Cedar Falls Gazette

The Political Canvass.

Meeting at Overman Hall.

Owing to the rain, last Friday, the Republican meeting, which was to have been held on the Park at 2 P. M., was postponed until evening and held in Overman Hall. On the arrival of Capt. Orr, Col. Scott and Senator Harlan, it was arranged to divide up the speakers and give us a public meeting, although the central committee had appointed that hour for all the speakers, in Waterloo.

Senator Harlan and Capt. Orr consented to remain in Cedar Falls, and Colonel Scott went to Waterloo to join Maj. O'Connor. About noon of the same day it was ascertained that Judge Smeltzer, the Democratic nominee for Congress, had arrived with the information that a joint discussion had been arranged between the two congressional central committees with the first meeting at 2 P. M. on Friday, at Cedar Falls.

This was the first intimation that Capt. Orr had received of the arrangement. Nothing daunted, Capt. Orr informed Judge Smeltzer that if he desired a discussion he would meet him in the hall at the hour named before such an audience as could be collected together on so short a notice. When the point came it was found that the Judge wasn't so much on the discuss as at first claimed. It was then arranged for the evening, Capt. Orr was to occupy a half hour, and Judge Smeltzer was to be allowed the same length of time; Senator Harlan to occupy the remainder of the evening.

At the hour announced a large audience of Republicans and Democrats assembled in the Hall.

Capt. Orr opened the meeting in a speech of about thirty-five minutes and though suffering severely with a sore throat, got by exposure, he sent some stinging truths home to the democratic party. He reviewed briefly the two parties and contrasted their records. He does not deal in rhetorical flourishes, but in solid facts, and the impression made by the gentleman in Cedar Falls was that of true worth, a substantial debater, such as the people will delight to honor by a seat in the halls of Congress.

Judge Smeltzer then followed in a first-class democratic harangue. He stated a great deal in a short space of time, but proved nothing. He made it warm—for himself. How he sweat! It looked to us like hard work to 'produce democratic arguments in this intelligent age. If the Judge expects to make any democratic votes during the canvass, he had better confine himself to statements within the scope of human probabilities.

At the conclusion of Judge Smeltzer's speech, Senator Harlan was introduced and spoke until train time. He was obliged to quit in the middle of his speech, much to the regret of the audience. His remarks fell like a wet blanket on Smeltzer, and ten minutes was all the time necessary to show up his unmeaning statements and generalities. The Senator was just getting into the interesting part of the tariff question when obliged to close. He is a powerful and forcible speaker, and his words fall with convincing weight upon the ears of his listeners. Iowa may well be proud of so worthy a representative at Washington.

It is much to be regretted that the weather would not admit of the meeting in the Park according to programme that more of the people of this vicinity could have been present.
The Dubuque Herald is attempting to hold up poor Smeltzer by asserting that Capt. Orr ran away from him in this city and would not meet him in joint discussion. We had no desire to humiliate the Herald or its party, by stating how Smeltzer squirmed, and begged, and apologized, when the word was carried to him that Capt. Orr would meet him in joint discussion in the afternoon, any where, or at any time, regardless of his (Orr's) health, but we've been called out and we must confess that if ever a Democrat felt sick before a battle it was Smeltzer. He begged to let him and Orr arrange matters so that he could sneak out of the discussion, but that wasn't the intention of the Republican Central Committee. Hence the arrangement of a joint discussion in the evening and the foaming, frothy time that followed Smeltzer's first appearance before an intelligent audience. He sweat, and ranted, and raved. He wiped his throbbing brow. Oh! how he wiped. His legs, resembling two diminutive pipe stems, were scattered in every direction like a kicking mule after flies, and those gestures—those lunges. We've paid for high tragedy but we never got it for nothing before. We don't pretend to say how many times he looked at his watch, as we quit counting after the forty-ninth. He varied the programme by fumbling his handkerchief when his watch was in his pocket. O, democracy! is that your man for Congress? Your stump orator. If so, pray deliver us from anything more than the stump hereafter.

Smeltzer was so used up that he started on the first train west for home. On arriving at Parkersburg, he received a dispatch from Orr, at Waterloo, to come back and go with him to the appointment at Mason City. The Judge thought it would not do to back water now and mustering up courage to go through with a bad job badly begun, he came back. The last we saw of him Orr had him in tow going up the Northern road. Never did a democrat look so downcast and discouraged. The only thing that ever resembled Smeltzer's countenance, was the appearance of the Northern democrats on receipt of the news of the fall of Richmond.