Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1884-10-08
ELAINE AND THE IRISH VOTE.

Mr. Patrick y. Collins Is memDer OF
| CONGRESS from Boston He IS one OF the
Youngest members Of the House and has
pained there the character of an eloquent
:; sneaker and an honest and able representa-
! ike. He was born in the year 18Th near
Feimoy, county Cork, Ireland. He came TO
| this country when i've years Of age and bias
made his own career, fer he began life as an
| uphois..rer. Having received his educa-
tio,, in the common schools Of Boston, he
| LATER studied law at Harvard Law School,
| pructicrd law was elected twice 10 the Mas
! suchu.etts Legislature, served as Judge ADJ
vucatc General of the State in 1879 and is
| now in Congress.
AT meeting in his district OH Friday. Mr..
Collins took occasion 10 speak OF the dema-
gogica! attempt of the Blaine managers 10
court The Irish vote. He said;-
When you find the Boston journal and
the New York Tribune, the Cleveland Lcdd-
sr and James G.. Blaine all protesting an in
tens,, sudden and most fervid love for the
| Irish voters, it seems exceedingly strange:
! but. ~; the present. time, III this Year OF
grace, 1854, the Irish, let me tell you. are
quite able 10 take care of themselves. APP
! plausc.i Bat there was time when they
|
Protected. except by the self-sameeo!d dem
ocratic party, and then tue Boston journal
and the New York Tribune and James @.
| Blair!. uasgct! nv on the other side, and the
good samaritan i the democratic party.
| Well. gentlemen, the orators whom they
have hired TO go on the other side and ap-
peal directly TO what they call the Irish cl-
rement in the United States, have given GER
| cain reasons-So-call reas0nS--why Their
couu,rvmen as they call them, should vote
! the republican ticket now. Gentlemen, we
have no countrymen, except the American
people. (Cheers.) The Know Nothing
marty sought to make a distinction between
those "ho were native born and those among
us vino arc onv naturaliZed. That was
| knowunthingis,n Now we do not pro-
rose Ia invert knownothingiSm by
| making ourselves Il favored class III the
community. fAppanSe.f We came here
TO STAY l. iCr example, vas born III
| Ireland. hut the moment | became
na.rralizeh citizen of the United States
the moment we all took oath cf allegiance
| ,rr--u. i,eca.nr GOOD citizens OF the Amer
| lear requisite. (Checrs.l Let ,ne remind you,
gentlemen chat the law makes no difference
| between the native born and the natural
| ;Zei in this country. jCncers.l
| We who were born on the other side OF
,le water do not claim any special privi-
| l~re or exemption on account Of our foreign
BIRTH, and by the grace CT Gcd we will take
no disadvantage Oh account oi 1t. (Loui
| applause So. when these gentlemen 20
about mixing un Irish politics with Amer-
can politics, they are doing neither America
| nor Ireland good service. Do they tel
YOU ci anything that the republican party
has done for what they call the Irish as a
class? Why, they have done absolutely
nothing. They have regarded the Irish as
being very good to vote, just rs the negro
is. But they tell you that the candidate of
the party is IL man for whom the Irish peo-
pie all ought to vote. They tell You that
James G.. Blaine is Il friend Of the lIi-h, and
thai, il elected, be will do great service for
the race. He does not say so for himself: his
patty does not say 50 in the platform which it
has issued for his party has not done any
thing for the race in the past: nor has he.
But The supcrserviceable friends, undoubt-
edy instructed for the purpose, and remu-
| nerated handsomely for their work, go whis-
p"riug about that Mr.. Blaine will do this
and this for the Irish people if elected
Now, hat is the history of the man? In
eases like these you must judge Il tree by
its fruit. Remember you cannot pick figs
from this;!e$, nor get grapes from thorns.
| tAppause James G.. Blaine went into
Maine about thirty-oue years ago with
new wife and IN old religion. (l,aughter.l
| He kept the one, but found the other un-
fashionable in orthodox Maine. He there
fore dropped it and took a brand new re-
ligion-t -tlaushterl--a from that time down
to the present defy any man living-and
l say it with GOODNESS and deiberation
YOU know me TO possess-I repeat, defy
any man living to pick out a letter written,
Il word spoken, an act done or dollar paid
away by James G. Blaine in favor of the
Irish cause (Cheers.) Now, then, if he
has not been able to show the payment of
single dollar, the utterence of single word
or the doing of single act in favor of the
Irish race during period of thirty.one
years, how much more time are you going