The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1884-10-16
The Democratic Party Always the
Foe of Labor.

Foe or Labor.
In Roxbury, the other night, the Rev. Ed
ward Everett Hale made a speech at a Re-
publican meeting in which he set forth
clearly and strongly some of the reasons
which determined him to vote for Blaine
and Logan. There was one part of his ad-
dress which was especially worthy of atten-
ton. he arraigned the Democratic party as
the constant and powerful enemy of free
and well-paid labor. the persistent oppressor
of the working men of the nation ever since
1t was formed aud the ally of the most
naughty and exclusive aristocracy existing
In this country which has always arrogated
to Itself right to control the majority aud
monopoly of the privileges and honors of
government. The demonstration of this
proposition is easy. In fact it is self-evdent
TO every reasonable man who reflects upon
the history and record OF that party.
Until the period Of the war it was con-
trolled in all its action by the slave-holding
olgarchy of the South, which dispised la
Dor and denied laboring men every right.
There never was and there never can be a
greater obstacle to the advancement of the
classes who work for wages than slavery.
which denied the right to any wages and
was based on the theory that the working
classes ought to be the property of the rich,
subject to their absolute control with no more
right of protest than horse or COW. For a
long series of years the Democratic party up-
held and cherished this institution in utter
subservieI cy to the slave-masters of the
South who established the famous two
thirds rule In the nomination of President
In order to make it certain that no man
should ever be nominated of whose fidelity
to the ring of tyrant capitalists who owned
the labor in half the States of the Union
there was any question-that ring which in
the halls of Congress called the laboring
men of the Northern States "Mudsills'', and
declared that they would be better off if
they we're owned as chatteis like the negroes
of the South, than they were In freedom.
This ring of tyrant capitalists more greedy
more domineeriDg, more implscabe than
any other combination that existed during
its lifetime, or than it will be possible to
Aolm aSalus (WHICH tuo OcIHOctaLiC party
which in obedience to its behests violated
the most ancient and solemn covenants of
the nation to give slavery entrance into vast
regions of virgin territory from which it had
bren formally excluded. But for the indig.
nation of the free working men of the North
who In order to make their indignation eff
fective had to withdraw from the Democrat
ic party and oppose it Kansas and Ne
braska and vast region besides instead of
being land of freedom would have been
doomed to endure the curse which made the
whole South in comparison with the free
States region OF sloth, barbarsm and ig-
norance for all but the favored oligarchy of
man owners, where honest labor would have
been forever degraded and branded as igno-
Bile.
Its wicked aims did not stop with this
monstrous purpose; but contemplated the
complete naturalization of slavery SO that
the labor of the North should be brought
under the same conditions as that of the
South. Robert Toombs boosted that he
would yet call the roll of bis slaves on Bunk
er Hill and no man who aspired to office in
the National Democratic party dared rebuke
he impudent despot for his utterance. So
committed to the propagandism of slavery
was the Democratic party that Charles Sum.
nefs declaration that neither Washington,