The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-18
PROGRESS OF CAMPAIGN
Hon. Fred Douglass Addresses Four
Thousand People at the Ball Park.
4 Splendid Ovation to the Distinguished Col
Ored Man-LOcal Gossip About the Can
VaSS-NOtes and Personal Mention.

between 4, 900 and 5000 persons being present.
There were bon-fres, fireworks and firing of
cannons, but greater than this was the fact that
Hon. Frederick Douglass was to be one of the
speakers of the evening. The speakers, waiting
for their torchlight escort, were late in arriving,
but the audience was entertained in fine style by
the Central Blaine and Logan glee club, who
song at least a dozen of their choice songs, and
made O decided hit.
MR. D~oUGLAss's ADDRESS.
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentleman, Eel
low-citlzens: 1t has been my fortune and ex-
perienee to appear before the American people
sn several capacities and qualities. first came
before them as a slave; 1 next came before them
as a fugitive slave; then as an advocate for the
slave, and now, thanks to the logic of events,
thanks to the wisdom and magnanimity Of the
great Republican party, I am permitted to APP
pear before you as an American citizen, having
an equal share with you in the welfare, honor
and glory of this great Nation-a Nation great
m its geographical extent, great in It's numerical
strength, great in its educational and manufact-
aring interests, and great in its justice, its
progress and its future.
This great Nation of ours, I say of ours
Icheersl, is now about to exercise one Of It's
Fundamental rights of American citizenship.
We are about to present to the civilized world a
spectacle of moral grandeur and sublimity such
as no other nation on the globe can exhibit.
This Nation of ffty-ive millions of people is
about to declare and register its sovereign will
as to whom shall be chief magistrate of this Re-
public for the next four years. L say it is a sub
lime spectacle. 1t will be a glorious spectacle
provided we shall proceed in a peaceful, orderly
manner, without turbulence, without violence, to
the contamination of this great act. You are
going to take one of your own citizens to I'LL
shis exalted position.
With no nratenciODs nc IN birth. lineage. OF
divine ordination, you are about to elothe him
with a power and majesty more than equal to
that of the ~grandest monarch of any part OF the
Siyiized world. For this high office there are
FIVE candidates from whom you are to select.
One of these candidates is the Hon. Grover
Cleveland, the Democratic candidate, the citizen
of Buffalo. Another is the Hon. James &.
Blaine of Maine. LTumultuous applause An
other is Benjamin Butler, of Massachusetts,; an
other, Mrs. Befva Lockwood, of the District of
Columbia daughter There is no need of
going further: see you smile when the name
If this lady is mentioned. L know her
very well, she is an excellent lady, and | have no
words for that name. 1 believe so much in wo-
4nan's rights that l believe this American woman
would honor the presidential chair as much as
Queen Victoria honors the throne OF England,
but l do not come to advocate her claims; she is
able to do that for herself Laughter.
You have heard lately a new cry in the inter
est of the Democratic candidate. a cry for a
change in the administration of this government.
Last summer it was my privilege to
make a brief tour on the bosom of the
beautiful St. Lawrence and among the Thou
sand Islands. On my way / came to the rapids
of LaChine, a wonderful place, marvellous for
its wonders and for its dangers-a hell of waters
that howl, and hiss, and toll in endless torture.
1t IS a place of terror as well as beauty. Sharp
and hinty rocks peep on either side, and we lit
orally steered between Scylla and CharybdlS.
Any mistake on the part of our helmsman-any
lack of capacity to steer our bark safely and we
would have persisted. But the man who stood at
tina helm knew averU O1aca in the river AS we
approached that terrible tide which would have
wrecked US if we had not had a capable pilot we
looked ashore for John, the Indian pilot, to come
on board, he who had been all along that river
for forty years, and we felt safe the momentthe
stepped upon the deck Of the steamer and took
the helm. Our Republic has for the last twenty
four years had a pilot like John, the Indian, and
when the ship of state was steered among the
flinty rocks of rebellion the Republican party
brought her safely over all its perils. tGreat
applause. As L went down that river l saw a
ship lying broken upon the rocks, a hole
punched in the bottom. 1t was a picture of
what our Republic would have been if it had not
been in the hands of the Republican par
ty and had been in the hands of the
Democracy; ., Applause and and cries fne of Of
pilot for the next four years. What did the
Democratic party do when it had possession of
the helm} l am not about to recount the his
tory of the misdeeds of the Democratic party. |
viii leave that to others, ADLER and more elo-
quent; but 1 believe there is such a thing as
memory, and God has given US memory for
som wise and useful purpose. The wheel Of a
carriage leaves its tracks upon the road; every
ship as it cleaves the water leaves in its wake
khe seething waters to mark its course so the
mariner can see where it has departed from its
true course. The past is the mirror of the
future. The Democratic party does not want
Us to talk of the past. They say they want to
confne US to living issues. Truth never wants
to be forgotten. All true things, all just things
desire Immortality. 1t is confession on the
20 &c Avn DoVonopafi RI fpfanAc xuhnn thay- uuont
US to forget the past.
But l said you are about to make choice of a
President. Do you ask me what my opinion is
of Grover Cleveland I'll tell you 1 have not a
very high opinion of him, but l an not here to
abuse him. 1t would net matter to me if he
were as pure as snow, as high above suspicion as
Caesars wife; the fact that he comes as the rep
resentative of the spirit and the purposes Of the
Democratic party makes it impossible for me or
any other black man who has any self-respect,
to support him. l'Thats so" and cheers. He
represents the hope of the solid South, made
solid by the bulldozers whip, by the shotgun,
and the revolver. That makes it impossible for
SoU or me to support the Democratic party. You
ask what l think of James g. Blaine. [Great
and prolonged cheering 1 think he is an hon
est upright man. l have read the Mulligan
letters; have read the slanderous
charges against him; and 1 apply the same rule
to them that I would wish applied to myself.
and in that light-an honest llght-he stands an
innocent man. There is John A. Logan, the
Black Eagle of Illinois. Cheers. You want to
know what | think of him. L think there is not
q man since Charles Sumner-since your grand
war Governor, Oliver P. Morton great a~pplausel
whom I would more readily depend upon to
commit the cause of my people than John A.
Logan. He is as true as steel and as bold as a
Iona brave man and a good man. Elevate
Blaine and Logan to the offices to which they
are nominated, and l tell you the shotgun
policy of the South will go down, aud
O free vote and a fair count will go up. L know
the men They are pledged before this Nation,
before ell Israel, to stand by the black men of
shis country. You know me, my colored breth-
cen. [''Yes, yes and cheers. l have been
your servant and your advocate for five and
forty years. Before many of you were born l
was battling in your interest. Ihave never mis-
led YOU. have mover asked YOU to sunnnrt q man