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Cofy-2 


SHORT    REVIEW 


Public  and  Private  Life 


Gen'l  Benj.  Harrison 


What  the  Working  Men  Say  of  Him. 


HIS  RECORD  AS  A  SOLDIER,  AND  HOW  HE  APPEARS  AT  HOME. 


"  The  Page  bill  was  considered  in  the  Senate  in  the  early  part  of  1882,  and  Sen- 
ator Harrison  voted  against  it  The  bill,  however,  failed  as  a  law  to  keep  out 
Chinese  immigration,  and  was  amended  in  1884.  There  is  no  record  as  to  Senator 
Harrison's  position  on  the  amended  bill,  but  it  is  known  that  he  favored  the  addi- 
tional legislation  ;  but  even  the  law  as  amended  proved  ineffectual,  and  in  the 
XLIXth  Congress  I  introduced  a  bill  which  became  known  as  the  Morrow  bill.  It 
was  drawn  with  considerable  care,  as  I  was  familiar  with  the  subject,  having  been 
Assistant  United  States  Attorney  at  San  Francisco  and  familiar  with  the  Federal 
jurisdiction.  The  bill  was  approved  by  the  Collector  of  the  Port,  the  United 
States  Judges  and  the  United  States  Attorney,  and  it  was  supposed  that  it  would 
accomplish  everything  that  legislation  could  do  under  the  treaty.  The  bill  was 
introduced  in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Fair,  the  Democratic  Senator  from  Nevada, 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  of  which  Senator  Harrison 
was  then  a  member.  I  had  occasion  to  meet  with  members  of  that  committee  sev- 
eral times  while  the  bill  was  pending  before  the  committee,  and  among  others  with 
Senator  Harrison,  and  I  know  that  he  was  in  favor  of  excluding  Chinese  immi- 
gration, either  by  suitable  legislation  under  the  treaty,  or  a  new  treaty  that 
could  make  exclusion  absolute.  I  remember  that  he  and  I  were  members  of  a 
small  party  that  went  to  Philadelphia  in  the  early  part  of  1886  to  attend  a  dinner 
given  by  the  Clover  Club.  During  the  trip  I  had  quite  a  talk  with  Senator  Harri- 
son on  the  subject  of  Chinese  immigration,  and  I  was  gratified  to  find  that  he  was 
not  only  in  favor  of  further  legislation  in  restraint  of  such  immigration,  but  he 
was  in  favor  of  a  new  treaty  that  would  provide  for  absolute  exclusion. 

"The  bill  introduced  by  Senator  Fair  was  considered  by  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Pteiations  of  the  Senate,  and  passed  the  committee  unanimously.  It  was 
reported  to  the  Senate  by  Senator  Sherman,  who  said  :  '  The  bill  has  been  carefully 
examined  iu  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  and  as  far  as  I  know  every  pro- 
vision was  assented  to  with  entire  unanimity.'  This  statement  will  be  found  on  page 
4,958  of  the  Congressional  Record  of  the  first  session  of  the  XLIXth  Congress.  It 
is  well  known  that  Senator  Mitchell,  of  Oregon,  is  extremely  radical  against  Chi- 
nese immigration.  In  discussing  this  bill  (which  Harrison  voted  for  in  the  com- 
mittee, as  I  have  just  stated,)  Senator  Mitchell  said  :  '  This  bill  is  a  great  improve- 
ment, permit  me  to  say.  in  my  judgment,  upon  any  bill  that  has  ever  heretofore  at 
any  time  been  reported  by  any  committee  of  either  branch  of  Congress  upon  this 
question.'  The  Senator's  speech  will  be  found  on  page  5,109  of  the  Congressional 
Record  of  the  first  session  of  the  XLIXth  Congress.  The  bill  passed  the  Senate 
unanimously,  but  was  smothered  in  the  House  Committee  on  Foreign  Afi'airs,  of 
which  Mr.  Perry  Belmont  was  chairman,  and  the  only  action  the  Democratic 
House  took  in  furtherance  of  the  action  of  the  Senate  on  the  Chinese  question  was 
to  pass  the  Chinese  indemnity  bill,  providing  for  the  payment  of  $147,009  to  the 
Chinese  for  the  Rock  Springs  outrage. 

"  But  it  is  said  that  Senator  Harrison,  in  1882,  opposed  legislation  against' 
Chinese  immigration,  and  that  he  voted  against  an  amendment  to  the  bill  then 
pending,  offered  by  Senator  Farley,  providing  that  hereafter  no  State  Court  or 
Court  of  the  United  States  shall  admit  Chinese  to  citizenship;  and  repealing  all 
laws  in  conflict  with  the  act.  Senator  Edmunds  opposed  this  form  of  amendment, 
saying  that  the  naturalization  laws  did  not  authorize  naturalization  of  Chinese. 
The  Senator  was  correct.  Four  years  before,  in  1878,  Judge  Sawyer,  the  U.  S. 
Circuit  Judge  for  California,  Oregon  and  Nevada,  had  decided  on  the  application 
of  Ah  Yup  that  a  native  of  China  of  the  Mongolian  race  was  not  entitled  to  be- 
come a  citizen  of  the  United  States.     On  the  authority  of  this  decision,  Senator 


Edmunds  proposed  an  amendment  in  these  words:  'Nothing  in  the  act  shall  be 
construed  to  change  the  existing  naturalization  laws  so  as  to  admit  Chinese  per- 
sons to  citizenship.'  Senator  Harrison  voted  for  this  amendment  in  preference  to 
the  one  proposed  by  Senator  Farley.     This  is  all  there  is  in  this  vote. 

"  Senator  Harrison  was  undoubtedly  opposed  to  the  abrogation  of  a  treaty  by 
indirect  legislation.  He  was  in  favor  of  a  clear-cut  proposition  for  abrogating 
the  existing  treaty,  with  its  annoying  limitations,  and  excluding  the  Chinamen 
absolutely,  and  it  is  an  interesting  fact  that  this  is  precisely  the  position  occupied 
by  the  Senators  and  Representatives  from  the  Pacific  Coast.  We  have  favored  an 
abrogation  of  the  present  treaty,  because  of  its  limitations  on  the  power  of  Con- 
gress to  legislate  in  defense  of  the  country.  Senator  Harrison  has  occupied  pre- 
cisely this  position,  and  his  votes  on  the  amendments  to  the  Page  bill  prove  this 
fact  beyond  a  doubt.  Furthermore,  Senator  Harrison's  position  has  been  justified 
by  the  fact  that  a  new  treaty  has  been  negotiated,  with  the  appnwal  of  both  par- 
ties, under  which  Chinese  immigration  will  be  stopped.  The  bill  introduced  by 
Senator  Fair  in  the  vSenate  is  the  bill  which  Senator  Harrison  voted  for  in  com- 
mittee, and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  this  bill  is  the  framework  of  the  new  treaty 
just  negotiated  with  China. 

The  press  of  the  coast  says  : 

[Portland  Oregonian.] 

"  The  nomination  of  Harrison  is  a  happy  outcome  of  the  contentions  of  the 
convention.  Harrison  will  receive  the  united  Republican  support.  His  career 
has  been  active,  honorable,  patriotic,  and  thoroughly  American.  On  the  Chinese 
question  his  course  has  been  honorable  and  right.  He  properly  maintained  that 
we  have  no  just  right  in  violation  of  a  treaty  to  pass  an  act  to  deprive  the  subjects 
of  China  of  the  privileges  guaranteed  them  by  treaty,  and  insisted  that  good  faith 
and  international  amity  required  that  China  be  asked  to  modify  the  treaty  before 
we  should  enact  any  extreme  legislation.  It  can  not  be  denied  that  this  position 
was  right.  Subsequently,  when  the  objections  were  removed,  Harrison  joined  in 
reporting  and  voting  for  the  restriction  bill  prepared  by  Senator  Fair  (Dem. ),  of 
Nevada.  But  the  immigration  of  the  Chinese  is  no  longer  a  question  of  practical 
importance,  since  restriction  keeps  them  out,  and  their  number  in  the  United 
States  is  gradually  decreasing.  It  is  complained  that  some  do  evade  the  law  and 
enter  the  United  States,  but  if  this  is  so  it  is  due  to  otficial  laxity  on  the  part  of 
our  present  administration." 

[Sacramento  Record- Union.] 

"  The  Democracy  has  already  resorted  to  the  mean  device  of  reporting  Chinese 
as  celebrating  the  nomination  of  General  Harrison.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
these  stories  are  made  out  of  whole  cloth.  The  record  of  General  Harrison  has 
been  thus  early  misrepresented  because  the  Democracy  fears  his  nomination  more 
than  it  would  have  done  that  of  Blaine,  Sherman  or  Gresham.  General  Harrison 
has  never  been  a  man  of  concealments  concerning  his  ideas  upon  public  questions. 
His  views  have  never  been  matters  of  doubt  on  the  Chinese  question  or  any  other. 
As  a  lawyer  he  opposed  useless  legislation,  and  when  it  came  to  defense  of  treaty 
compacts  he  stood  by  the  honor  and  integrity  of  the  government,  while  opposed  to 
any  system  that  degi-ades  the  American  workmen,  and  for  this  he  is  now  assailed. 
He  reported  and  voted  for  anti-Chinese  legislation  as  soon  as  treaty  compacts  ad- 
mitted it,  and  he  stands  pledged  upon  a  platform  clear  and  satisfactory  upon  the 
question  discussed.  He  is  disclosed  in  strong  favorable  contrast  with  his  opponent, 
who  but  a  few  short  weeks  ago  was  anxiously  inquiring  of  Californians  if  it  was 


6 

not  possible  to  Christianize  Chinese  and  bring  them  into  harmony  with  our  system 
of  civilization — thus  displaying  a  surprising  degree  of  ignorance  upon  the  subject. 
If  there  are  those  who  would  otherwise  support  General  Harrison,  but  who  are 
fearful  that  he,  in  common  with  some  millions,  years  ago  did  not  understand  the 
Chinese  as  we  do,  and  therefore  can  not  vote  for  him,  in  the  name  of  conscience  let 
them  go  over  to  the  Democracy,  with  all  its  glaring  offenses  and  its  open  assaults 
upon  the  vital  industries  of  the  country  and  the  cause  of  the  American  laboring 
citizen.  But  it  is  preposterous  to  suppose  that  any  man  who  looks  at  the  matter 
calmly,  and  is  in  harmony  with  the  positive  protection  platform  upon  which 
General  Harrison  stands,  with  its  pronounced  championship  of  home  industries 
and  American  labor,  and  its  antagonism  to  Chinese  immigration,  and  who  is 
aware,  as  the  fact  is,  that  General  Harrison  is  the  sincere  friend  of  these  causes, 
will  be  led  to  desert  to  the  Democracy." 

ISan  Jose  (Cal.)  Mercury.! 

"If  the  Democrats  can  derive  any  comfort  from  quoting  this  old  and  abandoned 
[Chinese]  record  of  General  Harrison  they  are  welcome  to  it.  The  only  reason 
the  Republicans  can  not  produce  a  similar  record  of  Cleveland  is  that  in  1882  he 
was  too  obscure  to  have  made  a  record  worth  presentation  upon  any  national  issue." 

[Nevada  Territorial  Enterprise.]  . 

"  It  was  understood  from  the  beginning  that  the  convention  at  Chicago  would 
choose  wisely  and  well.  It  was  only  in  debate  as  to  whom  the  choice  would  fall. 
We  now  know  the  men  and  everybody  is  pleased.  Harrison  and  Morton  will  hold 
the  entire  strength  of  the  Republican  party,  and  will  gain  largely  from  Democrats 
who  are  dissatisfied  with  the  course  of  Mr.  Cleveland." 

[Santa  Cruz  Sentinel.] 

"  Good  statesmanship  consists  in  devising  measures  to  secure  the  success  of  prin- 
ciples. Good  politics  consists  in  devising  means  to  secure  the  success  of  parties. 
Judged  by  these  standards,  the  work  of  the  Chicago  convention  shows  good  states- 
manship and  good  politics.  The  advancement  of  the  Republican  principles  and 
the  restoration  to  power  of  the  Republican  party  are,  we  believe,  fully  assured  by 
the  nomination  of  Harrison  and  Morton." 

[Nevada  Territorial  Enterprise.] 

"  His  word  is  good  in  letter  and  spirit,  and  he  has  accepted  a  position  involving 
a  distinct  agreement  to  keep  every  promise  and  defend  every  principle  in  the  Re- 
publican national  platform.  This  alone  is  sufficient  answer  to  the  Chinese  hum- 
bug. To  go  further :  The  Chinese  question  is  entirely  of  the  past  and  is  not,  nor 
has  it  ever  been,  a  party  question.  It  has  been  settled  for  twenty  years  to  come — 
a  longer  time  than  General  Harrison  will  hold  the  office  of  President — but  should 
treaty  complications  arise  during  his  term  the  platform  will  be  the  guide  of  the 
President  in  the  course  to  pursue."  , 

Senators  Mitchell  and  Dolph  have  also  declai-ed  that  the  General's  record  was 
satisfactory  to  their  constituents.  If  so,  what  becomes  of  the  silly  attempt  of  the 
Democrats  to  create  a  prejudice  against  him  on  this  ground  in  the  Eastern  States? 


THE   GREAT   STRIKE   OF    1887. 

