288 HISTORY OF THE WHEEL AND ALLIANCE. 



and quite a number of new State Alliances have been 

 formed. President Polk possesses a magnetism that 

 renders him extremely popular with the people. His tour 

 through the Northwestern States was a perfect ovation. 

 At Bmporia, Kansas, he addressed an audience of 20,000 

 people. His speeches in those States have done more to 

 allay existing sectional prejudices than any other influence. 

 The attacks upon his personal reputation to which all 

 great men are subject have fallen like pointless darts upon 

 an armored Hector. As the representative of the great 

 industrial masses he stands without a spot upon his reputa- 

 tion or a blemish upon his character. He is a true 

 representative of the American citizen. His firey eloquence 

 .wins the hearts of the people and his invincible logic con- 

 vinces their judgment. The administration of President 

 Polk has proven that the St. Louis Convention made no 

 mistake in choosing him as their standard bearer. 



Col. Polk, aside from his recognized ability as a writer, 

 has two qualificatione which have largely added to the 

 deserved success he has obtained. They are his gifts as a 

 public speaker and as a presiding officer. He has in a 

 remarkable degree the tact of entertaining and instructing 

 an audience, and in pleasing and thrilling them as well. 

 He not infrequently rises to the highest oratory and 

 enthuses his hearers. He never fails to impress them and 

 win their applause. 



He has had much experience as a presiding officer. 

 To preside well and impartially is a talent given to but 

 few men who are accomplished public speakers. Col. 

 Polk has the experience, the knowledge of parliamentary 

 law, the grace and tact needed for presiding over a large 

 body of men. He never loses his head, nor forgets a rule, 

 nor fails to recognize the proper man on the floor. He is 

 one of the foremost of the wise Alliance leaders in the 

 South. 



