The Portland daily press., 1880-02-16

body considered the company to be In
fourishing condition, and the treasurer,
without difficulty, succeeded in raising lar
ger sums of money at the banks. One day,
to the surprise of everybody except its treas
urer. the paper of the company went to pro-
test. An investigation Of its affairs showed
that its assets would pay less than twenty
five cents on the dollar of its liabilities.
Although grave suspicious were entertained
by some of the creditors, and ugly rumors
were current upon the street in regard to
the honesty of the failure. compromise
was nevertheless effected. A new company
was formed upon the ruins of the old, and a
new treasurer was elected; while the banks
charged off their losses, to the great detri-
ment Of future dividends
One evening, in the month of August,
A. d. 1879, John Hornblower again ap-
peared to me. The scene of his apparition
was beautiful park in one of Names most
thriving cities. Beneath the trees, looking
strange and spectral by the light of many
torches, a noisy crowd had collected about a
speakers stand. Moved by curiosity,
went with the multitude to see what it was
all about. The speaker of the occasion had
just been introduced to the assembly when
| reached the stand. At a glance | recog-
nized the features of John Hornblower
The breeze stirred the hair upon his exposed
head, and noticed that it had grown a
little longer since I saw him last. His eyes,
too, seemed somewhat wilder but in other
respects he was precisely the same. The
speaker began to declaim in a loud, brassy
voice, which rang like trumpet over the
vast crowd of people. l had never at that
time heard a Greenback speech. The words
of the speaker struck me as revolutionary
and incendiary; but, to my establishment,
they did not seem to excite the feelings of
the people much. l suppose they had heard
many similar speeches and had become used
to that kind of excitement.
"My fellow slaves" the speaker COM
menced, "We are bound in worse than
| African bondage. From our childhood up,
we. who work for our daily bread, have been
under the control of the money power.
| These aristocrats and bondholders have
| cheated US out of our wages; they have
basely deprived us of our free born rights
! they have trampled us under their feet; they
have almost starved us. Oh! my friends,
how long will it take you to get your eyes
open to the truth? Will you never learn
| your own strength? Let us rise in oul
| might and assert our rights
The whole speech was singular medley
of incendiary talk, gross Measurements, in.
fammatory appeals to the passions of his
audience, and magnificent promises. AS an
example give a portion of the peroration
| 1t is worthy of preservation on account Of
its very audacity; and then, too, it illus
trates the character of the man who uttered
the colors of the picture have been paint
ing.
| SIN conclusion, my friends and fellow
slaves, let us. review, candidly, the whole
situation. In the first place, the poor mar
must be relieved from the oppression of the
capitalist The world owes him living
and he must have it. Corporations must bt
compelled by law to pay him good wages
and the bondholder must be made to give
up his ill-gotten money. In the next place
the banks, those great and crushing monop-
olies, must be put down. Why, my friends
it makes me weep tonight when thinl
how those mighty engines of oppression
have ground you into the dust. can sym
pathize with you fully, for 1, too, have sui
fered much from them.
Finally, we must have money-greenback
without limit. Then we can have all tn,
luxuries that the rich man enjoys. "a voice
from the crowd, GLOW are you going to ge
'ems") Get them, do you say? Why, prin
them, of course-print them by the thous
and, by the million-all you want. Onl!
vote the Greenback ticket, and you shall
have abundance"
What may be the next step of this grea
refOrmer cannot venture to foretell. Tha
nc Is ourr active IN pushing rorwaru III
ideas, cannot well be doubted by ANYONE
who knows the man. have very good rea
son to suppose that he was concerned in
recent attempt to steal State; and l conf
IDENTITY expect that when the PRESS shall ge
ready to publish the roll of the members O.
the B. P. L., his name will be found high il
the list.