Another  lie  started  from  Indianapolis  is  to  the  effect  that  during  the  great 
railroad  strike  of  1877  he  swayed  himself  in  bitter  hostility  to  the  strikers,  and 
urged  the  employment  of  force  to  end  the  strike.  Again  the  record  is  against  the 
tradacei-s.  Not  only  is  the  record  against  tliem,  but  his  wiiole  life.  The  facts  are, 
in  brief  : 

During  the  strike  the  citizens  of  Indianapolis  organized  what  was  known  as 
the  Committee  of  Safety.  Gen.  Harrison,  together  with  other  prominent  Republi- 
cans and  Demqcrats,  was  a  member  of  the  committee.  The  testimony  of  all  the 
members,  Democrats  as  well  as  Republicans,  is  that  at  all  times  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances he  counseled  moderation,  holding  that  the  strikers  had  great  cause  for 
complaint,  and  that  they  would  not  violate  the  laws  if  the  matter  was  properly  set 
before  them.  He  was  on  the  Committee  of  Mediation,  and  maintained  the  side  of 
the  strikers.  This  is  borne  out  by  the  testimony  of  the  strikers  themselves.  A 
number  of  the  strikers  were  arrested,  some  of  them  for  interfering  with  the  run- 
ning of  trains  on  the  O.  &  M.  R.  R.,  Gen.  Harrison  being  the  attorney  for  the  re- 
ceiver of  the  road.  The  men  were  sentenced  to  ninety-nine  days  in  tlie  jail.  After 
serving  a  few  days  Gen.  Harrison  went  to  Judge  Drummond,  who  had  tried  the 
cases,  and  prevailed  upon  him  to  release  them.  It  is  charged  that  he  commanded 
the  troops  called  out  on  that  occasion.  He  was  solicited  so  to  do  by  Gov.  Wil- 
liams, a  Democrat,  but  he  declined.  He  did  command  a  company  that  was  called 
out  to  defend  tlie  arsenal.  Let  us  look  at  the  testimony.  Hon.  Joseph  E.  McDon- 
ald, a  leading  Democrat,  says  : 

"  The  organization  of  that  committee  was  for  the  purpose  of  providing  protec- 
tion for  the  city  and  property,  if  an  emergency  should  arise  to  make  such  action 
necessar}'.  It  was  not  anticipated  that  any  riot  would  be  precipitated  by  the 
strikers,  but  beyond  them,  for  which  they  were  in  no  wise  responsible,  was  a  dan- 
ger that  had  to  be  guarded  against.  It  was  on  that  account,  and  that  alone,  that 
the  committee  was  organized.  From  its  members  a  sub-committee  of  five,  consist- 
ing of  General  Harrison,  Albert  G.  Porter,  Franklin  Landers,  ex-Governor  Baker 
and  myself  was  chosen  to  consult  with  th'e  strikers  in  order  to  bring  about  a  peace- 
able solution  of  the  difficulty.  All  of  us  on  that  sub-committee  were  in  accord, 
and  our  relations  with  the  strikers  were  pleasant.  Every  member  of  the  com- 
mittee was  in  favor  of  peace,  and  there  was  no  divergence  of  opinion." 

Gen.  Fred.  Knetller  says  : 

"  Harrison's  company  was  detailed  to  protect  the  United  States  armory.  He 
put  this  important  point  in  a  stage  of  defense.  It  is  certain  that  Harrison  acted 
in  a  thoroughly  humane  and  proper  spirit  all  through.  He  repelled  any  sugges- 
tion of  attacking  the  strikers  unless  it  should  become  necessary,  and  when  the 
strike  ended  he  exerted  himself  to  have  the  arrested  strikers  treated  leniently. 
About  200  had  been  sentenced  to  90  days'  imprisonment  for  contempt  of  court. 
General  Harrison  Avent  to  Judge  Drummond,  suggesting  that  the  law  had  been 
sufficiently  vindicated  by  the  pronouncing  of  this  sentence,  and  asked  that  the 
men  be  released.  Those  who  had  already  begun  their  terms  were  released,  and 
others  were  discharged,  and  nothing  more  was  heai'd  of  the  prosecutions.  The  In- 
dianapolis Sentinel  acts  not  only  very  unworthily  in  attacking  General  Harrison, 
but  in  a  party  sense  very  foolishly,  since  the  most  prominent  Democrats  in  the 
State  were  as  much  engaged  in  the  preservation  of  order  as  Harrison.  It  was 
simply  a  citizens's  duty." 


TESTIMONY    OF    STRIKEES. 

Frank  Alley,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  reducing  station  of  the  Indianapolis  Gas 
Company,  was  an  influential  member  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers 
at  the  time  of  the  big  strike.  Speaking  of  that  strike,  he  says  :  "  I  read  the  Sen- 
tinel's article,  and  1  saw  nothing  in  it  concerning  General  Harrison  which  was  not 
to  his  credit  rather  than  to  his  discredit.  He  did  what  any  good  citizen  ought  to 
have  done  under  the  circumstances.  It  was  that  sort  of  action  which  saved  the  city 
thousands  of  dollars  which  it  would  otherwise  had  to  have  paid,  as  was  done  in 
Pittsburgh.  Why,  nobody  can  be  blamed  for  trying  to  save  property  and  perhaps 
human  life.  If  you  can  blame  men  like  General  Harrison,  why  don't  you  blame 
Governor  Williams,  who  called  out  the  militia?" 

"  Do  you  think  there  was  at  any  time  any  danger  from  the  strikers  them- 
selves ?  " 

"None;  the  apprehension  was  on  account  of  the  rabble  who  sought  to  take  the 
opportunity  to  })lunder  or  pillage.  Why,  I  took  up  a  gun  and  helped  them  defend 
property  in  Louisville,  where  I  was  at  the  time." 

Dairus  E.  Crawford,  of  125  Garden  Street,  who  for  a  long  time  has  been  an 
employe  of  the  Vandalia  Railroad  Company,  says :  "I  am  one  of  the  men  who 
was  in  the  strike  of  '77.  I  can  tell  you  all  you  want  to  know,  and  moreover  I  am 
glad  to  do  it.  It  was  in  July,  on  a  given  Monday,  that  the  first  outbreak  occurred. 
I  was  then  in  the  Vandalia  Yards,  and  had  been  for  some  time.  I  don't  deny  the 
fact  thai  I  was  in  the  strike.  I  don't  deny  that  I  helped  to  stop  the  trains  on  the 
I.,  B.  &  W.  and  the  I.,  C.  &  L.,  as  it  was  then,  now  the  Big  Four.  There  were  a 
number  of  us  yardmen  connected  with  it.  A  Deputy  United  States  Marshall  placed 
me  under  arrest,  along  with  Chas.  Githens,  P.  Dean,  and  others,  and  entered  us  on 
the  charge  of  interfering  with  trains.  On  the  Wednesday  following  our  trial  be- 
gan, closing  on  the  next  Friday.  Judge  Drummond  presided,  and  C.  W.  Fairbanks 
and  Major  Gordon  were  prominent  figures  in  the  prosecution.  All  during  that 
trial  everybody  who  was  there  knows  that  Albert  G.  Porter  and  Benjamin  Harri- 
son were  the  two  men  who  stood  out  in  prominence  for  their  lenient  and  sympathetic 
actions.  Harrison  did  all  he  could  and  on  all  sides  he  could.  Why,  I  was  in  a 
restaurant  that  day  by  the  postoffice,  and  while  I  was  eating  in  walked  a  Deputy 
Sheriff  with  five  men  in  handcuffs.  They  had  been  brought  up  from  Vincennes, 
and  were  in  custody  on  the  same  charge  I  was,  only  they  were  employes  of  the  O. 
&  M.  Railroad  Company.  General  Harrison  said  he  would  see  these  men  acquitted 
if  it  was  in  his  power,  and  they  were,  through  his  influence,  cleared.  Well,  our 
trial  came  off.  We  were  all  sentenced  to  ninety-nine  days  in  the  Bartholomew 
County  jail.  But  at  the  end  of  twenty-nine  days  we  were  pardoned  out  through 
some  then  unknown  influence  But  I  am  confident,  as  were  the  others,  that  it  was 
General  Harrison  who  interceded  in  our  behalf.  Why,  you  ask  me?  Simply  be- 
cause I  know  the  man — I  know  that  our  pardon  could  not  have  come  through  the 
other  side.  Yes,  I  can  truly  testify  to  the  General's  leniency  and  generosity  to  all 
of  us  men  all  during  those  times,  and  I  am  here  to  say  that  if  I  am  alive  I  will 
vote  for  him  for  our  next  President." 

Alexander  Mc Alpine,  Superintendent  of  the  Western  Car  Company,  but  who 
was  at  the  time  of  the  strike  Master  Mechanic  of  the  Vandalia,  said  that  during 
the  trouble  it  was  learned  that  sixty-four  tramps  were  near  the  city,  and  that  they 
threatened  to  come  in  and  bring  about  a  reign  of  terror.  "  The  strikers,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  went  to  the  officers  of  the  Vandalia,  L,  B.  &  W.,  and  all  other  roads  in- 
volved, and  said  they  would  not  be  responsible  for  anything  of  that  kind.     They 


asked  for  police  powers  so  they  could  help  preperve  tlie  peace.  General  Harrison 
was  one  of  the  Committee  on  Mediation,  and  he  used  his  influence  toward  a  set- 
tlement of  the  difficulties  in  favor  of  the  strikers.  It  is  due  to  him  that  the  wages  of 
the  men  were  raised.  A  few  hot-headed  fellows  went  to  the  General  and  asked : 
'  Why  don't  you  fire  upon  these  men?'  The  General  replied,  '  I  do  not  propose  to 
arm  myself  and  go  out  on  the  streets  and  shoot  down  my  ueighborp.'" 

It  has  been  charged  that  General  Harrison  has  said  one  dollar  a  day  was 
enough  for  a  laboring  num.  If  he  had  ao  said,  it  is  a  little  singular  he  should  in- 
terest himself  to  procure  an  increase  of  wages  for  the  men.  The  silly  lie  needs  no 
other  refutation. 

INDORSED    BY   CHIEF    ARTHUR. 

P.  M.  Arthur,  the  head  of  the  Locomotive  Brotherhood,  says  in  regard  to  the 
support  of  Gen.  Harrison  by  the  labor  organizations: 

"  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  they  will  give  him  a  strong  support.  They  recog- 
nize him  as  a  safe  man,  and  he  stands  on  a  sound  platform.  General  Harrison 
has  nothing  in  his  record  that  should  prevent  anj'  Republican  workingman  from 
voting  for  him.  I  regard  his  nomination  as  a  strong  one,  and  know  his  friendly 
attitude  toward  organized  labor.  Sometime  ago  I  went  to  Indianapolis  to 
straighten  out  a  difficulty  between  our  men  and  one  of  the  local  roads,  and  it  was 
principally  through  the  good  offices  of  General  Harrison  that  a  strike  was  pre- 
vented and  matters  were  adjusted.  Mr.  Harrison  has  proven  himself  a  friend  of 
labor — at  least  he  has  shown  a  kindly  feeling  toward  the  Brotherhood.  A  com- 
mittee, of  which  I  was  one,  waited  upon  him  once,  and  he  received  us  most  cordi- 
ally and  did  all  he  could  do  for  us.  He  secured  an  audience  with  the  President 
for  us,  going  with  the  committee  to  the  executive  mansion  and  waiting  until  our 
interview  ended.  He  made  a  lasting  impression  on  the  delegates,  and  I  do  not 
think  one  of  us  will  ever  forget  him  for  the  kind  reception  he  gave  the  Brother- 
hood through  the  committee.  By  his  action  he  showed  himself  the  friend  of  the 
working  class." 

FURTHER    INDORSEMENT    BY    LABOR   MEN. 

John  Jarrett,  the  labor  leader,  who,  two  years  ago, knocked  out  "Horizontal" 
Bill  Morrison,  expressed  himself  as  well  sati.sfied  with  the  Eepublican  ticket. 
"  The  selection  of  Harrison  and  Morton  was  a  good  one,"  he  said,  "  and  the  plat- 
form is  excellent,  every  issue  being  clearly  drawn.  I  called  at  the  headquarters  of 
several  labor  organizations  to-day,  and  find  the  sentiment  of  all* our  labor  leaders 
is  that  a  better  platform  could  not  have  been  framed.  As  to  the  candidates,  they 
were  satisfied  with  them.  McKinley,  you  know,  was  our  choice,  but  Harrison  is  a 
good  man,  and  will  get  the  support  of  all  true  protectionists. 

"  We  can  not  condemn  Mr.  Harrison  for  voting  against  the  Chinese  immigra- 
tion bill.  The  provisions  of  the  bill  were  at  variance  with  our  treaty  with  China. 
He  claimed  that  the  matter  should  be  adjusted  without  a  violation  of  the  treaty. 
He  voted  conscientiously  and  deserves  credit  for  so  doing.  I  do  not  think  his 
action  on  the  question  will  have  any  weight  with  the  working  people.  We  know 
he  has  been  for  years  in  sympathy  with  the  laboring  clas.«e8,  and  should  get  their 
support.  I  have  heard  labor  leaders  who  are  Democrats  express  their  intention  of 
voting  for  him.  President  William  Wiehe  and  Stephen  Madden,  assistant  secre- 
tary of  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron  and  Steel -workers,  are  both  enthu- 
siastic protectionists,  and,  of  course,  will  support  the  ticket.     Those  of  the  laboring 


10 

class  who  will  vote  the  Democrat  ticket  are  dyed  in  the  wool  and  would  vote  no 
other,  no  matter  what  the  issue  might  be.  They  are  largely  among  the  Irish 
element,  and  are  unconsciously  working  in  the  interests  of  Great  Britain." 

GENERAL    HARRISON    AND   KNIGHTS    OF    LABOR. 

[San  Francisco  Chronicle.] 
"  The  Knights  of  Labor  are  a  keen  and  intelligent  set  of  men  ;  they  sometimes, 
in  moments  of  excitement,  fail  to  perceive  that  rashness  or  unnecessary  antagonism 
of  capital  must  in  the  long  run  prove  detrimental  to  them,  but  they  may  be  de- 
pended upon  to  single  out  with  perfect  accuracy  the  party  whose  aims  most  coin- 
cide with  theirs.  That  party  is  the  Republican  party,  which,  through  its  repre- 
sentatives, has  always  consistently  advocated  internal  improvements  and  protection 
to  American  sailors  and  opposition  to  free  ships ;  it  is  the  party  which  elevates 
above  all  things  industry,  and  declares  that  the  protection  of  American  labor 
against  the  encroachments  of  foreign  competition  should  be  the  first  duty  of  Amer- 
ican statesmen.  Benjamin  Harrison  stands  on  this  platform,  and  as  the  exponent 
of  the  id.ea  that  well-paid  labor  makes  a  good  workingman  and  a  good  citizen,  he 
will  receive  the  suffrage  of  every  Knight  of  Labor  who  detests  the  doctrine  preached 
by  Cleveland,  Mills  and  other  free-traders,  that  the  chief  aim  of  statesmanship  is 
to  make  things  cheap,  and  to  accomplish  which  they  are  willing  to  sacrifice  the 
decently  paid  labor  of  the  United  States. 

