The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-08-27
Mr.. Osgood's Reasons for With
drawa1.

Mr.. j. K. Osgood's speech at the Old
Orchard Temperance Camp-meeting, We'd
nesday, giving his reasons for withdrawing
from the gubernatorial canvass, was the
earnest and unaffected utterance of an, hon
orable man who entirely believes in the JUS
tice and propriety of his course. The state
ment is touching in its simplicity and sin
cerity, and will command the respect and
belief of all except bad men who cannot
conceive of the existence of honor or hon
esty; who guage their fellows by their own
low standard; and to whom frank and
prompt acknowledgment of error is an i'm
possible thing Those Democratic papers,
like the Argus, who lavished praise upon
Mr. Osgood when they thought they could
use him as a tool to build up the desperate
fortunes Of the Fusion party in this State,
and who are now in their angry disappoint-
ment heaping foul abuse upon him and inti-
mating that be is dishonest, should feel
abashed at the manly rebuke he has given
them.
Mr.. Osgood's brief speech, given below, is
wort of attentive perusal. His reasons
are reasons that will satisfy all true Tenn
perance men. He found himself in alien
company, and his course commended by
men whom he had been fighting for years.
When, as. Mr.. Blaine forcibly expresses it,
he was congratulated by ''every old Demo
cratic hummer in the State who has not
missed his regular rations Of Medford rum
| for thirty years." he saw the bearing of his
course, and hastened to draw out of that
crowd.
The following are the remarks made by
| Mr.. Osgood:
l observe that l have subjected myself to un-
/ sparing denunciation by class of papers with
| whom have nothing in common since I en-
| tered on temperance work, because have
| seen fit to withdraw from the temperance cam
| didacy for Governor. can stand this as long
| as have the approval of my own conscience.
| Indeed, it was the enthusiastic approval of
| such papers as these that first led me to uues-
| tion the wisdom of our independent temper
| ance movement, for know that they never
| favor anything in the interest of prohibition.
| When hastily consented to unite in the
| independent temperance movement at Port
| land, under the influence of the enthusiasm
| of the hour. was sincere, and thought was
| doing right. But when L went home and
| IOuHu ulysell congratulated Dy every would
be rum seller and rum sympathizer, and re-
! proved by every life long worker in the cause
| of temperance, began to feel unpleasantly.
| When found my course heartily endorsed
by the Argus, I began to look around and
| ask myself what it all meant. l talked with
my wife, who has ever been my faithful coun-
| sellor, and she felt, too, that had got into
| the wrong company. l took my case to God,
| in prayer, and asked for light as to my duty
| and the more communed with Him. and the
more thought of the matter the stronger
became my conviction that my candidacy
| would tend to divide and weaken the temper
| ance men, and iniure the cause of temper
| ance.
The Argus says that have been bribed by
| Republican politicians. No Republican politi-
clans have approached me, and no suggestion
| OF an improper character has been made to me
| from any source. L have conferred only with
| co-workers in the temperance cause, and taken
! counsel with my own conscience and my God.
have the approval of these, and care not
| what the enemies OF temperance may say.
| see clearly that was wrong in my first step,
| and that L am right in my Withdrawal
| could never have forgiven myself if had
| allowed the use of my name to divide the
temperance men, and help our enemies into
| power.
The Argus says that l am mean enough to
be Republican. That may be, but am not
| mean enough to be cats paw for the party
| which has always opposed temperance and
| prohibition. 1 see clearly the situation, and
| God help me, l shall go forward with our
| great army of temperance, giving my voice
| and vote in that direction, which meets the
| approval of my own conscience and of the
/ great body of temperance men and receives the
| condemnation of our enemies