Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1884-11-01
WOODFORD ON BEECHER.

| Probably the best answer to Beccher that
has been made il that which Gen. Stewart
l.. Woodford, of New York. made in the
| rink at Brooklyn the other night. As
specimen of clean-cntting rhetoric we do not
| think it has been surpassed by anything that
has been said in this campaign:
There lives in this city one of the most ell
oquent clergymen in the land, and one
whose services in behalf Of humanity have
| been of the most eminent character. ! be-
lieve most thoroughly in the honesty and
purity of that gentleman. My confidence
and faith in that gentleman are absolute.
But not many years ago there came an hour
OF trial TO that gentleman when there was
nothing between him an utter ruin but the
confidence of the loving hearts OF the people
of Brooklyn. There were letters produced
and read upon public trial then held in
this citv. and which lasted many months
Had these letters been read and inter
pre,ed in the spirit and by the methods
pursued by Schurz in reading and ex-
planning the Fisher letter against Blaine
they would have driven that clergyman from
every pulpit in the country and from every
home and Preside in the country. Immense
and prolonged cheering. mingled with cries
Of That's So And why, my friends, was
not that base attack upon the character of
this man successful! Simply and alone be-
cause the good people of Brooklyn had faith
in the honesty and integrity of their neigh
Dor. Great cheering. We stood firmly
between him and his slanderers. and we
saved him. [Great applause.l want my
old friend who entered the Fremont cam
paign with me in 1856, who for thirty years
hiss lived in the full sunlight of public life,
who faced Ben Hill and his rebel colleagues.
whose name is forever associated with all
the great issues which the Republican
party has carried through want
for that man the same kind of justice from
the people Of Brooklyn that they have exer-
cised in the past. Let Brooklyn be to-day
As Just TO the statesman us she was few
years ago to the clergyman. The effect on
the audience of Gen. Woodford's words was
electrical. II rose en- masse, and for several
seconds there was sea Of waving hats and
stamping feet that fairly shook the building
But that is not az. The depths to which
the political canvass has stepped are enough
to bring blush of shame to the check If
every honest American. ] said when the
Democrats went into the home of our candi-
date and slandered the woman who is wife,
mother and grandmother. surely the men
and women of this land who know what
fatherhood and motherhood mean will
rise up and bury this Democratic
party forever. Whatever may be the result
of this campaign. believe it will teach us
one thing very effectually, and this is that
hereafter we must be gentlemen in politics
and not blackguards. There was mo-
ment of silent indignation on the part of the
audience that listened intently to the
speakers words, and then il broke out into
round after round of applause, showing that
il heartily indorsed Gen. Woodferd's char
acterization Of Democratic PRACTICES l
used that word deliberately, as the only
one adequately expressing what mean.
The attack upon Mr.. Blaine's home and
wife and family was and is blackguardism,
pure. simple and unadulterated. The de-
cency of the people requires to-day that
this attack be condemned by the utter and
crushing defeat of the Democratic party and
the Democratic candidates. II will be-
Continued applause.l