New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-09-16
THE CAMPAIGN ORATOR.
sEHATOR DEPEw GIVES A FEW DIREc-
TIONS FOR BIS GUIDANCE.


wrr AND HUHoR KEEP AUDIENCE-Nor ABUSE
BUT RIDIcULD OF AN OPPONENT TEILs-A
SOLID FOUNDATION AND FAIR TREAT
HENT NECHessARY-TIow COLONEL.
GRUBER DOES TT
From the time when political speakers ad-
dressed their audiences from stumps and hastily
mprovised platforms to the present day, cam
paign oratory has been potent feature I'm the
contests that precede elections. Outdoor meet
tngs. with nothing to attract the audience except
desire to hear what the speaker had to say
fnr himself CT for the in whose interest he
was speaking, the earliest gatherings of
the kind Then came the joint meetings where
rival candidates crossed lances in the presence
Of their constituents. and following these came
the meetings with extra attraction in the form
Of music, refreshments, etc. In the Southern
States the barbecue brought great numbers of
peGple together. and in the Eastern countries
balloon ascensions, circus shows and similar
crowd attracting institutions have been resorted
to for the purpose Of gaining large audiences at
the meetings The marching clubs with their
uniforms, flags. fireworks, music and rhythmic
calls and salutations became campaign features
In 1860 and have been prominent in every cam
paign since that time. But music, marching,
banners, fireworks, feeds and sideshows are all
maintained for the purpose of attracting people
where they may hear the stump speaker, and ne
Is still looked upon the vote maker HIS
methods have changed with the times, and the
orator in Carnegie Hall or in the Auditorium ad-
dresses his audiences differently than the stump
speaker did in the days of Tippecanoe-
The crowds are composed Of different elements
and other means must be resorted to in order
X,l.i he
the campaign are being discussed
THE AUDIENCE KNOWS A FEW THINGS.
The man who goes before an audience in
campaign" said Senator Chauncey NJ. Depew,
with the idea that he knows it all, and that his
hearers know nothing, will never make votes
The first public speech of my life was made
when l was called out at Republican meeting
at PeeksIdn where the orator, George William
Curtis failed to arrive. was then two months
out of college. A few days after making this
speech 1 received an invitation from the State
Campaign Committee to stump the State. This
was IN the campaign when John c. Fremont was
the candidate for President, and 1 have gone
through the State for every Gubernatorial and
Presidential election and nearly every other
election since that time l have spoken in that
time upon the same platform with every orator
of National reputation and have found that few
of the men who rank as big speakers were equal
To their regulations. 1 ascr1be that to the fact
that they were overestimated at home.
Some Of the most successful campaign speak
ers prepare a speech with great care at the be
ginning of the canvass and deliver it day after
day and never vary il until the close If the
occasion requires brief efforts like those from the
platform of a railroad they deliver the same
speech in sections. Few public speakers seem
TO have the faculty of catching the various
phases of a campaign and of changing their ad-
dress to meet the daily conditions, exigencies or
emergencies know one very acceptable speaker
who during the anti-slavery and tariff periods
made the same speech for twenty years He
spoke it well and received liberal applause But
when the financial question came to the front he
could not master the problem and had to retire
from the platform. There was one quite famous
orator who came into State who had the
remarkable faculty of memorizing other peoples
speeches. He could repeat speech verbatim
after hearing it once. He was a fine elocutonist.
BE caused great embarrassment to several dis
tinguished citizens by delivering their speeches
before hand at places which they subsequently