HIS   ACTS  SPEAK   FOR   HIM. 

Illustrative  of  his  kindness  and  broad  charity,  a  well-known  railroad  man, 
who  has  w^orked  his  way  up  from  the  humble  walks  of  labor,  tells  this  incident : 
"  I  was  living  in  two  rooms  on  the  same  street,  within  a  door  or  two  of  where  Gen. 
Ben.  Harrison  lived,  eighteen  years  ago,  in  this  city.  I  did  not  know  the  General 
or  his  wife  then,  as  I  had  been  married  but  a  short  time  and  had  but  lately  moved 
into  my  rooms.  My  wife  was  taken  sick,  and  strangers  as  we  were,  the  General 
frequently  called  at  the  door  of  our  humble  home  to  inquire  of  her  condition,  and 
many  a  time  Mrs.  Harrison  brought  in  to  my  wife  dainties  to  eat,  and  was  always 
cheery  in  her  kindly  words.  Poor,  and  stranger  as  I  was,  it  made  an  impression 
that  will  be  green  in  my  mind  as  long  as  I  live.  Talk  about  laboring  men  not 
voting  for  General  Harrison !  No  truer  or  more  sympathetic  heart  ever  beat  in  a 
man's  bosom  than  his,  and  that  of  his  wife,  for  poor  men,  and  for  one  I'll  be  in  at 
his  election  to  rejoice  with  the  others." 

Mr.  Anderson,  a  mechanic  of  Indianapolis,  relates  the  following:  "When 
General  Harrison  was  building  his  present  residence,  I  was  one  of  the  mechanics 
employed  by  the  contractor.  The  General  paid  the  contractor  in  full,  who  then 
absconded,  leaving  the  workmen  unpaid.  The  General  was  not  legally  bound  to 
us  for  a  dollar.  He  owed  no  man  anything  on  the  building.  When  he  was  in- 
formed that  we  were  unpaid,  he  sent  for  us  and  told  us  to  make  out  our  claims. 
We  did  so,  and  he  paid  the  whole  seventeen  in  full.  I  shall  vote  for  him  and  do 
all  I  can  to  elect  him." 

On  the  question  of  wages,  the  General  said  himself,  in  a  public  speech  :  "  The 
simple  fact  is,  many  things  are  made  and  sold  now  too  cheap,  for  I  hold  it  to  be 
true  that  whenever  the  market  price  is  so  low  that  the  man  or  the  woman  who 
makes  it  can  not  get  a  fair  living  out  of  the  making  of  it,  it  is  too  low." 

Other  citations  of  a  similar  character  might  be  made,  but  this  is  sufficient. 


11 


HIS   RECORD   AS   A  SOLDIER — FIGHTING   JOE   HOOKER's   TKSTIJIONY   TO   HIS  PROFES- 
SIONAL  WORTH. 

Fighting  Joe  Hooker  thus  made  known  his  opinion  of  General,  tlien  Colonel 
Benjamin  Harrison: 

Headquarters  Northern  Department,  "i 
CiNiCNNATi,  0.,  October  31,  1864.      | 

To  Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War: 

I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  department  to  the  claims  of  Colonel 
Benjamin  Harrison,  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana  Volunteers,  for  promotion  to  the 
rank  of  Brigadier  General  of  Volunteers. 

Colonel  Harrison  first  joined  me  in  command  of  a  brigade  of  Ward's  division 
in  Lookout  Valley,  preparatory  to  entering  upon  what  is  called  the  Campaign  of 
Atlanta.  My  attention  was  first  attracted  to  this  young  officer  by  the  superior 
excellence  of  his  brigade  in  discipline  and  instruction,  tlie  result  of  his  labor,  skill 
and  devotion.  With  more  foresight  than  I  have  witnessed  in  any  officer  of  his  ex- 
perience, he  seemed  to  act  upon  the  principle  tliat  success  depended  upon  the 
thorough  preparation  in  disciple  and  esprit  of  his  command  for  conflict  more  than 
any  other  influence  that  could  be  exerted  in  the  field  itself,  and  when  the  collision 
came  his  command  vindicated  his  wisdom  as  much  as  his  valor. 

In  all  the  achievements  of  the  20lh  corps  in  that  campaign  Colonel  Harrison 
bore  a  conspicuous  part.  At  Resaca  and  Peach  Tree  Creek  the  conduct  of  himself 
and  command  were  especially  distinguished.  Colonel  Harrison  is  an  officer  of  su- 
perior abilities,  and  of  great  professional  and  personal  worth.  It  gives  me  great 
pleasure  to  commend  him  favorably  to  the  honorable  Secretary  with  the  assurance 
that  his  preferment  will  be  a  just  recognition  of  his  services  and  martial  accom- 
plishments.    Respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

Joseph  Hooker,  Major  General  Commanding. 

NO   better   soldier   than   HE. 

Ex-County  Clerk  M.  G.  McLain,  a  one-armed  soldier,  who  followed  General 
Harrison's  lead  in  a  good  many  hard  places  during  the  war,  is  a  great  admirer  of 
his  old  commander's  soldierly  qualities.  No  man,  he  says,  was  dearer  to  the  boys 
in  the  line  than  General  Harrison,  and  it  rose  from  one  single  element  in  the  man's 
character — his  determination  to  take  the  leading  part  in  whatever  he  asked  his 
men  to  do.  He,  too,  recalls  the  bloody  charge  at  Resaca,  where  his  own  right  arm 
was  shot  away,  and  the  sight  of  General  Harrison  waving  his  sword  aloft  and 
shouting  in  that  shrill  voice  for  which  he  was  noted :  "  Come  on,  boys."  Con- 
tinuing, he  said:  "One  scene  has  always  lived  in  my  memory.  Our  old  chaplain, 
Allen,  a  man  who  was  beloved  by  all  the  boys  and  for  whom  almost  every  man  in 
the  regiment  would  have  given  his  life,  conducted  service  on  Sunday  with  Colonel 
Harrison,  as  it  was  then,  and  Lieut. -Col.  Sam  Merrill  assisting.  I  have  often 
heard  General  Harrison  offer  up  the  prayer  for  the  boys'  welfare  and  protection 
down  there  on  those  Southern  fields,  so  far  away  from  home,  and  many  times  have 
heard  him  address  the  boys  in  place  of  the  chaplain.  Never  to  my  knowledge,  in 
all  the  trying  times  of  war,  did  I  ever  see  one  thing  from  him  unbecoming  a  Chris- 
tian. I  think  the  battlefield  and  the  camp  bring  out  what  there  is  in  a  man  about 
as  well  as  anything  can,  and  I  have  seen  General  Harrison  tested  in  every  way. 
As  a  soldier  courageous,  sympathetic  and  enduring,  the  army  had  no  better." 

"  How  was  he  a?  a  disciplinarian  ?  " 


12 

"Going  out  as  he  did,  a  civilian  and  without  any  military  training  whatever,. 
he  became  one  of  the  closest  students  of  the  science  and  art  of  war  there  was  in 
the  army.  As  he  does  in  everything  else,  he  threw  his  whole  heart  into  the  work 
of  making  himself  a  proficient  oflacer  and  his  regiment  a  well  disciplined  body  of 
men.  And  he  succeeded  in  an  eminent  degree  in  both  instances.  General  Harri- 
rison  was  a  very  sympathetic  man.  Whenever  a  soldier  was  hurt  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duty  none  was  readier  to  offer  sympathy  than  he.  And  as  a  result  of  this 
trait  of  his  character  he  always  looked  after  the  welfare  of  his  regiment  with 
scrupulous  care.  He  never  went  to  bed  at  night  without  knowing  that  the  boys 
were  going  to  have  as  good  a  breakfast  as  could  be  secured  in  the  morning.  You 
can  rest  assured  these  were  favors  that  were  appreciated  by  his  men.  Scattered 
over  the  country  as  the  regiment  is,  I  dare  say  the  news  of  the  old  commander's 
nomination  will  recall  a  thousand  tender  memories  of  the  days  of  1863,  '64 
and  '65." 

KIND   AND   COURAGEOUS. 

Kichard  M.  Smock,  who  was  a  member  of  General  Harrison's  regiment,  in  re- 
lating some  incidents  of  army  life,  relates  the  following  incident:  "In  the  winter 
of  1863-4  we  were  encamped  near  Nashville.  As  all  who  were  there  at  the  time 
will  remember,  it  was  one  of  the  coldest  winters  on  record.  Hundreds  of  soldiers 
perished  while  on  picket  duty.  I  remember  that  during  one  of  the  coldest  nights 
I  was  on  picket  and  suffered  greatly  with  the  cold,  when  I  saw  a  man  approaching 
from  the  direction  of  the  officers'  headquarters.  I  halted  him  and  when  he  gave 
the  countersign  and  advanced  I  saw  it  was  General  Harrison.  He  had  a  large 
can  filled  with  hot  coffee,  and  when  I  asked  him  what  he  was  doing  he  said  he  was 
afraid  some  of  the  pickets  would  freeze  to  death,  and  he  knew  some  hot  coffee 
would  help  the  men  to  keep  alive.  He  was  the  most  welcome  visitor  I  ever  met, 
for  I  really  believe  I  would  have  frozen  before  morning  had  not  the  coffee  been 
brought.  After  leaving  me  the  General  passed  on  to  all  the  other  pickets  and 
cheered  them  up  with  the  beverage.  His  act  was  one  of  kindness.  The  men  on 
duty  were  nearly  all  from  his  regiment,  and  his  personal  friendship  for  them  in- 
duced him  to  get  up  out  of  his  comfortable  quarters  in  the  dead  of  night,  prepare 
that  coffee  and  bring  it  to  us.  General  Harrison  was  always  in  the  thickest  of  the 
battle.  I  remember  that  on  the  14th  of  May,  the  day  before  the  battle  of  Resaca, 
our  regiment  was  ordered  to  advance  through  a  strip  of  woodland  which  ended  at 
the  foot  of  a  hill.  On  the  brow  of  an  opposite  hill  were  the  rebels,  and  the  posi- 
tion which  we  were  ordered  to  take  put  us  in  direct  range  of  their  guns.  We  were 
subjected  to  a  terrific  fire,  and  as  we  could  see  no  reason  why  we  should  be  com- 
pelled to  occupy  such  an  exposed  position,  many  of  us  wanted  to  fall  back.  Gen- 
eral Harrison  was  with  us,  on  foot,  at  the  head  of  the  column,  and  he  said  we 
would  obey  orders  and  stay  there  if  we  died.  Our  ranks  were  thinned  by  the  bul- 
lets of  the  enemy,  but  we  held  our  position,  and  General  Harrison  never  left  his 
advanced  position." 

HIS   CARE   FOR   THE   SOLDIERS. 
[Col.  Samuel  Merrill.] 

"  In  the  army  he  was  indefatigable  in  his  care  for  the  health  of  his  men,  and 
took  pains  to  see  that  they  were  clothed,  and  that  they  were  not  imposed  upon. 
His  men  all  honored  him  greatly.  Although  they  did  not  like  his  discipline,  they 
liked  him  as  a  brigade  commander  in  a  fight.  In  regard  to  his  discipline,  he 
would  be  spoken  of  as  a  strict  disciplinarian.     He  exercised  great  care  to  see  that 


13 

his  men  Avere  supplied  with  clothing;  and  food,  and  that  sanitary  laws  were  ob- 
served. "While  other  States  had  influence  at  Washing^ton,  and  were  pushing  their 
officers  ahead  for  high  positions,  the  State  of  Indiana,  having  fewer  general  officers 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  privates  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union,  did 
not  push  her  officers  into  prominence,  and  the  result  was  that,  although  General 
Harrison  was  as  capable  of  commanding  a  corps  as  any  of  the  corps  commanders, 
his  modesty  and  unwillingness  to  ask  for  anything  for  himself  kept  him  from 
taking  the  high  position  to  which  he  was  entitled  and  for  which  he  was  fitted. 
General  Harrison  is  a  member  of  George  H.  Thomas  Post,  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic.  He  is  very  popular  among  the  soldiers  of  his  own  State,  and  he  has 
never  pushed  himself  forward  in  the  Grand  Army  any  more  than  he  did  in  the 
field,  but  has  left  to  others  the  seeking  of  official  position. 

"In  the  march  he  was  merciful,  protesting  against  unnecessary  haste.  Frequently 
he  would  take  the  guns  and  accoutrements  of  some  poor  worn-out  fellows  and  carry 
them  before  him  on  the  saddle.  Often  I  have  seen  him  dismount  and  walk  while 
a  sick  soldier  occupied  his  place  on  the  horse.  Those  who  were  ill  in  the  field 
hospital  testify  that  they  were  not  forgotten  by  their  kind  commander,  but  that  he 
was  deeply  interested  in  their  recovery,  constantly  making  inquiries  as  to  their 
welfare  and  suggestions  for  their  comfort. 

"He  protected  the  private  soldier  from  imposition  by  those  in  authority,  as  a 
father  would  his  own  children.  Once  when  we  had  been  cut  off  from  our  supplies 
for  a  long  time  the  men  became  so  ragged  that  it  was  pitiful  to  see  them.  At  last  a 
partial  stock  was  received  by  the  quartermaster.  »Some  of  the  officers  appropriated 
the  pantaloons  to  their  own  use.  As  soon  as  this  was  known  General  Harrison  com- 
pelled these  lordly  fellows  to  strip,  and  turn  this  clothing  over  to  the  rightful 
owners.  If  at  any  time  he  felt  that  he  had  wronged  one,  his  sense  of  justice  gave 
him  no  rest  until  he  had  repaired  the  injury. 

"  He  did  not  have  a  code  of  morals  to  be  observed  at  home  and  neglected  abroad, 
but  there  was  the  same  purity  of  conduct  and  conversation  while  a  soldier  in  the 
field,  as  when  a  citizen  going  through  his  daily  round  of  duties,  with  all  the  sweet 
restraints  of  family  and  friends." 


