The Portland daily press., 1882-08-26
GRAND RALLY.
ANOTHER RoUsING MEETING AT CITY
HALL.
Speeches by the hon. T. B. Reed and
the Hon. G. 2. Lorlng.

meeting to order Chambers band rendered
musical selections in its usual pleasing man.
ner. Among the well known gentlemen upon
the platform were the Hon. Sidney Perham,
Hon. Lewis Barker Hon. George d. Bisbee,
Hon. Joseph A. Locke, Rev. Dr. Mcheown' D.
f. Plummer, Esq, Lsander Libby, Esq, Ii.
L. Jones, Esq, j. Fl. Munger, Esq, Hon. B
Kingsbury, Jr, Cyrus Novel;, Esq, Hon
George w. WoodmaD, and others. William
NJ Marks, Esq, chairman of the city commit
tee called the meeting to order, and after an
nouncng that the Hon. James G. Blaine and
Gen. w. e. Gibson would speak here Monday
evening next, introduced the presiding officer
of the evening, the Hon. Thomas B. Reed,
who. on coming forward received perfect
ovation, Mr.. Reed said:
MR.. REEDS SPEECH.
have not come here tonight to rake up the
| the embers the dead emberS of the buried
| past. recognize that some things are finished
| that on some things the hands on the clock of
| time will never go backward. Slavery is dead
| and will know no resurrection. The Union has
/ been preserved and stands today stronger than
| ever being founded on mutual respect instead
/ of mutual fear Those battles do not need to
be fought again. The great questions of theElast
| twenty years have been settled. L confess that
| L envy LU0 OfhlOrS VI tudb Qhys lu0lL tdoA
was far easier than ours tonight. They could
/ touch the chords which Tesounded TO human
| liberty They could thrill you with the pct-
ures of glorious, successful and victorious war.
We have no such themes tonight, nothing but
| the even tenor of every day life, topics OF busl-
ness, of policy aud good government.
On those topics we can excite no wild en-
| thusiasm, and yet on the right decision of such
| questions depends our happiness as individuals,
our prosperity people and our grandeur as
/ nation
! / do not ask you today to defeat the Demo
| cratic party because it is in favorsof slavery.
| That has gone by. They cannot reinstate that
| if they would and they would not if they could.
| do not ask you to oppose our opponents he( aase
| heir success would endanger the Union. Their
| power over that also has gone by Indeed with
| q touching Inconsistencies of the compliment
! they pay us they call the very con-
| gIomeration, which isStrying to beat US, Union
| istsn That is right. III they cannot be Re-
| publican let them be as near it as they can.
| Ii they can't say cur whole creed let them roll
| under their tongues as sweet morsels some OF
! our good words.
| I do not ask you TO fight democracy because
| they want to pay the bonds in deprecated cur
rency, for if I read my last democratic platform
! clear, they want all that are left, paid in gold
| and silver, and on that platform rests at least
| one leg of Governor Plaisted.
1t is on none of these things that [ invite
| your aid. My opposition to the Democratic
party is based upon the firm belief that its sue
| cess would be injurious TO the business inter-
ests of the country. Iiutend to prove thissnot
| by any unfair or harsh statements, not by any
| railing accusations, but by 3 recital of undis-
| putable and indsputable facts-not by ancient
history but by modern history.
The great factor in the happiness OF our
people is the state of business If prosperous
it means happiness. If adverse it means
misery l use the word business in its largest
sense including manufactures AMI agriculture
as well as trade. Now the very essence and
life of prosperous business is that mysterious
thing we call public confidence. 1t is some
thing outside the calculations of arithmetic 1t
is in the soul and mind of man.
Let me illustrate Some years ago friend OF
mine in New York. one of those bright, vigor-
GUS and able merchants which Maine educa1es
for larger fields, showed me his house. 81 paid
| 5000 for that, he said. 1t seemed large
sum But" said he, II was offered $125, 900
for it a week ago. What do you suppose
made that difference. He bought before specie
resumption, the offer was after. When he
bought, New York was idle. When the offer
yas made New York was busy, aud the diff
ference between two millions of men without
business, inert, despondentan two millions OF
men active, productive aud hopeful was
difference OF 80 per cent on almost every
piece of real estate in New York city. Let me
illustrate this on a larger scale. Before 1879
nobody dared to begin new enterprise. There
was no work for willing hands. Men dared
not produce because they feared they could
not SELL Mills lay idle, railroads stopped
building. Farm produce brought no profit.
