Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-08-28
Mr.. REEDS SPEECH

Mr.. REEDS SPEECH
Delivered At Old Orchard to . Large Assem-.
bIase Of His Constituents.
The first speech of Hon. Thomas B.
Reed in this campaign, delivered before the
large and enthusiastic assemblage at Old
Orchard, was as follows:
When was face to face With the Demo
cratic leaders never hesitated to express.
in strong terms, my opinion as to the course
which they have pursued, and my views as
to their inability to transact the business OF
the country. have felt at liberty, the ev
licences being directly before us all, to use
the very strongest Language OF reproach
and of attack but have no purpose to re-
peat here today the language which have
used there. do not have the same feel
ing, 1 do not have the same reason, for
like utterance. My opposition to the
Democracy is opposition to party. Oppo-
sition to party does not in the least imply
any lack of respect or regard for the indi-
viduals who compose it. 1t is by no means
an assertion of the superiority of any one
individual in one party over any other indi-
vidual in any other party. 1t is simply as
servation, more or less strong, that one
party 10 more suited for the government of
this country than the other. This doctrine
l have always maintained. although l have
never claimed that the difference between
the two parties was as great as seems now
to be demonstrated by the history of the last
year and q quarter. do not, myself, have
the slightest inclination to say any unkind
things about the actions which have taken
place during that period of time. The
actions speak for themselves, and speak
more effectually than any language l can
use.
The Democracy Weakens.
In saying that the Democratic party has
shown itself incapable of ruling this country
in manner satisfactory, not only to the
majority of the people, but even to the
large and respectable minority which help
compose it, l am not indulging in any
language of partisanship, but in the
Language of truth, known and visible to all
who hear me today. To my mind it has
always seemed that such would be the
result of the control of the country by the
Democratic party, which is now in pos
session of it, although in my widest party
feeling have never pictured scene such
as is now visible upon this continent. You
will bear me witness, for you are my con-
stituents and have heard me often upon this
subject, that at no time have L undertaken
to prophesy future which is at all like the
present. And yet, the present condition of
things is not at all unnatural. No party
acts in obedience to the wishes of its most
superior men. Its action is always based
upon its average intelligence, and at what
ever height that is to be found there you
will be able to prophesy what the party
action is likely to be.
The Northern Democratic party is, in
many respects, like the Republican party,
composed of men of business sense and
business ability. The difficulty with the
Democratic party today, as it has been in
all past time, is the fact that its great ma
jority resides in the South. In calling your
attention to this fact have not the slight
est desire to make any sectional differences,
nor the slightest wish to cause any sectional
feeling. The Southern men are men of in
tellectual power, men of intelligence and
men of learning. The difficulty>with them
is that the kind of learning which arises
from thorough knowledge of business as
it is carried on in the North is entirely lack
ing. Such learning cannot be obtained
from books. 1t must be obtained from the
experiences of ordinary life. No Demo
crat who has been brought in contact
with the great hives of industry in the
North, who has lived in the midst of them,
who has witnessed shsv prosperity which
they have brought to the country, could
ever permit himself, if left alone, to do
anything which would cause the destruction
of business or the ruin of the industries
which he sees about him. While the
Southern man may have every opportunity
to read in books of the prosperity which
has come to the North, he has no concep.
ton of it such as those who have lived in it.
He is devoted to the theories of a by-gone
day. His mind is fixed upon the principles
which were essentialin the prosperity of his
part of the country in the days before the
war.
A Great Mistake.
| During that time the doctrines of free
trade took root and fourished, and there
has been nothing in their experience which
has been sufficiently general to awaken o.
change their ideas. 1t is true that some
parts of the South have been opened by the
industrious hand of Northern toll, and the
people there have acquired some ideas o.
what the future of their part of the country
will be if the proper system be maintained
But this is not general in the South, and
the result is that Southern men come to
Congress, controlling the Democratic party
by reason of their majority, and endeavor
to accomplish results which are absolutely
inconsistent with the business interests Of
this country.
| 1t would be great mistake for the peo
pie of the United States to suppose that the
action of the Senate,so much blamed by the
DEMOCRATIC party, and 40 much attacked by