Edward Russell Perry, lecturer

              Edward Russell Perry- Lecturer
Edward Russell Perry
SAMSON AROUSED is preeminently the Great Awakening. The message is supreme in public consciousness as it progresses toward a new social and economic order.  Mr. Perry directs with wisdom this developing consciousness to an expression in public opinion. In excellence of spirit he is optimistic, and in his discussion he maintains a true perspective of the whole field of values.  He does not believe in Socialism, but in an industrial democracy in which cooperation is shared to the extent of individual ability and thrift. Public opinion, quiet, yet resistless, when enlightened and moral, will enforce right practices in the councils and activities of the nation.
Mr. Perry, during the past six years, has taken an active part in the anti-graft campaign in New York City, and his services are eagerly sought and commended by the most prominent men in the political life of New York.  Mr. Perry is a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He has lectured one hundred and seventy-eight nights in Greater New York.
Lecture Themes
SAMSON AROUSED THE COMING AGE
THE GOLDEN CORNFIELD THE OLIVE CROWN
Theodore Roosevelt: “We certainly need to arouse Sampson”
ROBERT LA FOLLETTE, United States Senator: is a great work."
W. J. GAYNOR, Mayor of Greater New York: "The subject which you are discussing is of great importance."
MR. W. I. McCULLOUGH, Remington (Ind.) Chautauqua: "It is a real John the Baptist work you are doing."
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN: "The ideas are all right and the treatment good."
JOHN MITCHELL, Ex-President United Mine Workers of America: "Your lecture is strong and well prepared, pregnant with facts and very apropos at the present time."
AMUEL GOMPERS, President Federation of Labor: "I was very much interested in your lecture and particularly the optimism which permeates it all. Your lecture is a valuable contribution to thought upon the subject."
HON. N. P. HANGEN, Candidate (1896) Governor Wisconsin and Commissioner State Tax Commission: "You are certainly rendering a public service by your aggressive exposure of one of the greatest and seemingly growing evils of the hour."
HON. E. W. MARTIN, Congressman, South Dakota: "This subject has within it the potential elements of the greatest problem of this day and generation, an infinite reach of possibilities of good or ill for the American people."
EMMETSBURG, Ia. REPORTER : The great message "Samson Aroused" is supreme in public consciousness and finds its vital expression and supremacy in public opinion. It is but the truth to say Mr. Perry gave one of the most thoughtful, most logical arguments that we have ever heard on the subject. He is certainly a close student of economic conditions and gave such a splendid analysis of his subject as to delight all students of economic con¬ditions."
MARSHALLTOWN, Ia, DAILY HERALD: "E. R. Perry discussed with the glow of human enthusiasm his subject "Samson Aroused," a theme of stirring worth."
LAKE CITY, la. NEWS: "A vital and strong message, discussed with fervor and humaneness. It brings the facts to mind, inspires to action and answers the deepest feeling which now seeks to express itself in every form of human activity. It diagnoses the condition by finding one fundamental position—the root and origin of human progress and development and that is in economics, and insists on right practice as the proper means of adjustment."
WOODBINE, Ia. TWINER : "Before he finished there was no failure in showing the need of arousing the giant, public opinion, to action. Mr. Perry has a lecture that touches some vital questions and he gets it off with full force and effect."
BOONE, Ia. REPUBLICAN : "In giving his scholarly lecture Mr. Perry discussed principles, along broad progressive lines and presented his ideas of the duties of citizenship."
AUDUBON, Ia. ADVOCATE : "The lecture by E. R. Perry was a masterly effort. He is a brilliant orator and has his subject well in hand. His lecture was chock-full of good things, and he delivered his message in a very comprehensive and interesting way. His lecture was one of the good things of the week."
PERRY, la. ADVERTISER : "Enthusiastic and thrilling, he hurls forth the results of his researches and the end which history has reached in cleansing the temples of this western world. He is fearless and forceful and his words ring true with the purposeful endeavor to stir the people to a realization of the hour's need."
OTTUMWA, la. COURIER: "This lecture was well worth the hearing. Mr. Perry impressed all with the thoroughness of his knowledge of affairs generally. When warmed up to his subject, Mr. Perry enacted the role of Samson in his defence of honesty and right against graft. Presented judiciously and with enthusiasm and conscientious motive, it is a vital presentation."
NEWTON, la. DAILY NEWS : "Mr. Perry has an excellent voice „ for platform work and his general appearance helped to make him popular with his audience."
