The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-09-05
THE CAMPAIGN. CLUB.
"Demosthsnes of De South Makes q
Great Speech.

Great Speech.
Il take great pleasure" began Brother
Gardner when the sound of the triangle
had called the Campaign club to order, 81
take pleasure in announcing de fack dat
de Hon. Gravitation Spencer am waitin to
speak befo' dis club on de polytical quesh-
uns O. de day. De gem Ian halls from Mis-
souri,, wha' he am Familiarity known as
De Demosthones of de South. Besides
be1n fluent speaker an we'll posted man.
he has invented remedy for chilblains an
has got up new kind of har lie dat will
revonashunize do world in de next few
years. He will now ENTER
The Demosthenes proved to be a short.
stooky man about 40 years of age, bullying
at the knees and lop to either shoulder.
but he had strong and intelligent face,
and he had not yet taken the quid Of gum
from his mouth and stuck 1t up on the
wall behind him when it was realized that
he was out for business
y political campaign such as was neb-
Der known In the history of dis kentry am
upon u.s." he said in wall modulated
voice. "A polytical reyolushun am at
hand De sound Of de openin gun will
soon reverbrate from eand to eand of dis
fair land, an cherry man, white OF black,
who loves de flag which floats DER him
Will put on de armor of battle an step
fo'th. lCheers for the flag Dat we may
WIN victory we must arm wild de weapons
OF reason, argument an truth.
What promises hev bin held out to de
GUILD man in de pastP" asked the speaker
as his heels got a f1rIner grip on the floor
and his voice grew deeper. "What prom
ises am held out for de fucherP mild ap-
plause for promises It makes my heart
ache when remember de record, an it fills
vivid doubt when look ahead Whar am
dat fo'ty acres of land each one of us was to
gitp Whar am dat mewl which was to go
wild de landP ICheers for the mewl We
was to git offices ["Hear! HearP'1 But
what ar dem offices? [Groans. De wood
bine has climbed to de top Of de house, an
de robins hev nestled ag'in, but dem offices
heven't bin distributed around Men cum,
to mo an promised dat should ride in my
own keeridge, but am still walkin around
on foot, wild de mud up to my ankles.
lCheers for mud, as far as could be ascer-
tanned. We was to be sent to dis kentry
an datsto represent de guY'ment, but did
we git dar9 Am we rollin in wealth an
glory over in Yarrup today, or am we
sloshin around home wild patches on our
knees an elbowsp Shouts Of death to
tyrantsP'] Whar ar dem wagon loads Of
silver dollars which was to be driv up to
our doahsf Whar am dat equality which
was to low us to take de front seats at de
circus an roof gardenP Cheers for cir
cuses. De past am full of dead ashes of
broken promises, an what about de fucherp"
The orator paused to sip Of the lemon
ade and pull down his vest and then con-
tinued:
"Bewar' of polytical promises 1 know
dat soTne of yo' want de money to rent
box at de possoffls an buy Nnk sleeve but
tons an put on style, but doan' git EN-
tCheers for boxes and buttons Yo' dream
of de grandeur Of ridin out behind two
white bosses wild plug hat on yo'r head
an 10 cent cigar In yo'r teef, but de party
leader who promises yo' SIGH things will
not chen remember yo'r name arter 'leck-
shun. Yo' fondfy imagine yo'rself in a
500 box at de opera, wild diInun pin as
big as walnut In yo'r shirt bosum an
yo'r keeridga waitin out doahs, but yo'll
nebber git dar' frew polytics. You's a
heap mo- likely to occupy room on de
seventh 1ooh Of tenement ab Sc month
1--WE must work wild some party an vote
wild some party, an which shall it be?
We must rise like de feenix bird from
de ashea We must rise up beyand
ourselves. We must look beyand our
selves to de kentry at large - to
what is best fur sebenty millyon PEG
pie, instead of handful. [Cheers for TO-. |
600, 600 people. We must ak ourselves il |
de tariff benefits dis nashun as q nashun,
an den work accordingly. We must ak
ourselves il it will glorify us as republic |
to pitch in an lick England and Spain
rolled together, an den either lick 'em or
step dis fussin. We must ponder ober dat
silver queshun fur de veal or woe of a |
nashun. 1t hahn Il dat yo' or me would hev
silver dollars by de bar'l, but how it would |
affect de great American people. Rise
above individuality. Rise above selfish
ness an mere party lines. Forgit dat yo' |
am black an dat yo'r ha'r kinks, an wild
one hand restin on de tail of de great |
American eagle an de odder holdin aloft de |
glorious star spangled banner let yo'r
voice be heard from de sighin pines Of
Maine to de dancin waves of de Pacific fur
truth, Justice and right. Cheers for
eagles, banners, pines, waves, and so forth,
and amid the wild applause the orator re-
tired, and somebody turned out the lamps
and doused out the fire In the stove.1
NJ QUAD