The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-09-28
The Happy FamllY-A Pew Wow in
INDEPENDENCE.

Democracy assembled in Independ-
ence last night in goodly numbers.
At half past seven o'clock the Cornet
Band made the air ring with its music,
and young men and old, good looking
Young ladies and ragged little boys,
barefooted girls, and froWsy headed
old women, gathered to the corner
near Alexander's store. and laughed,
joked, gossiped, and, some of the
young ladies did a little ccquetting,
while the boys built bonfire,
Hiram z. Read, Esq, turned newsboy
and peddled the Sumner bill through
the crowd, and lie Roy Williams
leaned languidly ag, INST tree.
After an awkward pause, relieved
somewhat by music, VIM. l.. Dur
ham called the meeting to order, and
called Uncle Tom. Powers to the
chair. Just then the rain began and
the crowd scattered, but came back
in few minutes. A resident of the
neighborhood. estimated that full
half of the crowd were Republicans.
H. K. Read. was the first orator.
He said he was not candidate for
Office, but believed the Democratic
party was right. The Republican
party was for a high prohibitory
tariff, and he believed in free trade
and sailors rights.
Ohio paid more import duties than
all New England, and had to pay
New England higher for her pro-
duce than they would under free
trade. If he couldn't get free trade
he would take the next best thing he
could get. Nearly all the Democrat
ic members of Congress voted against
the reduction of the tariff on sugar and
coffee because they wanted to kill the
bill. He quoted Thad. Stevens on
bonds, pitched into the Funding Bill,
and denied that any credit was due
Republicans for the suppression of
the rebellion; told the old story of
Mr.. Lincoln passing through Balti-
more in disguise; admitted that Sec
rotary Thompson had robbed the
public treasury and left it empty, and
the nation almost penniless, and
quoted Douglas on the preservation
of the Union. He said the Republic
can party had played the devil in put
ting down the rebellion; it was a
SANDER. Here he paused in his
speech, and, turning to the crowd of
iabbering urchins who made noise,
said: boys, look a. here;" and after
pause, added: Just keep quiet, if
you please, " and resumed, pitching in
to Senator Morton, the Fifteenth
Amendment, the Sumner bill; quoted
from the devil and blew his nose with
reverberating sound.
An old man with a long beard
asked him about the Chicago plat
form. and Mr.. Read stopped for a
single handed argument with the old
gentleman. Resuming his speech, he
spoke Of the butternuts and other
dirty pups" acting treac herously to
the Government during the war,
called Senator Sumner ugly names,
pulled Captain Below and the Sher-
wood House, but feared he would
have to sleep in negro's bed if he
went there, If Summers bill passed.
[hard on the negro.l He was pro-
eeeding on the purity of society, when
E. D. Rust interrupted him. and after
very little more, subsidized and got
into a jaw with Rust, in which ugly
names were exchanged, and Rust
accused Read of having drawn a
bowie-knife on him, time not speci-
fed.
The next speaker was the Shanklin
boy, fra the Coonty Donegal, where
they ate the foals." At the moment
he commenced his piece, a woman
named Mrs. Tyson. in a state of par
tial intoxication. started in opposi-
ton, with a crowd of boys for an
audience, but Gil's voice was the
Ioudest, and policeman gently limited
to the woman to quit, so he soon had
the field to himself.
He confessed that the Democratic
party had become corrupt-saying ut
had given way to temptation and be-
trayed its trust" but thought the
time had arrived to put the Re-
publican party out of power, as they
had made shameless record.
He claimed that the State debt had
been paid by means of a Democratic
measure, carried out by Democratic
Legislature, and the Republican par
ty were not entitled to the credit of
it. There never was such vast ex-
travagance as now. and to prove it,
spoke of the State printing, but made
no allusion to stationery.
He told a story about an Irish SOL
der who boosted of having cut off a
dead enemy's legs. Spoke bitterly of
men who go abroad and cut o swell
figure after stealing from the govern
ment, and repeated his HARLEM
speech about thieving.
He told another story about an
Irishman who had one foot that was
larger than the other and couldn't
get his boots on because one was
smaller than the other. and wound up
by saying that Keen and he were just
the men for the legislature, and never