The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-12-24
PORTLAND AROUSED
GRAND GATHERING OF THE
PEOPLE.
City Hall Crowded with Dis
franchised Voters.

Calm and Dispassionate Utter
ances Of Prominent Citizens.
The citizens of Portland met in City Hall
last night to express by their presence, and
through the gentlemen who addressed them on
that occasion their condemnation of the pro-
oesses by which the noble old Pine Tree State
had been stolen by Governor and Council
sworn to preserve the liberties of the people,
and who by their late action at Augusta had
decided to defeat the popular will manifested
in September last at the polls.
1t was a grand audience that gathered on
this occasion-an audience composed for the
most part of the hard-working portion of the
community, men n.who "knew their rights and
knowing dare maintain, and, when the
long line of distinguished citizens marched
upon the platform, the applause was loud and
long continued. But when the Hon. Thomas
b. Reed appeared it swelled into magnif-
cent demonstration. Among those present
were the long list of Vice Presidents men
toned below, with one or two exceptions, sew
eral of well known ciergymen. besides
Hon. James Bailey, Il. N Jose, Esq, III. j.
Libby, j. ". Waterhouse, the Republican
members of the City Government, and many
others too numerous to mention with tho space
at our command. The meeting was enthus-
iastc in the extreme, and the various points
made by the speakers met with hearty appre-
citation.
The meeting IS called to order by Hon.
Wilbur Z. Lunt, who spoke as follows:
HON W. f. LUST.
The inhabitants of Maine have always been law
abiding, accustomed to submit to their rulers and
trust in the due administration OF justice by their
lawfully constituted tribunals.
If their public officers usurp powers not delegated
to them by the constitution and the laws, when the
courts are poweress to redress their wrongs, they
know there is still supreme tribunal to which they
may confidently appeal and that is, the great jury
of The people whose solemn Judgment we now in
woke upon an outrage the like of which has not
been perpetrated since Mowatt bombarded and
burned the town. / will read the call for this
meeting:
The undersigned respectfully invite their fellow
citizens of Portland, without regard to party, to
assemble in City Hall, Tuesday evening, Dec 23d
at 730 p. m, to give voice to the indignation felt
by all good citizens at the unprecedented outrage
perpetrated in the recent notification of the will
of the people, and the disfranchseme mt of this city
by the Governor and Council.
Mr. Lunt, in behalf of the committee nom
mated the following officers:
President-Hon. Israel Washburn.
Vice Presidents-W W. Thomas, w. G..
Webster, Charles Mclaughlin, S. f. Spring,
Geo. W. Woodman, W. F. Milliken, I. G.
Hersey, Benjamin Webster, w. S. Dana,
John M. Gould. Philip Henry Brown, Albion
Little, G. c. Chapman, W. d. Little, F. G..
Messer, A. l.. Hobson, George 2. Wescott,
George e. Davis, Geo. w. Beal, Daniel F.
Emery, S. L. Carleton, e. A. Norton, Lyman
Kimball, j. p. Baxter, John B. Coyle, Jr.,
John Mains.
Secretaries-Stephen Berry and William I.
Small
The officers we unanimously elected.
AIR Lunt then introduced the President
Hon. Israel Washburn, Jr., who was received
with loud applausa Mr.. Washburn spoke as
follows:
Our fathers were accustomed i'll seasons OF
grave emergency to open their meetings with
prayer and invite the Rev. DR.. Carruthers to
invoke the Divine blessing:
PRAYER by REY. DR. cARRUTHERs.
Let us pray On thou Omniseient, All-wise and
ance with all our wants and in Thy ability to supply
them all however numerous and varied and con-
st ntly successive. We meet together this evening
under circumstances known to Thee perfect by
that need not in devotional addresses to specify
them. Thou seeest tn patriotic anXietes that are
now pressing many hearts. Thou nearest,
though naudible to human ears, the warm and
earnest aspirations in reference to the interests OF
our native or adopted land We thank Thee for all
the privileges enjoy i'll this our country. We
thank Thee for all the holy influences, for the
Christian Sabbath, for the many sanctuares which
adorn our country and bless its varied population.