RECOLLECTIONS   OF   A   COMRADE. 

[Capt.  H.A.Ford.] 

"  General  Harrison  was  a  brigade  commander  in  our  division  of  the  Twentieth 
Army  Corps,  and  I  came  to  know  him  well.  Indeed,  I  was  indebted  to  his  kind 
offices  for  the  most  interesting  military  association  I  had  as  adjutant  and  chief  of 
Btafi  to  the  celebrated  Irish  refugee.  Gen.  Thomas  Francis  Meagher.  Harrison  was 
a  thoroughly  kind  and  good  man,  very  popular  with  his  command,  and  a  large 
army  acquaintance.  He  was  an  able  and  courageous  officer,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  his  prompt,  well-directed  action  saved  the  day  at  Peach  Tree  Creek  at  a  criti- 
cal moment  of  the  Atlanta  campaign.  But  for  him  I  think  our  army  on  that  field 
would  have  been  cut  in  two,  and  at  least  one  wing  of  it  rolled  up  and  badly  shat- 
tered. 

"  When  Wood  delivered  his  savage  attack  ihe  colonel  happened  to  be  away  from 
his  brigade  at  an  advanced  position  a  little  to  the  right  held  by  Eastern  troops. 
General  Ward  had  been  returned  to  the  head  of  the  division,  and  with  his  staflT, 
upon  which  I  was  then  seiv'ug,  was  resting,  unexpectant,  upon  a  knoll  in  the  rear. 
The  first  onset  fell  where  Harrison  was,  and  he,  divining  at  once  the  character  of 


14 

the  attack,  aud  the  need  of  immediate  resistance,  came  dashing  down  the  hill  on 
his  splendid  charger,  riding  down  bodily  a  partly  barred  gate  as  he  flew,  and  with- 
out an  instant's  hesitancy  for  orders,  moved  his  brigade  to  the  top  of  a  short  but 
sharp  slope,  at  whose  foot  it  had  been  halted,  and  forward  until  the  enemy  was  met, 
as  he  was  almost  at  once.  Other  troops  connected  speedily  on  the  right  and  left, 
and  here  the  impetuous  rebel  advance  was  stayed  once  for  all.  But  I  have  always 
felt  that  if  it  had  had  the  advantage  of  a  charge  down  the  slope  upon  our  unpre- 
pared lines  they  would  have  been  driven  in  hopeless  disorder  into  and  across  the 
deep  stream  in  our  rear,  and  the  battle  would,  in  all  probability,  have  been  lost. 

"  Harrison  was  the  hero  of  Peach  Tree  Creek,  which  made  him  a  brigadier.  He 
was  the  senior  field  officer  in  the  brigade  at  the  previous  battle  of  Resaca,  bore  him- 
self gallantly  in  one  of  the  most  desperate  and  deadly  charges  of  history,  that 
which  captured  the  redoubt  and  four  guns,  and  took  command  of  the  force  after 
General  Ward  had  been  wounded  and  retired  from  the  field.  His  service  through- 
out was  honorable  and  efiicient,  and  would  have  advanced  him  to  a  more  promi- 
nent position  had  he  been  an  older  man.  I  am  sure  that  no  one  met  him  in  those 
days  who  did  not  feel  his  mental  and  moral  power,  and  expect  of  him  great  things 
in  the  coming  days.  His  brief  speeches  at  spontaneous  assemblies  of  the  troops,  as 
in  front  of  Raleigh,  when  news  of  the  death  of  Lincoln  was  received,  were  remark- 
ably well  put  and  often  rose  to  eloquence.  I  have  heard  him  since  in  political 
speeches  to  throngs  of  Hoosiers,  whose  popular  idol  he  is,  and  thus  have  personal 
evidence  that  he  has  nobly  answered  the  promise  of  his  earlier  manhood.  He  is  a 
thoroughly  good  and  true  man  of  old  Presbyterian  stock,  to  whose  traditions  he 
has  been  faithful.  He  was  the  only  general  officer  I  knew  or  heard  of  at  whose 
headquarters  family  prayers  were  regularly  held." 


GENERAL    HARRISON   AT    RESACA. 

[Sketch  in  Boston  Advertiser.] 

"  It  was  at  Resaca  that  Colonel  Harrison's  courage  as  a  soldier  was  tested  to  its 
fullest  extent.  His  brigade  lay  under  cover  of  the  woods.  Orders  were  received 
during  the  afternoon  of  one  day  to  break  that  cover,  and  charge  through  a  stretch 
of  open  field  to  the  crest  of  a  hill  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  to  take  a  battery  which 
was  being  used  with  terrible  effect  upon  the  national  forces.  Colonel  Harrison's 
regiment  was  in  advance,  and  he,  as  the  ranking  Colonel,  was  at  the  head.  His 
orders  were  peremptory  to  charge  at  once.  The  officers  were  to  dismount  and  go  on 
foot  with  the  men.  Colonel  Harrison  only  asked  one  question  of  the  aid-de-camp 
who  brought  him  the  order.  He  said  to  him  :  "  You  are  familiar  with  the  field 
outside.  I  am  not.  Will  you  go  ahead  with  me  alone,  and  show  me  the  direc- 
tion of  this  battery,  for  if  I  were  to  cliarge  out  now  I  would  be  as  apt  to  charge 
flank  on  to  it  as  any  other  way  ?  "  Colonel  Harrison  walked  out  of  the  woods 
then  with  this  officer.  When  they  had  barely  left  the  cover  a  puff  of  smoke  from 
a  neighboring  hill  and  a  screarning  projectile  emphasized  the  indication  swiftly 
made  by  the  guide.  Harrison  instantly  waved  his  sword  to  his  men  behind  him, 
shouted,  "  Come  on,  boys  ! "  and  with  the  four  regiments  yelling  at  his  heels  he  ran 
toward  the  hill,  which  now  concentrated  upon  his  column  a  most  murderous  fire. 
Between  the  woods  and  the  crest  of  the  hill  the  brigade  lost  one-third  of  its  men 
in  killed  and  wounded.  After  a  spurt  of  very  savage  fighting  the  Union  forces 
succeeded  in  capturing  the  outside  line  of  the  breastworks,  but  between  them  and 


15 

the  battery  itself  was  a  line  of  unsurmountable  stakes  and  brushwood.  Night  fell 
before  the  battery  itself  was  taken  ;  but  during  the  night  Harrison's  men  tunneled 
up  through  to  the  guns  and  captured  them,  lowering  them  into  the  tunnel.  At 
break  of  day  they  expected  the  contest  for  the  crest  of  tlie  hill  to  be  renewed,  but 
the  rebels  had  withdrawn  in  the  night,  greatly  to  the  disappointment  of  General 
Sherman,  though  not  a  single  member  of  Harrison's  brigade  was  disappointed  at 
the  result." 


ONE   OF   HIS   OLD   REGIMENT. 

"  Dan.  M.  Ransdell,  ex-county  clerk,  one  of  General  Harrison's  old  regiment, 
and  a  steadfast  friend  and  admirer  of  his  old  commander,  says  in  regard  to  him : 
"As  an  officer  General  Harrison  was  noted  as  a  disciplinarian.  Many  of  his  men, 
who  had  been  unused  to  restraint,  thought  him  at  first  tyrannical  and  exacting, 
but  when  the  regiment  got  into  active  service  they  all  saw  the  immense  benefit  re- " 
suiting  from  his  strict  discipline,  and  whatever  they  thought  of  it  at  first,  forgave 
him  for  it  afterward.  Eemarkably  cool  under  fire,  no  one  ever  saw  him  manifest 
the  slightest  indication  of  fear.  He  shrank  from  no  duty,  Iiowever  dangerous  it 
might  be,  nor  did  he  ever  shirk  the  slightest  responsibility.  Conscientious  and 
faithful  to  the  last  degree,  he  threw  his  whole  heart  and  soul  into  the  service.  No 
officer  was  more  beloved  by  his  men  than  General  Harrison.  The  privates  of  his 
regiment  would  have  died  for  him  to  a  man.  His  call  to  them  was  always,  '  Come 
on,  boys,'  and  never  *  Go  on,,  boys.'  His  motto  was,  I  know,  at  least  his  conduct 
showed  it :  'I  will  never  ask  my  men  to  do  anything  that  I  would  not  do  myself,' 
and  of  course  the  boys  had  a  deep  respect  and  affection  for  such  an  officer.  We 
went  into  the  fight  at  Eesaca  with  600  men,  and  lost  257  killed  and  wounded. 
General  Harrison  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  and  never  flinched  once.  I  re- 
member a  charge  on  a  battery  in  one  of  the  battles  where  we  had  to  cross  a  ravine 
and  charge  up  a  hill  on  the  rebels.  A  whole  corps  Avas  supporting  that  battery. 
We  ran  up  the  hill,  fell  down  on  our  breasts,  loaded,  and  sprang  up  again,  and 
so  on  until  we  got  within  a  few  paces  of  the  enemy.  I  remember  seeing  General 
Harrison  standing  up  there  right  in  front  of  the  rebels,  waving  his  sword  in  one  hand 
and  brandishing  a  revolver  in  the  other.  I  tell  you  there  was  no  discount  on  him 
as  a  soldier.  He  was  as  good  as  the  best,  as  every  man  that  saw  him  in  the  war 
will  tell  you.  We  were  on  garrison  duty  for  sometime  after  we  went  out,  and  I 
knoAv  it  was  a  great  dissatisfaction  to  General  Harrison  to  be  kept  at  that  kind  of 
warfare.  He  chafed  under  it,  and  wanted  to  get  to  the  front,  and  Avhen  he  got 
there  he  rendered  valued  service.  Another  thing,  he  was  peculiarly  kind  to  his 
men.  I  have  seen  him  give  up  his  horse  on  a  long  march  to  a  weary  soldier,  and 
shoulder  the  private's  gun  and  march  along  with  the  regiment.  I  remember  once 
he  did  me  that  kindness.  I  have  always  loved  him  and  admired  him,  and  I  might 
say  I  have  always  insisted  that  he  would  one  day  be  President  of  these  United 
States." 

A  soldier's  story. 

[Philapelphia  Press  Special.] 

"General  Harrison  is,  of  course,  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  theEepublic 
and  of  the  Loyal  Legion.  There  are  hundreds  of  old  soldiers  in  Indianapolis  and 
scattered  through  the  State,  who  fought  in  his  brigade,  and  who  remember  well  his 


16 

bravery,  his  care  for  the  men  and  his  unselfish  patriotism.  If  one  meets  a  one- 
armed  veteran  in  the  street  here  the  simplest  questions  will  call  out  a  eulogy  of 
Harrison.  The  old  soldiers  remember  him  vividly  for  his  tenacious  care  for  their 
rights.  When  he  was  a  Colonel  he  saw  to  it  that  his  regiment  received  all  the  al- 
lowances of  every  kind  to  which  it  was  entitled,  and  when  he  led  a  brigade  every 
individual  soldier  felt  that  he  had  a  friend  in  his  commander,  strict  disciplinarian 
though  he  was. 

"An  old  soldier  whom  I  met  quite  by  accident  in  a  hotel  here,  told  me  this 
anecdote :  '  In  the  battle  of  Peach  Tree  Creek,  one  of  the  fights  before  Atlanta, 
the  surgeon  of  Harrison's  brigade  was  lost.  No  one  knew  where  he  was,  but  he 
had  disappeared.  My  recollection  is  that  in  the  rapidly  changing  movements  the 
surgeon  and  his  assistants  had  become  tangled  with  another  brigade,  and  were  so 
overwhelmed  with  duty  there  that  they  couldn't  get  back  to  their  own  command. 
However  that  may  be,  when  the  fight  was  over  our  field  hospital  was  full  of  wounded, 
and  there  was  no  one  to  attend  them.  The  General  just  threw  off  his  coat,  tore 
his  own  tent  into  strips,  and  went  about  bandaging  wounds.  He  even  tore  his 
shirt  ofl'  his  back  and  used  it  up  in  bandaging  the  boys'  wounds.  When  surgical 
help  arrived  I  remember  what  a  sight  the  General  was.  Both  his  arms  were  bare, 
and  they  were  covered  with  blood  from  shoulders  to  finger-tips.' " 

"'The  men  most  fond  of  the  General  are  the  men  who  know  him  best.'  That 
is  the  pithy  sentence  in  which  one  of  his  oldest  friends  here  sums  up  his  opinion 
of  General  Harrison's  personal  character." 


HOW   HE   BECAME   A   SOLDIER. 

Mrs.  Harrison  thus  relates  the  circumstance  of  General  Harrison's  enlistment : 
"  My  husband  enlisted  in  the  army  in  July,  1862.  Knowing  Governor  Morton  in- 
timately he  went  one  morning  in  that  mouth  to  consult  him  on  some  matter,  and 
while  there  in  consultation  the  Governor  said  to  him  sadly  that  the  call  for  300,000 
men  by  the  President  had  been  answered  so  slowly  and  with  such  reluctance,  that 
he  did  not  know  what  would  become  of  the  country.  There  seemed  to  be  no  de- 
sire to  go  to  the  front,  and  little  patriotism  to  urge  men  forward.  General  Harri- 
son immediately  assured  the  Governor  that  there  was  one  person  in  the  State  who 
stood  ready  to  go  at  any  time,  and  that  he  would  be  found  at  the  front  as  soon  as 
ordered  there.  Governor  Morton  thereupon  asked  him  to  recruit  a  regiment,  and 
without  ever  consulting  his  faiuily  he  undertook  the  work  and  enlisted  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  country.  I  knew  nothing  of  it  until  he  came  home  and  told  me  about 
it.  I  told  him  to  go  and  do  what  he  could  to  save  the  imperiled  flag,  i  thought 
it  was  his  patriotic  duty." 

A   CONTRAST. 

[Omaha  Republican.] 

