Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1894-12-06
OUR oADDIEs' CAMPAIGNS
Differed Very Much from Those of tho
Present.

ana political canraSsinE in the times
Of our fathers and graudfathcrs are
very different things All that is
candidate to betake himself to .
private car. There, surrounded by
friends and supplied with every
luxury, he is as comfortable as il aC
home In his study or Office. The
train moves off, and at frequent in.
terva stops at station where a.
ready a crowd OF people are gathered.
The orator steps to the rear platform
of his Car, delivers speech OF from
to 80 minutes, according to the
exiRency OF the time table, and then
glides onward Thus in the course
Ut twa or three days great state
may be thoroughly canvass q, and in
the e.sifse OF ten days half dozen
States. At important capitals a stop
Is sometimes made over night where
the orator addresses the people in
vast hall amid the accessories of
music and brilliant electric lights
In this manner great political cam
paign Is now reduced to a matter of
a few weeks, where formerly 1T
dragged through many months and
often extended over a year.
In the Old times "a political cam
paign was a serious labor 1T in.
volved long and disagreeable journeys
On horseba k or in private vehicles.
The roads were bad and sometimes
impas able, while creeks and rivers
were bridgeless. To canvass a con-
gressional district or State was the
work Of months. The announce
ment had TO be made weeks before
hand and a political meeting was as
,Otable an event as the coming of
the circus. 1t is said, indeed. that
S. S. Prentiss, one of the greatest
and most eloquent OF stump orators
once canyassed Mississippi in COM
pany with q circus. making an ar.
raDgemeut, with the Snowman to
divide time, to the advantage of
10th, for Prentiss was as attractive
il card as the show. TO these old
Iasioned meetings farmers and other
good aud patOriotic citizens would
come distances OF twenty to thirty
miles, bringing their families and
making a gaia day Of it. For this
was their only means OF gaining
political Information or Of finding
out what their public servants were
doing The daily newspaper was
thing unknown AID even the weekieS
were not circulated widely. 80 the
peopie iluckcd to the great political
gatherings to get news OF the world,
and one Or two such meetings would
last them a year.
Such was 'stumping" in the West,
thirty, forty. and fifty wears ago, te-
fore railroads brought the market to
every farmers door aud before the
telegraph gave him the news Of the
world every morning. And as it was
in the West so it had been in the
East To-day Mr. Iced can start
from Portland in Maine and in ten
days speak in every important city
between there and Portland, Ore.
Within a period OF three weeks he
can speak in every quarter Of the
United States and his utteranceS be
read at a million breakfast tables the
morning after. In the days OF his
fathers it would have been a hercu-
lean task TO have travelled from Port
and to New York in the same period
OF time, making speeches by the way.
The first political tours of impor-
tance IN our history were made hy
Washington in his first adminlstra-
tion. His object was to increase as
far as possible the union sentiment
and to acguaint himself with the
condition and desire, of the people in
various parts OF the country. His
New England tour occupied month
and his southern three months He
travelled in his own coach, though
his entrance into the towns was
made on horseback. He himself
made no set speeches. but many were
made by Others and the union feel
ing was greatly strengthened.
James Monroe .madc two extensive
Presidential tours with an uIterior
political purpose, SO successfully, in
deed. that he was elected by the vote
of every State for his second term.
Henry's Clay's journey S to and from
Washington almost invariably took
the form OF political stumping
campaign, not that he wished it so,
but because under the circumstances
he could not help it. Travelling was
a slow process in those days and was
rarely performed after nightfall and
wherever he STOPPED the people were
wild to hear the silver tong Harry
of the West. On some occasions hsi
entire Journey was continued ova-
tion. On his way back to Lexington,
after Jackson's first inauguration. he
was received everywhere by crowds OF
enthusiastic admirers Shippers, din
ners and balls were arranged for him
all along the line, and he had free
passage everywhere. Tayerns stood
wide open, stages were free AMI no
toll gate stopped him. His course
was triumphal march. Thus early
did he commence his Presidential
campaign for 1882. During the
next two or three years he made long
and extensive journeys South and
North and addressed vast crowds.
but it was the occupation of months,
not of "A few days.
Douglas, in 1860, occupied nearly
two months In his Presidential cam
paign. making many speeches North
and South. and though he had the
railroads, he could not have the
comfort and convenience OF modern
travel, That campaign cost him his
life.
A generation has passed since
Douglas spoke, and modern inven'
| tions have made the pathway Of the
political orator still more easy. Per
haps In another generation the flight
| of the orator through the land viii
be still more rapid, and the labors ol
a campaign be concentrated into .
few days
Not the Judges Usual Size.
A Southern Jndge who was in a