LEON. la. REPORTER : "Mr. Perry's intense earnestness took hold upon the audience and they listened with great interest. His lecture was one of the good things of the assembly."
FAYETTE, Mo. DEMOCRAT-LEADER: "Mr. Perry's lecture was well received, as it richly deserved to be and his giving of it to a large, appreciative audience, was a benediction. It gave us an incite into a lofty standard of economics and a greater determination to watch our morals.''
MT. AYR, Ia. JOURNAL: "Mr. Perry is a pleasant and forceful speaker. He held his audience to the closest attention, speaking with the power of conviction and earnestness that transfixed his thoughts firmly in the minds of his hearers. It was a masterful lecture and every man and woman in Ringgold county should have heard Mr. Perry and been inspired by the truths he uttered."
LOUISANA, Mo. NEWS: "Edward Russell Perry may have his peers, but no superiors on the platform. He is truly a live wire and as he talked his audience enthused with him. Hearty applause was given his lecture and at the close manv of his large audience spoke to him and thanked him for the message he brought. It is a wonderful talk. Men of Mr. Perrv's earnestness and fearlessness are a means of great good, and we trust Louisana has not heard this man for the last time."
MARSHALL, Mo. DEMOCRAT: "Edward Russell Perry's lecture was a fearless, earnest, forceful plea for the right. His subject "Samson Aroused" as a theme of importance can not be overestimated. It goes to the heart of the greatest problem of the time and involves all the noblest qualities of the American people and shows the necessity of their aggressiveness in action. The great effort is to point out the necessity of a regular economic order in its relation to social reconstruction."
PRINCETON, Mo. POST: "Mr. Perry is one of the nation's big men and has become famous in his fight for civic righteousness. His "Samson" is the people and he is inspiring them to arise and stamp out evil."
CANTON, Mo. PRESS : "E. R. Perry has distinguished himself in the fight for civic righteousness. He is an optimist and believes in the power of public opinion. His eloquent lecture should give inspiration and arouse to action all who are striving for the triumph of right over wrong and for higher standard of morality among the people."
HOLDEN, Mo. PROGRESS: "A Message That Burns." "Edward Russell Perry's lecture "Samson Aroused" was pronounced by many the best of the whole program. "The giant public opinion has grasped the pillars and the great structure of corruption, graft and vice is beginning to crumble to the ground. Such, rhetorically, was the whole lecture—the skeleton as it were ; but the tough sinews, the hard muscles, and the throbbing heart the speaker put into it brought us face to face with something worth while. Mr. Perry was able to show that the aroused public opinion had really accomplished something. He proved that he was well fortified with facts in his presentation of economic evils, not dealing in glittering generalities, but "naming names" with startling frankness. His closing words were ; Economics with its irregularities has shown the necessity of right qualities in practice. This calls for action. This is to be the century of progress and action is its key. We are in the brightest period of our development, not that we have attained but that we are attaining, as the people are arising to a fuller expression of right practices in economic and social life. In delivery, Mr. Perry is very much like Roosevelt. Exceedingly earnest, he has no time for stories or jokes. He has something vital to say and he delivers his sledge hammer blows with rapidity and vigor."
“THE BASIS OF THE NEW SOCIAL ORDER”
These  comments   represent  a   recent  tour.     The   record   for  each   date   is  given.     In many   instances  a   column   and   a column   and   a   half  were   used   in   referring  to  the   lecture.
DR. A. A. WILLITS, DEAN OF THE AMERICAN PLATFORM : "I heard with great delight and profit Mr. Perry's lecture on "Samson Aroused." It is a most eloquent and timely lecture—broad, comprehensive, patriotic, and presented with great clearness and eloquence. It is one of the most wholesome messages I have ever heaid. I wish every American could hear it."
B. S. STKADWKLL, PRESIDENT AMERICAN PURITY FEDERATION, LA CROSSE, WIS.: "It was most skillfully developed and is absolutely unanswerable. It is such logical addresses as this that is helping so mightily to arouse our people to a sense of conditions as they exist and to encourage movements which in the language of the lecturer wrill displace the "rule of gold by the Golden Rule." It was considered by far the strongest number on the program."
A. F. BENSON, PRINCIPAL OF SEWARD SCHOOL, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.: "Samson Aroused" is a masterpiece dealing with the public conscience as an active and as a potential force. Mr. Perry does his own thinking regarding the questions of the day and forces his hearers to think with him and at the same time to think for himself. He is optimistic, while practical. He creates within the man who listens a desire to do. American people ought to hear Mr. Perry's message."