This  anniversary  of  independence  is  a  very  appropriate  day  on  which  to  re- 
produce two  pictures  the  Des  Moines  Eegister  presents  in  parallel  columns.  That 
in  the  first  column  is  from  a  sketch  of  Mrs.  Ben  Harrison,  written  by  a  Washing- 
ton correspondent : 


17 


here  was  a  certain  solemn  and  aw- 
ful day  in  her  history  in  186'2,  when 
President  Lincoln  had  called  for  "  300,- 
000  more,"  and  her  loving  husband,  who 
had  just  returned  from  a  three  months' 
service  at  the  front,  was  called  into  the 
office  of  the  great  war  Governor,  Oliver 
P.  Morton,  who  saw  him  passing  by,  and 
said  to  him  :  "  Ben,  these  are  discour- 
aging days.  I  don't  know  what  we  are 
going  to  do  with  so  many  treasonable 
elements  to  contend  with  in  our  State." 
Slowly  and  tentatively  he  continued : 
"  Could  you  raise  a  company  and  go  out 
at  its  head  to  stimulate  others  by  your 
example  ?  "  The  young  man  did  not 
hastily  promise,  but  walked  thought- 
fully homeward  into  the  presence  of  his 
"wife,  hugged  his  little  boy  and  girl  with 
more  than  usual  tenderness,  and  said : 
'"  Carrie,  the  Governor  wants  me  to  go 
back  to  the  front.  Can  you  and  the 
babies  get  along  without  me  for  a  little 
.ile  again?"  Mrs.  Harrison,  like  the 
patriotic  woman  she  was,  said,  with  a 
blanched  face  and  choking  voice  :  "  Yes, 
Ben,  we  will  try  to  get  along  somehow, 
if  the  country  needs  you." 


Scene,  Buffalo.    Time,  1862. 

(irover  Cleveland,  a  strong,  luaty 
young  man  of  twenty-five,  unmarried, 
with  no  family  depending  upon  him  for 
support,  also  hears  the  appeal  of  Lin- 
coln, but  gives  no  response,  not  even  a 
word  of  sympathy.  The  draft  follows. 
He  locks  his  office  door,  walks  down  the 
docks  and  hires  a  poor  sailor,  who  goes 
as  his  substitue,  and  afterwards  is  al- 
lowed to  die  in  the  poor-house. 


HIS   HOME   LIFE — GENERAL   AND   MRS.    HARRISON   RECEIVING. 


[Indianapolis  Cor.  Philadelphia  Press.] 

The  way  is  open  for  any  visitor,  of  high  or  low  degree,  to  enter  this  home. 
The  voice  of  the  people  has  pronounced  the  signal  which  has  opened  its  doors,  and 
the  people  themselves  are  flocking  to  look  within.  Yet  there  is  no  undignified, 
discourteous  rush.  The  visitors  are  many,  but  their  manner  is  that  of  the  self- 
restrained,  self-respecting  American.  T  happened  to  walk  up  to  the  door  to-day  in 
company  with  the  Vermont  delegation  and  a  few  Virginians,  who  had  come  from 
Chicago  on  the  same  train.  Ex-Governor  Proctor  headed  the  party,  among  whom 
was  Governor  Oglesby.  As  they  approached  the  steps  the  wire-screen  doors  opened, 
showing  a  half  dozen  ladies  in  the  hall.  They  were  Mrs.  Harrison  herself,  and  a 
half  dozen  ladies  of  Indianapolis,  most  of  them  old  associates  of  hers  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  who  were  helping  her  to  receive 

As  the  visitors  were  introduced  to  her  by  Mr.  William  Henry  Harrison  Miller, 
General  Harrison's  law  partner,  she  extended  her  hand  with  simple  affability  and 
a  smiling  welcome  to  each.  Some  of  them  she  had  met  before,  and  for  each  of 
them  she  had  an  appropriate  word.  The  sudden  prominence  which  has  befallen 
the  Harrison  household  has  apparently  had  no  untoward  efi'ect  upon  this  matron. 
Her  smile  is  as  cheery,  her  eye  as  clear,  her  cheeks  as  round  and  rosy,  and  her 
whole  bearing  as  natural  and  unaffected  as  when  she  was  a  young  girl  thirty-five 


18 

years  ago,  the  daughter  of  a  college  professor  of  mathematics.  I  doubt  whether 
any  of  the  college  boys,  who  doubtless  admired  her  then,  when  young  Ben.  Harri- 
son carried  her  away  from  Miami  University  as  his  greatest  prize,  would  not  ad- 
mire her  quite  as  much  now,  could  they  see  the  self-poise  and  womanly  tact  with 
which  she  meets  every  demand  of  her  trying  position.  Her  hair  is  slightly  gray 
and  her  figure  more  full  than  in  ihose  days  of  her  girlhood,  but  she  has  all  the 
beauty  that  clings  about  the  honored  mistress  of  an  ideal  household.  In  a  mo- 
ment General  Harrison,  who  had  been  detained  briefly  by  other  callers,  steps  out 
of  the  parlor  into  the  hall.  The  visitors  press  forward  with  hands  outstretched 
and  words  of  congratulation  on  their  lips. 

"  Thank  you  all,"  he  says.  "  Walk  in,"  and  he  leads  the  way  into  the  parlor, 
where  tongues  wag  fast  until  the  call  is  ended  and  way  is  made  for  others. 

General  Harrison  stands  the  test  of  his  sudden  good  fortune  with  serene  com- 
posure. As  he  himself  said,  he  felt  more  troubled  when  the  bulletins  of  the  bal- 
lots showed  that  his  nomination  was  assured  than  when  failure  seemed  almost  cer- 
tain, because  he  knew  something  of  what  the  strain  and  responsibility  would  be 
that  were  coming,  but  now  that  his  shoulders  are  under  the  load  they  bear  it  firmly 
with  the  ease  of  conscious  strength. 

General  Harrison  receives  all  the  visitors  with  a  warm  clasp  of  the  hand,  a 
cheery  smile  and  a  word  of  thanks  for  their  congratulations.  All  public  men  diflPer 
in  their  way  of  shaking  hand,  and  General  Harrison  has  his  own  method. 
His  hand  is  not  large,  but  it  is  broad  and  well  knit.  He  takes  the  visitors  hand 
well  in  his  own,  gives  a  quick,  but  not  nervous  pressure  with  all  the  fingers,  and 
instantly  drops  it.  He  does  not  linger  over  it ;  his  smile  is  not  solely  of  the  lips. 
It  is  of  the  eyes  also.  His  eyes  look  straight  into  yours  as  you  address  him,  and 
there  is  light  behind  them  that  attracts  a  liking  at  once. 


GOSSIP   ABOUT   THE   WIFE   OF  THE   REPUBLICAN   NOMINEE   FOR   PRESIDENT. 

[New  York  Press.] 

No  woman  has  figured  in  Washington  society  better  able  to  fill  the  position  of 
mistress  of  the  White  House  than  Mrs.  Benjamin  Harrison.  Well-born,  well-bred 
and  well-educated,  she  has  the  easy  charm  of  a  woman  of  the  world,  yet  without 
one  tinge  of  cynicism  or  hardness.  Given  the  dangerous  gift  of  wit,  she  has  never 
used  it  to  sting  or  wound — one  great  reason  for  her  personal  success.  There  is  no 
one  society  respects  more  than  a  clever  woman  who  can  hold  her  tongue  under 
temptation. 

For  her  bon  mots  and  her  claret  punch,  made  after  the  "Tippecanoe"  receipt, 
the  wife  of  the  Republican  nominee  is  famous,  and  be  it  said,  she  serves  both  with 
discretion.  Mrs.  Harrison  is  a  little  woman,  plump,  fresh  and  wonderfully  young 
for  one  that  assumed  the  responsibilities  of  life  in  her  teens.  As  a  girl  she  must 
have  been  exceedingly  pretty.  The  regular  features,  bright  dark  eyes  and  abund- 
ant dark  hair  of  the  matron  tell  that. 

The  lady  from  Indiana  has  one  of  the  greatest  charms  of  her  sex,  a  beautiful 
little  hand,  every  finger  of  which  is  straight  and  shapely,  tapering  at  the  ends  with 
a  rosy  nail.  It  is  also  very  white  and  cared  for  as  a  lady's  hand  should  be,  not  by 
a  manicure,  but  its  owner.  No  such  hand  has  been  shaken  in  the  White  House 
for  at  least  this  generation.  In  talking  Mrs.  Harrison  uses  her  hands  to  empha- 
size her  meaning,  and  does  it  gracefully.  Her  eyes,  too,  are  very  expressive,  and 
have  in  their  depths  a  certain  rogueishness  that  is  captivating. 


"During  the  last  few  administrations  the  Capital,  and  through  it  society  at 
large,  has  felt  the  need  of  a  typical  American  woman  at  the  head  of  the  Executive 
Mansion.  A  woman  whose  antecedents,  whose  life  and  whose  personality  would 
give  wholesome  tone  to  society.  One  who  had  the  capacity  and  tlie  courage  to 
lead  and  would  be  accepted  as  a  leader.  This  place  the  daughter  of  the  learned 
Professor  Scott,  of  Oxford,  and  the  wife  of  General  Harrison,  can  fill.  She  has 
the  experience,  the  good  feeling,  the  good  breeding  and  the  character  which  it  de- 
mands. 

"  Mrs.  Harrison  is  not  a  woman  of  fashion,  but  she  dresses  well  and  her  gowns 
"fit,"  As  to  her  hair,  it  is  arranged  most  becomingly  in  waves  close  to  her  face, 
and  drawn  back  into  a  knot  fastened  low  on  the  neck.  Mrs.  Harrison  carries  her- 
self with  dignity,  never  degenerating  into  stiffness.  She  has  been  and  always  will 
be  a  woman  who  knows  what  is  due  to  her  position — no  fear  that  any  one  will  be 
called  upon  to  make  'explanations'  or  'apologize'  for  her." 

THE   HARRISON   FAMILY   AT   WASHINGTON. 

[Washington  Special  to  Philadelphia  Press.] 

"  The  family  of  General  Harrison  are  pleasantly  remembered  in  Washington 
from  their  six  winter's  residence  here  during  his  recent  senatorial  term.  They 
were  kindly,  cordial  people,  not  able  to  housekeep  here  in  the  style  of  wealthier 
Senators,  as  General  Harrison  lived  mainly  on  his  salary  and  contributed  to  the 
support  of  a  widowed  sister  besides.  But,  though  plain  in  purse,  they  had  always 
the  prestige  of  distinguished  family  on  both  sides,  and  took  their  senatorial  posi- 
tion naturally  and  easily,  too  well  balanced  to  strain  for  display  beyond  their  reach, 
but  receiving  their  friends  and  the  calling  world  in  general  with  well-bred  hospi- 
tality in  their  hotel  or  boarding-house  parlors. 

"  The  first  winter  they  boarded  at  the  Eiggs  House,  and  there  their  only  son, 
Kussell,  in  visiting  his  parents  and  sister,  met  his  future  life-partner  in  the  person 
of  Miss  Mamie  Saunders,  a  young  blonde  beauty,  the  only  child  of  the  then  senior 
Senator  from  Nebraska,  who  was  just  home  from  boarding-school.  Some  three 
years  later  they  were  married,  and  are  now  residing  in  Helena,  M.  T.  They  have 
a  baby  daughter  a  few  months  old.  Miss  Mary  Harrison,  the  General's  only 
daughter,  married  Mr.  James  Robert  McKee,  a  young  merchant  of  Indianapolis, 
shortly  after  the  marriage  of  her  brother,  and  a  little  son,  born  to  them  last  year, 
bears  the  name  of  Benjamin  Harrison  McKee.  Miss  Harrison  was  one  of  the 
most  popular  girls  in  Washington  society,  and  belonged  to  the  set  of  which  Dora 
Miller,  the  California  Senator  Miller's  brilliant  daughter;  Miss  McElroy,  niece  of 
President  Arthur;  Miss  Jennie  Sherrill,  Miss  Kate  Bayard  and  Miss  Virginia 
Cameron  were  a  few  others  of  noteworthy  interest.  Mrs.  McKee  is  a  devotedly 
happy  wife  and  daughter.  Her  fair  young  face  will  grace  the  White  House  not 
less  effectively  than  its  present  bonnie  mistress,  while  her  mother,  Mrs.  Harrison, 
the  comely  wife  of  the  General,  will  be  near  and  precious  to  every  patriotic 
American  heart,  as  a  representative  soldier's  wife." 

HARRISON'S   PERSONAL   CHARACTERISTICS. 

[Indianapolis  Correspondence  in  Philadelphia  Press.] 
"  Though  commonly  known  among  the  people  here  as  '  Ben  '  Harrison,  the  ex- 
Senator  is  not  given  to  rude  familiarity.     He  is  intensely  popular,  yet  he  has  about 
him  a  manly  dignity  that  inspires  respect,  while  it  does  not  repel  liking.     I  do  not 
believe  it  possible  to  find  a  man  in  Indianapolis  who  does  not  know  him,  at  least 


20 

by  sight,  and  yet  the  General  was  never  known  to  enter  a  saloon  in  the  city,  His 
public  prominence  has  no  back  passages  leading  to  it  that  start  in'the  alums  and 
wind  through  the  devious  ways  of  ward  politics. 

"As  his  personal  character  has  been  of  singularly  even  growth,  the  result  of  an 
upright  nature  full  of  generous  traits,  governed  by  an  even  temperament  and  sub- 
jected to  an  iron  will,  so  his  popularity  and  his  influence  over  men  are  the  natural 
result  of  a  clear,  simple,  commanding  mental  and  spiritual  stature. 

"His  manner  is  frank  and  cordial;  his  greeting  warm  ;  his  whole  bearing  at- 
tractive. He  has  a  singular  faculty  of  making  friends.  He  has  all  the  courtesy 
of  good  will  to  others.  Not  only  are  his  friends  legion,  but  they  have  the  warm- 
est attachment  to  him  as  he  has  to  them.  He  is  a  somewhat  reticent  man  as  to  his 
own  affairs,  and  does  not  impart  inmost  confidences  to  a  stranger.  His  long  legal 
training  has  made  him  deliberate  and  cautious  in  that  respect,  and  he  is  not  ef- 
fusive.    But  he  is  a  friendly,  sociable,  unassuming  American  gentleman. 

