Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-10-23
A GREAT MEETING.
THE DEMOCRACY AROUSED.

THE DEMOCRACY AROUSED.
And Listening With Eager interest.
The court house was packed last eyen-
ing in attendance upon the Democratic
mass meeting, and by 7:4s standing room
was scarcely to be had. At that hour
Geo. Nauman, ESQ.,, called the assemblage
to order and introduced Ezra D. Parker:
esq, of Mif1intown, Juniata county.
MI Parker's speech.
Mr.. Parker, on being introduced, said he
did not not consider that there was any
thing in the late elections to discourage or
alarm the Democracy. There was an elec-
tion held in Indiana, recently for state and
local Offices in which the Democracy hoped
to win a victory, but they were called
upon to meet not only the Republican party
of indiana but an army of Office holders,
visiting statesmen from Philadelphia,
New York and elsewhere, backed by mil
lions of money, contributed by one hun
dred thousand Office holders. The Democ.
racy were repulsed but not defeated. The
affair was a mere preliminary skirmish.
After the smoke had cleared away Gen.
Hancock was asked whether there was any
cause of alarm or doubt of the result and
he said there was not. The speaker then
said that he viewed the situation as he did
the field Of Gettysburg. After the first
days battle had been fought and Gen.
Reynolds had fallen in the midst of earn.
age and tho Union army had been repalsed,
then Hancock was despatched by the COM
mander in chief to view the ground and
select position for the battle, and having
done so, there was fought the most terrific
battle of modern times and was won the
greatest victory of the war, and so it would
be in the coming political contest under
the leadership of the same great comman-
der.
The speaker next took took up the Re.
publican claim that their party was en-
titled to credit for the business prosperity
the country now enjoys. He showed that
power that there had been q return of
prosperity in business pursuits, and that
the Republicans might as we'll claim credit
for the fine weather we enjoy, for they
had as much to do with the one as the
other.
Mr.. Parker then took up the tariff ques-
ton, reviewed Garfield's record, and
showed that in every instance he had voted
in Congress against the interest of the
poor man and in favor of the wealthy. He
voted against a reduction of the duties on
| sugar, coffee, salt and other necessaries,
| and in favor of a reduction on coal and
iron, and thus against Pennsylvania in
terests. MIR. Parker pursued this ques-
ton at some length and exposed MIR. Gar
| fields vacillatiOn and lack of moral cOur-
age on this and other questions. He
defended the position of the DemOc-
racy on the tariff question they were in
favor of tariff for revenue to pay off the
national debt, that the people might be
| relieved from the burdens of taxation.
Mr.. Parker referred to and denounced the
great steal of the presidency in 1876 and
concluded with fine eulogy of the char
| acter and services Of Gen. Hancock, a man
who had never betrayed his trust, failed
| to do his duty in any emergency, military
Or civil, in which he had been placed, and
if elected to the presidency, as he undoubt-
| edly would be, he would add new lustre to
his own name and to the glory of the ma
tion for which he has fought so we'll.
When Mr.. Parker concluded there was
| a rapturous outburst of applause followed
by the introduction of Edgar X. Apsar,
esq, of New York.
Mr.. Apgar's speech.
Mr.. Apgar said that in his judgment one
of the most important questions of the
campaign was that of taxation. The ques-
tions of the war, and settled by the war,
were secession and slavery. They were
settled effectually and forever. and the su-
premo question now is of the hest and
most economical administration of the
general government. An examination into
the cost of government is interesting and
presents curious results. In 1850 the total
cost of our federal, state and local govern
ments, was sS4, 600, 900 per year. In 1860
this had grown to the enormous sum of
convention deemed the matter of sufficient
importance to declare in it's national plat
form of the Chicago convention Of that
year:
"6. That the people justly view with
alarm the reckless extravaganza which
pervades every department of the federal
government; that a return to rigid econ
omy and accountability is indispensable to
arrest the systematic plumber Of the pub
lie treasury by favored partisans; while
the recent startling developments of frauds
and corruptions at the federal metropolis
show that an entire change of administra-
tion is imperatively demanded"
But in 1870 this same class of expendi-
lures had run up to the enormous figures
of $500, 900, 600. Making every allowance
for the increase of population, interest ON
the war debt, pensions and all unusual and
extraordinary expenditures, granting for
these $500, 600, 900 as a proper sum on the
same basis of expenditures as $3.50, 0OO, 900
in 1860, the fact remains startling and
stupendous that there is an excess expen-
diture of $500, 600, 600, which can only be
fairly attributed to the incompetence,
the extravaganza or tho dishonesty Of
those in control of the government. These
figures are SO great that tho mind can
hardly comprehend their magnitude, save
by comparison. The entire railroad sys-
tenn of the United States cost only $2,-
600, ,OOO, 900. Let every mile of it be OBJ
liberated and it could be entirely rebuilt
and re-established with the revenues
wasted in four years by the dishonesty,
incompetency or extravaganza Of our pub
lie rulers. The whole country has been re-
joicing in the magnificent harvests we
have had and the splendid value Of our cx
port breadstuffs for which the waste of war
in Europe opened to us q foreign market
and vet the annual undue excess OF our
public expenditures due to the waste, dis
honesty and incompetence of our federal,
state and local officials is greater than the
value of our exported breadstuffs.
The cost of government in this country
per capita is greater than in England,
France or Germany, which we are taught
tn REGARD "a tax.ridden and debt oDnresSed