Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-10-25
George William Curtis to the Boys
i'm Blue.


Mr.. Curtis made speech at Staten Island, Sat
ur,lsy evening, to the Boys in Blue, which =
worthy porusa by our readers. lie said:
| Mr.. Tiden is relying on what they are pleased
70 call the tidal of reaction for his election
| TO the Presidency. They say there is a tidal wave
setting ia that viii bear the democrats on to vic
| tory this time. Well, | believe myself that the
tide is rising, and believe that, like another Red
sea- il will sweep Pharaoh-Tilden and allh hosts
out of sight. The beach all around will be strewn
with The wreck and debris of refoimers. The re-
cent election in Colorado shows this there has
been a reaction there which | regard a. sure
presagc of victory for the republicans IN NoVem-
her. The election in Maine shows H. Applause
| There has been tidal wave or something IKE
| up there. Laughter The republican victory
| in Ohio shows it. les, and the reaction IN lndl
ana, which so Terribly reduced the democratic
majority and gave the republicans an increase OF
| thfee or -four members oiJongress, shows which
wav this tidal wave is moving. In these elections
aud, if democrats please, IN this reaction,
| ioresCe the doom of their party IN November
Indeed / feel that il is already doomed. | am re-
| minded Of little anecdOte. Henry Clay once
had mare, a very fleet animal that he priced,
of course. very highly. lie also had boy, Tom,
to take care of her, and Tom had very high
opinion Of the mares heetness. one day gen
tleman a friend of Mr. Clay, asked Tom how long
It would take to 90 to certain place, few miles
away. "Why, Mas>a," said Tom, ''dai ponds on
now NOu 20. IL NOu WAN uhi, II Will tahc nphN
time ifyou get buggy and ride, 1t won't take
you but short while; but If you jest git on
| Aiassa Henrys mare why, by CORY, you dare
| now" Laughter. So, fellow citizens, when
read these election fcturns-when l see how tue
| tidal wave is movlng-whcn | meet with such en-
thusiasm as see displayed by republicans 10 this
campaign-by you here, on tins toggy, dismal
evening, whose murky air you have beautifully
Illuminated by your torches, and whose gloomy
Stiffness You have broken by the martial airs that
4 all and
that these things are indications of the peoples
desire TO elect good men and true to Otlice-that
| il points to the election of Hayes and Wheeler
why, feel that |, too, almost say, "By CORY,
we are there now" Laughter and applause
While the democratic party wears the mask of re-
form, the real and only question is, whether or
not the old party tu:nbled out of power sixteen
years ago shall be reinstated again. They have
made several efforts to get back and grasp the
reins Of government. But thus far, by the wise
| policy and answering patriotism of the republl-
cans they have been bafled in their attempts.
The question is, shall we let them carry out their
purpose now 1t is power, office, money that they
want. They do not turn their backs on their own
errors They repudlae nothing OF the treasona
| bic past. The same old crew keep company to-
| gether. Why | learn that within the past few
days our citizens have been favored, ifyou please,
with a visit from Mr.. Dorsheimer, the candidate
for the Office Of Lieutenant Governor OF this State,
| and in the speech he made at New Brighton he
IilAuc lnt COlluItlOus OF lilt
chief staple of his discourse. He was accompan-
! led, / am told, by Mr.. Algernon sullivan, who
was an Old associate and friend of Tweed, who
went on the stump to urge Tweeds election and
| knowing, too, full well the character of Iweeds
transactions in deirading the people of New York.
Yel he is the man who is now the travelling COM
pauion OF Mr.. Dorsheimer. Now, ] concede that
the republican party has not been pure as it
ought to have been. There have been now and
then men in that pariy-as there would be in every
party on earth-who have proved corrupt and
untrustworthy, but like to sec MIR. Dorshelmer,
who goes about with money for party purposes
under one arm and Algernon Sullivan. the friend
OF Tweed on the other, lecture me about Belknap
and the corruptons Of the republican party.
Fellow citizens, | am not here to defend Belk-
nap, to defend corruption, and be it remem-
beIed, it is the republican party that has put its
| foot on Belknap, and means to keep il there But
with such a record for stealing asthe democratic
party has made, | think that silence on the sub
ject of honesty would best become Mr.. Dorsheim-
CT and all others who would seek to make capital
for the democrats in that way. Why don't you all
remember, and doesn't Mr.. Dorsheimer remember
how the democrats tried to steal the army, how
they stole the arms, the Navy, of the country /;
yes, tried to steal the stars out of our glorious
Ia voce-"But they couldn't do it" No, in
deed; you are right, they could not do it, and
now, by hook and by crook, they are trying to
/ steal into office, where they can steal some more
for their Golfers have been painfully empty long
time. have no doubt my friends, from what
see in your faces that after November next, you
may all take up the language of my friend over
there. and say, ''But they couldn't do it," APP
plause.
The republican party has done a great work, as
the whole world knows, and as Mr. Lincoln used
to say, ave mean to finish the work" for il is
tue that much remains yet to be done. We
mean towind up the affairs OF the great revolution
through which we have passed. We mean to
bind up the wounds made by the war. We do not
propose to leave the country in sore, irritated
coalition; and wnmean, too, to reform, as far as
possible, the things that need reforming. | am
reformer, my friends, and want to see the coun-
try, the whole country, put Alright; but want to
choose my agency for the accomplishment of this
work, and, for one, / do not want Mr.. Tiden az
an agent Mr.. Iildon is not the agent Of the par
ty who desire a true reform. When | see Mr..
Illden, with all the forces that are behind him,
can only regard him the tool, the agent, the
fgure-head of Il at old Southern party, whose
timent has always been "rule or run" The
Southern politicians have always been the mas
tiers of the democratic party, aud they are now.
Only this word more: We are to decide in this
contest whet her this old Southern power shall
gain that supremacy which they have lost and
which in the past elections they yanly sought to
obtain, for | am not afraid or ashamed to say to
you that 1t is still in essence sectional contest
and that, you know, means contest between the
Northern idea Of freedom of person, freedom Of
speech, and untrammelled franchise, aCd the
Southern idea OF domination, prescription, the
degradation OF a large portion OF the citizens of
these United States, aud the recognition of the
righteousness Of the lost cause and the payment
OF unlimited rebel claims. 1t is for you TO declare
before this land before Europe, that ever looks
with anxious interest upon the workings Of re-
publicanism, and before the whole world that the
better Northern idea shall be the absolute and in
disputabe sentiment that shapes the policy Of the
republican party and the government of these
[ nited States. Loud and prolonged applause.l
WRECK or 4 WILLING FLEET
The whaling bark Florence arrived at San Fran
cisco on the Dist from the Arctic Ocean with 100