The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-12-22


many of our most venerable citizens, and would
not speak injudiciously; but, if this great
wrong is allowed to on, it will result IN blood
shed in the near future. believe that it IS
only necessary for q general uprising OF the
people throughout the State to secure the seats
of the candidates who received a majority OF
the honest votrs in the recent election. The
men who are most indignant at this blow
struck at the liberty of the people, are men OF
cool and deliberate judgment; they are men
with gray boards and bald heads. We trust
that the fire kindled tonight shall continue to
burn, and that we shall go forth tonight fully
determined to assert our rights.
The speakers remarks were loudly applaud
cd.
The chairman then appointed a committee
of three to report an executive committee to
take such action in the interest of the objects
of the meeting as may be necessary. They
subsequently report ed the following commit
tee: J. S. Wheelright John l.. Cuttle Chas.
G. Stems, Lewellyn. j. Morse G. A. Boutelle'
Whiting S. Clark, George Lancaster, Charles
" Lord, Silas C. Hatch, Lysander Strickland,
all of Bangor; S. o. Brown, Dover; Chas.
Shaw Dexter; John Morrison, Corinth; @. j.
Peakes, Charlestown; James Weymouth, Old
town.
Senator Hamlin was then introduced, and
was received with a storm of applause When
quiet was restored he spoke as follows:
Speech of Senator Hamlin.
Mr.. Chairman and Fellow Citizens: These
plaudits are grateful to me, because they are
the evidences of earnest and honest hearts,
who have met here tonight to take counsel to-
gether in the greatest crisis which has ever
come to our state, and to say that they will
not submit to this attempted subversion of their
rights Why is it that look down'u upon this
IF GRO heads and uDf1lrnp0 fapnSp | have
| asked this question in this hall in other days.
| [ asked it in the days when Sumter was fred
| upon, when the whole North uprose against
! the attempt to overthrow our republic. Then
| the integrity of our nation was threatened;
| now it is the integrity of our state. There are
| various ways in which revolution may be
| brought about. 1t may be done by force of
| arms, as it was in 1861. 1t may be done by
| starving the government through withholding
| supplies to carry on its work. 1t may be done
| by the bold-faced usurpation of powers not be-
| longing to them, by those sitting in high places
| in the state as is the case which we have come
| together to consider tonight. In view OF the
present situation of affairs, what is to be done?
| Let us have no vain Wanting, but, like cool,
reasonable and considerate men, let us look
| mildly and calmly upon the conditions imposed
upon us, and npon the remedy for those condi-
| tions. have been often absent from our pleas
ant little city and never have returned to my
| native state with the mantling blush of shame
| upon my face and humiliation in my heart
| until now. Our state has been honored in the
past by the virtue, intelligence, and patriotism
of her sons. / have been asked frequently
awav, How is it about our State? Will the
| Governor and Council commit this high
| handed act against the rights of the people? l
| told them did not believe it would be done.
1 did not believe that eight men could be
| found outside of the walls of the penitentiary
who would do such thing. 1t has been done,
| and what is it that has been done? Why, its
magnitude is so great that can hardly COM
| prehend it. l cannot realize the enormity of
| it. They have sought, in direct opposition to
the provisions OF the constitution and the
| statute laws of your state, to subvert the will
of the people. I want you, my friends, to
| bear with you away from here.
