Evening journal., 1912-09-11
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Campaign Orators Who
Lost Their Breath
by Holland

AS executive head Of the National
Republican campaign IN 1880 ex-
Governor Marshall Jewell of Con-
necticut at first confessed himself at
loss to understand how It happened
that the State of Maine at .ts Septem-
Der election had been carried by the
Democrats, who had formed a fusion
with the Greenback party
In the second week in October Of
that year committee of Republicans
called upon Governor Jewell at Re
publican campaign headquarters in
New York city.
Governor" they said, 1--WE have
come 10 ask you to assign to us two
or three good speakers to address
several open air mass meetings which
we purpose to hold in Connecticut
and In the vicinity of New York city"
Gentlemen" Governor Jewell re-
piled, IF you will tell me where 1
can find at this time an effective,
open-air campaign speaker you will
do me and the Republican campaign
a great service.
Il have been puzzling my brain
ever since the Maine election TO dis
cover what the real weakness of the
Republican party In that State was.
have also been trying to find out
what the reason is for the lethargy
or Indifference among Republicans
which prevails, apparently, In Indiana
and in one of two other Western
States have only wuithin a few days
made a discovery of something which
| believe is new in American politics.
Gentlemen, / want to say to you that
we have lost the art, at least, we Re-
publicans have of effective outdoor
speaking, and that largely influenced
the Maine election and is the cause
Of the lethargy in the midwest
when ] remembered the splendid
outdoor campaigning which was made
in 1860 in my own State of Connecti-
cut very keenly regret that the
campaign orators of to-day. at least
in our party, did not, when they we're
| young men, learn the art of outdoor
| speaking. Lincoln was a very effec-
tive outdoor speaker, and so was
/ Stephen A. Douglas. About the only
man that ! knew Of now who has
/ great gifts for outdoor speaking Is
| General Sam Cary of Ohio But un-
! fortunately he Is not with u.s.
I'm Maine they have always been
J accustomed. in political campaigns, TO
| great outdoor mass meetings. ] sent
/ into Maine some orators who. ! was
told, could speak with great effect in
the open air.
We'll, gentlemen, these men came
/ back to New York after the. Septem-
Der election. After had talked with
| them a little while, I discovered that
they had lost their breath when they
tried to speak in the open. | made
some inquiry about conditions in In
diana and I speedily learned that our
outdoor speakers there had also lost
their breath-what little they had
when they began speaking. Tell me
of what use is a campaign orator who
loses his breath?
Il am almost ready to say to yoJ
that II we lose this national election
in November IL will be because thu
present generation of Republican
campaign speakers lose their breatl
when they attempt TO speak in th'
open air And I am almost persuaded
that open air stump speaking in th'
United States is for the Republican,
a lost art and before long will be
also a lost art for the Democrats"
The prediction made in the fall o
1880 by Governor Jewell has been al
most completely justified. Outdoor
stump speaking which was nation
wide factor in earlier presidential
campaigns, is practically extinct il
the East and is more and more pass
ing away in other parts Of the coun
try, excepting possibly in some of tn
Southern States.
Copyright 1912. by e. ]. Edwards
All rights reserved)
Tomorrow Mr. Edwards will tell o
"A Hitherto Unreported Incident {
the Election of 1876"