"The  visitor  to  General  Harrison's  house  will  scarcely  have  crossed  the  threshold 
before  he  discovers  another  trait  of  his  character.  As  the  ostensible  master  of  the 
house  walks  through  the  hall  the  real  king  of  the  establishment  appears — Benja- 
min McKee,  the  General's  grandson,  whose  experience  of  this  life  spans  only  fifteen 
months.  The  baby  crows  when  he  sees  his  grandfather,  and  every  trace  of  the 
busy  lawyer  and  dignified  statesman  disappear  in  an  instant  as  the  child  is  lifted 
in  his  welcoming  arms.  Then  there  is  a  romp  with  the  baby  for  half  an  hour. 
The  General's  fondness  for  children  is  not  limited  to  his  own  descendant.  Every 
boy  and  girl  in  the  neighborhood  knows  him  and  loves  him,  as  he  knows  and  loves 
them  all.  There  is  something  in  the  sweet  innocence  and  unconscious  trust  of 
childhood  that  has  a  peculiar  charm  for  this  husband  and  father.  There  is  some- 
thing in  his  kindly  way  and  protecting  manner  that  must  have  a  peculiar  charm 
for  childhood.  Mrs.  McKee,  the  young  mother  of  this  petted  grandson,  is  a  tall, 
slender,  graceful  lady,  with  dark  hair  and  eyes,  and  a  social  charm  that  would  be 
difficult  to  describe." 

A  GOOD  PEN  PICTURE. 
[Boston  Advertiser.] 
"  General  Harrison  is  a  man  slightly  under  medium  height.  His  figure,  how- 
ever, is  very  broad  and  compact.  His  large  head  is  set  well  down  between  his 
broad,  high  shoulders,  as  his  neck  is  very  short.  His  face  is  of  an  almost  deadly 
pallor,  although  the  Senator  enjoys  excellent  health.  It  is  the  cpmplexion  of  a 
recluse.  His  eyes  are  a  grayish  blue,  deeply  set  under  a  very  prominent  bulging 
ferehead.  His  nose  is  straight,  slightly  curving  outward,  and  square  at  the  end. 
His  thin-lipped  njouth  is  shaded  by  a  very  light,  long,  curling  moustache,  while 
the  lower  part  of  his  face  is  hidden  in  a  long,  sandy,  gray  beard.  The  hair  upon 
his  head  is  of  the  same  color,  and  is  combed  very  smoothly  tight  to  his  head 
so  as  to  show  plainly  the  ovitline  of  the  skull.  He  always  dresses  plainly  in  black, 
and  has  a  great  fashion  of  walking  up  and  down  the  Senate  chamber  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets." 

LIKES   HIS   HOME. 

[Special  in  Pittsburg  Dispatch.] 

"The  General  has  a  strong  prejudice  in  favor  of  Indianapolis  as  to  other 

things  besides  base  ball.    It  was  shown  by  a  remark  he  let  fall  to  the  correspondent 

to-day :     '  It  has  often  been  suggested  to  me  that  I  should  go  to  New  York,'  he 

said,  '  but  I  don't  think  I  could  do  it.     I'm  a  fellow  that  roots  deeply.     I  think  it 


21 

would  almost  break  mv  heart  to  have  to  leave  this  home  and  start  a  new  one 
somewhere  else.  I  suppose  I  could  make  more  money  in  New  York,  but  I  don't 
think  it  would  repay  me  for  my  home.'  " 

HIS  DEMOCRATIC   WAYS. 

[Indianapolis  Special  in  Pittsburg  Dispatch.] 
"  A  story  was  told  by  one  of  his  friends  lo-day  illustrating  General  Harrison's 
simplicity  of  life.  A  week  ago,  it  is  said,  a  Catholic  Church  fair  was  about  to  be 
opened  here,  and  the  managers  asked  a  number  of  leading  men,  including  ex- 
Governor  Porter,  Governor  Gray  and  General  Harrison  to  make  speeches  upon 
the  occasion.  General  Harrison  also  would  be  most  happy.  The  committee  hinted 
that  if  he  would  name  a  convenient  hour  a  carriage  would  be  in  waiting.  '  Oh, 
never  mind  that,'  said  the  General,  '  this  is  for  a  benevolent  object,  and  there  is  no 
need  of  spending  any  of  ihe  money  for  a  carriage  for  me.  I  had  just  as  lief  go  in 
a  street  car.' " 

IMPRESSIONS   OF  A  MASSACHUSETTS   DELEGATE   WHO   CALLED   AT   INDIANAPOLIS  EN 

ROUTE  HOME. 

[Boston  Special  to  New  York  Tribune.] 

"  J.  Henry  Gould,  one  of  the  Massachusetts  delegates  to  the  national  convention 
at  Chicago,  did  not  return  to  Boston  until  Friday.  After  the  convention  ad- 
journed he  went  to  Indianapolis,  Avhere  he  congratulated  General  Harrison,  for 
whom  he  had  voted  from  first  to  last,  and  took  port  in  a  great  ratification  meeting. 
He  was  the  only  member  of  the  Massachusetts  delegation  to  visit  Indianapolis  at 
that  time.  When  asked,  upon  his  return  to  Boston,  what  he  thought  of  the  action 
of  the  convention,  he  said  : 

"'The  nomination  of  General  Harrison  was  the  best  possible  solution  of  the 
question  before  the  national  convention,  and  prevented  heart-burnings  in  the  party. 
I  took  the  position  that  the  doubtful  States  should  be  consulted  on  the  selection  of 
candidates,  as  those  States  would  really  be  the  battle-ground  for  the  campaign.  I 
adhered  to  this  view  from  the  time  of  leaving  home  until  the  nominations  were 
made.  I  had  the  confidence  of  General  Harrison's  managers  and  attended  all 
their  conferences,  and  am  glad  to  say  that  his  candidacy  was  conducted  in  the 
most  honorable  manner.  They  antagonized  no  other  candidate,  consequently  a 
friendly  feeling  prevailed  in  all  the  delegations  for  Harrison.  The  New  York 
delegation  was  sincere  and  earnest  on  its  vote  for  General  Harrison  as  the  most 
available  candidate  before  the  convention,  as  he  was  a  brave  soldier  and  a  man  of 
excellent  record  in  the  United  States  Senate,  was  said  to  be  the  father  of  the  pen- 
sion bill  which  was  afterward  adopted  by  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  is 
the  strongest  and  most  popular  man  in  his  own  State,  a  man  of  high  character  and 
a  man  of  brains.' 

''  'What  state  of  affairs  did  you  find  in  Indianapolis?' 

'"Upon  my  arrival  there  on  Tuesday  afternoon  the  population  seemed  to  have  • 
turned  out  en  mass  in  honor  of  the  presidential  nominee,  and  men,  women  and 
children  were  rivaling  one  another  in  expressions  of  joy.  Thou.sands  of  trumpets 
were  sounding,  bands  were  playing,  American  flags  were  flying  from  many  build- 
ings. Arches  spanned  some  streets.  Bunting  was  everywliere,  and  in  fact  the  city 
seemed  wild  with  joy  at  the  choice  which  the  convention  had  made.  General  Har- 
rison, when  called  upon  at  his  home,  did  not  seem  elated  with  success;  but,  while 


22 

appreciating  the  liigii  honor  which  had  been  conferred  upon^Jiim,  was  perfectly 
self-possessed,  and  greeted  us  all  in  a  friendly  manner.  He  seemed  to  lose  sight  of 
himself  in  his  earnestness  for  the  party  success,  and  impressed  us  as  being  the  man 
for  the  hour  and  a  true  representative  of  the  Republican  party.  Mrs.  Harrison 
won  the  hearts  of  all  by  the  charming  manner  in  which  she  received  her  guests, 
and  everything  in  the  house  bespoke  domestic  hai^piness.  The  people  of  Indiana 
assured  us  that  they  would  attend  to  Indiana  themselves,  and  would  not  require 
outside  assistance,  and  they  predicted  a  majority  of  15,000  for  Harrison.  The  mass 
meeting  of  the  evening  was  attended  by  8,000  people,  it  is  estimated,  among  them 
the  survivors  of  the  old  Tippecanoe  Club,  with  a  small  log  cabin,  which  they  had 
carried  in  procession  in  1840,  and  also  the  banner  which  the  club  carried  in  that 
year.  It  was  a  remarkably  enthusiastic  meeting,  and  mention  of  General  Har- 
rison's name  was  received  with  deafening  applause.' " 

A  letter  from  Indianapolis  to  the  New  York  Sun  gives  this  picture  of  General 
Harrison : 

"General  Harrison  to-night  showed  little  sign  of  what  must  have  been  the 
fatigue  of  the  past  thirty-six  hours.  He  wore  the  same  black  sack  coat,  with  a 
vest  swelling  out  comfortably  at  the  rotundity  of  the  waist.  He  has  almost  enough 
roundness  to  qualify  him  for  an  Alderman.  The  golden  badge  of  the  California 
delegation  to  Chicago  rested  upon  a  bit  of  white  watered  ribbon  on  his  right  breast, 
and  the  little  G.  A.  K.  button  was  in  his  left  lapel.  A  plain  gold  watch-chain  was 
all  his  jewelry.  A  snowy  turned-down  collar  and  a  black  and  white  four-in-hand 
tie  showed  at  his  throat.  His  complexion,  of  an  even  cream  whiteness,  was  fresh 
and  clear,  and  there  was  no  rumple  or  other  sign  of  nervousness  in  the  fine,  silky, 
short  hair  and  beard,  dark  at  the  roots  and  turning  white  at  the  ends,  with  odd 
variations  of  grayness  between.  His  gray  eyes  were  open  and  clear  as  usual.  The 
day  had  been  an  easy  one  compared  with  yesterday,  though  there  was  a  constant 
stream  of  callers,  and  telegrams  and  letters  by  the  liundred." 


ANECDOTES  OF  HIS  LIFE. 


HE   WORKED   FOK   BUT   ONE  OFFICE. 
[Philadelphia  Press  Special.] 

"  With  the  possibility  of  a  Presidential  nomination  so  imminent  as  it  was  last 
Wednesday,  one  might  expect  that  some  signs  of  perturbation  could  be  detected  in 
the  daily  movements  and  current  speech  of  this  captain  of  Indiana  Republicanism. 
But  I  found  General  Harrison  unruffled  and  serene.  He  fulfills  the  everyday  du- 
ties of  home,  office  and  society  as  tranquilly  as  though  there  were  no  chance  of 
their  interruption.  I  remarked  to  him  to-day  that,  however  equable  his  tempera- 
ment, it  was  hardly  possible  that  he  could  think  of  his  nomination  for  the  Pres- 
idency by  the  Republicans  of  the  United  States  with  entire  calmness.  He  replied 
at  once : 

"  '  I  have  not  allowed  it  to  disturb  me  in  the  least.  I  have  seen  too  much  of 
the  uncertainties  of  political  life,  in  the  first  place ;  and  in  the  next  place,  I  have 
seen  not  a  little  of  the  cares,  anxieties,  responsibilities  and  worries  that  surround 


23 

the  Presidency."  The  General  went  on  to  speak  of  how  he  liad  observed  and  ap- 
preciated the  wearing  care  that  clouded  Garfield's  brow,  and  added  :  "  I  have 
never  spoken  or  written,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  any  living  man  a  word  about  this 
matter.  As  I  have  often  told  my  friends,  there  was  never  but  one  political  office 
that  I  wanted,  and  I  wanted  that  because  I  needed  it.  That  was  when  I  was  a 
poor  young  lawyer,  just  before  the  war,  with  a  family.  I  really  wanted  then  the 
position  of  Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Since  then  I  can  truthfully  say  tliat  I 
have  never  sought  for  myself  public  place." 

iiakrison's  first  fee. 
[Special  in  Philadelphia  Press.] 

"  General  Harrison  himself  told  me  an  interesting  anecdote  during  an  afternoon 
drive  last  week  that  serves  to  illustrate  the  sharp  poverty  of  his  earliest  days  of 
professional  struggle. 

"  Mr.  Miller  proposed  that  the  carriage  pass  by  the  house  where  the  General 
lived  with  his  young  bride  when  he  first  came  to  Indianapolis  from  Ohio.  The 
carriage  presently  drew  up  before  this  early  home.  It  stands  to-day  just  as  it  stood 
then,  only  in  those  days  it  was  in  the  outskirts  of  Indianapolis,  while  now  houses 
stretch  many  blocks  beyond  it.  The  house  is  a  little,  one-story  frame  structure, 
containing  but  three  rooms,  but  the  lawyer  and  his  bride,  when  they  settled  there 
in  1854,  were  as  happy  as  youthful  hope  and  love  could  make  them. 

"As  we  sat  in  the  carriage  looking  at  this  humble  abode.  General  Harrison 
was  moved  to  tell  a  story,  which  I  shall  repeat  as  nearly  as  may  be  in  his  own 
words : 

'"Right  in  front  of  that  door,"  he  said,  "  I  received  my  first  lawyer's  fee.  It 
was  the  first  Sunday  in  our  new  home,  and  I  had  walked  out  on  the  sidewalk  in 
the  afternoon,  and  was  standing  there  looking  with  some  pride  at  the  front  of  the 
house,  when  a  man  clattered  up  on  horseback.  He  quickly  made  known  his  er- 
rand. A  man  had  been  arrested  at  Clermont,  about  eight  miles  from  here,  on  the 
charge  of  obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses.  The  rider  wished  me  to  appear 
before  the  .lustice  of  the  Peace  there  for  the  prosecution.  I  agreed  to  do  so,  and  he 
handed  me  a  five  dollar  gold  piece.  It  was  not  an  enormous  fee,  but  I  was  glad  to 
have  it.  The  sum  was  hardly  large  enough  to  warrant  a  buggy,  so  the  next  morn- 
ing I  rode  to  Clermont  on  the  back  of  a  pony  that  I  hired  at  a  stable.  I  came 
back  home  that  night  pretty  well  chafed,  but  I  had  succeeded  in  what  I  went  for.'  " 

PA.DDLED   HIS   OWN   CANOE. 