| in clear and distint manner
the way this has been done
| They say it has been done under the forms of
| law. Jesus Christ was crucifed under the
| forms of law. There has been no act of OPP
| preston or cruelty written in the pages of his
| tory which has not been done under the forms
| of law. We went something more than the
| of the law. The Governor and his several
| Councillors-and one of them lives in this
| city have, by their arbitrary and unwarranted
acts reversed the will of the people, as ex-
| pressed by them through the ballot; and L
want to say to you what believe to be the
duty of the citizens of Maine shun every
| one of these men as you would pes ii
| lence. Make every one of them an outoast
and Wandering Jew. Point the finger Of
| scorn at them. Shun them as moral lepers,
| who are covered with sores from the crown Of
| the head to the sole of the foot. Make them
| to feel that that they are execrated by an out
| ragged and indignant people. How has this
| thing been done, by which they have accom-
| plished the revolution and subversion of our
| institutions? By assuming the duties be long
| ing to the Legislature Our constitution tells
how our elections shall be called and held, and
| our laws tell how our elections shall be de-
| termined. Every law upon the subject ever
| passed has thrown safety around the sanctity
| of the ballot The constitution provides that
| the votes given for Senators and Representa-
| tiyes shall be returned to the Governor and
Council, and that they shall issue certificates
| to such as shall appear to be elected on the
| face Of the returns, while the Senate and
| House shall judge as to the election of the
members Of their respective branches. The
| Governor and Council are not to be the judges,
but, in spite Of this, they have changed ma
| jority into minority, and a minority into a
| majority. They have usurped the functions
of the Legislature itself. They are not the
Judges as to whether this mode is formal or
! that mode is formal. Their action is the re-
| suit of a star chamber proceeding, and such a
star chamber proceeding as brought the head
| of CharlessI. to the block. Senator Hamlin
| next went on to cite the act of the Council in
| the cases of Garland and Exeter, and said
| that there was no man engaged in that act who
| did not commit moral perjury. 1t might not be
| q crime IDdU Sldlo laws COulu I0dCu, Dut ~
| could not escape Gods laws. He then took
up the cases of Skowhegan and Pennington.
| He said that it appeared that the ballot bear
| ing the name of Davis at the head Cloud cheers
| for Gov. Davis cast in Skowhegan was an inch
| longer and half an inch narrower than the bal
! lots cast for the opposition and the names were
| printed in two columns lengthwiSe OF the bal
lot instead of crosswise, and for that reason the
| vote of the town had been thrown out He
| then had read a letter published in this eve
| or,rC Nov, oio1 A d Lon thn 10
| gal adviser of the Governor and Council, in
| which he denied having been consulted or hay
| ing given advice in the Skowhegan case, and
| which closed by saying, 81 have uniformly and
| repeatedly asserted it as my opinion that the
| Governor and Council had no power to go into
the proceedings of the meeting on election day.
| except as to the making and sealing of the re-
turns in open town meeting" 'Then," said
| Senator Hamlin resumlng, "even their counsel
| backs out from supporting them" He then
referred to the case of Pennington, where the
| whole vote of the town was thrown out because
| the total number of ballots was apparently
| larger by four than the combined votes of the
candidates voted for footed up, and the certif-
| Gates of election given to the man who, in a
| plantation classed with it received fourteen
| votes while his Republican opponent received
but thirteen, though having majority of over
| two hundred on the actual vote. He next re-
| ferred to the case OF Cherryfeld, showing that
the throwing out of the returns OF that town
| was clearly unjust and illegal. Now let us see
what is to be done if you allow the Governor
| and Council to usurp the power of determining
what they have no right to determine What
| is there in the name of a republic but mock
| cry and fraud? believe, if our people rise
| up in their majesty and demand their rights,
| that these usurpers will not dare to refuse
| them. There is moral power in the freedom
| of Mane before which rascality will quail.
You will assert the rights that belong to you by
| swearing that the government of Maine shall
| not be subverted nor overturned by that body
| of men or any other body of men whatever.
| AS the Senator closed he was greeted with con-
| tinued cheers and applause.
At the close of Senator Hamlin's speech let
tiers and kilograms expressing the sympathy OF
writers and senders with the objects of the
| meeting and the strongest indignation at the
| action of the Governor and Council were read
| by Gen. Charles Hamlin, from Hon. Charles
Shaw, Dexter DR.. e. A. Thompson, Dover;
Josiah B. Mayo, Foxcroft; S. o. Brown, Dover;
MI Dobson, Pittsfeld; President Bachelor
and Prof Jordan of the Maine Central Insti-
tute, Pittsfeld Hon. Lyndon Oak, Garland,
and vigorous earnest addresses from the citi-
zens of Pittsfeld, Guilford, Charleston and
NIl