Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1884-11-06
Helena, Montana, Thursday, November 6, 1884

vidiously of any other party In the United
States. past or present, is the only one
that has ever mad resolution and courage
to limit its own political power. The Re-
publican party did not gain power by a
struggle for reform in the civil service, but
with possession of patronage larger and
grander than imperial sway ever controlled,
the party voluntarily abandoned partisan
control of patronage and instituted that
great reform within its own ranks, an
achievement without parallel in the his
tory of politics And what has been ac-
complished is but the foreshadowing Of
that which the more enlarged experience
and further trial shall demonstrate to be
wise. patriotic and effective. And lastly,
those great amendments to the constitu-
ton which are emhodiments of what was
gained by the war f)r the emancipation of
the slave. a declaration and definition of
the right Of citizenship, guaranty Of the
national credit hy organic enactments, and
that liberal basis OF suffrage which forbids
that it should stop at at any line Of color.
All these will be main aimed with patriot
ic fidelity. Prolonged applause.
From the AZ a 'emy of music Blaine and
General Fremont were driven to the Grand
Opera House, where there was another
great crowd outside and a large audience
inside. Upon Biaine's appearance there
was repetition. on a smaller scale, OF the
scene at the Academy. Being introduced
by the chairman Of the evenin, Blaine de-
livered the following speech:
The Repu b.ican party had lis origin in
a combination of patriotic men thirty
years ago, to prevent the introduction of
slavery into the territories OF the United
States, that battle waged with persistence
and courage and resisted with spirit OF
evil determination which finally culmin-
ated in the election of Abraham Lincoln,
and the resistance to his constitutional
right to be President ended in a bloody
war of four years duration. A party which
began its existence by resisting slavery
naturally and inevitably became the pro-
tectOr of free labor, and with the question
Of slavery definitely ended by the issue of
the civil struggle. the party became the
representative and the embodiment of that
industrial system which had for its end
and aim the encouragement of American
industry. The step from relieving the
black man from slave labor was natural
and easy to the relieving the white man
which reduces him to the servitude of
poverty. Standing these many years as ad-
vOcates of protective tariff the results have
been great enlargement of our industrial
activity: vast addition to our national
wealth; the encouragement and develop
ment of American manufactures, and the
elevation and better payment of every man
who earns his bread by the sweat of his
face. Thirty years of the effort and twen-
ty-four years of the power have certainly
vindicated the claims of the Republican
party to the general and to the national
confidence. The leading question now TO
be decided by a popular vote IN all the
States is whether the industrial system
and the financial system, which go hand in
hand. shall be suspended, and whether the
experiment of free trade, with a possible
change incur American system, shall be
resorted to by the voluntary consent of the
American people. Never, never J
Certainly there is no man intelligent
enough to reckon up his weeks
wages on Saturday night who does not
know that the only difference between a
days. pay for labor In the United States
and days pay for labor in the British
Isles is that which is produced by the pro-
tective tariff. So that the American
iaborer or mechanic who voluntarily casts
his ballot for the elevation 10 power of a
party committed TO free trade casts his
ballot for the reduction of bis own wages.
Trades unions may protect you from un-
j ust exactiOns of an employer, but how in
an era of free trade can it protect you
from the importation Of cheap fabrics from
the Old World which must necessarily re-
duce your own, or probably compel the
abandonment OF rival manufactures in this
From the Grand Opera House Blaine
was taken to a carriage and driven to
Williamsburg, where he addressed an open
air meeting.
After the meeting at Williamsburg,
Blaine took his place at the head of the
The rain was then falling
heavier than ever. AS the procession
reached the Republican headquarters on
Montague street, Blaine took his stand On
the platform, and, sheltered by a water
proof and an umbrella, he reviewed the |
which numbered about 5000 |
men in uniform The unceasing rain had |
irenched them through and through, and |
the torches for the most part were ex-
tinguished.