The Portland daily press., 1895-11-29

manship of these partiots were great
beyond eompa rison.
But what of the succeeding generation,
that of jackson, Calhoun, Clay and
Webster, who led all other leaders Cal
houn, indeed, "a blind leader of the blind"
with the result predicted in the text, but
the other three thrilling the hearts of
their countrymen with sentiments of
patriotism.
Last of all, we come to "the great re-
bellion. T" and the last ditch into which
Calhoun first, and then jeff Davis and
his conferes led their misguided fol
lowers. Surely the consequences of bad
leadership were never more apparent On
the other hand, PROSPERITY will appreciate
the services of Lincoln, Seward, Greedy,
Chase, Stanton and other statesmen, more
highly even than we do. The fame of
Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, and other
soldiers, Farragut and our navy, will be
undimmed by time. But even here, we
must discriminate between things that
differ, for the time is past when man
could be every thing by turns and moth
Ing long, as was often the case in the
early history of the country. The south
put their trained soldiers in the chief
commands, and reaped the advantage of
their training. We pitted Banks, who
was good speaker of the House, but no
soldier, against Stonewall jackson, the
second best soldier, if not the first of the
South, and paid dearly for our folly
Stanton. too, was Il great success as sec
rotary of War till he aspired to direct
active campaigns and the movement OF
armies, as if he were better soldier than
Grant or Sherman. The moral is, "Let
the shoemaker stick to his last" So
much for leadership in national affairs
But all that has been said, and much
that has been left unsaid, is applicable,
equally so, to municipal affairs, the crux of
our present positions The United States
government is splendid success i'll spite
of minor mistakes. So are the state gov
ernments and none more so than that OF
Maine. whose proud motto is "Dirigo."
But the problem of municipal govern
ment is the despair Of the wisest and best
among us. The cities are more mis-
governed than the states, either as separ-
ate or united. This, OF course, is espec-
tally true of our large cities. But evil is
contagious. Evil company oorrupts good
manners, and q low moral standard in
one city is apt to corrupt it's neighbors
The only remedy is the development of
passion in our cities and all that affects
their welfare. This sentiment has borne
good fruit in such cities as Birmingham
and Glasgow. Surely neither these. nor
any others on earth, are more worthy of
affection than our own city, which is be-
yond most others beautifully for situation
between the mountains and the ocean,
superior even to Boston,, the pride of the
pilgrims, nearer to the great West, and to
the Old World, and dearer to us than any
in the new.
Our earlier chief magistrates, whether
of the nation, states or cities, were Sc
lected from the ranks of men who had
shown their ability and demonstrated
their fitness for the high offices to which
they were elevated by the sdffrages of
their countrymen. And this reasonable
requirement. should be diligently OBJ
served If we would escape the abuses sure
to follow the rule of selfish ''rings'' in
whose eyes a public Office is not public
trust to be administered with a high
sense of honor.
II we ourselves have thus far suffered
little from q low plan of municipal pol
itics,, let us take heed and all due pre-
cautions with suitable safe guards lest
we should be carried out of our true
course by adverse currents, and finally
suffer shipwreck on the hidden reefs and
dangerous shoals.
Here DR.. Dalton said he would not
enlarge on this point as it would soon be
presented by one who will speak with
authority.
1t goes without saying that this report
represents but an abstract of DR.. Dalton's
discourse.
The music was very fine. The choir
sang among other things Schneoker's
"Cantate Domino" and Kotzschmar's
Thanksgiving Anthem.
After DR.. Dalton's address the choir and
congregatio sang America" collection
was taken and the benediction pro-
nounced by Rev. Mr.. Perkins.