the role of mediator and protector in the affairs of the Month American republics; and on the other side, the friends and supporters of the vigorous measures inaugurated by Secretary Blaine see in this sensational reversal of the policy of pluck and energy a square backdown which will redound neither to the credit nor advantage of the United States as a nation in the eyes of the world.