The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-10-07
SreIIbindeTS Don't
change Hny UcEeS,
But obey entertain.
BY WALTER L.. HAwLEY.

He comes from the highways of
Fame and the byways of Obscurity.
q1ib Of tongue, liberal of promise and
eager to save the country and the
political party offering the greatest
;nJucements. He comes with a speech
Of his own composition which he is
willing to discard for one written by
another. if the change means employ
7nent His convictions are deep rooted
and firm. but he will change them for
"a lob His arguments he deems con-
1fncing, but they can be transposed to
conform to a written contract for his
services He spins a maze of elOquence
around the soul of men. Hence he
is called a spellbinuer.
The term spellbinde" was first ap-
rIied generally to all campaign SPEAK
ery in 1888, when thousands of men who
could talk in public were employed by
tLe Republican and Democratic ma
tional committees. They were sent
into every state and city and the sys-
TEN is now recognized as an important
part Of the work of eiectinS a president.
1rhe great army of alleged orators. the
men who go from town to town, speak
inr day and night in halls or at open
air meetings are employed and paid
fixed salaries ranging from $50 20 $500
q week according to the ability and
reputation of the man as a public
speaker. This year the experiment Of
employing professional comedians and
"monologue artists has been tried, be-
cause the essential qualification of
spellhinder is ability to interest and
hold an audience. a man who can tell
funny stories. tell them well and apply
them aptly to some important public
question is always in demand and
ranks higher in the business than the
declaimer of stock arguments who has
no sense of humor.
Qualifications of a SpelIbinder.
The idea of the campaign managers
IS to get certain facts and statements
presented to the voters in an entertain
Ing way and il matters not that the
medium has not faith in the words ne
utters. The spellbinders are supplied
with campaign text books upon which
they draw for facts and arguments.
The web of words they must weave
for themselves. It is essential that
they shall be immune from stage fright,
ready Witted and quick at speech and
repartee. Many ambitious young ora
tOrS have been routed utterly by an
embarrassing question from an audi
euce, which they could not answer. A
man who can parry leading questions.
turn unexpected interruption to good
account and gauge the mood of his
audience at a glance is the one who
succeeds as a speubinder. Such q one
is a certain orator, without much of
reputation outside of the political
stump who can hold and interest an
audience that would probably jeer the
greatest orator in the country. Ia 1896
this man was making a speech for Nc
kiHley to an audience composed largely
Of Populists, and was discussing the
money question. When the speaker
asserted that the stamp of a govern
ment did not create money a farmer
wearing a long beard jumped up and
waving n 81 bill in the air asked;
what makes that hit of paper money
Il it amt the printing zone on it by the
government"
My friend said the spellbinder in
stantly, suppose the government
stamped the word hay on your whisk-
ers. would your COWS eat them?"
The audience hOwled with delight, the
farmer dropped crestfalIen into his seat
and the speaker was not again inter
rupted. Many men who have some 10
cal reputation as public speakers fall
before a strange audience, and the
spellbinder who loses his temper is
doomed to ignoble discontinue. 1t Of
ten happens that men of considerable
reputation are withdrawn by the cam
paign managers after their first public
speech because of some unfortunate or
mistaken utterance that would follow
them wherever they went If they con-
thued on the stump.
A Case Of Fatal Absent indedness.
In the middle of the national cam
paiEn of 1856 one of the best and most
popular spenbinders employed by the
Republicans lost his employment and
is reputation through absentminded-
ness. He was cOnstitutiOnally and
utterly unable to remember even the
most important and familiar names and
dates and il was his habit to carry in
The inside pocket of his coat a slip
Of paper on which he had written
names and figures TO be used at par
ticUlar places in the discourse This
speaker was instructed to address big
mass meeting of factory operatives IN
New Jersey one night Just before
leaving his hotel for the ferry he
changed coats and forgot to transfer
his written list Of names and figures to
he used in his speech The meeting was
IN a big hall, which was crowded to the
doors when the speaker from national
headquarters was presented. He did
not know that the factory employees
present were evenly divided in their
political affiliations. Believing that he