The Portland daily press., 1882-09-14
Retrospective.

To the Editor Of the Press.
Your editorial the Monday after election was
to the point l. has led me to look back for
the past few years and review their strange
political history. We have truly trodden the
wine press of disgrace; bu thank God we are
to see better days.
In the years OF 1861 and 8 our State wa
oyerrun with beggars, better known as tramps,
who infested police stations and work
houses. They were new to the thrifty and
orderly people of Maine. In their wake came
tue Greenback orator, noisy. .brassy, aud devoid
of brains or morals.
They all had handles to their names. 1t
seemed as though the army list would become
exhausted il the list of colonels, cautalns tun-
attached) who had become adopts in the
science Of finance. The clergy was also repre-
sented by men without settlement lnev
started newspapers upo1 fiat capital and their
unpaid promis are still to be found at hotels
and boarding houses. They filled the school
houses and halls with their noise. The people
of sense laughed them to scGrn. AS no one
had ever heard of such strange doctrine and it
seemed sRch lunacy it was OF deemed worm
while to notice it. the success of these charla-
tans secured imitstors in our own State. The
idea that printing press could pay on the
national debt and fill the pockes OF lnsolvents
treat 10 many n lADtIluS man ii1ouu
who sat round some oafng place doing moth
ing to earn his living. In every town some
one had mastered the whole subject OF hnance.
A piece of leather was declared as good as gold
Men who had by honest toll laid by compe-
tepcy found themselves assailed on every hand
as rascais OF the worst kind. 1t seemed as
though indolRuce was virtue aud Industry a
crime. Communism in all OF Its horrors ana
nast!ness seemed to infest the body polite
These men, SO speered At by our leading men,
Captured the lower branch of the Legislature
in 1873 secured the State government ana sent
two of their leaders to Congress to disgrace u.s.
The Democrats were approached and asked to
fuse with this strange crowd. They hestated.
Il would be surrender Of all their life-long
principles Their love for office and hate OF
the Republic us caused them to sell them
selves to Satan and take the plunge. They
were beaten at the polls and undertook TO steal
the State government. Men were louno pase
enough to consent to hold offices that-the polls
bestowed upon others and became receivers OF
stolen POSITIONS Beaten in their attempt 10
burglarize the State it wrought them up to the
highest pitch of ra e. Their leader in 1889
not being up TO their rascally standard they
selected Plaisted who with Plllsbury ana
Chase was deep in all the villainles OF this
faction. He was permitted to hold the office
of governor by Republican courtesy. He at
once showed himself the vain, boastful dema-
gogue that he is He strutted like turkey
cock and fawned like sheep. lie was just
such a leader as such elements needeu' Win
no end of brass.
But the decent people of the State have
risen up in their might and met this man
! with his crowd of Bedouins at his back. The
various forms of humbug have, like the evil
| spirits in the Scripture, entered into Plaisted
| and he has run down into the sea OF oblivion.
! Our time of trial has come to an end. No
| mora will the political tramp be heard 10
| Maine Hotels and boarding houses will not
be infested with their insoent presence. Free
| lovers and communists are thing OF the
| mast. Our dear old State has again entered
upon career of good government that Will
never successfully be assaied by political
| cranks of any kind. REPUBLICAN