LAKE CITY, Minn. REPUBLICAN: "A masterpiece and made a strong impression on its hearers. Mr. Perry is a fearless and earnest orator, who has a message to deliver, and what's more, delivers it."
MANCHESTER, Ia. NEWS : "Samson Aroused" stood as one of the most forceful of the platform efforts of the week. The lecture aroused much interest and was the source of general comment.
WAUKON, Ia. STANDARD: "Samson Aroused" was a masterly plea for a better humanity, for living the better life in all its relations. It was an argument for the best statesmanship, advocating only correct principles of civil government, and honest conduct in the administration of public affairs."
OSAGE, Ia. NEWS : "The lecture was listened to with intense interest and given frequent applause."
NEW HAMPTON, Ia. COURIER: "Mr. Perry was handicaped by a sore throat evidently due to his moral earnestness. He was a man with a message and made the people listen to him."
BELLE PLAINS, Ia. DEMOCRAT-HERALD: "The lecture was something new. He handles the subject so judiciously as to be devoutly pleasing to all who are alive to that which is now taking place in American individual and national life."
ESTHERVILLE, Ia. REPUBLICAN : "A masterpiece. Mr. Perry displayed his power as a fearless, earnest and forceful orator."
MANKATO, Minn. JOURNAL : "Samson Aroused" was a wonderful revelation presented in a remarkable manner."
MANKATO, Minn. DAILY REVIEW : Scholarly lecture— Held Large Audience Spell Bound. "Samson Aroused was the subject of the scholarly lecture by Edward Russell Perry and throughout its deliverance he held his large audience spell-bound. Mr. Perry was heard with the greatest interest and his lecture was one of the real treats of the week."
THE NEWS-MESSENGER, MARSHALL, Minn.: "Mr. Perry is not only the finished orator, but he is a live wire in the work of civic and political reform, and his is a message to the people that is of vital concern, for in "Samson Aroused" is vividly portrayed the evils confronting the nation, and remedies are suggested. He held the closest attention of his large audience, speaking with tremendous earnestness, and with frankness and conviction. Every man and woman should hear the words of Perry."
LE MARS, la. GLOBE POST: "In the opinion of many the most eloquent lecture has been that of E. R. Perry of New York. "Samson Aroused" is a masterpiece. Mr. Perry's words are electrified and he gave a most important presentation of truth adorned with a beautiful diction. The closest attention of the audience was held for an hour and a half."
SHELDON, la. MAIL: "We regret that we cannot reproduce the lecture in full and do not hesitate to say that all who missed it were heavy losers. Mr. Perry with his "Samson Aroused" speaks from life and experiences and his lecture is most timely. It is lectures of this type that is doing our country a great service in awakening and keeping alive public sentiment as to the great dangers of graft in our business and political life."
CHEROKEE; Ia. TIMES : "Mr. Perry spoke from the fullness of experience and made a deep impression upon his hearers. It is an appeal to the nobler qualities of the American people, in which reverence for right aud the dignity of mankind are pre-eminent."
CHEROKEE, Ia, Democrat: "Edward Russell Perry gave one of the strongest and best lectures ever heard here."
SIBLEY, la. TRIBUNE : "A great lecture on the power of public opinion." "The lecture by Mr. Perry was received with flattering attention by a large audience, "The best thing I ever heard," said James Ruston " "The lecture is a strong moral presentation of the thought upper-most in this rapidly advancing era, shows the wholesome tendency of the time, and is hopeful as to the outcome by reason of the awakening of the people."
LUZERNE, Minn. HERALD : "Mr. Perry is evidently familiar with the conditions that obtain in many of our large cities. He gave a forceful presentation of these conditions."
Edward Russell Perry

CONDENSED  COMMENDATIONS —PERSONAL
DR. CHARLES H. TYNDALL, Author, Lecturer, Min¬ister, Mount Vernon, (N. Y.): "That lecture was fine. It ought to be heard all over our land."
REV. RICHARD E. BELL, St. Paul's M. E. Church, Peekskill, N. Y.: "Expressed in strong and eloquent words, and in a manner at once pleasing, persuasive, and convincing.   He should be heard by all our people."
JUDGE CHARLES HICKEY, County Court, Niagara County, (N. Y.): "Your lecture, 'Samson Aroused,' was one of the very best to which the League has listened dur¬ing its existence of eight years."