L.  B.  Lewis,  of  Indianapolis,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  first  time  he 
ever  met  Gen.  Ben  Harrison.  Mr.  Lewis  was,  for  twenty  years  or  more,  in  part- 
nership with  a  Pennsylvania  German  by  the  name  of  Eichelberger,  in  the  milling 
business  at  Lawrenceburg.  The  mill,  like  all  mills  of  that  period,  did  custom  work 
chiefly,  and  farmers  living  on  the  river  above  and  below  Lawrenceburg  brought 
their  grists  in  skifis  to  the  landing  near  the  mill.  The  miller  would  go  for  it  with 
a  dray,  do  the  grinding  immediately,  and  return  the  flour  and  bran  to  the  skiff,  and 
the  farmers  would  row  it  home,  sometimes  many  miles.  Mr.  Eichelberger  was  a 
very  intelligent  man,  and  especially  fond  of  boys,  with  whom  he  always  engaged 
in  conversation  while  they  were  waiting  for  their  grinding.  One  afternoon,  nearly 
forty-five  years  ago,  Mr.  Lewis,  going  to  the  mill,  noticed  two  country  boys  in  the 
farmer  costume  of  the  period,  but  neat  and  clean,  one  about  twelve  and  the  other 
a  year  or  two  older.     "  Whose  boys  are  these?"  asked  Mr.  Lewis. 


24 

"  Scott  Harrrison's,"  replied  Mr.  Eichelberger,  with  enthusiasm  and  a  spirit  of 
prophesy.  "They  brought  a  grist  to  mill  and  are  waiting  for  it.  But  that  little 
fellow — Ben  they  call  him — why,  he  is  sharp  as  tacks.  There  is  nothing  that  he 
does  not  seem  to  be  posted  on.  He  seems  equally  at  home  on  farming  or  politics. 
I  tell  you,  if  he  lives  he  will  be  President  of  the  United  States  before  he  is  as  old 
as  his  grandfather  was." 

In  a  little  while  the  grist  was  done  and  taken  to  the  skiff,  and  that  "  little  fel- 
low, Ben,"  they  called  him,  took  his  seat  at  the  oar  by  the  side  of  his  bigger  brother, 
and  they  pulled  away  and  were  soon  out  of  sight,  rowing  up  stream  at  that.  "I 
have  known  Harrison  ever  since,"  Mr.  Lewis  said,  "  and  he  has  always  been  pad- 
dling his  own  canoe." 

outsiders'   gossip — GENERAL   HARBISON'S    LACK    OF   WEALTH   AND   SOME    OF    THE 

CAUSES  THEREOF. 

[Indianapolis  Letter  in  New  York  World.] 

The  General's  law  partner,  Mr.  Miller,  is  a  Presbyterian,  like  the  General,  and 
goes  to  the  same  church.  He  is  a  thin,  brainy-looking  man,  whose  health  can  not 
be  good.  Short  gray  whiskers  hide  his  chin,  and  his  big,  intellectual  forehead  is 
all  the  more  prominent  by  reason  of  incipient  baldness.  He  is  lively,  enthusiastic 
and  good-natured,  but  does  not  seem  to  go  crazy  like  the  rest  of  his  townsmen. 
Mr.  Miller  corroborates  the  statement  made  by  another  that  General  Harrison's 
wealth,  all  told,  would  not  amount  to  more  than  $40,000,  or  at  the  outside,  $50,000. 

"I'll  tell  you,"  he  said,  "  it  is  an  actual  fact  that  General  Harrison's  entire  in- 
come, outside  of  that  received  from  his  law  practice,  does  not  amount  to  over  $1,500. 
He  is  not  interested  in  any  local  corporations,  and  so  far  as  I  can  now  remember, 
never  has  been." 

"Is  it  not  strange  that,  having  lived  so  long  in  the  city.  General  Harrison  has 
held  no  oflSces  or  directorships  of  banks  or  organizations  of  such  sort?" 

"  No.  It  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  he  didn't  have  money.  The  truth  is 
that  he  has  given  away  more  money  in  charity  every  year  than  a  good  many  good 
lawyers  make.  He  has  stuck  to  his  business,  but  has  not  demanded  fees  at  all  pro- 
portionate to  the  work  he  did  or  nearly  as  large  as  his  reputation  would  justify  his 
demanding.  Many  men  with  whom  he  has  been  associated  have  done  far  better  in 
a  pecuniary  sense  than  he." 


COMMENTS  OF  THE  PRESS. 


A  RELIGIOUS   ORGAN  WHICH  SUPPORTED  ST.  JOHN   RALLIES  TO   THE   HARRISON 

STANDARD. 

[New  York  Independent.] 

"  Wisdom  wins  in  Chicago,  and  the  Republican  party  is  to  be  congratulated.  It 
has  escaped  a  great  peril,  and  achieved  a  great  result.  It  has  a  nominee  who  will 
make  it  a  united  and  harmonious  party,  and  lead  it  to  victory.  It  will  put  aside 
all  differences,  it  will  cease  to  be  Blaine  and  anti-Blaine,  and  it  will  only  remem- 
ber that  it  has  a  battle  to  fight  and  a  strong  and  alert  enemy  to  overcome. 

"There  is  great  political  wisdom  in  the  nomination  of  Benjamin  Harrison,  of 
Indiana.     Chosen  from   a   list  of  most  excellent  candidates,  he  is  unquestionably 


25 

the  best  man  the  convention  could  have  chosen.  His  record  is  without  spot  or 
stain.  We  mention  that  fact  first  because  a  clean  candidate  is  the  first  recjuisite. 
No  other  would  be  acceptable  to  the  Christian  people  of  the  country.  Mr.  Harri- 
son is  a  clean  man.  He  is  also  an  able  man.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war, 
and  earned  by  hard  service  his  military  title.  In  every  Presidential  battle  in  In- 
diana since  the  Republican  party  was  organized  he  has  taken  part,  save  in  the 
struggle  of  18G4,  when  he  was  in  the  army.  As  United  States  Senator  he  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  sound,  wise  and  useful  legislator,  and  he  is  dear  to  the  Re- 
publican heart  of  Indiana.  No  man  is  more  beloved  in  that  State  than  General 
Harrison,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  Indiana  is  a  doubtful  State,  and  it  is 
extremely  desirable  that  it  should  be  carried  for  the  Republican  party.  The  nom- 
ination of  Harrison  will  not  only  make  this  possible,  but  certain.  The  convention 
at  St.  Louis  passed  by  Indiana,  which  had  a  prominent  candidate  for  Vice  Presi- 
dent in  Governor  Gray,  and  look  up  Thurman,  of  Ohio.  That  was  a  political 
blunder  by  which  the  Republican  party  will  profit.     Harrison  will  rescue  Indiana. 

"General  Harrison  is  a  grandson  of  President  William  Henry  Harrison,  the 
hero  of  Tippecanoe.  He  comes,  therefore,  of  excellent  stock,  though  he  began  life 
without  money  and  without  family  aid.  A  man  of  sturdy  character  and  strong 
convictions,  a  communicant  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  dignified  but  not  distant 
in  his  personal  bearing,  an  eloquent  speaker,  he  has  great  power  over  men,  and 
his  standard  in  the  coming  campaign  will  evoke  a  whirlwind  of  enthusiasm. 

"  The  name  to  be  associated  with  General  Harrison's  on  the  ticket  is  that  of 
Mr.  Levi  P.  Morton,  ex-Minister  to  France.  Mr.  Morton  stands  high  in  the  confi- 
dence of  financial  and  business  circles  in  New  York  City,  and  will  give  the  ticket 
great  strength  in  the  Empire  State.  Indiana  and  New  York  are  pivotal  States, 
and  no  ticket  that  could  have  been  nominated  would  have  made  them  safer  for  the 
Republican  column  than  that  of  Harrison  and  Morton.  It  is  a  ticket  that  means 
victory. 

"  The  Republican  party  is  again  on  solid  ground.  It  has  returned  to  its  old 
traditions.  It  has  given  us  a  ticket  which  Christian  men  and  men  of  conviction 
can  heartily  support.  Those  who  left  the  parly  in  1884  can  now  return  and  vote 
for  men  as  well  as  principles.  There  is  no  excuse  for  continued  alienation.  Let 
us  close  up  our  ranks  and  have  an  old-fashioned  Republican  victory  in  November." 


AN    IRISH-AMERICAN    OPINION. 

[American  Celt,  St.  Louis.] 

"  The  recent  exciting  and  protracted  contest  as  to  the  nomination  of  the  Repub- 
lican standard-bearers  was  insignificant  in  more  than  one  respect.  It  was  a  con- 
vention of  the  representatives  of  a  party  out  of  power,  showing  a  large  amount  of 
derangement,  and  yet  a  decided  tendency  to  recuperation.  The  convention  was  a 
truly  representative  one,  and  it  was  impossible  to  stampede  in  the  interest  of  any 
man.  Gen.  Harrison,  of  Indiana,  and  Mr.  Levi  P.  Morton,  of  New  York,  were 
the  leaders  of  the  hosts  between  which  the  real  battle  was  fought.  Gen.  Harrison 
is  a  man  of  the  people,  who  has  filled  positions  of  official  trust,  while  Mr.  Morton 
is  a  successful  banker,  who  has  risen  by  his  own  efforts  from  an  humble  occupation 
to  a  high  social  and  political  position,  and  as  popular  as  any  man  in  New  York 
State.  In  these  champions  the  East  and  the  West  are  united,  and  for  the  first  time 
since  1880.  They  come  together  to  defeat  the  aims  and  purposes  of  Grover  Cleve- 
land and  the  free-trade  wing  of  the  Democratic  party. 


26 

"  But  what  is  the  main  issue  of  the  campaign?  What  is  the  real  question  be- 
tween the  Eepublican  and  Democratic  parties?  Let  us  answer  in  the  outset  that 
it  is  not  a  question  as  to  the  merits  of  party  in  itself,  or  rather  in  relation  to  the 
offices.  The  real  question  turns  upon  the  struggle  of  protection  to  American  in- 
dustry, as  against  the  principle  of  free  trade,  as  advocated  by  the  disciples  of  the 
Cobden  Club,  of  England.  It  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  America  to  adopt  a  tariff  for 
the  protection  of  American  manufactures  against  ruinous  competition  of  foreign 
labor,  and  the  working  of  the  experiment  is  the  best  argument  in  favor  of  the  con- 
tinuance. Since  the  war  America  has  witnessed  almost  unexampled  prosperity. 
There  could  be  no  better  illustration  of  the  advantages  of  a  tariff  system  than  a 
comparison  of  the  wages  paid  in  Europe  and  America.  As  a  nation,  we  have  had 
a  broad  and  ample  experience  of  the  influences  of  a  tariff  system  on  our  industrial 
prosperity,  and  we  are  now  summoned  by  Grover  Cleveland  to  listen  to  the  siren 
voice  of  the  manufacturers  of  Great  Britain.  With  the  exception  of  a  certain 
class  of  humanitarians,  who  conceive  it  their  duty  to  wage  war  in  favor  of  work- 
ingmen  across  the  Atlantic,  we  know  of  no  class  of  men,  except  Grover  Cleveland 
and  his  Cabinet,  who  wish  to  see  America  adopt  a  free  trade  policy. 

"  We  have  dwelt  upon  the  convention  and  its  candidates  so  long  that  we  have 
left  ourselves  little  space  for  urging  upon  our  Irish  American  friends  their  duty 
in  the  coming  campaign.  We  will  say  to  them  as  Americans,  as  freemen,  that  the 
time  has  arrived  when  all  divisions  and  animosities  should  cease,  in  order  to  res- 
cue this  glorious  land  from  a  hateful  Anglo-manian  domination.  We  hope  that 
Irish- Americans  will  discard  all  past  alliances,  put  aside  all  present  fears,  and 
dread  no  future  coalitions,  in  the  single  hope  of  carrying  to  speedy  victory  a  ban- 
ner inscribed  with  these  devices:  'Harrison  and  Morton,'  '  Protection  to  American 
Labor  and  Industry,'  'Protection  of  the  American  Citizen  at  Home  and  Abroad.'" 

AVAILABLE   FOR   HIMSELF. 
[New  York  World  (Dem.)] 

"  It  will  be  said  of  Mr.  Harrison  that  he  is  nominated  for  his  name ;  that  if 
his  grandfather  had  not  been  President  of  the  United  States  and  his  great-grand- 
father a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  he  would  not  have  been  the 
candidate.  But  this  is  idle  talk.  Mr.  Harrison  is  available  without  reference  to 
the  honorable  positions  occupied  by  his  ancestors.  In  the  first  place  he  is  a  promi- 
nent citizen  of  a  doubtful  State,  and  he  had  the  support  of  its  delegates  all  but 
unanimously.  He  has  a  good  soldier  record,  having  gone  into  the  war  a  second 
lieutenant  of  volunteers  and  having  come  out  of  it  a  brevet  brigadier-general.  He 
is  a  thoroughly  equipped  lawyer  and  has  experience  as  a  statesman,  having  served 
creditably  for  six  years  in  the  United  States  Senate.  He  has  always  acted  as  a 
straight  party  man,  and  his  honesty  has  never  been  questioned.  Moreover,  he  has 
always  been  a  practical  civil  service  reformer  and  an  extreme  protectionist,  and 
when  in  Congress  he  favored  tax  reduction  by  the  abolition  of  internal  revenue 
duties." 

A    REPRESENTATIVE    REPUBLICAN. 

fNew  York  Press.] 

"That  General  Harrison  represents  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party  is 
not  susceptible  of  a  doubt.  His  speeches  and  votes  in  the  Senate  speak  for  them- 
selves. He  is  a  firm  believer  in  the  American  policy  of  protection.  He  believes 
in  an  honest  vote  and  a  fair  count.     He  has  always  been  a  friend  to  the  soldiers, 


27 

and  no  one  fought  more  loyally  than  Senator  Harrison  for  the  admiesion  of  Da- 
kota. Altogether,  the  more  you  think  about  General  Harrison  .and  the  more  you 
know  about  him  the  better  you  like  him.  His  has  been  a  citizenship  that  ought  to 
appeal  to  every  young  American.  The  honor  that  has  come  to  him  has  been  well 
earned  by  a  life  of  industry,  patriotism  and  integrity.  With  sucli  an  excellent 
candidate,  with  the  stars  and  stripes  as  our  symbol,  and  the  memories  of  old  Tip- 
pecanoe in  our  songs,  we  onglit  to  everlastingly  whip  the  free-traders  this  fall,  and 
if  vve  try  we  will  do  it  without  a  doubt." 


