The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-11-22
THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN
Important Statement by Repre-
-'' sentative Hale.
Southern Republicans Not Aban-
] d0ned by the CongressiOn-
al Committee,

BANGOR, NOV. 2l.-d0n. Eugene Hale.
chairman of the Republican National Commit
tee. passed through the city today with his
family en- route to Michigan for a visit, prior to
the assembling of Congress. The Whig and
Courier publishes tomorrow an interesting re-
port of an interview its editor. had. with Mr.
Hale ct the Bangor House, in which his atten-
tion was called to the published statement, nota-
bly, in the Boston Traveller and New York
Times, that the Republicans in the South were
left to make one.s!ded fight through the re-
fusal Of the congressional committee to render
sthem assistance. Mr.. Hale emphatically and
with considerable indignation contradicted the
statements substantially as follows:
IT have read Washington letter to the
Boston Traveller of Nov. 18th, also the New
York Times editorial Of the 18th on 1.-THE One
Sided Contest" in which blame is laid with
out stint on the Republican congressional COM
mittee for abandoning the Southern Republic
cans in the late contest, the Times saying the
Southern Republicans were deserted absolute
alone and unaided" Nothing could be far
ther from the truth in the case, and as other
papers may be misled to take up the same
straIp, I desire to state the facts:
II judge both the Times and Traveller have
heard some Of the talk made by men from the
South who hung about Washington and pes
tered the committee during the entire CAM
Dagn for money they did not get know the
Traveller correspondent well enough to bs sure
he would not have written as he did except
under Misrepresentation. The truth is, go far
from abandoning the Southern Republicans,
che committee helped and stood by them dur
Ing the entire campaign, and With anything
like fair elections Mr.. Gorham and myself
hoped to carry thirteen or fourteen Southern
districts. Of course on Q full unintimidated
vote the Republicans were entitled tomany more
t.SAA A>a - L. r.
the extra violence, murder, cheating and fraud
the Southern Democrats resorted to. The pa
pers that have made such sweeping com plants
will be surprised to learn that the COMPRESSION
al committee stood by the Republicans in those
hopeful districts, and that for their local Or
gan,zation and home canvass much more than
their share of means in the hands OF the COM
mittee was given them. If those papers and
others want to know the truth and will enquire
OF the gentlemen who conducted the Canvass in
the Southern states where they expected to
elect Republicans or of candidates themselves,
they will learn the committee did anything but
leave them to fight q 'one-sided contest unaid-
ed. These are much better sources of infor-
about Washington and with whom the com.
mtttee did not deal, but with Southern Repub-
licans who were making the best fight they
could at home. We could not get Northern
speakers because the October states absorbed
them in the early autumn and afterwards the
great contests 10 New York, Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts etc., rendered it impossible to
get speakers to 20 South. Besides the yellow
fever ravages were enough to deter men going
into the Gulf states The committee had to do
the best they could under these conditions. 1t
is a pretty steep business now to put cut of
sight the appalling facts in the Southern situa-
ton, the Wholesale butchery in Louisiana, the
red-shirted bulldozers of Wade Hampton, the
termination to count out Republican mem
bers of Congress actually elected and lay all
the blame on the congressional committee
which did all any body could have done, both
North and South, with the limited means at
their command. When 1 took the chairman
ship expected TO meet blame and faultfnding
and OF course erred in many things, but
don't let the com nittee be held responsible for
the Southern outcome. The malady there lies
deeper than any Committee will ever reach.
1t will take the whole people wholly aroused to
cure it.
The Wing declares that nothing could be
more unjust or false than the statement that
Mr.. Hale was affected by ''panic" after his de-
feat On the contrary he was even stiffer if
possible, after defeat than BEFORE declaring at
once through his home paper that the fight for
honest money had "just begun, and in an in
terview by the New York Tribune just after
the Maine election expressed most determined
purpose to maintain square fight on the f.
nancial issue and confidence in ultimate
triumph. His sentiments in that interview
were highly commended by the New York
Times and the hard money press throughout
the country. Those entitled to know the de-
tails of the campaign work are aware of the
abundance of specific documentary evidence in
support of Mr.. Hale's claim that the committee
rendered all possible aid to Southern Republic