Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-10-31
stephen M. whites speech

was powerful argument. 1t was a
perfect piece of synthetical logic, lumi-
pously linked, full of iirefutable, his
torlcul aet, replete in noble idea, and
burning wi h honesty of sentiment; an
? honesty which very evidently, power
fully imprt ssed his auditors, both DEM
ocratic and Republican. He is the most
convincing speaker who has so far ap'
peared iu this campaign; and convinc.
ing not merely through his magnificent
magnetic oralory, but through his in-
tense honesty Of belief in his own opin-
ions, and the policy of his party in the
present State contest. HIS record,
again, is enough to commend his advice
to the pee pie. From his advent in
public life ne has never wavered In
powerful opposition to the aggresslons
| OF monopolies of whatever description.
| And he is intensely in earnest, intensely
| honest. in the views and principles
which he holds and supports. The
mans intense belief in the justice of his
cause, in the truth of his principles was
plainly evident in his every word, his
every gesture. Convinced himself that
| he is right, a man Of his vast oratorcal
power finds little difficulty in convinc.
ing Others. His speech made q pro-
found impression. He appealed with
| irresistible fascination to the reason
!, and the manhood of his audience, not to
their passions and preiudices He argued
but never abused He absolutely DEM
onstrated the truth of every proposition
he laid down, every assertion he made.
| He took the issues of the campaign and
analyzed them with a logical keenness
and practical plainness so incisive, so
| fair, non part san, so fundamentally
clear, that his con 'lusions were utterly
beyond an attempt at refutation; were
accepted as abstract truths.
Recalling the Republican State Con.
vention of four years ago, he alluded to
its intensely almost rabid, anti.railroad
platform, outspoken in its declarations
against railroad aggression. He recalled
that M. NJ. Estee was their candidate for
Governor and that he stumped the state
making series of wildly denunciatory
railroad speeches. He emphasized the
fact that the Re publican party was then
pledged before the State and the coun.
| Try to anti-monopoly and to deliverance
| from railroad rule. Yet the first act of
importance performed by them as party
afterwards was the election of Leland
Stanford, the arch.mo nopolist, the head
and front of the railroad aggressors, to
seat in the u. S. Senate. The same
Estee is again stumping the State, and
| while Stanford is in the Senate and his
serf Sargent preparing TO reinforce him
there, Estee, the late fiery anti-menopo-
| list has not a word to say against rail-
road rule. He reminded his hearers that
Henry 4 igerton, another knight of the
stump, was only recently another vio-
lent anii-monopolist and bitterly hostile
to the railroads. Where is he now?
| Why. with Stanford, Estee and Sargent.
The men who led the Republican party
were as inconsistent as the measures
which they advocated.
| On the Heath Amendment, the orator
was whitening in his contemptuous an-
ally sis of the motives concealed in that
piece of proposed railroad legislation, de-
vised by the monopoly to evade payment
of taxes. He showed the cowardice of
the Republican convention and its de-
based subservience to the railroads as
evinced in its poltroonery of expression
on this appalling proposition. The gist
of the Heath Amendment simply is this:
the people are tax all the way from
to Is per cent. aud the railroad with cool
effrontery proposes to be let off at d
per cent.-and to be taxed on its own
book keeping at that. The State is asked
to discriminate in favor of the railroad
by letting them off at p per cent; and
with sublime impudence, it is also asked
to accept the railroads own return of
their gross earning. The Democratic
State platform takes the tirmest possible
stand against this proposed infamy; the
Republican is afraid to express an opin-
ion upon it.
The action of the Republican Conven.
tion in this one issue is enough of itself
to prove that the platform is railroad
document; that the candidates are rail-
road creatures. They have one law for
the people, another for the corporations.
Mr.. White demonstrated how Stanford
( Co. had formed a railroad corporation
in Kentucky, known as the S. p. of
X entucky, owned by themselves of
course; how they had leased the C. p.
and s. p. railroads of California to the
managers of the s. P. of Kentucky
themselves; how by the U. S. laws
person or corporation dong business in
another State could evade the State
laws governing corporations in Califor-
MIA and practically thus evade taxation
altogether in the event of the passage of
the Fl cath Amendment. He also proved
the connivance of the Republican lead.
ers in this scheme, which might cost the
Sta e $500, 900 per annum.
Turning to the silver question, he
showed that the demonetization of sill
| yer was the work OF Republican states
men and that silver was kept depreciat.
ed by the policy of the Republican par.
ty. He admitted that President Cleve.
land was wrong on the silver policy but
he demonstrated that in the House of
representatives, nineteen.twentieths of
the Democratic congressman had invar-
iably voted in favor of silver and that
only one Democratic U. s. Senator had
voted with the gold monopolsts against
the money of the people. In word.
he historically proved that the lowered
| value of silver was the work of The Re.
publican party.
Reviewing the Democratic ticket he
was brilliantly eloquent in his portrait
| ure OF Bartlett, Byron Waters, (whose
name evoked sustained and tremendous
cheering), Temple, Sullivan, Hendricks.
Lynch, Gaffey. and the candidates gen.
| orally. He impressed UPON bis hearers
the necessity that Southern California
should have a Judge on the supreme
bench qualified by local knowledge to
deal with the perplexipg problems of ir.
rigaiion which would continually come
before the court for decision. He EN-.
phasized the refusal of the Republican
convention to give Southern California
judicial candidate upon their ticket,
and powerfully contrasted the action OF
the Democratic convention in placing
upon its ticket Byron Waters, who had
strong supporters in the convention in
leading men from all parts of the State,
| f.a., nal Marta m Soora M ooptn ocl