LEIGHTON WILLIAMS, D. D., Amity Baptist Church, New York City: "I particularly enjoyed the quiet but enthusiastic patriotism which burned like inward fire back of all the speaker's utterances."
CHARLES D. HILLES, First Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, (D. C): "I cannot refrain from a commendatory note to you after your splendid lec¬ture. I am so glad you are in a field for which you evi¬dently have made great preparation."
W. J. GAYNOR, Mayor of Greater New York and Ex-Justice Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Brooklyn: "Your lecture—I am full of it. It is a strong moral pre¬sentation based upon facts, the continuance and growth of which would destroy any government. Your lecture will do much good."
REV. HENRI DE VRIES, Reformed Church, Peeks-kill, N. Y.: "Mr. Perry's clear presentation brought con¬viction to his hearers. He handled his subject fearlessly yet withal wisely. His splendid optimism was inspira¬tional. He is an orator whose eloquence is born from his own deep convictions."
NOEL H. JACKS, Hartford, Ct., Y. M. C. A.: "Your lecture is being spoken of with great favor. I believe it is calculated to do much good in creating popular sentiment that will help to bring about a better condition of things in the civic welfare of our land. I cheerfully commend you and your lectute to our Association Brotherhood."
THE PEOPLE'S INSTITUTE, CLUB A, New York City, Gabriel Weis, President: "I want to thank you for your most excellent and eloquent lecture. I may say it was one of the best and weightiest lectures we have listened to for a long time, and that is saying not a little, for as you know, we have the finest lecturers come to us."
DR. GEORGE W. GROVER, Sheffield, Mass.: "Dur¬ing the last forty years many of the most celebrated men on the platform have been heard here. I speak only the gen¬eral sentiment of the community when I say that the lec¬ture delivered by Edward Russell Perry, of New York City, was in point of subject matter and perfection of delivery not only a most able and entertaining production, but surpassed by none that have ever been heard here."
OLIVET INSTITUTE, Chicago, Ill., Norman B. Barr, Superintendent: "Your lecture 'Samson Aroused,' deliv¬ered in our Institute, received then and is still receiving (three weeks later) the highest commendation of those who heard it. There is a common agreement that your mes¬sage is a live one, one that our nation needs to hear, espe¬cially in these days."
G. C. HANUS, Commander U. S. Navy, Comd'g Nautical Schoolship, New York City: "Permit me to thank you for your very interesting lecture which you delivered on board this ship last evening. The manner in which you treated the subject was fine, and the applause and enthu¬siasm you evoked among the cadets and their guests proved that your remarks struck home. You are doing a great work through this lecture."
DR. H. W. SEARS, Lecturer: "I have heard E. R. Perry in his great lecture 'Samson Aroused.' He handles in a masterly way this the livest and most absorbing theme. He is a thorough scholar, a polished orator, a powerful man, bubbling over with energy and enthusiasm. To me this is the newest and most up-to-date lecture I have heard on the platform. I heartily recommend him as one of the livest wires among all our lecturers."
JOSEPH SANDERSON, D. D., LL. D., New York City: "It was a great delight to hear your splendid lecture on 'Samson Aroused.' The treatment of your subject is masterly, illuminating, convincing, brilliant, and its deliv¬ery is that of the polished orator, the Christian patriotic enthusiast, who not only enlightens the mind, pierces the conscience, stirs the emotions, but carries the whole man captive at his will. Your lecture is an intellectual, oratori¬cal gem, and the triumph of your subject is sure to come."
BARNEY WHITNEY, Ex-Supt. Ogdensburg (N. Y.) Academy: "Mr. Perry's lecture was a model of excellence in spirit, matter and form, clear, concise, eloquent, logical, convincing. It received the closest attention from every one present, and was the subject of favorable commenda¬tion days afterward. A few days previous I listened to an address of an hour and a half by Governor Hughes, in his masterful discussion of the issues of the hour. In my view Mr. Perry's lecture was in every respect the equal of Governor Hughes.
DR. W. L. DAVIDSON, National Chautauqua Bureau: "E. R. Perry lectured for me at Northamp¬ton, at the Chautauqua, season 1908, on 'Samson Aroused' and 'The Golden Cornfield.' To say that he aroused interest is, at least, putting it mildly. The lectures are on vital themes dealing with supreme questions which confront the American people. Great sociological questions are treated in masterful fashion. The lectures are popular and engrossing, hold the attention of the people, awaken their thought and send them away to incorporate into their life-work the great truths they have heard. It is the type of lecture which I can commend."