We thank Thee for the liberty, personal social, po-
litcal and religious conferred upon u.s. preserved to
us by the sagacity and wisdom and patriotism OF
those who have passed before And, We thank
Thee, gracious God, that in the great emergency
that calls us together we can look to Thee for
guidance and direction. We pray that Thou wouIdst
look in mercy upon the Governor of our State at
this momentous period of history as State and as
citizens of this great country Wepray that 1h0u
in divine mercy may mercfully touch the
heart of that man and those associated with him as
Councillors, that they may, even at the eleventh
hour correct whatever errors they may have COM
mitted, and adopt such measures as shall be in et
feet to tranquilize the minds of the people ana 10
promote the happiness, unity and peace OF Le the
whole community. We beseech Thee to bless the
President of the United Sta es and grant to all the
members of his cabinet spirit of justice and OF
wisdom and of abiding concern for the best inter
ests of the country Preside we beseech Thee, over
the deliberations of our national Legislature, anu
grant that all our privileges may be transmitted u
impaired to the latest posterty and grant to us all
the blessings need for our ourselves for our ru
ers for our country. Which we ask in the name Of
Christ and beseech Thee to do for us sexceeding
abundance, above all we can ask or think, for
Christ's sake-Amen.
At the close of DIR. Carruthers prayer Mr..
Washburn proceeded
HON. ISRAEL wAsHBURN.
Fellow Citizens-As / observed moment ago, it
was the custom of our fathers, especially IN new
England and in the old Commonwealth, in the time
of the revolution and the datk days preceding it, to
meet together in their public assemblies to consider
the situation and to consult in respect to Their d-
80 n oll meet
in the hour of danger in the town meeting and de-
iberate to the duty of the hour and the necess-
ties of the situation. 4
You remember that Paul Revere and his friends
and copatriots met together often upon occasions
of this kind at the ''Green Dragon" tavern in Bos-
ton and upon occasion the Sons of Liberty were
there in immense numbers, wrought up to the hlgh-
est pitch of patriotic indignation and sympathy with
each other. After the meeting he repaired to the
council of Sam. Adams and his friends, who in
uured of him: ''Mr. Revere how many were there
at the Green Dragon"' AS many as there are
stars in heaven" And as numerous nearly, am
glad to say, have the citizens OF Portland gathered
here tonight in an emergency not less grave than
that; not only of greater Importance but greater
trial of patriotism because we are now TO CONSIDER
whether there any salvation from ths destruction
of the country which did not then exist 1t then
remained to be brought into being. Ii after one
hundred years of experience, after the education OF
all this time, the American people, the people OF
New England, the people of Maine, are not com
peent are not capable of taking Of themselves
and of preserving the rights and liberties that were
dearly bought, then was that great example lost,
| right and human liberty throughout thei world.
(Applause) Because say to you, candidly, coolly,
| dispassionately that in my Judgment there has
| never been an hour since the Revolution ofasuch
real danger the Constitution of the United states
| as at this hour.
| / do not read in any history of this country, [
have no knowledge recollection of any occasion
where any body OF men in any state have attempted
| and designed so dangerous, so wicked scheme as
| that which is now before the people of Maine.
| Whenever was it that commanding majority Ill
| both Houses of the Legislature, not mere ma
| iority over tie vote, but commanding decisive,
large majority representing the votes and VIII OF the
majority of the people, set aside by persons act
ING as their servants and that will defeated as 1t
| now is intended to be. They sometimes refer us to
| Louisiana as precedent, but, gentlemen, you will
see at once that it is precedent for this most con-
| spicuous wrong. In that case there was law OF
| the state constituting returning board, which by
| the terms of the law were clothed with judicial
power They had the power by the law OF the state
to determine who by the votes cast the elect
ors In that case they were clothed with judicial
| powers while in this the duties and power OF
| the Governor and Council are only ministerial. 1t
is no precedent and venture to say that you can
find nowhere in state any precedent for trans
| action like this.
Now am here tonight, not to indulge in violent
or extreme language not to stir you up TO anything
like mutiny but wish you to indulge Inc for a lew
minutes in some plain talk leading to considera-
ton of the actual facts in the case before us. We
| want facts; we want to know precisely where we
are and upon what grounds rights and privileges