A   STATESMAN   FOR   PRESIDENT. 
[Philadelphia  Inquirer.] 

"  Benjamin  Harrison's  record  in  the  Senate  is  pretty  good  evidence  of  his 
statesmanship.  The  conspicuous  events  of  his  six  years'  term  were  his  report  favor- 
ing the  admission  of  Dakota  as  a  State,  his  speech  on  the  application  of  civil-service 
reform  to  the  State  of  Indiana,  his  position  on  the  silver  question — on  which  he 
declared  himself  a  bimetallist,  but  with  a  conviction  that  the  ratio  of  silver  and 
gold  coin  needed  changing — his  work  on  the  foreign  relations  committee,  which 
prepared  the  Chinese  restriction  bill,  which  was  accepted  on  the  Pacific  coast  as  the 
best  bill  that  could  have  been  drawn  within  the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  and  his 
course  on  the  question  of  contract  labor.  In  a  speech  in  the  Senate  on  this  subject 
he  held  that,  while  the  largest  possible  freedom  should  be  extended  to  foreigners 
immigrating  to  become  citizens,  the  importation  of  contract  labor  should  be  for- 
bidden." 

EQUAL   TO   ANY   SINCE   LINCOLN. 

[A.  H.  McClure,  in  Philadelphia  Times.] 
"The  nomination  of  Gen.  Benjamin  Harrison  as  the  Republican  candidate  for 
President  is  admittedly  highly  creditable  to  the  party.  He  is  not  one  of  the  great 
leaders  of  Republicanism,  but  he  is  the  equal  in  intellectual  power,  public  experi- 
ence and  creditable  record  in  statesmanship  of  any  of  the  Republican  Presidents 
since  Lincoln.     *  He  is  the  grandson  of  a  soldier-statesman  and  President; 

he  is  a  soldier-statesman  himself,  and  he  is  a  man  against  whose  character,  either 
as  a  citizen,  soldier,  or  statesman,  the  tongue  of  scandal  can  not  wag.  It  is  only 
just  to  say  that  General  Harrison  is  a  clean,  creditable  presidential  candidate,  and 
his  nomination  invites  the  country  to  turn  from  the  fiendish  jackals  of  the  low- 
grade  politics  to  soberly  consider  and  decide  the  grave  national  issues  which  are 
to  be  decided  by  the  American  people  in  November  next," 

THE   IRISH   FOR   GENERAL   HARRISON. 
[American  Celt,  St.  Louis.] 

"As  we  go  to  press,  word  reaches  us  that  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Indiana,  is 
nominated  by  the  Chicago  convention  as  the  candidate  of  the  Republican  party 
for  President.  No  estimate  of  the  result  of  Mr.  Harrison's  nomination  has  any 
value,  that  does  not  start  with  the  fact  that  the  people,  through  their  chosen  rep- 
resentatives, and  the  people  alone  nominated  him. 

"  Since  the  days  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  no  other  candidate  of  either  party  has 
been  so  clearly  the  choice  of  a  convention  representing  the  masses  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.     Mr.  Harrison  had  no  patronage  to  help  him.     Most  of  the  delegates 


28 

represented  doubtful  States.  His  votes  did  not  come  from  States  where  the  Re- 
publican party  is  weak  and  helpless.  We  believe  a  nomination  so  obtained  means 
victory  for  Harrison  and  protection  to  American  industry.  We  believe  there  is 
an  excellent  prospect  of  the  revival  of  the  foreign  policy  of  the  lamented  Garfield. 
The  nomination  of  Gen.  Benjamin  Harrison  is  a  strong,  brilliant  and  pacific  one." 


SOUND   ON   THE   TARIFF. 
[Peoria  Transcript.] 

"  On  the  tariff  question  General  Harrison  is  pre-eminently  sound.  No  other 
candidate  whose  name  was  presented  to  the  convention,  James  G.  Blaine  included, 
has.  a  more  consistent  record  as  an  advocate  of  the  policy  of  protection  to  Ameri- 
can industry,  and  he  came  honestly  enough  by  his  protective  tariff  principles. 
He  comes  of  an  old  Whig  ancestry,  and  was  an  advocate  of  protective  tariff  even 
before  he  became  a  voter.  In  his  later  career  he  has  defined  his  position  on  the 
question  too  often  and  too  eloquently  to  leave  any  doubt  or  conjecture  about  the 
fact  that  in  the  entire  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  there  is  no  more  pronounced 
and  consistent  advocate  of  the  American  idea  on  the  tariff  question  than  Gen- 
eral Harrison." 

AN   INDEPENDENT   DEMOCRATIC   TRIBUTE. 
[Lafayette  Times.] 

"  In  this  political  campaign,  the  Sunday  Times  will  not  be  found  for  or  against 
the  Eepublican  candidate  for  the  presidency.  The  Times  is  an  independent  paper 
— with  opinions,  and  it  will  have  no  other  than  kind  words  for  General  Benjamin 
Harrison. 

"  He  is  the  chosen  candidate  of  his  party  for  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the 
people.  So  far  as  the  Times  is  concerned,  he  shall  have  fair  treatment  all  along 
the  line.  The  man  of  the  party  who  underrates  General  Harrison  makes  a  mis- 
take. He  may  not  arouse  as  much  enthusiasm  as  the  "  magnetic  man  from  Maine," 
but  he  is  a  man  of  unblemished  private  and  public  life,  against  whom  nothing  that 
is  derogatory  can  be  truthfully  said,  except  that  he  is  a  Republican  in  the  strictest 
sense,  which  is  a  good  indorsement  with  his  party  friends.  It  is  probably  true  that 
General  Harrison  is  no  stronger  than  his  jiarty  in  Indiana,  but  he  is  no  weaker 
than  his  party.  The  warfare  must  be  waged  on  the  principles  which  divide  the 
people.     Let  us  be  thankful  for  all  this." 

A   CONTRAST   AND   COMPARISON. 
[Noblesville  Ledger.] 

"  General  Harrison  offered  the  first  dependent  pension  bill  in  the  Senate.  Grover 
Cleveland  was  the  first  President  to  veto  a  dependent  pension  bill.  We  ask  a  can- 
did comparison  of  the  loyalty  of  these  two  candidates." 

ACCOMMODATING. 
[Philadelphia  Press.] 

"  We  trust  Harrison  and  Morton  will  be  satisfied  with  a  majority  of  25,000  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia.  If  not,  let  them  say  so  and  we  will  make  it  30,000.  In 
this  latitude  the  motto  is :  '  We  study  to  please.'  " 


29 


A   HARVEST    FOR   THE    BUTTON    MAN. 


[Boston  Journal.] 

"The  dealer  who  gets  first  into  the  market  with  Harrison  badges  and  Harrison 
buttons  has  a  harvest  before  him.  Republicans  are  so  delighted  with  the  ticket 
'that  they  are  in  a  hurry  to  have  some  external  expression  of  their  feelings." 


WHY    IRISH-AMERICANS  SUPPORT    HARRISON. 

[American  Celt.J 

"  A  great  many  independent  Irish-Americans  support  General  Harrison  because 
'they  know  that  he  will  oppose  British  arrogance  and  protect  American  citizenship 
abroad." 

THE   IRISH    DO   NOT    WANT   FREE   TRADE. 

[New  York  Special.] 

At  a  well-attended  meeting  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Irish-American 
Republican  Association  in  Military  Hall  of  the  Bowery,  the  following  lively  reso- 
lutions were  adopted  : 

"  Resolved,  That  no  Cleveland-Bayard  traitorous  '  Joe '  Chamberlain,  fishery, 
free  trade,  pro-British  combination  will  do  for  us. 

"Resolved,  That  we  will  make  manifest  our  desire  to  serve  the  country  of  our 
adoption  by  a  true  loyalty  to  the  Republican  party,  since  it  is  the  only  one  that 
preserves  tlie  interests  of  the  toiling  masses  of  this  Republic. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  can  not  be  stampeded  by  a  bigot's  speech,  a  rain-storm  or 
other  untoward  incidents,  but  stand  true  to  the  cause  of  the  party  which  best  pro- 
tects the  interests  of  American  industry,  namely,  the  Republican  party,  and  that 
we  will  endeavor  to  make  it  another  Fontenoy  for  Britain  and  her  treacherous 
allies  in  this  country." 

Michael  P.  Murphy  presided  and  delivered  an  address  on  protection  and 
higher  wages. 

Ex-Judge  Badgely,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California,  also  spoke. 


THE   TARIFF    IN    INDIANA. 

New  Albany  Special  to  Commercial-Uazette. 

"  A  gentleman  who  owns  one  of  the  largest  furniture  factories  in  the  city,  and 
who  all  his  life  has  been  a  Democrat,  declares  he  will  support  Harrison.  This 
gentleman  has  five  sons  who  are  voters,  all  of  whom  follow  him  into  the  ranks  of 
protection. 

"  A  Democrat,  who  has  been  a  State  Senator  from  this  district,  and  who  is  a 
large  stockholder  in  one  of  the  rolling  mills  of  this  city,  and  who  has  always  been 
a  decided  Democrat,  comes  out  from  the  British  free-trade  party,  and  arrays  him- 
self on  the  side  of  Harrison  and  American  interests.  Two  other  members  of  the 
same  firm,  both  Democrats,  and  who  have  held  responsible  county  offices,  to  which 
they  were  elected  as  Democratic  nominees,  also  declare  for  Harrison  and  protec- 
tion. 

"A  banker  and  manufacturer,  having  varied  interests  in  the  industrial  estab- 
lishments of  the  city  and  elsewhere,  attended  the  Republican  ratification  meeting 
Saturday  night,  and  is  enthusiastic. 


30 

"  All  these  are  men  of  prominence  and  influence,  and  this  list  could  be  largely 
extended.  But  these  are  enough  to  show  the  trend  of  the  public  opinion  in  this 
heretofore  benighted  Democratic  section. 

"  A  young  man  said  to  your  correspondent  to-day :  '  I  belong  to  a  political 
club  composed  of  young  men  who  will  cast  their  first  vote  in  November  next.  In 
this  club  as  members  are  twenty-two  young  men  who  belong  to  Democratic  fami- 
lies, and  have  been  brought  up  in  the  strictest  principles  of  Democracy,  every  one 
of  whom  are  red-hot  for  Harrison,  Morton  and  protection  to  American  industries, 
American  labor  and  American  homes.'  He  named  the  young  men,  but  thinks  it 
not  good  policy  to  make  their  names  public. 

"Talk  about  Harrison  not  carrying  Indiana!  His  majority  will  run  very 
considerably  above  ten  thousand." 


Note. — The  best  evidence  of  Gen.  Harrison's  popularity  with  the  working- 
men  rests  in  the  fact  that  at  his  own  home,  there  are  eight  large  clubs  composed 
exclusively  of  mechanics,  who  are  supporting  him.  The  membership  of  these 
clubs  already  numbers  over  3,000.  One  club  is  composed  entirely  of  railroad  em- 
ployes, with  a  membership  of  nearly  1,000. 


HIS  OPINIONS  IN  1878. 


In  1878  Gen,  Harrison  was  a  candidate  for  no  office,  he  was 
seeking  no  votes,  but  in  a  speech  delivered  at  Richmond,  in 
this  State,  on  the  9th  of  August  of  that  year,  he  thus  spoke  of 
the  wages  of  workingmen,  and  what  he  thought  ought  to  be  done 
for  them : 

"Another  direction  in  which  practical  relief  may  be  given 
to  large  classes  of  laboring  men  is  in  the  laws  securing  and  en- 
forcing prompt  payment  of  wages.  In  the  case  of  labor  debts 
owing  by  railroad  corporations,  the  courts  have,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  equity  powers,  without  legislation,  given  a  prefer- 
ence over  mortgage  bonds  to  labor  claims  accrued  within  six 
months  of  the  appointment  of  a  receiver.  The  equity  of  a 
laborer  whose  wages  have  been  unjustly  withheld  for  seven 
months  is  certainly  not  weakened  by  his  added  month  of  wait- 
ing. There  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  there  should  not 
be  given  by  proper  legislation  to  the  employes  of  all  corpora- 
tions and  manufacturing  companies  a  first  lien  for  wages  due. 
Such  a  law  might  not  be  operative  in  the  full  against  existing 
mortgages,  but  it  would  be  as  to  all  future  liens.  Holders  of 
mortgage  securities  would  then  have  an  interest  to  see  that 
wages  were  paid,  while  they  could  protect  themselves  against 
the  mismanagement  of  those  who  controlled  the  enterprise  by 
making  the  non-payment  of  these  labor  liens  a  cause  of  forfeit- 
ure of  the  mortgage  entitling  the  mortgagee  to  foreclose.  If 
any  railroad  or  other  business  enterprise  can  not  earn  enough 
to  pay  the  labor  that  operates  it  and  the  interest  on  the  bonds, 
no  right-minded  man  can  hesitate  to  say  which  ought  to  be 
paid  first.  The  men  who  have  invested  money  in  the  enter- 
prise, or  loaned  money  on  its  securities,  ought  to  have  the  right 
to  stop  the  business  when  net  earnings  fail,  but  they  can  not 
honestly  appropriate  the  earnings  of  the  engineer,  or  brake- 
man,  or  laborer. 

"  When  a  court,  on  motion  of  the  bondholders,  seizes  a  rail- 
road and  operates  it  by  a  receiver,  the  chancellor  will  yield 
nothing  for  interest  on  the  bonds  till  he  has  paid  the  men  who 
operate  the  road.  Why  should  there  be  any  other  rule  for  a 
railroad  President?  But  not  only  should  payment  be  made 
secure,  but  promptness  should  be  enforced.  Great  wrong  is 
often  done  by  delay,  though  ultimate  payment  may  be  certain. 
The  laborer  is  forced  to  buy  on  credit  at  enhanced  prices  or  sell 
his  claims  at  a  heavy  discount.  This,  I  believe,  could  be  reme- 
died by  legislation  prohibiting,  under  proper  penalties,  the  di- 
version of  earnings  to  other  purposes  until  the  labor  roll  is 
receipted."