Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-08-27
u0E CAMPAIGN.
Four Thousand People Attend the
Republican Mass Meeting at
South Paris.
Addresses Delivered by Hon. J..
t.. Blaine and Hon. William
Gibson OF Ohio.
Mr. Blaine's Eloquent Tribute to
MIR. Bodwel and Congressman
Dingley.


The meeting which Mr.. Blaine and Gen.
Gibson addressed at South Paris today wa.
one OF the best ever held in Maine About
4ooo persons were present, among them being
many ladies besides large number of green.
hackers and democrats. The meeting was
presided over by exGov. Perham ,on account
OF whose presence attracted to Mr.. Blaine's
remarks upon the prohibitory, third party
movement. This is the congressional district
OF Mr.. Dingley, who has also devoted his
lite to the promotion of temperance and the
mention of whose name at once created ap-
plause.
The meeting was very enthusiastic and the
interest manifested to see and hear Mr.,
Blaine was positive proof of his popularity
among the people of Oxford county. When
Mr.. Blaine was presented he was received
with prolonged applause.
He said in opening his speech that it has
been demonstrated by series of elections
for the last thirty years that the republican
party contains decided majority of the peo-
pie of Maine, and that in any issue which is
to be fought out between the republican and
democratic parties, there is no danger but
the republican party will triumph Hence
yon will observe that within the
last few years every time the
supremacy of the republican party has been
in any degree menaced some side issue has
been introduced by which they hope not to
increase the democratic vote but to lead off
the republicans. That old familiar piece of
tactics is tried this year and in two ways.
First, by having third party with prohibition
as the object and then having some side is
sues upon the labor question, as though the
democratic party were any fundamentally to
promote temperance, Laughter or TO pro-
mote the interests of American labor. | can
understand the motive and pretext of pretty
mucn every dissenting faction that we have
in the State if do not sympathize or believe
with them, but | cannot understand the third
party of prohibition. This is the one that
passes my comprehension and will tell you
why. On the 10Th of last June, only two
months ago, one of the temperance alliances
of England wrote to Neal Dow, as one of the
leading temperance men of Maine, what had
the influence of the prohibition in this State.
He wrote back that in the first place "every
distillery and brewery in Maine had been
suppressed and we had many of them" In
the second place 'the volume of the liquor
traffic had been reduced by at least nineteen
twentieths of its former amount, whereby we
save at least Sl0,000,000 annually, directly
and indirectly, nearly quite much" and
the third place "as the result of this direct
saving Maine" as he puts IT, from the poor
est State in the Union has become one of the
most prosperous.
Then the convention of these dissenting
gentlemen was held and this resolution was
passed: THAT the impressions of thousands
of candid observers in every part of the State,
the records of our courts, the deposits in
Savings banks of Maine, as compared with
other States, proportion of taxes collected by
United States authorities for the sale of liq-
uors in Maine, the total destruction of al
coholic liquors throughout the State and the
vast increa- e of sentiment in favor of total
abstinence among generation growing up,
undebanched by legalized saloons, all show
that Maine may proudly claim the lead in
this reform and she is quarter of a century
ahead of States which license the gigantic
crime"
After this convention passed that resou-
ton, and after MIR. Dow. within two months
sent word to England that thirty years of
prohibition have done this, he turns round
and works to beat the party that passed the
prohibition act and has kept it in order and
enforced for the last 80 years. say while
can comprehend why under hard times and
under pressure of a seductive theory some
greenback organizations were formed, while
| can understand that some uneasness about
wages and some dissatisfaction with labor
arrangement might make them look to third
organizations 1t is utterly beyond my compre
hension and my understanding that the tenn
perapce men, having in view the success of
the probibitiory law, would so vote as TO
throw the interests of temperance into the
hands of the democratic party of Maine, and
therefore | do not believe that many repub
licans are going to do it.
do not believe that YOU can get any large
proportion of the republican party of Maine,
which has from its foundation made prohi-
bition its corner stone, to do it. From the
winter, Mr.. Chairman, that you were speaker
of the House and had the pleasure of re.
porting your decisions from the newspaper
bench in front OF YOU, when Arson P. Nor
rill was governor of the State, when the very
first foundation and corner stone of a sue
cessfu prohibition was laid in the State, to
this hour, the republican party has never
wavered in support of it. | don't care how
eminent the gentlemen of the third party
movement here have been. l have no word
of disrespct for them. | have no word of
anything but respect for Mr.. Dow. am not
going back on him for the good work he has
done, because he is wrong now, but want to
raise my voice wherever | can against his
doing the mischief of carrying off other good
men and have no doubt that he will be very
sorry for it before six months. Where man
gets little angry and is excited, and forgets
to be level headed, and cannot keep cool, he
will do great many extreme things, but
when this summer heat has gone by and the
cool breezes of autumn come upon US, am
very sure that Mr.. Dow and the gentlemen
associated with him will acknowledge that
they have been wrong and that they have
been mistaken.
In referring to the labor question, Mr..
Blaine said Now take the other side issue.
No man can shut his eyes to the fact that
there has been labor disturbances in the
country and while do not pretend to say
that those labor disturbances grew up because
the democrats came into power in the coun-
try, yet there is = very Suspicious consempo'