The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-10-25
Robinson-Butler.
How the Republican Candidate Treats
General Buffers Professions of Special
Interest in the Laboring Men.

(From various recent speeches of Hon. George D.
Robinson.)
THE SOLICITOR OF LABoRING MEMS VOTES.
There are gentlemen here whose hope is in their
labor; it is ali they have. All they possess has
come out of their labor. They inherited nothing
except good health and strong arms and an honest
purpose. And you find them toiling in the shops
the mills by the roads or on the farms. in va
rious cap tities of life. and they are supporting
somethi ahe ad from day to day; and you find
them the owners of a little house by the roadside
and, by and by; that house begins to show & little
and better curtains, and then sewing machine,
and then little musical instrument, piano or or
gan; and you see the children starting out from
such houses, going to school in better clothing,
happier by the way, more laughter in their faces
and greater delight in their hearts and that is New
England in its home. Cloud applause) Now, this
is good tn ng; we want TO encourage 1t. But,
mark you, that you at the same time must regard
the rights of everybody else in dealing with mans
labor and the result of his handiwork. Now, we
ind here in this case the acceptance Of nomina-
tion for Governor at the hands of the Greenback
Labor party. Now, If any thing can be done by any
political party than another to benefit the man
who labOrs, let us understand it. We ought to
know what the phrase 'laboring man. means.
What man has right to stand up in Watertown
and say 81 alone represent the laboriDg men OF
watertown?' Who has appointed him to represent
them? Who stands before the people of Massachu-
sets with any right conferred upon him In any way
to say II am the chief laboring man in Massacbu-
setts; I am tue laboring mans friend; am their
only protector?' Well, you will expect If any
gentleman assumes TO say that, that he is man
Ybo comes from the anvil or withdraws his hand
temporarily from the plow, lays down the slecge,
or stops his loom for the time being. And you
wonder, If you see some gigantic millionaire whose
only labor has been in the courts for large fees,
whose hands, probably, are as soft, deservedly, as
the little ehids and whose callouses are not visible
at any great distance. Q4adgh ,er) That your typ
ical laboring man? / come down, he says, to the
working people Come down! How far above them
have you ever been, 1 should like to know?
There is nobody that our working people suspect 50
much as the man who talks about coming down to
them. They are Up with him and above him, al
ways and superior any shallow pretences Of that
kind. And about election time. if you fnd mans
arm close around your neck, of course If you are
man am ttlking about Qaughter) IT you lind
mans arm clo-e around your neck and his lips laid
Immediately your ear, and he is telling you how
much he thinks of you and he is the only one that
will stand by you, and you will have two dollars in
your pocket instead of and all the days shall be
fair and you shall rejoice in the greatest prosperity
you want to tell him to "get out"
BUTLER AS COMMUNIST.
You find declaration in the Governors speech at
Quincy on Saturday last which sounds very strange
to our sa-s. After discussing the condition of the
people in this State who are compelled to work for
living he says: Gan the money has TO be earned,
everything that is valuable has to come out Of
labor, and it can come from no other source, and
when any man has more than his share he has that
which does not belong to him. and then, after that
comes the word "eheers." "When any man has
more Lnan his snare ne mas Wnat does not belong TO
him. says the Governor. Suppose go right down
iuto this audience and take an inventory Of your
possessions separately, and as go along the aisle,
/ ask a gentleman over there, allow much have
you, sir?' SWELL" says he, "I have laid up, as
the result of my earnings and my savings. uple
of thousand dollars; that have got in my house in
is more than have; will take portion of his
house, and even it up" Says another one, II have
no mot asySnihg hgs e9csPS my nO%SenU % ~ and
any household furniture; want some." Laugh
teI.1 Any man who has more hau his shsre?"
Who is to determine the amount of that share?
What does that language mean? 1t means some
thing, or it means nothing. Now. if it means
something. it means to say to you, gentle
men, you that haven't much as somebody
else you go straighsway along and In some way get
it. If it does not mean that, It is nonsense. and
am inclined to think that the last is the correct
statement. Loud laughter and applRuse.l Why
dos the spea er of those words. himself under
than his SHARE or not? Where is the limit and who
will fix it? You, for yourselves take it. provided
you get it honestly; II you steal it, somebody else
steps in to fix the limit. Now let u.s. when Q talk
about the rights of others our own let US talk
in language that will bear sic Grafton away from
politics. Let us not for a moment tolerate anyone
wEo presents to the people Arguments of that kind
that are suggestive of wrong, or If you strip of
that suggestion, end in absurdity. We want no
monopoly in politics, we want appeals to preiu-
dice or personal encounter want no declarations
against a man because he happens to have some
thing more than his nefghbor, and to saw he must
yieid up some of that because his ne Qhbor thinks
So You would find it a matter of extreme difficuI-
ty to even up in the town of Milford. Some of Won
enough to satisfy you, but, while YOU had gone Ia
fight that battle, somebody little farther down ha
got possession Of all you have [applause, aud you
will be going home to take of your own castle. L
don't care whether you that castle or hire it;
care not whether you are worth million, Just so
much furniture as the law exempts from attachment
at common law are in duty bound t. stand by
what You have to get what you can honestly in ad-
dition to that and letother people do the samo
thing. lApplsuse]
BUrLER's sNEERs AT THE BETTER ELEMENT.
We hear of appeals to many men to array them
selves against what is denominated the better ele
ment. Now, the better element, where is it and
what is it? Who claims to belong to it? Why the
governor has gone upon the platform and talked
about the "better element" He says 'as they call
themselves the perfumed gentlemen, the men who
are very very clean in their shirts" TLauohteri
That is his language, as applied to all gentlemen
who do not vote for him. Will II be respectful for
me to ask if all the gentlemen who vote for him
wear dirty shirts. Laughter Just as respectful
you will allow me to say as it is for him to make
the other inSinuation Why, know a great many
gentlemen who differ from me in politics that are
just as clean and decent and presen able anywhere
as any men we meet; gentlemen all the time Per-
haps they are not loaded with perfumery, but they
certainly belong to the better element because they
behave we'll. That is the line Of DIVISION; You are
in the better cement if you deserve TO be classed
there, and you class yourself there, and your neigh
bors never put you there -galnst your y. NIL III NOW
the better element. That is something that was ex-
ploded long go in Massachusr It's. There was
man Who came fr, m California few years ago. and
sDupht 10 stir up the people insMassachusetts and
array men agai st their eighboTs by crying out
against eN cry man who hal on decent and clean
shirt; that was snoug.- 70 denounea him a. ft 10
have any part in political sffsrs. IL ,ughterl Now
TO my mind. it don't make a democrat any worse -
be slean. he is Just as good mani perhaps he y
no better.