The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-09-09
Blaine's Opening Speech in the Maine
Canvass.

| HIS country lO-IllSHts lIOlll OIC1h
to ocean, from lake to gulf, presents a
degree eofprosperity widespread, more
general, more firmly based and fOun-
ded, tran ever before in its history.
Now, do not say that legislation has
brought about all that, but legislation
has aided it, and it certainly has not
injured it. If you wait for the law
| to grow crops or to spin cotton or to
! forge iron and steel you wait for a
long time, but if you feel that the law
| is behind you, and above you, and
ar und you, you raise crops and spin
cotton and forge the steel with a good
deal more assurance of good prices
and fair market, and all that the
law could do, and all that wise ad-
ministration of the law has been able
to effect, can be claimed by the Res
/ publican party without a division of
the honor with any other party of
the country. Loud applause. For
tWentv-One years past last March the
destiny Of the United States of Amer
lea, in SO far as that destiny can be
controlled by a political party, has
| been in the keeping Of the Republi-
can party of the United States. and if
there be greater chapter Of history
! written in the annals of human kind
| WOulG like Gov. Plaisted or any
other gentleman supporting him to
be kind enough to point it out. If
there be any chapter of history in
which human progress has been so
rapid, in which human rights have
been guaranteed 50 firmly and en-
larged so grandIy as within that
period, | am ignorant where to look
the end of these tWenty-One years, in
this blessed year of 1882, we find an
opposition made up Of two or three
parties. What do they propose to do?
Nothing. The positive measures, the
aggressive policies, the definition of
the line, and the metes and bounds
of legislation have all been taken and
prescribed by the Republican party,
and outside of it we have had Office
ton, and caYiI, and Quibble, and
SANDER, and all manner of dishOnOr-
able and mean critics following as
camp-followers after a great process
sion that has gone ahead but | chal-
lenge any gentleman to show that in
| the whole of the tWenty-One years the
Democratic party and its various side
! issues, like Greenback and Labor and
other organizations, has ever prOpOs
ed measure that was able to be
materialized in the form of a bill or
resolve of the Congress of the United
! States for the ameliOratiOn of any
human woe or for the advancement
of any public good. Applause. |
Whatever may be said of the Repub-
lican party, and that party could be
in power tWenty-One years and not
make mistakes would be absurd -
that a party could have millions of
people and not a dishonest man
among them would be absurd-but
whatever can be said of the RepubIi-
can party, there is one thing that
meyer can be truthfully said: 1t never
hn Sail fhnt -
party. 1t never can be said that it
had drop of coWard's blood in
its whole organization applause -
never. When that institution which
represented $4,000, 100000 encased in
the prejudices oftwo centuries and rep
resenting the labor element of fifteen
States and thirteen million people
stood in the way of the Union, the
Republican party met it with the
sword Of Justice, and it was not loud
applause and never from that hour
to this, never in any crisis in these
full tWenty-One years of the Republi-
can party's majority, never in one
case has it been unwilling, or unable,
or afraid to take the responsibility :;
and gentlemen, you prate of the
South, and the wrong done to it :;
why, since Maine was Il State-aye,
identically since Maine was a State
the date serves me precisely, coming
in on top of the great Missouri COM
promise, that first wide and deep agi-
tation of the slavery question-never
from that hour to this in the sixty
two yesrs that have interviewed has
| the feeling between ,the North and
the South been as cordial as it is to
night - Applause - never has the
time been before when, in every
county and district and settlement of
the South, the Veriest abolitiOnist and
blackest Republican and darkest A fri
can could come and go, under the
guarantee of this great Constitutional
amendment which the Republican
party engrafted on the organic law,
and we have held the faith"
Sparkling Eyes.
/ ROSY cheeks and clear con1nIayion