The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-11

and glorying in his opportunity, Hon
T. c. Bates held the platform in Me-
chanics Hall for an hour and a half
last evening, and coolly, deliberately
and with skill that commanded the
admiration of even his enemies, fasten-
ed his maligners in the political pillory
The meeting was one Of the most
interesting ever held in this city, an
it did not fail to attract the attention
that it deserved The big hall was
crowded, every seat on the main floor
being occupied. and the side aisles
filed, while in the galleries were quite
a delegation of ladies.
That the address was enjoyed by
those present. was evidenced by the
rounds of applause by which the speak
er was frequently interrupted.
Mr.. Bates was in q colloquial mood l..
He came prepared to talk, and talk he
did. The forbearance of twelve years
gave way to an outburst of oratory,
punctuated here and there by quick.
sharp, clear-cut hits from the shoulder,
which did not fail to make mis- political
antagonists vince and won for the
speaker the sympathy of his audience.
| Dwelling at length upon his unfall
handling by the Worcester press, Mr.
Bates scored severely newspapers
which. have gone out of their way t
injure his character and politica
chances. He Indignantly denied tins
charges of intemperance made agains
/ rn1
used LIQUOR in his life. He laughlngly
admitted that personal appearances
were against him in that respect, bu
protested that appearances, notwith-
standing he had never looked a "groWl
err squarely in the face.
Mr.. Bates entered the hall shortly
before o'clock, and his appearance
was the signal for round of hearty
applause. He was unattended. Lay
ing his hat and coat in a chair, he
walked briskly across the platform
Sizing up his audience over the tops
Of his spectacles. the speaker settled
down to business, q smile of satisfac-
ton spreading over his face as he
| realized his opportunity and warmed
up to his subject Those who had
looked for very fierce attack upon
the Hon. Joseph H. Walker from
Mr.. Bates were ,7'~r ppointed What he
had to say concerning Mr.. Walker was
plain, but not bitter. He ridiculed thaN
gentleman's banking bill, and laid
claim to having done as much benevcl-
ent work as Mr.. Walker has done. In
summing UP his remarks touching upon
the gentleman, however, the speaker
declared that he had not the slightest
ill-will toward him personally.
Speaking from a purely political
standpoint, he thought it would be a
great mistake to return Mr. Walker,
and claimed that the logical candidate
is Frank P. Goulding. The mention of
Mr.. Goulding's name was enthusiastic
ally received, the audience cheering
heartily.
The plan to have band was given
up by Mr. Bates yesterday afternoon,
and the large attendance, in view of
the fact that the gathering was unat-
tended by display of any kind, goes to
show that the long continued attacks
upon the speaker lack popular sym
pathy. This is further attested to by
the fact that among those present were
many of Worcester's most prominent
men.
The address. which is full Of inter
est to all familiar with Worcester poll
tics, was as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen: A few days
ago there appeared in the Worcester
Evening Gazette an interview with one
Mr. Frank Roe Batchelder, who is the
private secretary of the Hon. Joseph
Fl. Walker, your representative in con-
gress from this district.
I had expressed an opinion that
might invite the people of Worcester
to a meeting of this kind for the pur-
pose Of making some explanations and
some statements Of fact which have
never before been made to the people
Of this city and Mr.. Batchelder says:
Perhaps Mr.. Bates would say all he
forgot to say the last time"
suppose by that he meant two
years ago, at which time 1 had no OPP
portunity to say anything on the lines
which he refers to. He also says that
ne wondered If he would allude to the
way in which he defeated W W. Rice
when they were rival candidates for
congress. AT any rate, Mr.. Walker
would not accuse the great re-
publican party Of infdelity to itself.
wish to say in the first instance
that it is not my purpose this evening
to traduce the memory of my old friend,
ex- Congressman Rice For many
years we were associated together poll
tically, socially and financially, having
been for nearly ten years directors in
the same national bank, and more than
that number of years co-trusteeS in the
Peoples Savings Bank of this city. Mr..
Rice, left to himself, would never have
differed with me, and the political
troubles IN this district that have exist
ed for IL years would never have arisen
had Mr. Rice been left at liberty to act
according to his own free will and
Judgment He was an affable man, q
pleasant acquaintance, and my friend
until others came between US.
CHARGED WITH TREACHERY.
I have however. been charged with
political treachery. with having done
many things that / never did do, and
you, as citizens of Worcester, have new
er heard from me in relation thereto.
and l therefore propose to now, with
out in any way wishing to reflect un-
happily or unfriendly upon the memory
of my old friend. who is gone. but with
the right which l have in my opinion
to state clearly and plainly to you Of its
bearing upon my political record in this
county and in this congressional dis
trict
I dare say that many Of you are Of