The Portland daily press., 1879-07-16
Boston, July 16.

Boston, July 16.
We of Massachusetts, are watching the CAM
paign in Maine with no little interest. The
result there, while it will not so effect the cleo
ton here as to decide it, yet will be of great
importance tous. Your election comes in Sep
tember, ours in November. We all know thar
success or defeat in one State has an important
bearing on the result in another. Net alone in
directly changing doubtful men, but in giving
renewed courage or dampening the ardor of
the leading spirits and the writers and speak
ers. We hope to see Maine redeem herself,
but are prepared for the worst once more, and
do not intend to be defeated even though you
are. l do not believe in reopening old sores; /
do not believe in keeping alive the old feeling
between the North and South, as many will
know who recognize my signature as that Of
one who through another journal has opposed
it strongly. do not believe in this, say, but
this 1 do declare, that when such men as Eben
f. Pillsbury begin to talk about Corporal
Davis's' lack of patriotism and shrinking
from duty, believe it is time for every man
to protest. believe that then it is justifable
to remind Mr.. Pillsbury and "the rest
of the world" about his own war rec
ord. 1t is iustiiable to tell him that
when Corporal Davis was at the front fighting
under the old flag Eben F. Pillsbury was an
old Copperhead, true rebel,-no, cowardly
rebel, staying at home and melting men to re-
sist Abraham Lincolns call for troops. 1 did
not go to war myself. was but eleven years
old at the time, but have not forgotten Pills
bury and his "war record" Perhaps those
who recognize in me one who has written,
spoken, and voted mainly with the Democrat
ic party during the past seven years will want
to know why 1 leave them now. 1 answer,
first, because, as party, the Democracy is dis
honest on the money question. BY dishonest,
mean, in this instance, in double sense. 1t
is dishonest and insincere in advocating soft
money heresies. Its members generally do
not believe in them; they are merely surren-
dering principle in the hope of gaining power.
They are dishonest in another sense because
they are advocating dishonest financial policy.
This is the general principle on which oppose
the Democratic party. This letter would nev-
er have been written, however, but for the
scurrilous attacks on the war record of Mr.. Da-
Wis. 1 oppose, and as l have said, have op-
posed, this fighting over the old battles. L OPP
pose Mr.. Blaine's twitting Ben Hill with hay-
ing been rebel. On the same ground op-
pose any mans accusing another of not hav-
ing been in such and such battles during the
war, as the Maine Democrats do Mr.. Davis.
For this reason have undertaken to write,
partly to help defend true honorable man,
and partly to let those who have become famil-
lar with my views as expressed in Democrat
ic contemporary for some years, know that
refuse to follow the party to its present con-
temptible abiding-place, and hope they will al
so. Whatever denials the Maine Democrats
may make of the charge that they are playing
into the hands of fhe Greenbackers dare to
reiterate it. And. if necessary, can, and
shall, produce proof to substantiate the charge;
proof that will convince the Standard eve.i. L
know the information which enables me to
say this came TO me because was supposed to
be still in sympathy with the party, and was
not intended to be made public. But never
gave any promises of secresy and have no recol-
lection of ever having done anything to lead
man to suppose that could ever stoop so low
as to be a Maine Democrat. Ishould be proud
to be Massachusetts Democrat Tin fact, be-
long to an Abbott Democratic club now(-by
which do not mean Butlerite-because that
means devotion to principle. But Maine
Democrat! Q no, never! That doesn't mean
much of anything just now
But to turn from politics. You read, no
doubt, some two weeks ago, an Associated
Press dispatch about the proposed strike of all
the trades unions III the country. presume
everyone passed it by as a New York Herald
sensation, as L did. In one sense it was, in
another, not. Last week fell in with leading
officers of two different labor organizations.
One of them opened up to me the whole scheme
of these people. And what they propose in
brief is this. They propose to get all the work
ingmen united by trades. The shoemakers, as
crispins, the locomotive engineers, the miners,
the day laborers, the farmers, and so on. They
want substantially all the workingmen, so
called, united by classes. Then they will
unite these classes. These different organiza-
tions will be the States with full power to reg
ulate the strikes and prices in their own line.
Then the union of all shall be the general gov
ernment There shall be central officers
When this union is formed they hope to be
able to nominate and elect all officials for the
| government of cities, states and nation, and
make and repeal laws at pleasure. Then they
will control capital as they see fit. In this
view the official of the other organization COIN
cided. He said the thing could be easily done
if they dared announce the programme pub
licly, but they were afraid that if they did so
the capitalists would secure the passage of
laws interfering with their arrangements.
There will be no trouble, he says, in uniting all
organizations as soon as the organizations
themselves are perfected, but while one inter-
est is being organized another breaks up and
has to be brought together again. SCorT.