The Portland daily press., 1896-09-12
Another Big Crowd Greets MI. Reed
At PittSfield.
PEOPLE CAME FROM BANGOR,
WATERyILLE AND DOVER.
This Crowd is Better Speech Than 1
Can Make Said the Speaker-The Fol-
ly of the Free Coinage Idea Exposed in
Convincing Way.
ESPECIAL TO THE PREss.1

Pittsfeld Septem Der 11.-This was a
field day in politics for every Republic
can in Pittsfeld. and large numbers of
representatives Of the party from mum
Der of other Maine cities and towns
helped On the enthusiasm. Hon. Thomas
B. Reed was the magnet that seemed to
draw the people from far and wide to
Pittsheld. With him were General
Grosvenor of Ohio. and George Edward
Foss of Illinois.
I 1t was arranged to have two meetings
one in the afternoon, the other in the
evening. People came from Skow hegan,
Augusta and Watervills on the west,
and Bangor.and other pl aces to the east
to help swell the crowd. A special train
was run from Augusta In the afternoon
and in the evening one came down from
Hartland and another from Dexter, Fox
croft and Dover.
Mr. Reed arrived from ! rtland on the
Bar Harbor express at 2.3,. He was met
by reception committee with yellow
bands ON their hats, and wearing bits
of golden rod in their lapel button holes.
The Pittsields band was. niping its lay
as Mr.. Reed .descsnded frv the train,
and it escorted shim. tot b. ell, where
ho rested until the special train of eight
heavily loaded oars arrived from the
west. Then the liue Of march was taken
up with one band abe l and another
behind, for the Maine { ntral Institute,
where the meeting was held on the acad-
emy campus. Here marc than 5000 poo
pie were assem- bled around temporary
stand erected at one corner of the aoade-
my building. As Mr.. Reed and Mr.. Foss
m mounted the platform the Mckinley club
of Waterville set up shouting of their
yell, part of which was: What's the
matter with Reed? He's all rightl Who
says SOP We dol Who are weP
W-a-t-e-r-v-i-l-l-els Rah .h! rah? three
cheers for Thomas B. Ree1i'
The meeting Wa called to order by e.
N. Merrill of Skowhegan, who intro
duced Mr.. Foss as an able representative
to Congress from Chicago.
Mr. Foss said every Representative in
Congress belonged to that greater con-
stituenoy of Thomas B. Reed, our oom-
mon country. Coming from Chicago,
where the Democratic convention was
held, Mr. Foss said he felt that he must
appear some what as curiosity, preach
in sound money. He said he attended
the Chicago convention and heard Mr..
10 ;ch
symbols that had usually been placed
on the coff1ns of the dea d as floral pieces.
If he had correctly judged the sentiments
of the country would use those floral
pieces again In November. Mr.. Toss
thought the people were wiser now than
four years ago. Experience had given
them an effeotual lesson. They had had
a taste of free trade, and now knew free
trade meant no trade at all. Mr.. Foss
took up the. currency question. Hs re-
viewed the history of the coinage of the
country, and said Jefferson first struck
down the coinage of the silver dollar
in 1906.
When Mr.. Reed was introduced he was
greeted with great applause. Mr.. Reed
said in part: This greater audience,
greater than I ever saw before me In
this place, is much better speech than
any l can possibly make. The popular idea
seems to be that speeches make converts
] do not believe that they do, except in
directly. What we say from the plat
form is not worth much until it is re-
tailed in the grocery store, the black
smith shop or in the fields. Our purpose
is to say something that you can talk
over with tine brethren who happen to
be benighted.
I see by handbill that person is
coming here, a person who has had
honorable" attached to his name BY the
kindness Of his friends, or the power of
the press, to speak on bimetallism
against the gold standard. He may
know what he is talking about, but the
idea OF arguing case when you don't
know the names of the parties! What is
bimetallism? 1t is the use of both gold
and silver at the saJue time side by side
by adjustment on the market value of
the metals all over the Christian world,
as vel! as the heather. The whole world
can bring this about, but only the whole
world. They say We are in state of
misfortune. That we have gold
mometallism and are in hard times. But
the same coincidence happens with the
sun and the moon. We've got them both.
and we've got h ard times. Have they
forced hard times? Why not? 1t is pre-
clsoiy the same argument.
MI. Reed stated that the fourteen years
from 1879 to 1893 were the most prosper
Gus in the history Of the country, and
asked who can dOuht If?