The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-09-13
THE LAST RALLY.
Hon. w. H. Gibson at City Hall.

There was splendid Republican audience
gathered in City Hall Saturday night to listen
to the last speech of the campaign from Hon.
W. II. Gibson of Ohio. The Yarmouth Band pro-
vided excellent music. Chairman Plummer
OF the City Committee introduced Hon. j. A.
Locke as chairman, who spoke briefly on state
and national issues and then introduced Mr..
Gibson who was warmly received.
Gen. Gibson is man about 60 years of age,
smoothly shaven. He has fine face and re-
sembes Wendell Phillips. The Illusion is
heightened by his illusions to slavery days.
his silver tongued oratory and polished SEN
fences. For two hours and half the audience
chung upon his lips" and even then were not
satisfied He could have held them for an
hour longer. His wit, pathos, and force of
argument combined made up a speech such
as is rarely heard in this vicinity. The ap-
plause was tremendous at the telling hits he
made.
The speaker painted the biographies of the
two parties, letting binding flood of light on
the crookedness and crimes of the Democratic
He confuted the assertions that Hancock
would get large proportion of the sballots of
the "boys in blue" In Ohio 81 per cent. of the
soldier vote was for James A. Garfield. They
will vote as they shot. (Applause.) During
the war the Northern doughfaces did their ut
most to discourage the loyal people and no
Democratic conventions in any Northern state
| passed resolutions of hope and encouragement
| to cheer the hearts of the ssoldiers who were
battling for the flag. In Buchanan's admins
tration our bonds sold below par; now our
- & ,k%N %l~o4
| on the face of the globe. In 1864 they held a
national convention at Chicago No Southern
| state participated for the simple reason that
the delegates couldn't get pass Through the
| Union lines. (Applause.) At that convention
| they passed a resolution declaring that the
war was failure. That very day Farragut
was laundering in Mobile Bay; Sherman held
| Atlanta in grip of iron, soon to leave it in
ruins and thunder on to the sea; Grant
| clutched Lee by the throat. and the horses of
Phil Sheridan's cavalry champed their bits i'm
| patiently in the valley of the Shenandoah.
Joe Johnston didn't think that the war was a
| failure Hood got an idea into his head that
| it wasn't. The Southern people began to real
ize that it was a terrible reality. (Applause.)
The history of the tissue of the greenback
was given. 1t was war measure.
The rag baby was born in Ohio. Geo. FL.
| Pendleton was its father; the Democratic party
its mother. Last year the last scrid of cloth
| ing was torn from it. The gran
| deur of the nation was shown in
| resolutely resolving to pay the debt of
| and powerful pictures were drawn of the hero
| ism of the volunteers who gave up health and
| life to maintain the integrity of the Union.
| We have not only been trying to pay debts of
money, but debts of gratitude for shattered
| limbs and broken hearts l love the Republi-
can party because it never appeals to an igno-
| BILE sentiment. When we proposed to free the
slaves the Democrats said that it wasn't con-
| stitutional. 1 don't know whether it was or
not. know that it was right. (Applause.)
shackles. (Applause) At last when we wrote
Liberty" on our banners, we took up new
hymn: -
"Christ died to bring salvation,
We died to make men Free
| And that hymn was the psalm of freedom.
In conclusion he called the attention of his
| audience to the gradual extinction of the ma
| tional debt by wise legislation. No nation of
| ancient or modern times ever accomplished
| such a feat. We have paid at the rate of
| 81 800 an hour ever since 1865. We paid $12,-
| OPT 900 during the month of August; $4,000
| every day; SAG every second. applause
| When the War closed we paid $15l 100000 of
| interest every year ON debt contr acted by a
| Democratic rebellion. We now pay but &c.,
| 100000.
AT the close of Mr.. Gibson's speech he called
for three rousing cheers, and they were given
| for sour man, James A. Garfield, three cheers
| for Thomas B. Reed, three for "the man in
blue, Gov. Davis, and three cheers for the
Portland ladies who furnished package of
hospital stores during the war that he saw
| opened" and he then said lie wanted to see
the ladies who furnished those stores He
told the Greenbackers they could join in those
cheers, and then he called for three more from
the ladies, to which they responded with the
| waving of handkerchiefs