Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-09-30
A ROUSING SPEECH.
Col. John 2. Irish Makes a
Powerful Argument.
A RESOUNDING TARIFF TALK.
Turner Hall Filled With an Audi
ence Which Was Delighted for
Two Hours.

ence Which Was Delighted for
Two Hours.
1t was a pity that larger chambe,
than the Turnverein Hall could not have
been obtained in which to hold the
grand Democratic rally last night, fol
quite large proportion of the vast audi.
ence that assembled to hear the oration
OF the celebrated Colonel j. P. Irish had
to stand at the back and in the entrance.
The first indications of the enthusiasm
which was to prevail occurred when Col
John P. Irish, accompanied by Mr.. J. D.
Lynch, the President of the evening
entered the hall, for as soon as he
was recognized ripple of applause
went around the room. At Z AS Mr.
| Lynch called the meeting to order and
the Secretary read the following list oi
vice. presidents: Judge f. M. Ross, DIR.
John S. Griffin, Hon. H. o. O'Melveny
Hon. M. E. G. Munday, J. H. Brewer
of Vernon, W. II. Spurgeon of Santa
Ana, B. F. Coulter, M. J. Collins, A.
Lindenfeld, P. Ballade, DR.. Joseph
Kurtz, M. Whaling, E. F. Harper, Jerry
Illich, Henry Baer, o. G. Taylor. H. j.
Woollacott, E. II. Freeman, P. s.
O'Reilly, John Moriarty, J. G. Scar
borough, John P. Farley, D. J. Lewis
and M. Morris.
Secretaries-J. H. Melville, B. G.
Weir.
After inviting the gentlemen named
to take seats on the stage Mr.. Lynch ad-
dressed the audience as follows:
ladies and Gentlemen-It is my
great pleasure to introduce to you gen.
tleman who as an expounder of Democ-
racy has not a superior in the United
States. am forbidden by him to allude
to the fact that his name is of national
significance and that on the Atlantic as
we'll as on the Pacific the name of John
P. Irish (applause) is known as that OF
gentleman who is wise and witty and
Democratic in principle"
Col. Irish then advanced to the speak
er's table, and as soon as the applause
which greeted his appearance had SUBJ
sided, he spoke as follows:
COL. IRIsH's ADDRESS.
"Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle
men-I am not often compelled to crave
the indulgence of my audience, but a
three months stump during which most
of my speeches were outdoors has affect
ed my voice SO that 1 must request as
much silence as possible. 1 am here,
citizens, the bearer of my party g
message to speak frankly and without
concealment, in no official capacity
but simply as a private in the rear
ranks, whose only obligation is to tell
| the truth. l have no quarrel with the
Republicans because they are Republic
ans, for they and 1 simply represent two
political parties, from which the ma jor-
ity of the people may choose one or the
other to be the instrument of certain pub
lie objects. am not enough of bigot
to declare that the Republican party is
always wrong and never right for a
long time it acted as a
power in the country, and many have
grown up under the shelter of its institu-
tions, so l would indeed be bigoted if 1
were to take up its work chapter by
chapter and arraign it for what it has
done. In my opinion the man is not a
good citizen who denounces wholesale
and retail the acts of any political party,
and l was much surprised to see this
morning, in copy of one of the Repub,
lican papers of this town, letter from an
old friend of mine, Corporal Tanner, OF
New York, who at this moment when
the bugles are calling the citizens of the
Republic to the polls to elect a President
says that hell is unanimous with De-
mocracy.' / am not here to quarrel but
to reason, and will address myself to
you, my Republican friends, and ask
you to hear me fairly at the bar of your
judgment, for l think that 1 can show
you that you should stand with me and
not against me.
THE ISSUE
Before us is not between free trade and
protection, but between high and low
taxation, as to whether or not you will at
the ballot box maintain tax of $780,
900, 900 year more than is needed. My
Republican friends, four years ago your
party stood where mine does tonight
In your platform four years ago you said
that it was necessary to reduce the taxes,
and that this was to be done by reform
in tariff taxation. Your party then ar
raigned m inc and accused it, that hav.
ing been in power in the lower house, it
had made no effort to reduce this in
cubus. Your party then made promises
that it would do this work, and mine, a
few days later, made the same avowal
and in the same way; SO, therefore, in
this issue we then stood side by side.
You believed in it then, and
ask you why you do not continue
SO instead of sitting down and refusing
to redeem the promises of your party
1 read speech the other day made by
Republican in the East in which he
stated that this matter of a tariff is a
Government affair entirely, and that the
people have nothing to do with it. This
was of course made in the East, for am
certain that country like this, blesse
with such climate and on which
natures gifts have been poured pro-
fusely, could produce no idiot as
big as this. There is no sorcery
in the way the Federal Government
gets its income-you earn it and pay il
in taxes and this goes to the Govern.
ment. You earn it and it is your money
and you have right to say whether OF
not a dollar more shall be taken thar
is needed. A man in a country like this
is bad who will not pay what the nation
needs, but he is far worse who willingly
pays one dollar more than is needed