With specie resumption as if BY magic spindles
b gan to turn AID looms to clash. Mills were
opened and larger ones built. The railroads
sprang forward 10 develop the mighty West.
Business brosdened over the land ano prosper
ity flowed in full river. What made the diff
ference? Public confidence. NOW there IS
noJhing so easily shaken as public confidence.
Legislation can do business but little good, but
it may do it infinite harm. U Mess business
methods and business instincts are regarded IN
legs alton disaster is likely to follow. 1t is
not for me unsupported to charge that the
Democratic party is inimical to business. What
do the acts of the business men them
selves say? You have seen 1t disputed
in the papers whether Mr.. Blaine or Mr.. Conk-
ling or Gen. Grant carried the last election.
Without undertaking in the least the splen-
did services of these distinguished men, say
that the business men carried it irrespective
of party predictions They felt the country
was safe in Republican hands. Let us see
whether they were right or not. History IS
philosophy teaching by examples. Let as try
history. In the 18th Congress the Democrats
had simple business duty TO perform to re-
fund the five per cents and the SIX per cents.
What did they do? Why instead of a simple
funding bill they incorporated into the act
such an attack upon the national banks stiat
they were obliged for self-protection to with
draw SO much of their circulation that the
country felt the SHOCK and had the bill not
been vetoed serious ulSdSlbE lulSHb HdF0 L l.
lowed What did we do? Why when Secre-
tary Window came into office without spec
ial act, by simple business construction OF
existing law, he funded all the five and six per
cents in 81 per cents payable at the pleasure OF
the government, a loan the most favorable IN
form that any nation ever made.
Take another example. In the 47th Con-
gress-this very last session. bill came mp
as to the national banks. Their charters most
| of them, lun out this fiscal year. OF course the
Il ha,,1 tha oil
capital. Nobody proposed to prevent that.
Democrats and all agreed that that would take
place. But il they were reorganized that way
there was danger that the currency would be
contracted for a time by 80 or go million dol
lars. Loans would be disturbed and the whole
business world thrown into confusion. Never
theless it took three separate fights before we
could get even a day set down for considera-
ton of the question. 1t is true that Mr. Hew-
lit, Mr.. Flower and Mr.. Rand all voted with
us because they were business men. and saw
the danger but the party as party were solid
against them. What else would have fol-
! lowed? II the banks had not been allowed 10
| continue the surplus would have had TO be dis
triboted. While surplus is D good thing Tor
| bank, it is also a good taing for the deposit
| tors. If we are to have banks at ali strong
| one is the best, alike for the merchant and the
| depositoT. Since 1874 there mas been on de-
| post in the u. S. Treasury $40 1000, the re-
| suit of the Geneva award, price paid BY
4
mtted the confederateS to intiict upon our
| commerce. For eight years we have been try
| ing to have that sum paid the sufferers. We
! ali had our fears that ton millions would go to
| Join the ten other millions of French spoliation
| claims which to-day lie in the treasury by vir-
| tue of two yetoes by two Democratic Presi-
dents. But the bill passed and every Republic
/ can but three in tho House voted for it. AT
the final passage we had some Democratic
| votes, but the whole Democratic organization
| under Blackburn of Kentucky, fought us UNI
til midnight refusing to set for it's consldera-
| ton the very day the Democrats on the Judi
cary Committee had agreed TO take it up.
They had no sympathy with the idea of trans
| ferriDg that money to our injured commerce.
How did they act on the question of reduc-
| ton of taxes? We proposed to take off the
taxes on bank capital, bank deposits, matches
and perfumery, and straightwas there rose
violent outcry on the part of the Democracy.
WHY don't you take taxes off the poor man
| Except matches this all comes off the rich.
Then followed two days of such commiseration
| as Democrats usually bestow on the poor man
with their mouths They need not have gone
| across the room to ind out that their sorrows
we're for nothing The finance report OF 1872
would have shown them that we began to take
| off internal taxes the moment the war closed
500 100000 in 1866, 100000 in 1868, 500 :
O00. 600 in 1870, and $20,657 600 in 1S72-$24S,-
657 600 in all. Those we proposed to take off
this year were Except whiskey and tobacco)
all there were left The reason why we didn'I