The Portland daily press., 1886-08-26
ENTHUSIASTIC REPUBLICANS.
A Great Mass Meeting at North Ber-
wick Yesterday.
Hon. James c. Blaine Delivers
Another Mastery Speech,
And Replies to Some Statements by
Third Party Prohibitionists,
Besides Pointing Out the Workings
of Reciprocity with Canada.
Speeches by Hon. Thomas 8. Reed
and General Gibson.


thought the census of the State should be
retaken, as he did not know there were SO
many people in Maine. Republicans of York
county had sent a great delegation to attend
the mass meeting The arrivals commenced
to pour into town in the forenoon and early
in the afternoon the fences around the grove
where the meeting was to be held were lined
with horses hitched there while their own
ers spent pleasant and profitable afternoon
before the stand from which speeches were
made by Hon. Thomas B. Reed. Hon.
James G. Blaine and Hon. w. H. Gibson of
Ohio. At noon special train arrived Irom
Portsmouth via Dover, bringing eight heayi-
ly laden cars, the occupants of which went
at once to the grove OF awaited the arrival
of the speakers, who came from Portland
in the train leaving this city at one o'clock
on the Eastern Division of the Boston and
Maine. The three gentlemen who were to
address the meeting occupied seats in the
parlor car, which was part of the train.
The station platform was crowded when the
train came to stop, land as the crowd caught
sight of Mr.. Reed, followed by Mr.. Blaine,
they rendered them an enthusiastic recep-
tion. Carriages were in waiting, and the
gentlemen were Immediately driven to the
grove.
The meeting was not opened until o'clock
in order that the people who were still ar
irving might become comfortably settled.
At about five minutes before three, Mr.
Blaine, accompanied by Mr. Reed entered
the stand and was greeted with cheers and
alo Hhoi irpo fxvn
of the county committee called the meeting
to order there were fully $500 people in the
grove, and during the two hours which the
meeting occupied, the great audience gave
the closest attention to the proceedings, ap-
plauding frequently and heartily, and well
coming with keen appreciation the many
witty passages in the remaks Of the different
speakers.
After calling the meeting to order, Mr.
Wentworth announced the following organi-
zation which was ratified by the applause of
the crowd:
Presdent-Judge Hobbs of North Berwick
Vice Presidents-J. S. Kimball, James Hall,
James E. Hewey, Sylvester Bartlett, Joseph E.
Lord, George Getchell, DR.. G. Z. Hussey,, Amos
VIM. III. Rich, John Holt Nahum 7. Allen Roscoe
L. Bowers, Charles H. Frost. b. f. Pease, Robert
w. Lord, L. Ill. PreSc0JC, In0maS G0OQdll, WIn
Weymouth c. 4. Marshall, Zachariah Donnel.
Chairman Hobbs extended thanks for the
honor conferred upon him by the meeting,
and said, f'We have with us this afternoon
some gentlemen of great distinction who
will discuss measures of Importance to the
American people. have the honor to in
troduce to you Hon. Thomas B. Reed, our
representative to Congress from this dis
trict. Perhaps some of you have heard OF
him before; if not, you will have an oppor-
tunity to hear from him now.'
Mr.. r led was greeted with a burst of ap-
plause, which was long continued. He spoke
over half an hour, discussing the questions
of the day with the clearness and humor GUS
tomary in his speeches, and arousing the
greatest interest on the part of his hearers.
Mr. Reed spoke substantially as follows:
MR. REEDS SPEECH.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
/ am here this afternoon as supposed on a
come Mr.. Blaine and General Gibson, but l
find myself thrust forward Unexpectedly,
and as my campaign speech is not yet very
far along you will have to take what say as
being purely eXtemporaneous. am go.
ing to give you a careful statement of
cratic party to aid in the progress OF the
country during the last two years. You
know that for a great many years the Re
publican party had constantly to defend its
actions. All that is changed. The Demo-
cratic party has come into power, and Judg-
ing from its papers, it does not tell OF the
performance of progress during the past two
years, so that much is left to us, and 1t is
left in friendly hands.
Just think Of it! All the bold, bad Repub-
Of off,nn Won hors hnXN
you used to be told that there were 100000
office holders whom it was necessary to
turn out. How many Democrats here can
tell me how many it has been necessary to
turn out for badness? What a tribute to
the goodness of Republican office holders
they will go all good things fade and go
after while. Did you ever think the Dem
Gratis were making mis-statements? Ii they
didn't, then they are derelict in duty today.
Then they told us tnat the financial affairs
of the country were in bad way. Wicked
men in Wall street, they said, had too much
sway, and that when the Democratic party
came into power we should have great
change. We have had, but is it in the ,di-
rectlon they stated? You remember the
amount of money in the Treasury, and the
amount depended very much on the size OF
the Democrat naming it. My friend Samuel
j. Randall said $S00,0O00000, and bigger
man than he, the Democratic candidate for
the Vice Presidency, said $40O,000,000 were
in fructifying streams all over the country.
Men said, ''What does this mean? Four
hundred million dollars kept from the peo-
pie, the industry and the business of this
country! Why, what bad fellows these Re-
publicans areP' Now, among the ccnsola-
tions of the change in administration is one
of the first acts of the Treasury Department
They adopted a new system of bookkeeping
evidently intended to give the lie to these
assertions. The report of the Secretary OF
600, and some of them silver at that. That
was not polite. 1t was not complimentary
to Mr.. Hendricks or Mr.. Randall. One of
them survived it, one of them did not.
What next? They increased the surplus
of SIS, ,OO0 900 to $50 COO, ,O0O-$72, 100000 worse
than they found it. Isn't that singular Of a
party which made its political capital out Of
this same surplus? 1t is true Mr.. Sherman
showed that the money kept in the Treasury
under Republican administrations was Tor
necessary uses, but the best proof, of course,
was the new bookkeeping. What was the
result of the $S0,00O,OO0 of surplus? 1t was
little hard for Democrat in Congress to
talk of finance, for he was told of this sur
plus, which was so much greater than the
Republican surplus. Then Mr.. Morrison
introduced resolution directing the Secre-
tary of the Treasury to issue bond call OF
$10,000,000 month. This was passed in a
Democratic House by majority of forty,
and this majority said to. the administration,
You have done wrong" The administra-
tion retorted that the party was wrong.
Now, which was right? One must be
wrong, the Democrats who voted to spend
the money or the Democrats who had hoard
ed it in the Treasury. There is the problem,
| leave you to consider it. You must re.
member that the House has been Demo-
cratic since 1874, and never did they pass a
resolution directing Republican Secretary
|ato pay the public debt He always had dis
cretion in the matter. When they had a
Democratic Secretary they gave him instruc-
tions, and the President pocketed the bill.
This is not an argument or an assertion OF
mine. 1t is fact that nobody can dispute
or gainsay. 1t is the opinion of Democrat
ic House, of a Democratic official, and the
pocketing of that bill by the President is the
opinion of the administration about the
House. And, for my part, L think they are
both right.
The Democrats were so long out of power
that they became suspicious and said, "The
Republicans are spending too much money
We must cut them down" For years they
have been cutting down expenses. Now
they have everything. What is the result
more than under the previous Republican
administration. You know some people
suffer everything to obtain certain thing
and then fail to get it. The Democrats have
been trying to reduce the. expenses, and now
have larger appropriation IMAM was calico
for in any year but one since the war.
What have they sacrificed to it? We had