Stump Speech
Update 49
Stump Speech
Fall 1884
Previously on New SorGun…
‘The Great Debate’ as it was to be called took place between Mrs. Kitty Timworthy and Eastman T. Finch. Both candidates roused the massive crowd into a tizzy. The election of 1884 was shaping up to be a pivotal point in the history of New SorGun and the surrounding region…
The November air was crisp, but still pleasant. Eastman T. Finch looked out across SorGun Harbor as the ferry made the final adjustments before docking.
“Beautiful day today,” he heard one of the passengers say as he began gathering his belongings.
The weather had been quite enjoyable this fall he thought to himself. No nasty storms or frigid temperatures that he could recall.
“Indeed,” agreed Finch, almost halfheartedly.
How quick we are to dismiss the distant storms when the sun shines, he cynically thought.
With only days until the election, Finch was on a mad dash across the town to rummage up as many votes as his stamina would allow. Anthony Myers suggested he take the short trip across the bay and stump the south shore. Despite the hard times, New SorGun was still growing at a rapid pace. Until recently the area south town (separated by the Rannug River) was barely developed, except for the random farm. In fact, there were still logging camps that hearkened back to the days when loggers were the only inhabitants of the area. However, some houses now stood where the great forests once dominated.
Now, the ferry dock and surrounding area were growing at a rapid clip. Mr. Terrance Harwell kick started the recent growth by building his cotton mill adjacent to the new wharf. Known as a salesman who could sell you the dirt from under your foot, he made a hefty sum selling Corliss Steam Engines along the east coast. Once the patent expired, Harwell headed west with detailed schematics of the engine. He eventually found himself the owner of the largest (and most efficient) textile mill in the SorGun region. 
Finch hoped to reach out to a part of New SorGun that often times felt like the forgotten step child. Big things were happening around the center of town, but the south side was always a river apart. However, Finch hoped to change that. While doting on the gathered crowd, Eastman did his best Harwell impression by selling his vision of a new bridge that would span the Rannug River and bring the south side into the fold once and for all. 
The locals had heard this all before though. A rail trestle was planned to span the river and extend rail service to the south bank, but the recession that began in 1882 dried up all the funding. All that was left was a dirt and rock trail that marked the path that the tracks would take. In a bit of irony, the path was only a stone’s throw away from where Finch was delivering his remarks.
Meanwhile, just across the river, Ms. Kitty was taking part in her own last minute campaigning in the center of Indian Point.
Operatives for Kitty’s campaign were flooding the town with posters and papers appealing to the working poor. The People’s Party were determined to get their candidate into the mayor’s office where they could begin to make drastic reforms and put the put the power back into the hands of the people, as they commonly espoused.
Along with championing workers’ rights, the Peoples Ticket favored drastic reforms aimed at eliminating vice and corruption. Some of the more vocal leaders in the party favored outright bans on alcohol, brothels and other sinful behavior. Kitty even had to reign in some of her more fervent supporters, as she knew that such extreme measures wouldn’t sit well with the general populace. It was a fine line she had to walk, made all the more difficult by a number of supporters who were involved in property destruction and in once case setting fire to a popular tavern.
Eastman T. Finch and his Businessman’s Ticket was a stark contrast to The People’s philosophy, giving the people of New SorGun two distinct paths going forward. Finch continued to rally the town around his can-do optimism and economic expansion.
Would the town continue to rely on free enterprise and personal freedom in the form of Finch.
Or would workers’ rights and a war against immorality win the day? 
The polls open next time. Stay tuned.
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