CONDENSED  COMMENDATIONS-PRESS
PHILADELPHIA (Pa.) INQUIRER: "A stirring lec¬ture."
BROOKLYN EAGLE, (N. Y.): "The lecture was an able one, and was keenly enjoyed."
LYCEUMITE AND TALENT, (Chicago.): "E. R. Perry has a vital theme, and discusses it brilliantly and in an effective, determined, conscientious way."
ROCKFORD   (Ill.)   DAILY  REGISTER-GAZETTE:
"Those who heard Mr. Perry were loud in their praise of his lecture, several calling it one of the best of the course."
THE HIGHLAND DEMOCRAT, Peekskill, (N. Y.): "Edward Russell Perry is an eloquent speaker and handles the subject of civic righteousness with a skill few can equal."
NASSAU COUNTY (N. Y.) REVIEW: "Mr. Perry is a brilliant speaker and handled his subject in an excellent manner. He held the attention of his hearers closely and his brilliant lecture was loudly applauded."
NORTHAMPTON   (Mass.)  DAILY HERALD:    "An
earnest, scholarly speaker, a believer in individualism, in the survival of the present regime and the ultimate victory of the People."
SPRINGFIELD (Mass.) UNION: " Mr. Perry succeeded in thoroughly arousing his audience with his lecture on 'Samson Aroused.' He has a message to deliver and he delivers it sturdily and with force. There is no hint of socialism or pessimism in the lecture. It was delivered in the earnest, serious tone of a strong man, who wishes to point out the danger and the remedy to his fellows."
THE DAILY REVIEW, Lockport, (N. Y.): "A most brilliant address was that given to the Economic League in Kenmore Hotel, by Edward Russell Perry, of New York City, whose rhetorical masterpiece on the subject 'Samson Aroused,' will have long life in the memory of the members of the League. Mr. Perry, who is fearless, delivered a most fascinating address."
SPRINGFIELD, (Mass.) REPUBLICAN: "Mr. E. R. Perry, who stirred his audience yesterday evening by his lecture, 'Samson Aroused,' lectured to-day on 'The Golden Cornfield.' The lecture is based on an Indian legend. * * * * Mr. Perry proceeded in an inspirational address, to urge his hearers to seize present opportunities. He em¬phasized vision, perseverance and mutual helpfulness. His lecture abounded in examples of those who, possessed of these qualities, won for themselves great success."
UNION SUN, Lockport, (N. Y.): "Mr. Edward Rus¬sell Perry, a dominant figure in the anti-graft campaign of New York City, presented a powerful picture of condi¬tions existing in America. In beautiful rhetoric he found a figurative counterpart of present day public opinion in the legend of Samson. It was an address of power, force and facts. 'Honesty,' he said, 'is the question of the hour and the people demand an honest America.' After the address Mr. Perry received the personal congratulations of nearly every person present."
CANTON (Hi.) DAILY REGISTER: "The Edward Russell Perry lecture was one of the most brilliant efforts of the season. Mr. Perry is lavishly endowed with brains, while as an orator none of the big guns scheduled at this Chautauqua have any advantage over the scholarly New Yorker. The speaker handled the subject as only a man of deep and patient research could have discussed it. Mr. Perry's style of oratory is more than pleasing. It has a rhetorical finish that is captivating to the listener and abounds in aphoristic expression. His topic led him right up to the firing line."
EVANSVILLE (Ind.) DAILY COURIER: "A large audience in Evans hall heard a statesmanlike address by Edward Russell Perry, of New York upon the subject 'Samson Aroused.' Mr Perry spoke with tremendous earnestness and conviction, dealing frankly, fearlessly, faithfully with existing conditions. He claimed the funda¬mental remedy was honesty, simple, constant, unswerving in every relationship of life. In the polished language of a skilled platform orator he presented a line of argument that showed a breadth of observation, study and sym¬pathy. Prolonged applause greeted many of the strik¬ingly forceful utterances which characterized the entire lecture."
FRANK K. BOWERS, Speakers' Bureau, New York City: "Mr. Perry has spoken for six years against the dominating power of graft in this city, and his work has been most effective. I have been in most intimate touch with the best speakers this city affords, but none have been more successful than he. * * He has never failed to hold an audience even under the most trying conditions. He is master of his subject which he discusses with the glow of human interest and enthusiasm. He has gone to the bottom of the livest and most winning subject of to-day. As one competent to judge of the effectiveness of public speakers after six years of most intimate direction of their work, I pronounce Mr. Perry one who can scarcely be equalled."